Chapter 962

It’s you again… Weren’t you badly wounded by the Scorpio Director? How can you still cut through my painting?

Watching Philia, trapped in a giant trumpet flower on the canvas, struggling desperately against the slash, Prince André’s expression darkened.

He swept his hand across the sky of the canvas, sealing the cut, then picked up the palette knife, pressed it against the small black figure pulling Philia’s arm out of the flower, and slashed down with a cold, forceful motion!

“Shit!”

Sensing the danger, Leon on the canvas shouted, dodged the knife’s path, then stared in shock at the canvas where the knife had passed—colors now a chaotic mess.

Tch. Annoying bastard.

Watching Leon, who’d instinctively dodged the knife, Prince André frowned and raised the knife again, slashing hard at the canvas.

After the initial shock, Leon, now gray and dusty, seemed to grow accustomed to this strange attack—he twisted and dodged, evading every strike of the knife.

But as the knife fell again and again, more and more color was scraped away, leaving Leon fewer places to dodge, each evasion harder than the last.

When Prince André, face grim, scraped away all remaining escape routes with two swift strokes, then brought the knife down toward Leon at the center, Leon, with no choice, stood his ground and swung his [Silver Cutting Dagger] at the invisible threat before him.

“Clang!”

A sharp metallic ring rang out—Leon’s desperate strike severed half the palette knife clean off, and the force sent it flying from Prince André’s hand, clattering to the floor.

Is this… a god-tier anomaly?

After glancing at Leon’s silver blade, Prince André flexed his numb wrist, then picked up his palette, squeezed out several tubes of paint, and silently began mixing colors.

…

Finally stopped…

After standing still for a moment and realizing the crushing sense of annihilation had not returned, Leon, drenched in cold sweat, let out a long breath.

Though the Scorpio Director got taken out, his judgment was still sharp—Prince André’s ability, which couldn’t even perceive the target or the nature of the attack, was exactly the kind Leon was worst at handling.

Plus, as his contamination level rose and his body strengthened, his sobriety time grew shorter—when he rescued Philia, the [Drunk Immortal] badge on his panel had already dimmed.

If not for the [Silver Cutting Dagger] from Aquarius—capable of slicing through nearly anything—he’d have been erased outright, without the [Drunk Immortal]’s invincibility to save him.

So… I didn’t drink enough!

Taking advantage of Prince André’s pause, Leon gulped down liquor to recharge the [Drunk Immortal], then charged toward the secret room’s door and slashed wildly with the [Silver Cutting Dagger].

I saw it—your soul’s inside! If I can just break into this room… damn!

Watching the secret room’s entrance heal instantly after his slash, leaving not even a crack, Leon’s face darkened, then he spun around and rushed to the giant trumpet flower, yanking Philia out.

“L…Leon!”

Clearly terrified by what she’d just endured, the emerald-eyed girl crawled out, tears welling:

“I was just in Sector 1 Armory, but then sunlight appeared, and a swarm of birds flew out—ah!”

“We don’t have time for your birds!”

Sliding the panicked Philia under his arm, Leon shouted for Frankie to cast his fishing line, yanking the sleeping Scorpio Director over, then binding him face-down on his back and sprinting off.

Though the Scorpio Director did nothing but get himself killed, betray, and stand on the sidelines during this mission—contributing nothing but chaos—his experience and judgment regarding anomalies were still reliable.

And since even a “professional” like him said Prince André’s ability was uniquely dangerous and hard to handle—even getting close was risky—Leon had no choice but to run when he had to.

So decisive?

Watching Leon, after just one slash, abandon the fight entirely and flee with Philia and the Scorpio Director, Prince André frowned, then, ignoring his unfinished paint, raised his brush and slashed horizontally across the canvas, adding a roaring river.

At the instant the brush touched the canvas, a vast, muddy-yellow river surged forth directly in front of Leon and his companions.

Waves crashed, surging and churning.

Towering waves over five meters high, with the force to sweep everything away, roared down toward Leon, making the emerald-eyed girl under his arm scream in terror.

“We’re done for!”

“Not yet!”

Seeing the river, though imposing, looked faint and unstable, Leon took a deep breath, gritted his teeth, and leapt forward with his dagger into the waves, right as Philia screamed.

“Swish!”

With 59 contamination points boosting him, the [Silver Cutting Dagger] in Leon’s hand unleashed terrifying power.

At the instant the blade touched the water, the river—six meters high at its peak, stretching over three hundred meters wide—split cleanly down the center, then collapsed into a flood of muddy yellow paint, splattering across the bomb-ravaged ground.

Enraged by Leon’s slash, the canvas unleashed wave after wave of new attacks—cracks splitting the earth, mountains toppling, tornadoes howling, artillery fire blazing—until a crimson meteor, as large as a mountain, tore through the air with a shriek and plummeted toward them.

But no matter the disaster, the moment it touched Leon’s silver dagger, it split cleanly in two, then instantly shattered into a shower of colored paint.

Such a pain in the ass…

Watching Leon leap up and sever his painted dragon with a single slash of the [Silver Cutting Dagger], Prince André sighed, rose, and walked to the corner easel, taking down [The Royal Banquet].

Holding the incomplete [The Royal Banquet], he returned to the large canvas, cut a section from the path ahead of Leon’s escape, sliced open the edge of [The Royal Banquet], and attached it, then lightly brushed his fingers over the seam.

Swish.

A faint glow flashed and vanished—the one-meter-long cut disappeared instantly; the two paintings merged into one, the joyful banquet replacing the desolate ruins of Sector 1 Research as the canvas’s new center.

At the same moment, Leon, clutching Philia under his arm and carrying the Scorpio Director on his back, suddenly felt the ground vanish beneath him—he tumbled into a lavish pool, crashing with a splash that drenched the surrounding guests.

“?!!!”