【Three Cities World】 Gambit

The moment he realized the female cultist before him was likely not human, but an Anomaly "classmate" who had also infiltrated the Three Cities World, Ren Yi reacted instantly.

Without the slightest hesitation, he activated his core ability. A faint, imperceptible wisp of illusion energy quietly sank into the female cultist's brow, planting an illusion seed.

Almost simultaneously, he kicked off the ground with both feet, his body lunging backward and slamming hard against the door behind him!

"Bang—"

The heavy wooden door shattered on impact, wood chips flying everywhere.

Using the momentum of the impact, Ren Yi shot out of the room like an arrow from a bow.

This "classmate" had chosen a devilishly cunning time. Right now, there was no way he could openly reveal his identity to her.

Although the presence watching him had left, there was no guarantee that the Pope hadn't arranged other eyes or cameras nearby.

After all, if even Xin City could maintain a strange level of technology, it wouldn't be surprising if the Holy City had hidden surveillance devices.

If no one was watching through them, the devices themselves wouldn't trigger that "feeling of being watched."

Explain? The risk was too high.

Once his identity as an Anomaly was exposed, it might end with the two of them, hand in hand, being turned into Swiss cheese by the Holy City's guards.

Hint? Even more of a fantasy.

The greatest threat at this moment wasn't the Holy City's eyes, but this "classmate" who had accidentally turned her guns on her own.

Undoubtedly, she had gone to great lengths to infiltrate the heart of the Holy See and disguise herself as this cultist just to get close to him, with the sole purpose of making him trigger her Rules so she could use her ability.

Now, every extra word spoken, every extra glance at her, or even every extra breath of the same air could lead him into the trap of her Rules.

Most E-rank Anomalies were glass cannons. If they triggered each other's Rules, they could accidentally "expose their true form" in the blink of an eye!

If her ability was like Lu Zihan's, where she rushed forward and chopped off his head, he couldn't exactly explain to the Holy City that he was a super-powered Esper who could put his head back on after it fell off.

He could tell himself that, but was the entire Holy City really that stupid?

Why was she taking such a risk?

He had come to play the Son of God because there was enough profit to drive him; but this Anomaly in front of him was risking exposure for an operation that bordered on a terrorist attack. Was it just to challenge herself, or was there some deeper scheme?

From the look of it, her behavior was like someone who had just started a game and, without even gathering their starter gear, took a wooden stick to challenge the final boss.

A classic case of a reckless novice.

But the problem was, Ren Yi wasn't a real tiger; he was just an Anomaly cub wearing a tiger's skin.

No matter. This was the path he had chosen, and he had to see it through to the end.

His primary goal now wasn't to defeat her, but to avoid triggering her Rules.

If the Rules unfortunately took effect, he had to find a way to preserve his "Mo Ming" human skin as much as possible under her ability.

What exactly were her Rules? Ren Yi's mind raced.

Based on current information, it was almost impossible to tell.

Did she need the target to speak a certain number of words? Or did she need to be face-to-face with the target for a certain amount of time?

In any case, considering she had disguised herself as a cultist to enter Ren Yi's room, her Rules likely required two prerequisites:

Being "within the same space" as the target, and most likely "requiring some form of interaction" with the target.

Therefore, Ren Yi planned to run first, putting as much distance between them as possible. Perhaps that would break the trigger conditions for her Rules.

These thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant.

The moment Ren Yi moved, the female cultist "acted" almost simultaneously.

Saying she "acted" wasn't quite accurate, because she didn't actually move; she simply "stared" at Ren Yi with her teeth clenched.

The moment Ren Yi felt his ability take effect, the cultist's eyes in his field of vision suddenly became exceptionally massive, as if they filled the entire world.

This was, of course, just a description; her eyes hadn't actually grown larger.

It was just that her gaze at that moment seemed to have solidified into something physical, like two loaches, carrying a bone-chilling cold as they bored straight into his eye sockets.

As if trying to pry open his eyelids, crush his cerebral cortex, and build a nest to take root inside.

Was her Rule trigger medium "eye contact"?

Ren Yi used the momentum of hitting the door to throw himself backward, his spine slamming heavily onto the corridor floor. At the same time, he twisted his neck, casting his gaze toward the carvings on the ceiling.

The moment their eyes averted, those two gaze-like parasites suddenly lost their target. Like fish out of water, they struggled for a few moments before quickly withering and dissipating.

Her ability execution had failed.

Was it because he was an Anomaly himself and had a certain resistance to her ability? Or was it because the "eye contact" hadn't lasted long enough for the Rules to fully take effect?

Given how desperately she had tried to stall for time earlier, the answer was likely the latter.

Ren Yi scrambled up from the ground, keeping his head down and staring at his toes the whole time to avoid further eye contact with the female cultist.

His illusion had already taken effect, but heaven only knew if her ability would trigger simply by "her eyes seeing him."

By now, the female cultist no longer had the capacity to worry about him.

She stared blankly ahead, her pupils reflecting a twisted scene—the very illusion Ren Yi had planted.

In that split second, Ren Yi hadn't had time to construct a complex illusionary realm. He had simply summoned the scene he found most terrifying, and the one that best identified his status.

Before the "cultist's" eyes, a brilliant, blood-red sunset appeared.