Leveling Up by Executing Monsters

Chapter 139: Chapter 139: This Was Unexpected

"Are you satisfied with this ’story’?"

The blacksmith, still in his muscle-bound form, froze on the spot the moment he heard those words.

He stared blankly at the butler who had suddenly appeared before him. The man was impeccably dressed and carried an air of elegance, fitting every image he had for the word ’butler’.

But he seemed to be just an ordinary person—an ordinary person who shouldn’t be here.

"ROAR!"

The blacksmith forced a beast-like roar from his throat. Staring into the butler’s eyes, he activated his [Painful Gaze] while simultaneously swinging his casserole-sized fists from both sides, intending to flatten the butler like a pancake.

The butler didn’t dodge or evade. He simply smiled calmly and said:

"In the next part of the ’story,’ you are nothing but a feeble, helpless wretch."

The moment he finished speaking, the blacksmith felt the strength drain from his outstretched fists, and they fell limply to his sides.

His vaunted [Painful Gaze] failed to take effect. He could only glare impotently at his opponent, a picture of helpless rage.

The inexhaustible Spiritual Power and Physical Strength in his body, the systemic powers he commanded as extensions of his own limbs, all failed in that instant. Even his dense muscles, which could stop bullets, seemed to have been drained of flesh and blood. They withered and shriveled, becoming as fragile as desiccated tree branches.

The blacksmith stared blankly for another moment, then whipped his head around, wanting to confirm the glorious results of his previous rampage.

He vaguely remembered slaughtering to his heart’s content, carving out a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.

But when he looked back, there were only a few corpses on the ground. They wore the blacksmith’s overalls he found so familiar, yet they were mangled beyond recognition, a miserable sight, as if they had been torn apart by hand.

The blacksmith seemed to realize something. He opened his mouth, trying to say something.

But all that came out was a low, meaningless chirp.

Like the sound of a cricket.

As a helpless wretch, it was the only sound he could make.

Then, he saw the butler turn slightly to face a dimly lit patch of shadow. The butler placed a hand on his chest and gave a slight bow.

As if inviting an elegant lady to dance.

From the shadows, a slender, tall lady emerged.

Her entire body was covered in ornate armor. A metal mask shaped like a human face concealed her features, making her appear exceptionally mysterious and elegant.

Her hands were like a pair of sharp swords, her legs like long, slender awls, and her feet were a pair of spears glinting with a cold light. Her entire body was a lethal weapon.

At the butler’s grand invitation, the armored lady began to dance gracefully around him. Her blade-like hands and legs carved shimmering, beautiful, yet deadly arcs through the air.

The blacksmith suddenly felt a cold sensation on his neck, followed by the world spinning violently around him.

In the final moment before his consciousness faded, he saw his own headless body slumping weakly to its knees as a large amount of valuables spilled from his overalls.

And so, a Tier Six powerhouse of the Suffering system met his end within the ’story’.

Only after the blacksmith’s life had completely faded did a sharp intake of breath sound from behind the butler.

"Hiss... So this is a ’story’ from the Manifestation system? It’s truly... bone-chilling..."

Captain Fox spoke as he walked over and prodded the blacksmith’s headless corpse with his foot.

From his perspective, the group of outlaws had just snuck out from behind the bar when they suddenly froze in place.

Then he saw one of them cry out in surrender, only to start vomiting blood until he died.

Next was their leader, who had inexplicably flown into a rage, wasting his Spiritual Power on thin air. Then he turned and began attacking his own companions, twisting their necks and tearing their limbs...

To an onlooker, it was as if he had descended into madness, indiscriminately attacking everything around him, performing a bloody one-man show.

Once he had completely exhausted his Spiritual Power, the butler finally ambled over, stood before him, and whispered something.

The blacksmith immediately froze, deflating like a punctured ball. He could only watch as the man opposite him pulled an armored puppet from the shadows, which then lopped off his head with flashy Swordsmanship.

Captain Fox wasn’t inside the ’story,’ so he didn’t know what plot had unfolded. But what he had witnessed was truly terrifying.

He paused, suddenly realizing his last words might have been inappropriate, and quickly corrected himself:

"My apologies. No offense intended. It’s just my first time working with a powerhouse from the Manifestation system. I’m afraid I overreacted."

"There’s no need for that. I’m quite used to it."

The butler said nonchalantly, giving another elegant bow to invite the armored lady back into the shadows, where she vanished.

Seeing this, Captain Fox added:

"Your power is astounding. This is the first I’ve heard of someone from the Manifestation system mastering both ’story’ and Projection abilities."

According to Captain Fox’s previous encounters with other Manifestation Extraordinary Beings, they would either choose the ’story’ path, which interfered with the human mind and trapped people, making it impossible to escape as they were gradually led toward the ’story’s’ conclusion by the author’s design;

or they would choose the Projection path, which allowed them to project strange and fantastic things from their minds into reality, making them almost identical to the real thing.

Those who chose the ’story’ path excelled at dealing with humans but were largely ineffective against Demons. With their primitive brains, Demons could hardly comprehend concepts like ’plot,’ ’development,’ or ’climax,’ so the abilities naturally had no effect on them.

This was why some chose the Projection path, abandoning mental interference in favor of real-world combat power.

It was said that in the City of Illusion, the stronghold of the Manifestation system, their Sect’s Holy Judgment Court and Saint’s Grace Court followed these two completely different paths, to the point they had almost become separate factions.

As a result, many insiders speculated that humanity’s seventh Saint would likely emerge from the City of Illusion.

Against this backdrop, the butler standing before him, Mr. Randolph, who had mastered both paths, seemed exceptionally rare and powerful.

As Captain Fox secretly mulled this over, he arranged for his subordinates to clean up the scene and perform Spirit Communication. He then used this brief lull to continue his conversation with the butler:

"I never expected our mission here to be so easy. The Manifestation system truly is the most creative. To be able to affect both consciousness and reality at the same time... it must be the only system capable of interfering with both planes, right?

Of course, I’m not counting a half-baked system like Suffering. Their so-called interference with consciousness is just messing with people’s pain receptors."

In Captain Fox’s eyes, the versatile Manifestation system was truly incredible! While his own Veto system wasn’t bad, it focused more on the physical plane and lacked influence over the conscious one.

But the butler disagreed with his assessment and shook his head.

"Manifestation isn’t the only one capable of this. In fact, there’s also the one you’ve been tracking."

"Er... You mean... Twist?"

"Yes. It’s even more powerful and more direct than Manifestation. That is what makes it so terrifying, and it’s also the reason why ’Advisor’ Eske Mir has been pursuing it...

As for Manifestation, it actually has many drawbacks you’re unaware of. It is not an easy path to walk. If you intend to dabble in it, you must consider it carefully."

"Well, I don’t actually plan on dabbling in two systems, I was just making conversation. But in any case, thank you for your help. Things likely wouldn’t have gone so smoothly otherwise."

"You’re too kind. I’m more concerned that things go smoothly elsewhere."

As he spoke, the butler turned and gazed toward the center of Radiant City, as if looking out at the Veto Sanctuary, which was too distant to be seen.

...

It was now approaching 11:00 PM. The entirety of Radiant City was gradually quieting down, slowly drifting off to sleep.

The Advisor was walking alone through the streets of the southern part of the city. To his side was a remote residential district where lights were being extinguished one by one.

This area was near the city outskirts. Aside from the occasional worker just getting off a night shift, there was hardly anyone on the streets.

If he continued south, past an industrial zone, he would be very close to the Eighteenth District.

’My power going out of control must be the influence of Twist. It seems the other dabbler is even stronger than I anticipated. He seized on the opening from a single risky Divination and influenced me in a way I didn’t even realize...’

’After all, the Book of Truth is in his hands... Therefore, I must kill him.’

’Even if... this is a trap...’

The Advisor muttered to himself, hiding his tattooed face within the hood of his trench coat. With his head lowered, he brushed past a few staggering drunks.

These people had been cheerfully boisterous in their drunkenness, but they suddenly fell silent. Then they began scrambling around in a panic, as if they were too drunk to remember the way home.

In the end, they either crashed into a wall or a utility pole, knocking themselves unconscious.

A short while later, a patrolling police officer also brushed past the Advisor.

He shone his flashlight at the Advisor, whose head and face were covered, and then froze.

He was stunned to see that the beam from his flashlight was twisting and distorting as if it were shining into water.

This terrified him. He hastily tried to flee, but ended up smashing his head into someone’s window. Blood poured from the wound, and he fainted.

The Advisor continued walking until he left the last street behind and arrived at a deserted highway.

He could feel it: at the end of this highway was where the other dabbler was.

But he hadn’t expected the other person to appear directly in front of him...

...standing on the other side of the highway, watching him quietly.

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