Fourth Hundred Sixty-Seventh Parry
Prit, Tivyan.
During the night, inside an enemy warehouse on the outskirts of the southern part of Tivyan, dust and debris from an explosion were dispersing in the air, making it difficult for people to see clearly. All they could see were blurry figures.
Atif was trapped in this haze of dust, his gaze sweeping over the blurred shadows. His eyes were filled with vigilance. He remembered the last words of the “true Hadi” before he died. He was also wary of another imposter among his current subordinates. He knew this was the best time for an ambush.
‘Come… you despicable shapeshifters, let me see who you’re pretending to be…’
Gazing at the three indistinct shadows in the mist, Atif thought to himself. He had his three subordinates firmly in his sights; any movement from them would trigger his immediate reaction. It was absolutely impossible for him to be ambushed easily.
In the dust, Atif waited cautiously. Just as the dust began to dissipate, one of the three shadows suddenly moved, lunging towards him.
‘Here it comes!’
Seeing this, Atif’s heart tightened. He then threw a bone fragment he had prepared earlier. Countless translucent spirits emerged from the fragment, surging toward the shadow attacking him and attaching themselves to its body.
With the combined attachment of over ten spirits, the shadow attacking Atif froze in place. Seizing this opportunity, Atif rushed forward, grabbing the immobilized attacker’s hand and using the power of the extraordinary being soul he was relying on.
Instantly, a layer of frost appeared where Atif held the attacker, rapidly spreading across his entire body. Soon, the attacker’s whole body was encased in ice, unable to move again.
After subduing the attacker, Atif felt a sense of relief. He thought he had finally dealt with the remaining imposter. However, just as he was about to closely examine the subdued attacker, something unexpected happened.
On both sides of Atif, the remaining two figures suddenly sprang up simultaneously, attacking him from both sides. Having just relaxed, Atif was clearly unprepared for this sudden assault. He never expected that after subduing the remaining imposters, his own subordinates would still attack him!
Could all four of his subordinates have been replaced!?
In shock, Atif struggled to dodge the attacks. Despite his efforts, he was still hit due to his lack of preparation. One figure slashed his left shoulder with a curved blade, while another clawed his abdomen. If Atif hadn’t reacted quickly, those blows would have hit his vital spots directly.
Although Atif relied on the soul of an Elementalist, he did not gain the powerful “Stone” defense. This was because using the ability of the soul was incomplete; he could only actively use one ability from the soul he was relying on at a time. Simply possessing the soul of an Elementalist didn’t mean he had all their abilities.
Atif relied on the soul of an Ice Elementalist but could only use ice powers and couldn’t generate stone armor on his skin. Therefore, he couldn’t defend against these two surprise attacks. However, fortunately, the Path of Body Reliance mainly focused on “Silence” with “Cup” as auxiliary spirituality. With “Cup,” he possessed strong vitality, and these two attacks weren’t enough to k*ll him.
Wounded by two heavy blows, Atif coughed up bl**d. He then manipulated dozens of spirits attached to the frost-covered figure, transferring their attachments to the two attackers. Instantly, these figures hesitated, giving Atif a chance to see their faces clearly.
These were the faces of his subordinates he had worked with for years, who had faced various dangers together. In their eyes, Atif saw an anger he had never seen before, a twisted and abnormal rage.
Seeing his subordinates’ distorted anger, Atif would normally feel suspicious. But now, it was different. Seeing his subordinates attacking him, his own rage flared uncontrollably. The desire to k*ll the enemy and protect himself grew wildly within him.
This desire had always been present in his heart but had been suppressed by his calmness. However, especially after being injured, Atif’s mind became chaotic. After losing his composure, his actions were driven purely by desire.
“d*e, imposter!”
Roaring, Atif grabbed the hand claw stuck in his abdomen. White ice began to cover the arm, freezing the wound and stopping the bleeding. Continuing to roar, Atif used the power of second-tier “Cup” to tear off the frozen arm. The thief holding the arm screamed in pain, clutching his wound and falling to one side. Atif raised the severed arm high and smashed it like a war hammer against another thief wielding a curved blade nearby. When the frozen arm shattered, the thief cried out, bleeding from head wounds.
Taking advantage of this moment, Atif grabbed the neck of the thief with the curved blade, crushing it instantly. A spray of bl**d burst forth. As the thief fell, Atif snatched his curved blade and turned, slicing off the head of another one-armed thief rising from the ground.
Finally, amidst the gushing bl**d, Atif killed his three subordinates, leaving himself with two significant wounds. However, fortunately, these injuries were manageable for a second-tier “Cup.”
“Pant… pant… pant… What am I…”
Holding the bloody curved blade, Atif stood among the broken corpses, his eyes wide and red, looking utterly bewildered. Just then, a series of loud bangs interrupted his daze.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
The loud and intense gunshots echoed through the warehouse. Several bullets shot toward Atif. After being hit in the back by the first b*llet, Atif immediately sensed danger and struggled to dodge. He managed to avoid the rest of the bullets when the second one hit his side.
Bleeding from two gunshot wounds, Atif clenched his teeth and used his ability to freeze the wounds, stopping the bleeding. He then looked up toward the direction of the gunfire and saw a familiar figure standing at the entrance. The “true Hadi,” who should have died, was standing there, coldly staring at him. In his hand was an empty revolver, still smoking from the barrel.
“It’s… you!!”
Seeing the “true Hadi” seemingly resurrected at the entrance, Atif’s eyes widened even more. His heart raced violently. Now he realized he had probably been caught in a massive conspiracy from the beginning. The “imposters” he had killed…
“d*e!”
Thinking of the terrifying conclusion, Atif’s rage surged. Filled with immense hatred, he attacked Gregor, manipulating the dozen spirits residing in his two subordinates to charge at Gregor, aiming to possess him.
However, Atif felt his mind become disoriented, and his desire to attack Gregor diminished significantly. This made his control over the spirits unstable, causing half of them to scatter instead of heading toward Gregor. The few spirits that remained were easily handled by Gregor.
Facing the incoming spirits, Gregor pulled out a sigil and two coins, slamming them on the ground. The sigil ignited, and an invisible wave emanated from Gregor, affecting the spirits. They screamed and scattered, none daring to approach Gregor.
This was a spirit repelling sigil, commonly used to deal with large groups of spirits, especially weaker or less controlled ones. It was one of the most frequently used sigils by official extraordinary organizations in various countries when handling paranormal events. According to reports, it could solve eighty percent of ghost-related issues.
Atif’s spirits were not particularly strong individually but relied on sheer numbers for simultaneous possession. Controlling a large number of spirits meant his control over each individual spirit weakened. Combined with his unstable attack desire, the spirits were easily dispelled by the sigil and couldn’t return.
After using the bureau-issued sigil and storage item to drive away the minor spirits, Gregor refocused on Atif. He discarded his empty g*n and pulled out another fully loaded one to sh**t again. But Atif didn’t give him the chance.
Feeling his mental state affected once more, Atif no longer counted on the spirits controlling Gregor. While releasing the spirits, he switched tactics. He withdrew the male warrior soul of the Frost Silence Path and summoned another female spirit resembling a nun, relying on her instead. A faint light circle appeared in his eyes.
Atif relied on the soul of a “Lamp” extraordinary being and activated a small amount of the precious “Lamp” spirituality to use a soul ability called “Focus.” This ability allowed the “Lamp” extraordinary being’s attention to be intensely concentrated on a single point. With focus enabled, his attention became extremely focused, resisting much of the mental interference.
Using the “Lamp” ability, Atif barely managed to counteract the mental influence. The other effect of focus was what he needed.
Aiming at Gregor, Atif lifted his uninjured right hand. From his sleeve, several dark arrows shot out, flying accurately toward Gregor. These were small defensive mechanisms Atif had dismantled from an ancient tomb and modified to use as hidden weapons. The arrows were coated with poison, capable of killing a normal person within seconds. With focus, Atif aimed perfectly.
“Be careful… there are hidden arrows…”
Just as Atif raised his hand, a familiar voice sounded in Gregor’s mind. Hearing the detective’s warning, Gregor immediately abandoned drawing his g*n and dodged sideways. Using the speed of second-tier “Shadow,” Gregor evaded the arrows during their flight. The arrows struck the metal door behind Gregor with a clear metallic sound.
“He relies on the ‘Lamp’ soul. We can’t sh**t at each other. Draw your sword and close in. If he shoots at you, block with your kn*fe.”
“But… his hidden arrows are very fast and hard to see. Can we really block them?”
“Don’t worry, you can. Just do as I say.”
The detective’s words echoed in Gregor’s mind. After a moment’s hesitation, Gregor followed the advice. He abandoned drawing his g*n and instead drew his short sword from his waist, charging at Atif like a swift shadow.
The distance between Atif and the warehouse entrance was around seventy to eighty meters. Although the “Shadow” speed was fast, covering such a long distance took a few seconds. During those seconds, Atif could sh**t several more hidden arrows. Dodging while sprinting was risky and could lead to vulnerabilities.
“Foolish move!”
With focus aiding him, Atif aimed at the charging Gregor and began firing hidden arrows. Tiny poisoned arrows flew from Atif’s sleeve, straight toward Gregor. Gregor tried his best to block with his small kn*fe.
But… due to the difficulty of blocking, this attempt failed. Gregor’s kn*fe narrowly missed the hidden arrow, which flew past and headed straight for Gregor’s eye.
At that moment, a barely noticeable electric arc flashed on Gregor’s kn*fe. Then, the hidden arrow, seemingly attracted by some strange force, turned mid-air and sharply curved toward the metal blade of Gregor’s kn*fe.
With a clink, the metal tip of the arrow adhered to the metal blade. The powerful magnetism in Gregor’s grip drew surrounding metal objects toward it. With Dorothy’s help, Gregor completed the magnetic block!
Continuing his charge, Gregor swung his kn*fe, deflecting all the incoming arrows with a series of clangs. Not a single arrow escaped. Finally, when he reached Atif, he saw the shock in Atif’s eyes.
“How… is this possible…”
With a flash of white light, Gregor sliced through Atif’s throat. In his severely wounded state, Atif had no strength left to resist. Thus, he collapsed where he stood, mortally wounded.
As he fell, he thought, he still couldn’t believe someone could block all his hidden arrows with such skill.
‘Is there truly such a powerful martial artist in this world…’
Witnessing Gregor’s final gaze, Atif muttered this before collapsing to the ground, lifeless.
