While coercion didn't quite suit Bakerland's usual "aesthetic," seeing the beautiful woman before him offer a gaze of disgust followed by forced compliance at the mention of her father's business made him feel as if he were awakening some new preferences.
The two of them left the ballroom without drawing any attention. For the embassy's military attaches and the other guests, this scene was exactly what they expected. The music remained melodious and soft. The dance steps remained light and graceful. Merchants continued their business talks, and ladies maintained their status-seeking comparisons. It was as if Bakerland had never even existed within the embassy at all.
...
Arriving at the second-floor room, Bakerland waved off the guards, telling them not to disturb him. He failed to notice that the beautiful, charming creature beside him didn't draw a single glance from anyone.
As the door was locked from the inside, Bakerland couldn't wait to pounce on the young woman in the black evening dress. But before he could even get close, his somewhat pudgy body suddenly twisted into a bizarre posture, and layers of fire erupted from him.
"So, even if you don't consciously notice, your subconscious instinctively dodges, doesn't it?" A light, airy voice reached him from behind the beauty.
Bakerland felt a sting on his neck, and a bead of cold sweat slid down his forehead. When had another person entered this room? No, it wasn't that someone had entered; they had been there the entire time!
The moment he truly saw the other man, he recalled that this individual had been standing beside the girl the whole time. Yet everyone--guests, guards, and even the Sequence 5 military attache currently stationed at the embassy--had failed to notice his presence!
"Psychological Invisibility? Are you from the Psychology Alchemists?" A ball of fire manifested in Bakerland's hand as he warily eyed the man who had suddenly appeared. In the mid-to-low sequences, the Spectator pathway wasn't particularly strong in direct combat. As long as he was careful about any mystical items the man might possess...
"Do you need my help?" The beautiful girl in the black evening dress sat cross-legged on the bed, asking with a masculine tone.
Bakerland's heart sank. At that moment, he thought of another sequence altogether. Without further thought, he shouted at the top of his lungs, "Someone! Help!"
However, there was no response.
Snow didn't bother explaining the process of distorting the rules to Bakerland. He simply proceeded to seal the Baron of Corruption characteristic with his spirituality and tuck it into his cigarette case. He offered Trissy a bright smile. "Didn't I say it? You only needed to bring me in. As for the killing? That's my job."
Bakerland bit his lip and waved his arm, sending a whip of fire curling toward Snow. Neither a Baron of Corruption nor a Hypnotist were types who specialized in direct combat. Moreover, he seen that Snow and the apparent Witch weren't on friendly terms. He would seize this chance to deal a heavy blow!
"The hare cannot catch the turtle."
A coin was tossed high into the air. As the activation phrase in Ancient Hermes left Snow's mouth, an unspeakable change seemed to occur throughout the world.
The fire whip was still a fire whip, and Snow was still Snow. But between the two, an infinite number of barriers seemed to have materialized. No matter how swiftly Bakerland's attack lunged or how slowly Snow moved, the fire whip always fell just a fraction short of its mark.
"What is this ability?" Bakerland was horrified. As an intelligence officer, he considered himself quite knowledgeable about the mid-to-low sequence abilities of various pathways, yet he had never seen something so bizarre. Was it a high-level charm containing a high-sequence ability? That wasn't something an ordinary Beyonder could obtain!
Bakerland's heart grew cold. He immediately shouted, "Wait! Who are you? Who sent you to kill me? What rewards did they promise you? I'll double it!"
"The abilities of a Conspirator? Unfortunately, that's useless against me." Snow gave a disdainful snort. He tapped his chest four times--up, down, right, and left--drawing an inverted cross. He smiled. "This is the will of my Lord."
"The Aurora Order? You're from the Aurora Order?"
Terror filled Bakerland's eyes. But in the next moment, Trissy cursed, "You idiot! You played around too long and now you've stepped in it!"
Indeed, she had. Because a Pleasure Demoness possessed enhanced senses, Trissy was the first to feel a sluggishness in her body. Bakerland had also shed his cowardly act, gently pulling a handkerchief from his left breast pocket to reveal a thumb-sized puppet with entirely black eyes.
"Thank you for that cat-and-mouse delay. It gave me more than enough time. Tell me, Mr. Hypnotist or Baron of Corruption... do you have any final words?"
"Of course." The light smile remained on Snow's lips. He opened his mouth and uttered an elegant, easygoing word.
"Suka Blyat!"
The unknown language, delivered with a strange trill, erupted within the room. A wave of bizarre pollution burst forth simultaneously. The sound, filled with infinite malice and rage, hammered into Bakerland's brain, turning everything into a mess of pulp.
Snow maintained his calm, effortless expression, walking with elegant steps toward Bakerland, whose eyes had turned white and whose body was sprouting red fur. Snow repeated the words in a rhythmic, rap-like meter. "Suka Blyat, Suka Blyat, Suka Suka Suka Blyat..."
"Don't... stop saying it!" Bakerland's physical mutation grew increasingly severe. The pain, piercing directly into his brain, sent him rolling frantically on the floor.
Snow crouched down, looking at the Bakerland who was right before him. He wore a smile of disdain in his eyes, and then...
Bang!
A bullet was fired from Bakerland's sleeve, precisely aimed at Snow's forehead. Though it was a common spy pistol, the bullet had been enhanced by a Sequence 5 Reaper. Even a graze would be enough to cause a head to shatter like a watermelon dropped from the twentieth floor!
But the bullet stopped.
No, it didn't stop. Rather, just as it was about to hit, it suddenly slowed down. Every inch it advanced, it grew slower. By the time it reached the man's face, it was moving like a snail. Snow didn't even move to dodge, simply watching the bullet decelerate infinitely. It seemed to be advancing every moment, yet it would never reach the reality of a hit.
Bakerland, his eyes wide with fury, looked more like a red-haired orangutan than a human. His once gallant face was rapidly being covered in red fur. But even so, he continued to glare at the bullet that advanced every moment but never reached its destination.
"As they say, having no education is a terrifying thing." Snow shook his head gently. He picked up the long-haired Bakerland and used him as a shield before his own body. Subsequently, the bullet "slowly" drilled into Bakerland's body, delivering a "fatal blow" according to the runes carved upon it.
Casting the dead Bakerland to the ground, Snow sat on the bed to wait for the characteristic to precipitate. Trissy, who had finally recovered from the effects of God's Profanity, asked as a way to distract herself, "Did you know from the start that he had that mystical item? Weren't you afraid your judgment might be wrong? What if you were controlled and couldn't even use your verbal-type abilities?"
Snow offered a mysterious smile. "It's common knowledge that only those of the Seer pathway can control Spirit Body Threads. He isn't a Seer, so he couldn't control mine. It's quite logical."
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika_Kagura]