This was a clash of schemes and counterschemes, a game of traps and counter-traps.
It was a high-stakes gamble with life itself on the line.
The attackers had laid a setup—the most dangerous and subtle trap imaginable—for Lynch's trio.
How should a trap be set to most easily lure a target into biting?
Making it as invisible as possible was certainly one way, but no matter how well-hidden a trap was from sight, a sufficiently cautious target might still discover it.
Therefore, a truly effective trap was one that disarmed the target's vigilance. In other words, right where you suspected a trap to be, an exquisitely concealed one would indeed be waiting. Then, just as you smugly congratulated yourself on cleverly uncovering it as expected, the real trap had already crept up behind you.
Indeed, effective traps were not laid before the eyes—they were laid within the human mind.
That was precisely what the attackers had done. Deploying an assassin to the exact spot at the exact second, they had executed a textbook psychological trap in a span of mere seconds.
Striking where unprepared, teleporting an assassin directly to the target's side across space—that was the first psychological trap.
Using three cannon fodder to dull the target's alertness, using one powerhouse to draw everyone's attention, and creating ample room for another powerhouse to launch an ambush—that was the second psychological trap.
And once the target, prepared in mind, escaped the lethal snare into a safe zone and believed that was the extent of the trap, the true killing blow would descend in silence.
【Authority: Shadow, Ability: Shadow Escape】
The attacker could use this ability to emerge directly from the target's shadow and land a lethal strike. It was an exceptionally dangerous assassination technique in its own right, and with all the preceding setup, any target caught in its sight was virtually condemned to death.
Unfortunately for them, they were facing Sir Lynch Levive.
As an introverted shut-in, Lynch didn't claim to grasp all these insidious schemes. But he spared no vigilance in guarding against his treacherous enemy, the Shadow Alliance. Thus, from the start, he had decided to gamble: since he had no idea what trick they might pull, he might as well go all-in and lay every single trump card on the table.
Among those trump cards were the most repulsive entities imaginable: the Hounds of Tindalos. The moment he realized the enemy had launched an attack, he had begun incanting the spell, never stopping no matter how dire the situation became. Finally, at the ultimate moment, he handed the attacker a grand surprise.
Life's grand reversals unfolded in a single second.
The sudden turn of events caused the attacker's face to drain of color as he instinctively took a step back.
Within that single step, luminous blue mist coalesced completely. Several bizarre hounds materialized from the acute angle at the tip of the attacker's dagger. The moment they formed, their cold, indifferent eyes locked onto him. Clearly, the victimized Hound he had destroyed had marked him, and versions of that same Hound from other points in time had arrived to exact revenge.
With a furious curse, the attacker slashed his dagger, his formidable force shattering the newly formed hounds with ease. Yet even as he swung his weapon, even more clusters of mist surged into existence all around him.
With a startled howl, the attacker dove straight into the shadows, re-emerging at the living room window before crashing right through the glass and landing in the courtyard.
The passing servants gaped in shock as a stranger leaped from the window. Before they could process what was happening, several eerily familiar clusters of blue mist manifested from the sharp angle of a nearby pair of pruning shears, pursuing the fleeing attacker right out of the estate.
Lynch let out a soft sigh of relief. He knew the attacker had panicked at the last second, squandering his final chance.
At that moment, Lynch had exhausted all his cards. Had the attacker landed just one more blow, Lynch would have been done for. Though Lynch could have escaped death using his Substitute Puppet, the Torch of Light would undoubtedly have been seized by the enemy. While that wouldn't have helped the attacker's own plight, it would have allowed him to take someone down with him and fulfill his mission before dying.
However, the attacker clearly lacked experience being hunted by Hounds and made the wrong choice, opting to flee immediately.
This brought a faint smile to Lynch's lips. Inexperience didn't matter—he would gain plenty of experience very soon. As long as he managed to transcend godhood before dying, he might even get a chance to start over.
Just as Lynch's smile began to form, another cry echoed in his ears.
Seeing that the tide had turned, the other attacker—the one controlling cold—chose to retreat at once. Unleashing a sudden burst of power, he repelled Ms. Skye Milt, who had been locked in combat with him, and leaped out the window into the courtyard after his comrade before Lynch and the two ladies could close in.
Ms. Skye paused in surprise, then immediately gave chase. As soon as she reached the courtyard, she saw Lynch and the two ladies following close behind.
They dared to strike at them and then expect to run?
In the courtyard, the assassin had already vanished into the distance, pursued by a pack of Hounds. The other attacker was fleeing toward the perimeter. Whatever power had transported them inside appeared to have expired; unable to vanish on the spot as he had arrived, he had no choice but to rely on his own two legs.
Seeing that the man had already put considerable distance between them and was close to the outer wall, Lynch knew he couldn't catch up. Unwilling to yield, he fired off a triple salvo of Death Coil at the fleeing figure's back. Unfortunately, the target was already out of range, and the green skulls dissipated halfway through the air.
Dammit, he got away. If only... Huh?
Just as Lynch was grinding his teeth in frustration, he felt something amiss. A strange sight caught the edge of his vision.
Looking up, he saw a figure floating directly above them, gazing down.
It was a man in his thirties with handsome features and an aristocratic air. However, he was stark naked, displaying a warm smile at the people below.
While his expression was refined and gentle, certain uncovered areas were rather painful on the eyes. Before the three could react, the floating man raised his head and casually pointed a finger at the retreating attacker's back.
“All grandeur must eventually draw to a close; all life must ultimately wither. At the end of passing time, all returns to dust.”
As the soft incantation echoed, the attacker he pointed at seemed entirely unaware of what was happening behind him and continued sprinting forward.
With the first step, his posture rapidly hunched over, his head of golden hair turning ash-gray in an instant.
With the second step, his body withered swiftly, his fluttering clothes clinging tightly to his frame, revealing a form already reduced to a skeleton.
With the third step, the moment his foot touched the ground, his body collapsed as if falling apart. His clothes rapidly decayed before their eyes, ultimately crumbling into a pile of dust alongside the remains beneath them.
【Authority: Time, Ability: Years】
The man smiled at Lynch once more. Yet in the next instant, countless clouds of luminous blue mist erupted from every corner of the courtyard, covering nearly the entire yard.
Thus, in the very next second, the man vanished into thin air with a stiff smile on his face, vanishing just as abruptly as he had appeared. The gathering blue mist, having lost its target, dispersed back into the air once again.
Only Lynch and the others were left staring dumbfounded at the ashes of the corpse, feeling as though they had just awakened from a surreal dream.
The cards were revealed, and the victor decided.
The gamble had finally drawn to its close.
Rate on N.U.
