Chapter 28
Verlaine created some distance, dodging the gaps between the incoming gravel and resting on a street lamp that hadn't completely sunk. He then used [gravity manipulation] to throw a few pebbles he'd picked up at Ivan, but they were all knocked down by the same move.
Before the golden torrent of sand arrived, Verlaine changed positions once again.
These few tricks for manipulating earth and rocks might cause some trouble for his assassination plan, but not to the point of being insurmountable.
Since there was no place to land on the ground, and he didn't want to completely leave the battlefield, the best place to land was—
Near the enemy!
The young man with long silver hair remained calm and composed, seemingly very confident in the gravel defense that surrounded him at high speed.
Beside the other side was still solidified, hard earth.
Verlaine's gaze was fixed on that spot.
If his long-range attacks are blocked by those boulders, then he can fight in close combat.
As long as one is a superhuman, one is still just a mortal being. In physical close combat, there is no reason for him to lose.
As for the dozens of conglomerate rocks surrounding Ivan, Verlaine didn't even notice them.
He couldn't deflect all the fine sand the moment it touched his skin, so surely he could handle these large stones too?
With a slight push from the soles of his shoes on the streetlights, the instant anti-gravity boost transformed him into a pale shooting star. In almost half a breath, he traversed the vast swamp and the gaps in the gravel defenses, arriving beside Ivan.
He had now also occupied a place on that small, hard patch of land.
Even when the rapidly spinning conglomerate finally arrived late under its master's command, it would immediately disintegrate upon contact with Verlaine's body, and the fragments would fall straight to the ground with gravitational potential energy that defies the laws of physics.
The gravel was left far behind him and couldn't catch up in time.
The battle situation was constantly changing, and every turn of events could happen in an instant. Just as Verlaine was about to touch Ivan with his outstretched hand, imminently inflicting a terrifying gravity upon him that would surely kill him—
In the next instant, the rocks at Ivan's feet rose and bulged rapidly, seemingly intending to encase him in a solid fortress, even if it meant losing his view of the battlefield and only giving him a moment to hold out from Verlaine's attack.
"Thank you for providing me with such a useful tool."
Verlaine gently pressed his five fingers on the heavily fortified defenses before him.
That was his real purpose in getting close to Ivan earlier—to lure him into using a more robust defensive skill and to lose sight of him.
His assassination target was always Sartre Bernhardt.
The spindle-shaped fortress before him was tall enough and had a higher Mohs hardness. If he applied enough gravity, it would be no problem to shatter the artificial hill not far away.
Even those protected within the hill will die.
He had originally intended to spare everyone except Sartre Bernhardt, but now it seems there's no way to do so.
Verlaine tightened his fingertips slightly, and a dark membrane spread from his body, extending beyond his fingertips.
boom--!
The hill formed by the rocky hand was violently pierced by the enormous kinetic energy, producing a loud and dull impact sound, and the rocks shattered one after another until gaps were revealed at the front and back.
Inside the empty hill, a crushed car was visible, with several figures lying haphazardly inside, their original shapes no longer discernible.
No matter how you look at it, the assassination target was already beyond dead.
"…………"
But Verlaine did not relax.
Not only did he not relax, but the corners of his mouth tightened, and the emotions surging in his eyes grew even colder.
He wasn't a low-level assassin; he wasn't so incompetent as to not be able to distinguish whether those corpses were real or fake—he didn't smell any blood.
Ivan, who was originally hiding in the defensive rock fortifications, has also disappeared.
Verlaine, a rock manipulation psychic who could come up with such a trick, did not believe that he would be fooled and lose his life by such a scheme.
The large swamp at his feet and the countless golden pebbles that were about to stick to his body did not automatically disappear with the death of the ability user.
That means the other party is not dead yet.
"Look how happy I am—I have been entrusted with such a perfect script, which is being performed one by one according to the master's will."
A soft, aria-like chant arose from nowhere, and the silver-haired youth's body gradually emerged from the stone wall of the artificial hill, limbs, head, torso—another Ivan appeared before Verlaine, completely unharmed.
"...a doll made of clay."
Verlaine, having dodged the sand once more, narrowed his light-colored iris-like eyes and succinctly revealed the opponent's new move.
"Correct answer."
Ivan possesses a special ability called [Cliff], which allows him to manipulate all forms of earth, rocks, and stones on the ground. Naturally, he can also mold clay figures that resemble a certain human being.
Ivan also knew how to use visual obscuring, and he succeeded in the switch right from the start—the moment his hand slammed down, the car and its passengers were automatically transported to safety by the earth that collapsed into the tunnel.
It felt a bit like going through a tunnel. When their vision cleared again, they could see Ye Yihe standing in front of them.
"I thought you finally dared to confront me head-on... Turns out you're just cunning rats."
Verlaine waved his hand and tossed a pebble at me, saying, "You are still a clay figure to me."
This time, no gravel was used for defense. Before the doll Ivan was shattered by the pebble, it smiled at him cooperatively.
Continuing to fight is pointless; his target is no longer here.
And the real thing is nowhere to be found, so searching for it would be a waste of time.
"I'm glad you've finally seen this clearly."
The liquefied swamp and the golden torrent of gravel were both dispelled, and another puppet, Ivan, gracefully emerged from the rock wall. "Of course, I know that Mr. Verlaine has never failed in assassination. Even if I thwarted you this time, there will be a next time, and the time after that."
"Besides, Mr. Verlaine, who no longer needs to ask him for information, will no longer patiently use a false identity to approach him indirectly and look for an opportunity to interrogate the target—you also did something like directly storming the government office building."
Verlaine's gaze was indifferent, but he remained silent, tacitly acknowledging that everything Ivan said was correct.
"Therefore, my master would like to make a deal with you."
Ivan held up his index finger. “The Secret of the Gentle Forest. In exchange for the contents of this document, I'll grant you your permission not to harm Sartre Bernhardt and his family, and to offer a small favor.”
"...Do you know what's inside?" Verlaine narrowed his eyes dangerously.
Those who can manipulate him will not be allowed to remain in this world.
No, we don't know yet.
Ivan smiled, placed his hand on his chest, and gave a slight bow. "But please trust the intelligence-gathering capabilities of the 'Rats in the House of the Dead,' Mr. Verlaine. It's definitely more efficient than you doing it alone. After all,"
"Rats are everywhere."
"…………"
Verlaine remained silent, weighing the situation in his mind for a long time.
"I didn't know that the [Demon] would make such a deal with me in order to protect a stranger,"
He spoke before turning to leave.
“Tell your master that the deal has a time limit—before my patience runs out.”
Ivan smiled and watched him disappear from sight.
The assassination attempt was halted, and Verlaine abandoned the mission for the first time—temporarily.
Ye Yihe didn't get to see Ivan return because his inner friend, Xiao Ai, immediately set off fireworks to celebrate.
[Congratulations, host, for resolving the incident. Resurrection Points +100.]
"Eh..."
Before Ye Yihe could even speak as he thanked the Sartre Bernhardt family, the body had already switched back to its true owner.
...Herbal plants, every time the body is so suddenly affected, he was originally waiting for Ivan to come back and praise his tactical arrangements, bullfrog bullfrog!
After all, he's been good at fighting since he was a child.
[Xiao Ai, I'm reporting you...]
—In the final moments before falling into a deep sleep, Ye Yihe's inner voice echoed within his consciousness.
"…………"
Right now, no one knows that the body in front of them has been replaced with a different core.
Dostoevsky stood before the Sartre Bernhardt family, who showered him with praise and gratitude for his help, and instead of asking questions, he remained silent, lost in thought and recollection.
Why...did he save these people?
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