Out of the darkness, a figure slowly emerged.
She wore ordinary hunting attire and a men's hunting cap, holding a walking stick in her hand.
Walking all the way to the fallen Lynch, she turned up her lantern, illuminating her true face.
It was a woman's face, under thirty years old. She was not exceptionally beautiful, but she was easy on the eyes, especially her eyes, which seemed to hold a lazy, indifferent smile that found everything utterly dull.
Dr. Jenna, who was supposed to have been blown to pieces, stood before Lynch once again.
“Cough, cough...”
Lynch looked up, locking eyes with Dr. Jenna for a few seconds. He tried to move, but it triggered a fit of coughing. After struggling to catch his breath for a moment, he let out a helpless, bitter smile.
Every illogical doubt was now explained. Dr. Jenna had never been unprofessional. Quite the contrary, she had very professionally acted out the part of an archaeologist who died after being caught in an ambush.
I really didn't want it to be you. I would rather you were actually dead.
Lynch sighed softly, groaning in a weak voice, “So it really was you. I should have realized. Actually, I caught a glimpse of your authorities before—Styx, netherfire, cold. You're a Soul Severer of the God of the Underworld, aren't you? A rank four Soul Severer. That means you had one more authority you hadn't shown yet. It must be death. Those Hands of Death were actually summoned by you.”
Dr. Jenna said softly, “Yes. You truly are Rhine City's famous detective. Although you're still a step too late, at least you understand everything now.”
“Unfortunately, it's all hindsight,” Lynch said bitterly. “So you were the one orchestrating everything from behind. Karl Jones foolishly believed he had successfully bought you over, but he was actually just another pawn of yours. You were the one who knew how to summon Glaaki.”
“But I don't understand. How are you not dead? Everyone saw it happen back then.”
“That was little Karl's clone,” Dr. Jenna explained with a faint smile. “Before he placed me on the coffin, he used his clone to swap places with me. He helped me a lot with this setup, and I was quite reluctant to kill him. He was a very good partner. I really wished I could have kept him around until the very end.”
Dr. Jenna smiled faintly and explained in a soft voice, “But it couldn't be helped. Who told him to get so carried away and threaten to leak my existence? Exposing me too early would have prevented me from driving a wedge of suspicion between you and Judy. I wasn't confident I could win if the two of you teamed up, so I had to send him on his way first.”
“Just until the very end?” A hint of sarcasm appeared in Lynch's weak smile. He shook his head. “He was still going to die in the end. But was there really a need to be in such a rush? If you didn't want to stop the ritual, you could have completely waited until the item was in hand before turning on each other.”
The doctor sighed. “What did you think the so-called ritual was?”
Lynch's expression shifted as he realized something.
“Only I know the actual details,” Dr. Jenna said. “Six sacrifices on the inside and six on the outside must slaughter each other. For every pair that dies on both sides, their souls will stabilize the connection between the two halves. Once five pairs have died, a stable connection will be established. Only then can the replica gem be used as a bridge to bring the mirror into the mortal world. That is the true ritual. Actually, I also quite enjoyed the days we spent drinking, chatting, and planning our moves in the recreation room. Those two-odd weeks at Riverside Manor were truly happy. But that was a dream destined to end, and now it's time to wake up. Some things must be done.”
Dr. Jenna knelt on one knee beside Lynch, gently caressing his face—which still belonged to Selene—and leaned down to plant a light kiss. “When you risked your life carrying me on your back to regroup, I was truly touched. But... I'm sorry.”
With that, she suddenly stood up. Her walking stick shot out like lightning, piercing deep into his chest and pinning him to the ground.
Under the intense pain, Lynch let out a miserable shriek. His weakened body struggled feebly, but like a butterfly pinned as a specimen, he could not break free.
With blood foaming at the corners of his mouth, feeling the tearing sensation in his chest, Lynch forced down the urge to writhe and struggle. He gritted his teeth and said, “Why... Didn't Karl buy you over? Why are you still doing this?”
“You don't understand. None of you understand.” Dr. Jenna did not let her guard down in the slightest. She pulled out the walking stick and stabbed down again, leaving a second fatal, bloody hole in Lynch. With red-rimmed eyes, she whispered, “My daughter, Louise... is already gone.”
Lynch's mind reeled. At the final moment of his life, he finally understood everything. Struggling, he said, “Wake up... What the mirror copies is just a soulless puppet. You can't use it to resurrect your daughter.”
“Shut up!” Dr. Jenna pierced Lynch's chest a third time, this time straight through his heart. Her voice choked with tears as she said in agony, “I know! I don't care! I just want my Louise to be able to run and jump, to call me mother once more. For Louise, I am willing to do anything!”
Saying this, Dr. Jenna suddenly pulled hard on the handle of her walking stick, revealing a hidden dagger inside. Without giving Lynch any chance at all, she slashed it forcefully across his throat.
With half his neck severed, blood sprayed from his throat like a fountain. Lynch let out a few gurgling noises, his limbs twitching, before the light completely faded from his eyes, and his breathing stopped.
“I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Forgive me.”
Her hands covered in blood, a choking Dr. Jenna wiped the tears from her face. She pulled out the walking stick, and holding the blood-stained dagger, she stood back up. When she did, her eyes were filled with absolute determination. “Louise, Louise, Mommy is coming to save you. Just wait for Mommy.”
With that, the doctor walked straight toward Judy's corpse. Only by carefully delivering a finishing blow to everyone could she ensure everything went smoothly.
Taking a few steps to Judy's side, the doctor suddenly felt there was something wrong with Judy's corpse.
She had seen her pierced three times by Lynch just now and was certain she was dead, but looking at her now, the amount of blood coming from her chest was far too small. She should have bled profusely like Lynch.
Was there a problem?
The moment the thought crossed Dr. Jenna's mind, she saw Judy suddenly open her eyes and smile at her.
???
The doctor froze. Suddenly, a sharp pain flared in her chest. A jagged, pitch-black cane pierced through her back like a sword, erupting from her chest, cleanly and decisively skewering Dr. Jenna's heart.
It was Lynch Levive, still in disguise.
With three gaping holes in his chest and one hand supporting his head, which was tilted to the side, Lynch appeared behind her like a bizarre zombie, silently delivering the stab from behind.
【Authority, Death, Ability, Death Veto】
Within one minute, even exploding on the spot wouldn't kill him.
Only by presenting the most realistic death could he buy a moment of carelessness from his opponent. A rank two against a rank four—this was his only chance.
Blood's Temptation stabbed three times in rapid succession, each strike piercing through her chest with lightning speed. By the time Dr. Jenna realized what was happening, her chest had already been skewered three times, and her life force had already flowed into Lynch's body along Blood's Temptation as it was withdrawn three times.
With the three attacks, the wounds on Lynch's body healed at a speed visible to the naked eye. After a few seconds, he didn't even need to hold his neck to keep his head straight. Meanwhile, Dr. Jenna stood frozen in place, staring blankly at the fatal wounds that had suddenly appeared on her.
“I'm sorry, Doctor.” Lynch had already retreated a few steps to put some distance between them. Touching his fully restored neck with lingering fear, he sighed softly. “This was a grand gift the two of us agreed to present to the mastermind. I really didn't want the recipient of this gift to be you. But unfortunately... I'm sorry.”
Dr. Jenna was already pale, yet she shook her head with a gentle expression. Clutching her bleeding chest, she stumbled toward the main tomb chamber.
One step, two steps, three steps...
Her trembling body finally collapsed, completely devoid of life. Her clenched hand loosened, and the tightly held Flaming Red Lips rolled out of her palm.
Number of deaths: five. Number of survivors: two.
Lynch walked over and picked up the gem. Looking at the ruined main tomb chamber, he suddenly felt physically and mentally exhausted.
The ritual was finally over. Or, to be precise, the ritual was finally about to begin.
Rate on N.U.
