Silent as a ghost, no sooner had the presence appeared than it pressed against Lynch’s back.
The fifth attacker had manifested—a mid-tier Soul Severer.
At the very moment the fifth attacker appeared, the mid-tier attacker in front wiped the grin from his face. His expression turned ferocious as he clenched his fist tightly. The temperature in the living room plummeted, dropping from the equator to the poles in the blink of an eye.
【Authority: Cold, Ability: Frozen Earth】
There was no wind or snow, yet the chill seemed to seep from the depths of their souls. The bone-chilling frost made all three feel as though the blood in their veins was rapidly freezing, turning their bodies utterly stiff.
Ice began to coalesce on the floor beneath their feet, swiftly clinging to their boots and making every step an ordeal.
The energy flooding their souls surged instantly, dispelling the freezing filth injected into their bodies. Yet the frost binding their feet still forced every movement into a grueling crawl, turning even the simple act of turning around into a slow-motion struggle.
One fast, one slow—as their movements lagged, the fifth attacker closed in on Lynch’s back in the span of a single breath. A dagger slid silently from his sleeve.
The delicate dagger was pitch-black, save for its tip, which gleamed with an ominous shade of blue. Unreflecting and soundless, it thrust toward Lynch like a coiled serpent finally revealing its crimson fangs.
Blocked in front and pursued from behind, Lynch's body had no time to react in that fraction of a second before the lethal strike descended silently upon him.
The situation inverted in an instant. Life’s grand reversals unfolded in a single second.
The body was too slow to move, but the mind remained free.
Though the trio’s physical stances were still turned toward the enemy in front, a glowing barrier manifested flush against Lynch’s back.
【Authority: Protection, Ability: Shield of Piety】
It was Miss Diana who had extended her help. A solid shield strong enough to halt a charging warhorse intercepted the incoming dagger head-on.
The next instant, the dagger struck the shield.
With a soft crack, the dagger paused for merely a fraction of a second before continuing forward. The shield burst like a popped bubble, shattering into a shower of luminous rain. The shockwave swept outward, but unfortunately, neither the attacker nor the dagger paid any mind to the shield’s dying struggle, emerging entirely unaffected.
But Lynch felt it. The shockwave pushed against his back as well, lending his sluggish movements a slight boost and propelling him forward by a single step.
The attacker’s control over his weapon was exquisite; the force and depth of the thrust were calculated precisely to penetrate Lynch’s flesh and pierce his heart. Yet because of that sudden forward step, the dagger missed—the eerie blue tip brushed against Lynch’s clothes, separated by less than a hair's breadth.
Without a moment's hesitation, the attacker exerted force a second time. The dagger lingered in mid-air for mere milliseconds before lunging forward again, pursuing Lynch’s flesh.
Yet a split second is sometimes all it takes to rewrite destiny.
Within that razor-thin window, a finger pointed toward Lynch.
【Authority: Judgment, Ability: Transcendence】
The flow of order and rules should remain unimpeded by external interference, transcending all constraints. Instantly, the clinging ice dissolved, and his sluggish movements returned to their normal speed. Lynch’s forward steps accelerated sharply, enabling him to narrowly dodge the dagger’s second thrust.
Naturally, a third thrust required only a single thought from the attacker, but the freed Lynch had already regained full control over his body. He pressed two fingers to his temple.
Pfft! The attacker’s dagger drove through Lynch’s back, only to hit empty air as Lynch’s figure faded away.
【Arcana: Flash】
What faded was merely an afterimage. His physical body re-materialized several meters away, far from the fifth attacker.
Fewer than five seconds had elapsed since the descent of malice. In those few lightning-fast exchanges, every action had relied entirely on raw instinct and tacit coordination.
Thump, thump!
Invisible forces collided in mid-air, producing heavy thuds. Ms. Skye Milt had finally recovered from her stupor and launched an attack against the assailant wielding the Cold Authority, locking the two of them in a brief stalemate.
Landing from his Flash, Lynch—having narrowly escaped death—used his forward momentum to whirl around, pointing the stun gun in his hand behind him. Meanwhile, the two ladies were slowly turning to target the attacker as well, intending to trap him in a three-way pincer.
Yet as the three turned, all they saw was the corner of the attacker's lips curling into a smile—a smirk of a trap sprung. From the slight movement of those lips, Lynch read the words being spoken:
“You’re isolated.”
Had I fallen into a trap?
Lynch felt a cold prickle of dread down his spine. As the man's lips twitched, he flicked his cloak, and his entire form transformed into a wisp of light smoke, vanishing into thin air before everyone’s eyes.
Where did he go? Where was he?
Lynch didn't actually pause to think; his survival instincts gave him the answer first.
Leave this spot, immediately.
Lynch instantly lunged forward. As he stepped, a dark mass coalesced out of the shadow behind him, and a dagger thrust toward the spot he had just occupied.
The strike missed, but the attacker clung to him like a shadow, pressing in tight as he swung the dagger once more with unstoppable force.
Thump, thump!
The sound of colliding forces echoed once again from Ms. Skye’s direction. She desperately wanted to back Lynch up, but every attempt was thwarted by the mid-tier attacker wielding Cold Authority.
Not far ahead, Natalie and Diana were frantic with worry, rushing toward Lynch at full speed. Yet the distance of a few meters—something that could normally be crossed in the blink of an eye—now formed an insurmountable gulf between life and death.
At this moment, Lynch’s back was stripped of his companions' protection. Armed with only rank two strength, he had to face a mid-tier expert alone.
To be or not to be—that was the question.
Lynch seemed to have given up struggling, no longer trying to shake off the shadow behind him. Pouring every ounce of his strength into a single motion, he executed one final move.
He turned around just in time, facing his assailant head-on—as if offering his chest to meet the enemy’s indestructible blade.
This unnatural gesture did nothing to stop the attacker's lethal strike. His weapon was already plunging down, but as it did, he caught sight of Lynch’s face—and his eyes widened in horror.
He saw Lynch’s hand raised in front of his chest, index and middle fingers held up in a "V" sign. Right between the angle of those two fingers, a blob of luminous blue mist was rapidly coalescing, pressed right against Lynch’s chest. And his dagger was careening full force straight into that bizarre mist.
【Arcana: Summoning of the Hounds of Tindalos】
Lynch had been muttering under his breath all along, attempting to summon a Hound as his ultimate trump card. The Hounds wouldn't attack anyone without a mark—unless someone initiated an attack against them, exactly as this assailant was doing.
If the attacker could pull back this blow, he could bypass the Hound and strike again, leaving Lynch—entangled by the Hound—with zero chance of survival.
Yet the dagger had already been thrust; there was no turning back.
No, there was still a way!
Every muscle in the attacker’s body tensed up instantly. He exerted immense control over his arm, attempting to freeze the lunging dagger mid-air. Such a feat was exceedingly difficult, yet with his fine bodily control, he was confident he could pull it off.
In his eyes, distance was measured in millimeters. Gritting his teeth, he unleashed every drop of potential, fighting against his own momentum. Finally, with his arm nearly cramping, he slowed the dagger's advance to a safe crawl, just enough to bring it to a halt before touching the Hound.
Phew, I made it.
Right at that second, however, Lynch suddenly puffed out his chest, narrowing the distance by a hair.
Pfft! The eerie blue tip of the dagger poked directly into the forming Hound. The powerful corrupted force within the blade instantly tore the fragile form into shreds.
“You are already dead.”
As Lynch spoke, several wisps of strange smoke coalesced silently around the attacker.
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