The masked man thrusted the knife forward. Suddenly, he heard the splitting sound of the air. The masked man snapped his head toward its direction and saw Lycan lunging at him with its mouth opened wide.
This vessel was not as powerful as the last vessel. It had a very agile body and silent movement. But it didn’t have any magic or combat skills at all. The masked man couldn’t dodge quickly enough and Lycan jumped on his body.
Its mouth tore apart a large piece of the masked man’s shoulder. Blood curved in the air like a fountain.
The masked man stumbled backwards and fell on his butt.
The assassin’s knife pierced through the chest of the masked man. Pain flooded his brain. Even though this was merely a puppet he controlled, he still felt it clearly.
The masked man turned his head back to see Siderius’ cold eyes staring back at him.
"You? You were never asleep did you?"
"Smart guess." Siderius pulled the assassin’s knife out and thrusted into the masked man a few more times.
The masked man vomited out blood. The blood soaked his mask and went into his nose.
Siderius shoved the man onto the floor and removed his mask. It was Jerald, one of the victims of the Nightmare Phantom. Somehow, the masked man was able to get a hold of him and controlled Jerald.
"As I suspected, this was no coincidence."
Jerald laughed out loud. Blood gushed out of his nostrils.
"You kill another one of my puppets. So what? I remember this, white witch. We shall face each other again."
Magic within his veins bubbled up. The Schizomancer was trying to destroy his puppet again, similar to what he had done in the woods.
"Again? No. We won’t be facing each other again. I’ll be coming for you. Better run, little nightmare."
Siderius grinned from ear to ear. He opened his left palm. On it was a small alchemical seal that the puppet had not noticed before. The seal lit up in yellow, the power of the Exorcism Salt.
"What are you doing?!"
Jerald’s body lit up, seemingly wanting to explode into a thousand pieces. But Siderius was not going to let him do that. His palm struck precisely on Jerald’s forehead. The yellow salt turned into a faint barrier that enveloped the entire body of Jerald.
The magic connection between him and the Schizomancer was severed.
Jerald’s head fell on the floor, losing his consciousness.
Then Siderius took out a handful of pyrite and dropped it on Jerald’s chest. He made another Soul Connection Seal, leading him to the location of the Schizomancer.
A faded orange strand appeared in the air, leading to the outside.
Siderius snapped his head toward Lycan and whistled. The wolverine quickly ran toward him and climbed on his shoulder.
The two dashed out of the estate in a rush, following the orange line leading to afar.
Outside the estate, Jeffrey the butler suddenly held his head. Joyce saw him and tried to support him from falling.
"Are you alright, Jeffrey? Is something wrong?" Joyce expressed her concern. Fınd the newest release on 𝗇𝗈𝗏𝖾𝗅•𝖿𝗂𝗋𝖾•𝗇𝖾𝗍
She could see the beads of sweat rolling on Jeffrey’s head and the pale color of his face. He looked like he just saw a ghost.
Jeffrey shook his head and pushed Joyce away from him. The butler turned and ran as quickly as he could.
"What is up with him?" A soldier saw the commotion and asked Joyce.
She shrugged. "I don’t know. Maybe he is tired."
Siderius jumped out of the window and landed on the ground outside. The orange strand reached out to the group of people, leading to the butler that was running away.
"Lord Siderius! Is there anything wrong?" The commander stepped forward and asked.
Siderius pointed at the butler. "Stop that man! He is a traitor!"
All the people turned his head toward Jeffrey. The butler didn’t stop and kept running. That told them all they needed to know.
"Guards! Seize him!" The commander shouted.
Joyce and Anna ran away from the scene. They couldn’t do anything in this chaotic situation.
"Curse you all! You think you can catch it?"
Jeffrey turned his back and threw what looked like a dark piece of paper. The paper bolted to the group of soldiers and released a shockwave of dark winds that knocked all of them off balance.
Siderius ducked to the side, precisely avoiding the winds.
"Caterina’s magic? So you have planned this for a very long time." Siderius said.
He turned to Lycan. The Wolverine knew what to do and jumped off his shoulder, chasing Jeffrey. Siderius ran right beside it. The man and the beast both chased after the traitor.
"To me!" Jeffrey roared.
Suddenly, the eyes of a few soldiers turned white. They stood up mechanically and blocked Siderius’ path.
The vengeful hunter grabbed Lycan at the nape of the Wolverine and flung it over the group of soldiers.
"Keep him busy. Do not let him run away."
The Wolverine did a salute in mid-air before rolling its body to soften the landing. It continued to rush at Jeffrey whose face was pale as paper.
"This stupid beast again!"
The soldiers rushed at Siderius. He pulled out two knives and held them in each of his hands.
The longer, more durable hunter’s knife in his right hand. The shorter, more deadly assassin’s knife in his left hand.
The soldiers came in with murderous intention.
With the new perception, Siderius was able to see even the tiniest creaks in their armor. He could hear the jingling of the chain armor underneath and saw the heavy footprints each of them left behind.
His perception had lost its mediocrity and became exceptional within the human confine.
Siderius was able to estimate the speed of each soldier based on the depth of their footprints on the muddy terrain. His eyes noticed the weaknesses in their armor.
Siderius flipped the assassin’s knife in his left hand and held it in an icepick grip.
The first soldier approached him. He slammed the poleaxe at Siderius.
The vengeful hunter simply stepped back, allowing the poleaxe to strike the ground and sticking into the mud. Before the soldier could react, Siderius stepped forward.
His first strike used the hunter’s knife, slicing into the thin body of the poleaxe and broke the wooden pole in two.
The soldier stumbled backward. Siderius lowered his body and dashed beside the soldier. He spun his body and stabbed the assassin’s knife into the back of the soldier’s knee where no armor was protecting him.
The soldier groaned in pain and fell down. He was neutralized. With that broken knee, the soldier was no longer a threat.
A second soldier came at Siderius from behind. Siderius flipped the assassin’s knife back into the normal grip. He spun and used two of the knives to deflect the poleaxe to the side.
Siderius then closed the distance and lunged at the soldier. His knee came flying into the exposed jaw of the soldier. A crisp crack echoed in the environment and the second soldier fell to the ground.
There were still six or seven soldiers under the influence of the Schizomancer. But they were released from the control when Lycan lunged at Jeffrey and began clawing at his face.
The scream of Jeffrey was heard everywhere in the courtyard. Joyce and Anna forgot to breathe and watched everything attentively.
"You goddamn beast! Get off me!"
Jeffrey did not have the Mystics Eyes like one of his puppets. He couldn’t do anything except wrestling with Lycan like an ordinary human.