A few days earlier.
Emma received news from Ron Irus. Besides the mission, there were two extra chat lines.
(Emma, do you know what the most fundamental principle of plotting is?It is unpredictability, never revealing the true scheme.)
…
"Very well, Ron Irus."
At the third layer of false reality.
Lloyd sat on a step in the middle of the city's temple hall.
In his hand was Emma.
He squeezed her cheeks hard, making dozens of teeth spill from her mouth.
He slammed her face down to the ground, distorting her beautiful face into something like a demon.
"Since when did that man decide to betray me? No. Since when did Ron realize my true intention?"
He looked at the corpses that had committed suicide in the distance, some appearing to have been killed by someone else, and his thoughts stalled.
"It is not strange that he predicted I would do this. I always left flaws exposed to deceive him.But realizing even my true plan?"
"Strange. Even if he realized my real intention, why choose betrayal? Benefit? Emotion? Or precaution?"
After speaking, Lloyd smashed Emma's head again.
Then he looked at the pill Ron had given him, suspicion piling higher in his mind.
To drink, or not?
Ron had given it to him before the anti terror plan began. It was also the only path he could use to escape this layer of reality.
Every time he retained memory when passing through false realities was thanks to the nature of his Soul mana, yet it could not protect him from certain death by suicide.
And his target had escaped into reality through suicide.
If Ron had betrayed him from the beginning, then this was most likely poison.
If Ron decided to betray him later, then he must have woven a net large enough to cover Lloyd's entire plan.
The question now was how much of Lloyd's plan Ron knew.How far he was willing to go.And one thing was certain. Ron was forcing Lloyd to follow his scheme.
To escape this false layer of reality, Lloyd either had to wait for the true moment when the two demons were destroyed along with Phelion, at which point the Demon Soul would naturally release them.
However, Phelion had disappeared.The items meant for Phelion had been thrown toward Lloyd by Emma's faction, proving Emma had been waiting for this moment.
There was one more way. He could personally tear apart this false reality to escape.
Impossible for others, but not for Lloyd.Should he gamble on time?
The second method involved the staff.
Wellay was in the dark cavern beneath the temple, carrying out the fusion between the staff and the Demon Soul.That was the plan Lloyd and Ron devised to absolutely imprison the Demon Soul in Belem.
Because the staff was both the body of the Earth Demon and a nail, it could form a perfect binding to imprison the Demon Soul.Yet it could also break the chains imprisoning the Demon Soul, since the staff only symbolized power and did not require the true body.It was regarded as a forced destruction of the binding once established by Oxeiburt.That was why it had to be taken away after discovery and why Phelion desperately searched for it.
To escape, Lloyd either needed to release the Demon Soul into the world to forcibly shatter the false reality,but continuing to imprison and strengthen the seal would instead strengthen human perception of the false reality, meaning it would take longer to break.
So what should he do?
Should he gamble by calling Wellay back and releasing the Demon Soul?
Or gamble that the target in reality would not disappear, that Phelion would arrive, or the Demon Soul would forcibly break free after enough time?
Or should he kill himself here and gamble on not dying?
Lloyd finally made a choice.He accepted that the Demon Soul would escape into the outside world.
Even if Phelion reached the real world, there were still ways to capture him.The same for the Demon Soul.The other two demons had already been dealt with. The Body demon had never truly manifested due to the lack of suitable hosts.
…
In the quiet city of Lebem, the long lost bustle was gone.
People lay scattered across the streets, some in poor condition after many days without water.
Fortunately, they would soon recover.Because within the city, still covered by a barrier, raindrops had begun to fall.
Crack…
Along with the rain, the outer barrier separating Lebem from the world fractured, allowing soldiers from outside to pour in.
At the city center, Promet clutched his chest and took a sip from a water bottle.
He had completely broken the barrier from within and successfully freed the city.
He did so because just one hour earlier, after killing a fat old woman in the false reality layer, Janeus and a mysterious man arrived.
They briefly explained the situation and told him one thing:
"If Phelion does not come to the temple and a middle aged man with reddish brown hair attacks you, commit suicide immediately."
Promet did not trust the strange man, but Janeus was different.She rarely joked, especially in situations like this, so he could only trust her quickly.
Not only because she was Janeus,but because she was Her Highness the Princess.
He had considered the possibility she was brainwashed,but as a princess she must have been trained. Janeus would not be affected, or if she were, flaws would show.
Promet did not understand why, but the strange man accompanying Janeus said he had already taken the pill.It protected his soul and shielded him from the stacking of realities.
He also said the pill would protect him from the one who would attack him. He would realize it when the time came.
And now Promet was here, completely dismantling the barrier.In truth, it was not difficult. Whatever sustained the barrier had seemingly been destroyed beforehand,and he only needed to use his weak level 5 mana core to swell mana outward and annihilate the barrier without anyone noticing.
At the moment he broke the barrier, he accomplished one thing.
He completed all of my plans in Belem.
I carried Janeus out from the shadows of the buildings, hiding within darkness to avoid every watchful eye.
"I always told the truth that I would help you, Janeus. But you did not listen and betrayed me at the final moment. Do not worry, at least this can still be calculated. Everything is fine now.
Perhaps it is also my responsibility for constantly pushing you to follow the proposed plan. I am sorry."
Mission assigned to One Line by a member of the royal family.Kill Janeus. Completed.