The Righteous Player(s)

Chapter 281: Nightmare: The Great Hunt, Cleared!

Dusk was over, and the sky quickly turned dark.

The fireworks in the sky replaced the sunset.

These fireworks would continue until the end of the dinner.

This was a sign that the birthday banquet was about to start and that guests were to be seated.

It was also a universal ritual. Just like how lighting candles at the dining table or brightening one’s house with lights could be regarded as ‘purifying’ with the usage of ‘light’; how decorating one’s house with art could be regarded as protecting ‘nobles’ with ‘art’.

A grand firework show could simultaneously satisfy the regions of three upright deities, “light”, “art” and “fire,” to receive blessings from the upright deities: Mr. Ray, the Elegant Elder, and Father Flint.

This universal custom was quite practical. But in fact, that was exactly what it was for. It was more about seeking peace of mind.

Fireworks also weren’t complicated alteration products.

If the patterns and colors were not particularly complicated, the difficulty for its alteration was even lower than that of the Black Fire. Therefore, the fireworks price could also be considered low— at least in the Alteration school, it could be regarded as cheap.

Therefore, when carrying out some major events, fireworks were always essential.

The explosives used to “unveil the curtain” were hidden in the fireworks this time.

The goal of these explosives was not to kill or injure anybody. The main purpose was to start a fire… The purpose of starting a fire was to cause panic.

If the goal were to cause panic immediately, one would not choose to cause an explosion at the start of the fireworks show.

Since it was Henry VIII’s 80th birthday, the 80th firework was the only giant firework. After it started, the band would soon begin to perform.

The moment the fireworks painted the sky…

Everyone turned their attention to the fireworks.

Annan clenched [Miss Quiet] tightly.

He suddenly jumped out of the seat.

Noticing Annan’s actions, Philip turned his head inadvertently.

—He then saw a pair of gray pupils.

A strong sense of indolence rose in Philip’s heart unreasonably.

Annan’s body suddenly melted. A tall, black-haired, and black-eyed middle-aged man jumped out of Annan’s body!

Philip Noah had quick reflexes, and he immediately realized something was wrong.

At that moment, his eyes were full of fear. But Annan was slightly taken aback by the fact that Philip had broken free from the [Slothful Eye] effect in less than two seconds!

Is he a Transcended? The thought flashed through Annan’s mind.

The moment Philip opened his mouth, Annan had already drawn the gun and pulled the trigger simultaneously.

Annan was unsure if the [Death Declaration] he made before was still valid after such a long time. If it was no longer valid, firing it in Kafni’s skirt could likely injure Kafni.

Thankfully it still worked.

The bullet had not left its chamber, yet it had pierced Philip’s chest. The excruciating pain caused his body to lose its ability to escape.

Annan stuck out his right hand to grab Philip’s neck and crushed it!

He then punched Philip in the chest. Frigid cold air burrowed into his still-beating heart, freezing it. The bullet was also sealed in Philip’s chest.

The more complex the plan, the more prone to disruptive outliers the plan would be.

Annan’s plan was straightforward.

He first let Ferdinand’s body encountered Chilling Touch be found and then let Elizabeth bring Old Merlin along to identify the body.

Elizabeth naturally knew that Old Merlin couldn’t be the murderer. If he had killed the man himself, he definitely wouldn’t have left any evidence that was against him.

But Old Merlin was proficient in the spells of the Energy Falteration School. He could provide the details to Elizabeth about the wizard who murdered Ferdinand had, for example, the murderer’s spell mastery and height.

If Old Merlin was cooperative and willing to share this information with Elizabeth, there should be suspects surfaced in Elizabeth’s mind.

After that, there was only one way to rule out Annan’s suspicions completely.

The tactics in which he had to sustain injury.

That was to leave similar injuries on both Philip and him.

With Kafni’s eyewitness testimony, Elizabeth’s testimony, and Old Merlin’s absence, she would be able to make up a nonexistent… tall, and powerful killer who used the Falteration spell!

Even if the spells of the Prophet and Edict factions were used to verify, they would at most only obtain information that the murderer was called “Ghirlandaio·David·Buonaro”!

“Wow…” At this moment, the fireworks were in full bloom.

A huge, lifelike golden lion roared silently in the sky as if it were alive. Eighty stars then flew out from the lion in all directions and exploded twice in the sky, forming a splendid scroll of painting that covered the entire night sky!

The people couldn’t help but exclaim at this grand scene. At the same time, they got up and were about to bow down to Henry VIII, who was about to enter the door as the music sounded.

At this moment, Annan had changed into his physical form and aimed the gun at his stomach.

He pulled the trigger without hesitation!

His face quickly turned pale, and his body trembled. Even with a curse that weakened the pain, Annan felt an intense, unbearable pain instantly. It was the pain of having internal organs penetrated.

Luckily, Annan had lost the ability to make any sound due to the [Miss Quiet].

He couldn’t let out a scream!

Yes, Annan chose to use the last bullet of “Miss Quiet” to attack himself so that he could maintain absolute silence in all his actions in the next ten seconds!

Since he transformed into David very shortly last time, his cooldown period was relatively short.

After two seconds, Annan changed into David again.

He endured the pain, shoved [Miss Quiet] into Philip’s mouth, and then took out Ferdinand’s silver pocket watch. He didn’t use the last silver vessel he had to save himself but aimed it at the pistol in Philip’s mouth. He then fired [Clanging Object] mercilessly!

His goal was to destroy the pistol and Philip’s dying expression.

Yet it was unexpected… The power of [Clanging Object] displayed by this pocket watch was far beyond Annan’s imagination!

A silver sonic boom oscillated vigorously but didn’t make a sound.

It silently smashed Philip’s head, all the parts above his shoulders, as well as the curse vessel pistol into pieces!

Annan instantly reverted into himself and reached out to touch his abdomen. Then, he attacked himself again and froze the wound on his tummy.

By the time this was done, Annan had only 8% Health left.

—This would be Annan’s only flaw in his plan.

Because with Old Merlin’s experience, he could naturally see that the spell caster level of [Chilling Touch] on Annan’s abdomen was not the same as that on “Philip” and “Ferdinand”!

But Annan was willing to take a gamble, a somewhat pointless challenge to himself.

Failure would ruin the nightmare that could have been cleared.

Success would then provide the perfect decryption reward — the elemental power.

But Annan wasn’t craving the elemental power… or rather, he was craving more than the elemental power.

For some reason, Annan felt a strong desire to win.

He didn’t want to admit defeat.

Only in this incident… Only when he used the body of “Annan” did he hope to be the “protagonist”!

Maybe Philip was right. Annan’s desires were immense.

Satisfying the desire itself was more important than any reward!

He believed that after Old Merlin saw Ferdinand’s body and sensed the remains of the ritual, he could realize what Annan was doing and cover up for his plan.

Would you understand the message I’m leaving… Merlin!?

“Get ready to cry for help, Kafni… The rest is up to you.” Annan whispered, showing a bleak smile as he endured the pain, “Also… Happy birthday.”

“…Thank you. I will remember you.”

Kafni hugged Annan’s body, which was getting colder. She murmured in a soft voice, “Even if no one praises… Even if no one knows that you are the hero who saved us all, I will…”

Annan lost consciousness in Kafni’s arms before she could finish her words.

Even without any evidence.

In the moments before he passed out, Annan also thought that he would succeed.

It was a throbbing sensation that came from the depths of his soul… as well as intuition.