On Lightless Street, Victor was lurking at the entrance of a dark alleyway, quietly observing the street from behind the corner of a wall.
The north wind howled, whipping against Victor's face and making him shudder.
Strange, it didn't seem this cold just a moment ago...
Sigh, I hope this ends quickly...
He calculated the approximate time and figured the Saintess should be arriving soon.
Exhaling a breath of turbid air, he composed himself and stared intently at the end of the street, ready to act at any moment.
Five minutes passed...
Ten minutes passed...
Half an hour passed...
Victor gradually grew anxious.
Didn't they say the target would appear at this time? Why isn't there even a shadow of her yet?
The black-robed man who had met with him earlier had solemnly promised that he had performed a divination and that absolutely nothing would go wrong.
Speaking of that black-robed man, Victor also found him a bit strange.
His memory of meeting the black-robed man was always blurry, as if shrouded in a thick mist. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't recall the man's general silhouette, nor could he remember what exactly the man had promised him that made him accept this commission.
But the task commissioned to him was indeed simple: just frighten the Saintess to fully fill the spiritual item in his hand—the “Urn of Dread”—and ignore the rest.
Of course, he didn't want to get too involved anyway. If he really couldn't finish it, he would just flee. After all, he was a Rank One Mirror Hermit of the Hermit pathway. As long as he wanted to hide, no one would be able to find him.
While he was lost in thought, a petite figure appeared at the street corner not far away, walking toward the alley.
Victor knew his target had arrived.
He activated his concealment ability. First, his upper body turned transparent, and then his entire body vanished completely, leaving behind only a series of footsteps that slowly closed in on the girl.
“Tap, tap-tap!”
A strange sound echoed. The girl seemed to notice something; her steps faltered slightly. But she didn't look back. Instead, she nervously clutched her holy scriptures with both hands and quickened her pace.
Heh, this Saintess of the Church of Life is truly foolish. She didn't even bother to disguise herself before swaggering into a place like this. Victor shook his head, though he secretly rejoiced. At this rate, the Urn of Dread should be filled in no time.
With this in mind, Victor continued forward, deliberately keeping his footsteps at a specific frequency.
“Tap, tap-tap!”
The footsteps followed neither too fast nor too slow, but the girl seemed to grow panicked. She gradually transitioned from walking to running, and finally to a full sprint.
Huff... puff... Along with her rapid breathing, her steps became increasingly chaotic.
“Tap, tap-tap!”
By now, the footsteps were even closer to the girl. At first, they were six or seven meters away, but they quickly closed to three or four meters, and finally, they were right behind her!
“Ah!”
Overcome by intense anxiety, the girl tripped over a pebble on the road, scraping her knee and leaving a long, bloody scratch.
Perhaps driven by the footsteps behind her, the girl repeatedly tried to push herself up to keep running. Yet, seemingly out of sheer terror, she would collapse back down heavily the moment she got halfway up, her legs giving out.
In the end, she could only slump on the ground, curling her body in utter despair.
“Hehe, as expected of a Saintess pampered by the church. Her mental fortitude is pathetic; she falls apart from just a little scare.”
Looking at the girl's terrified expression, Victor smiled disdainfully and casually pulled out the Urn of Dread to take a look.
To his surprise, however, it was completely empty, without a single trace of black substance inside.
Huh? What's going on? No fear was generated?
Confused, Victor glanced sideways. The girl still looked thoroughly terrified and helpless.
Strange. She doesn't look like she isn't feeling fear at all... Could this spiritual item be broken?
No, let's try again.
With that thought, he began circling the girl, exerting pressure at close range to generate more fear.
“Tap, tap-tap!”
The footsteps echoed continuously around the girl, sometimes close, sometimes far, incredibly eerie.
The girl could only sit there shivering, not daring to move.
Just as the girl's mind was on the verge of collapsing, a dagger suddenly flew out from the void, grazing her cheek and drawing a few drops of blood!
The girl seemed unable to react at first, freezing for a few seconds before finally feeling the stinging pain on her cheek. She gently wiped her face, and upon seeing her fingers stained crimson, her body began to tremble uncontrollably.
Seeing this, Victor once again pulled out the clay pot with satisfaction.
This should definitely do it!
He peered inside with great anticipation, but it was still completely empty...
Huh? This can't be right!
Victor's eyes widened in disbelief. He even reached his hand inside to feel around, but when he pulled it back, there was still nothing.
How could this be...
Victor stared in bewilderment at the girl ahead. She still had her head lowered, her hands covering her mouth, her shoulders trembling, and faint tears even glistening in the corners of her eyes.
This makes no sense. She's scared out of her wits...
Victor racked his brain but still couldn't find an explanation.
Could she actually be acting?
The absurd thought suddenly crossed Victor's mind, but he quickly dismissed it.
How is that possible? Setting aside how realistic her reaction was, how could she have known I would ambush her at this exact moment?
And if that were true, she might even know my actual goal.
It's too illogical.
While he was wondering, the girl ahead slightly raised her head, her gaze passing through his body and landing behind him.
He turned around as well, only to see a pigeon flying straight at him, crashing hard into his chest.
Victor's concealed figure instantly materialized.
“Fuck, whose pigeon is this?!” Victor cursed, his composure breaking.
After the collision, the pigeon casually perched on a nearby railing, its back turned to him as if in deliberate provocation.
Fuming with rage, Victor lunged to grab it, but the pigeon immediately took flight, circled in the air for a bit, and landed right back where it was, even tilting its head to preen its wings.
Victor grew even more furious. He tried again, but the pigeon seemed to have an all-seeing eye, predicting his every move, making it impossible to catch.
Does it have eyes in the back of its head?!
How does it manage to dodge perfectly every single time?!
But this brief distraction made him realize another, more pressing matter.
Right, that girl seems to have seen me...
His heart skipped a beat at the thought. He hurriedly turned around, only to find the girl staring at him without blinking.
Victor was startled, but he quickly came to a decision.
“Since I'm exposed, I'll just dispose of her and run.”
Walking over to where the dagger had fallen, he was about to bend down and pick it up when the pigeon, as if on cue, swooped in and slammed into him again.
Victor could no longer suppress his rage. He raised his dagger and stabbed fiercely at the pigeon, but he missed again, which only infuriated him further.
Howl!
An icy wind swept in from behind Victor, carrying tiny ice crystals that landed on his right shoulder.
Thinking it was just normal weather, Victor ignored it and continued trying to deal with the pigeon.
But before long, he noticed something was off. He felt a bone-chilling cold suddenly emanate from his right shoulder.
Looking down, he discovered a layer of frost had already coated his shoulder, with tiny ice crystals rapidly multiplying as if taking root there!
Stiffly turning his head, he saw a woman with long, icy-blue hair standing not far away, her gaze piercingly cold. A vast domain of ice had already expanded around her!
His target was currently lying in a bed of ice crystal flowers, sleeping peacefully.
“Do you have anything else to say?” the woman asked, slightly raising her chin in a cold tone.
Victor took a sharp step back, filled with shock and suspicion.
Is this... a Witch from the Northern Territory? And a Rank Three Elemental Mentor at that! When did she get here?!
Sensing trouble, he secretly activated his intangibility, ready to flee at any moment. On the surface, however, he remained calm and said,
“My lady Witch, I do not know how I have offended you. I only wished to frighten the Saintess of the Church of Life to teach her a small lesson. Yes, that is all. This should have nothing to do with your High Tower Council, right?”
“I didn't even have any intention of killing the Saintess,” he quickly added.
“Heh, you speak quite politely now. Where did all that arrogance in your letter go?” the woman sneered.
“Huh? What?”
Victor's mouth fell open, finding her words completely baffling.
However, the woman did not deign to reply. She simply extended a hand.
In an instant, countless icicles materialized around Victor, densely packing the air, their sharp tips pointing directly at him!
The cold radiating from the icicles washed over Victor, causing his body to shudder as his temperature plummeted rapidly.
Knowing he couldn't escape, Victor forced his half-frozen body to move, quickly activating his intangibility. Gripping his dagger, he charged toward the woman!
Ice spikes shot toward his body, but they merely created ripples as if entering water, passing straight through him and piercing the ground.
Clang, clang, clang!
In a flash, Victor reached the woman. He raised his dagger and stabbed forward abruptly.
But the moment the tip of the dagger touched her, she instantly shattered into a shower of ice crystal fragments, clattering crisply onto the ground.
At the same time, frost rapidly spread along the dagger, freezing it solid in an instant, and was about to creep all the way up his arm.
Victor hastily threw the dagger aside, threw himself sideways to break through the encirclement of icicles, and immediately fled into the distance.
Watching the man's retreating figure, Ignis merely smiled indifferently. She turned around, lifted Celia from the ice patch, and quickly departed.
Howl!
Victor was still sprinting down the street, but he realized he couldn't shake off the cold wind and frost behind him. No matter where he went, they followed, and a thin layer of ice had already formed beneath his feet.
He felt his body gradually stiffening, his consciousness growing increasingly hazy due to the progressive hypothermia.
Forcing his body forward with the last remnants of his mental strength, he gritted his teeth and cursed,
“Damn it! What is wrong with that Witch?! Why is she so hell-bent on killing me?!”
“Where on earth did I offend her?!”
The further he ran, the heavier his steps became. Yet, the confusion in his mind kept pouring out like water from an opened sluice gate.
A letter... When did he ever send her a letter? And why did that Witch happen to show up at that exact moment?!
The mounting confusion and spreading hypothermia eroded his mind. Finally, unable to support his swaying body any longer, he collapsed with a heavy thud.
At that exact moment, the ice crystals growing wildly on Victor's right shoulder turned into icicles, piercing into his neck...
Rate on N.U.
