Chapter 872: The Hidden Trap

Franca had just materialized within the ruins of the wooden hut when she saw Lu Mi's face turn pale, his eyes gradually hollowing out; he had barely avoided becoming a corpse or triggering the "Mirror Double" by offloading the damage onto the "Sword of Courage," while Vazan Sansong, still facing away from Lu Mi, raised his left hand and rapidly condensed within his fist a radiance whose color defied description.

Franca knew she couldn't wait passively for the "Mirror Double" to activate spontaneously—perhaps Vazan Sansong's impending attack could bypass the link between the double and its original, rendering it useless.

But at this distance, neither she nor Jianna nor Anthony could possibly awaken Lu Mi or stop Vazan Sansong in time.

Even if they could, the threat from Higton was more urgent—and it was coming.

At this moment, the closest to Lu Mi and Vazan Sansong was Ludwig, who had just risen to his feet and still had twenty or thirty meters to reach his target.

In a flash of thought, Franca suddenly pulled a mirror from "The Traveler's Satchel," then vanished instantly from her spot.

Using "Black Tear," she appeared within the mirror world, traveling swiftly along a dark, ethereal tunnel toward the distance.

Jianna, left behind, watched the mirror Franca had dropped plummet toward the ground while focusing her attention on Higton, whose face was half-rotted, oozing pus, and had already drawn near.

She felt her released "Witch's" silk threads had all withered and died, useless now.

At that instant, everyone except Ludwig experienced a sudden mental haze.

When Lu Mi, Franca, Jianna, and Anthony regained clarity, they found themselves back inside the wooden hut.

The wooden hut was intact, undamaged, not yet collapsed.

Seeing this, Franca was immediately flooded with intense joy.

Her "desertion" just now hadn't been to save herself alone—it was to trigger the "Man in the Ring" effect, resetting the battle and freeing Lu Mi from Vazan Sansong's secret ability and Jianna from Higton's lock-on!

Even an enemy's ability could be turned to one's own advantage!

Find the trigger point, and when things turn dire, reset immediately—this meant any deadly situation could be retried, provided the trigger was activated in time.

"So you can use an enemy's ability like this…" Jianna had barely blinked when the wooden hut began decaying and collapsing again, revealing Vazan Sansong and Higton approaching from afar.

Lu Mi wasn't surprised—he had deliberately triggered the "Man in the Ring" effect back in Cordu Village, seeking a reset.

He quickly reached into "The Traveler's Satchel," pulled out the "Black Tear" headpiece that had returned to its independent space, and threw it again toward Franca.

Franca shouted quickly:

"Delay!"

She already had a plan for this predicament.

That was to stall and wait for change!

Since they couldn't break Vazan Sansong's "Man in the Ring" in the short term, they might as well exploit it fully—whenever things turned bad, reset immediately, dragging it out again and again until Trier's official forces noticed the anomaly, until the Major Arcana of the Tarot Society thought of a way and drew near.

As long as the dark gods hadn't fully invaded this world, as long as the apocalypse hadn't arrived early, stalling would surely bring help to purify the dark god's followers!

This was Trier, the capital of Intes!

Franca thought this—and acted on it: as she caught the "Black Tear" headpiece, she tossed her "Ice Talisman" to Jianna.

Now three members of the team could attempt to escape the area through different means, triggering the "Man in the Ring" effect—no longer fearing that Vazan Sansong and Higton would lock onto one person and deny them the chance; the margin for error would rise dramatically!

When Franca made her suggestion, Lu Mi was about to retrieve the "Sword of Courage" again, while Ludwig had already charged toward Vazan Sansong on his own.

Lu Mi noticed Vazan Sansong's expression hadn't darkened despite Franca discovering the weakness of the "Man in the Ring" and intending to stall until the end of the Vortex Plan—his face was unchanged from before.

Suddenly, a thought struck him; drawing on his knowledge of the Fated Path, he formed a preliminary judgment:

Vazan Sansong couldn't allow the "Man in the Ring" to cycle infinitely—he likely set a predetermined ending to it, and each reset would draw everyone present closer to that fate until it became utterly unavoidable!

And since memories persisted after each cycle, the Fated power Vazan Sansong had layered onto the "Man in the Ring" wasn't strong—this endpoint couldn't be far off.

Lu Mi immediately warned Franca:

"Only one more trigger!"

In the Fated Path, "three" was a sacred number, rich in mystical symbolism—it represented past, present, and future; beginning, process, and end; and the initial number of abilities granted to the "Chosen One" fluctuated around three. Thus, Lu Mi suspected that after three triggers of the "Man in the Ring," one more reset would propel them toward the inevitable end, beyond reversal.

In other words, three was the limit; the fourth would bring the final outcome—and now, Lu Mi and the others had already triggered the "Man in the Ring" twice.

Franca didn't understand why Lu Mi rejected her proposal, why he claimed they could use the "Man in the Ring" only once more—but she knew Lu Mi understood the Fated Path better than she did; he was the expert here, and she should follow his advice.

Thud!

As Ludwig fell again, Higton—whose facial age spots hadn't yet rotted—slowly raised both arms.

He clearly remembered the previous cycle and chose a different approach this time.

Higton's aura suddenly withered, as if he stood on the very brink of inevitable death, just barely holding on.

His age spots ruptured simultaneously, and his body emitted a powerful stench of decay.

He was swiftly covered in thick, yellowish-green pus—viscous, nauseating.

Then Higton vanished from his spot, seemingly dissolving into countless pathogens.

Seeing this, Lu Mi gripped the "Sword of Courage," and suddenly white flames tinged with blue erupted across his body.

These flames spread rapidly outward, bypassing Franca, Jianna, and the others, shielding them in the center.

Meanwhile, Anthony, who had been observing all along, spoke in a low, grave voice:

"Higton feels just like the 'Winter Is Coming' revolver."

"Winter Is Coming"? Franca and Jianna both tensed.

They remembered clearly: the "Winter Is Coming" revolver had two extremely potent abilities—one was "Certain Death," the other "Certain Hit."

The former meant that if it struck, a Saint-tier adept would suffer severe injury and slowly die, while any adept below a Demigod would die instantly—unless they had a double. The latter meant that unless the target activated a double before the attack, or possessed an even more unique ability, they were destined to be hit—the double would fail.

If Higton truly resembled the "Winter Is Coming" as Anthony said, the two "Witches" must guard against the "Certain Hit" ability—after all, a Witch's physical resilience was certainly inferior to that of a Hunter of the same sequence; if the double failed, even a non-Certain Death attack could cripple them!

Protected within the white-blue flames, Franca heightened her vigilance—and a new idea formed.

She glanced at Lu Mi, who was preparing to charge Vazan Sansong, and quickly told Anthony:

"Assist him!"

"Certain Death!"

Franca meant that while Lu Mi and Ludwig distracted Vazan Sansong, Anthony should seize an opportunity to use the "Certain Death" ability of the "Winter Is Coming" on the Fated believer—to see if he could be killed outright, and whether the "Certain Death" effect would be reset by the "Man in the Ring."

If Vazan Sansong died, the "Man in the Ring" would naturally dissolve—with no lingering threat!

No sooner had Franca finished speaking than a faint yellowish-green glow coalesced behind her, within the white-blue flames, forming Higton, his body covered in thick, nauseating fluid.

The old man had been ignited—but still, his arm lashed out like a whip toward Franca.

"Certain Hit!"

As Franca received a spiritual warning, she immediately activated the "Mirror Double."

Snap!

Her body turned into a mirror, struck by Higton's viscous arm, quickly dimming and shattering, falling to the ground, utterly lifeless—as if buried in soil for centuries.

Meanwhile, Lu Mi, who had been poised to charge Vazan Sansong, suddenly pulled back and swung his "Sword of Courage" toward Higton.

Courage could also be strategic!

After all, Lu Mi wasn't afraid of Higton—he merely feared Higton moving too fast to land a hit, so he'd deliberately feigned an attack on Vazan Sansong.

Boom!

As Ludwig fell again, Higton's arm—too slow to retreat—was severed by a violent explosion and the sharp blade, while the yellowish-green viscous fluid covering his body was entirely engulfed by the white-blue flames.

Snap!

The severed arm hit the ground and writhed, rapidly growing into another Higton.

Now there were two Higtions.

And the white-blue flames covering them were rapidly dimming, withering, and extinguishing!

The two Higtions lunged toward Franca and Jianna respectively.

On the other side, Vazan Sansong, who had intended to amplify one of Franca's fate streams to make her double fail, suddenly sensed a ripple in fate.

He instantly understood:

No more delays—he had to act quickly!

Thinking this, Vazan Sansong frowned.

He didn't want to do what came next—it would be excruciating.

Consider it as accumulating for the "Sufferer" stage… Vazan Sansong raised his right hand and pressed it against his temple, condensing a radiance whose color defied description.

As the source of the "Man in the Ring" effect, he couldn't trigger a reset by leaving the area—that would be a true departure. He could only kill himself.

Seeing this, Franca and the others all felt a jolt in their chests, gripped by a strong sense of dread.

At that moment, the light in Vazan Sansong's hand strangely unraveled, as if its composition had been twisted.

Likewise, the two Higtions missed their targets, and Lu Mi's "Sword of Courage" struck nothing.

The sky darkened instantly, and a solemn voice echoed in the ears of everyone present:

"People of Intes, your Emperor has returned!"

(End of Chapter)