Chapter 22 Edward's 'True' Telling

Rituals can be interrupted.

Whether it's the occult knowledge that Jason has learned or the occult knowledge he has come into contact with, this can be made clear.

But, how should it be interrupted?

The interruption of the ritual is not a rash action, but a corresponding method.

Therefore, when Jason confirmed that 'Edward''s behavior was to complete the 'ritual', he kept thinking.

After all, with the right interruption, the 'ceremony' can immediately counteract the person who presides and performs the ceremony.

But what if it is wrong?

Those who interrupt the ritual will pay an unimaginable price.

Even some costs will be irreversible.

So, Jason is very careful.

Even if he knew that 'Edward''s explanation was part of the 'ceremony', he did not try to interrupt it.

Because this kind of "interruption" is too simple and too direct.

With the prudence and cunning shown by 'Edward', would such an obvious flaw be exposed?

The answer is no.

By interrupting the other party's words, the 'interrupting ritual' should be a trap!

Or to be more precise, Jason believes that the so-called explanation of the other party is also part of the 'ceremony', which is simply a lie, in order to let those who enter the 'ceremony' interrupt blindly.

This is normal.

Both sides are enemies.

Believe what the enemy says?

It would be better to believe that the enemy is well-intentioned.

Of course, there is more to it!

Jason has absolute certainty, turning everything around at the last minute.

because--

He, Jason, is not dead!

Regardless of the final result of the 'ceremony' in front of me,

He, the one who was 'replaced', would definitely die.

And as long as he doesn't die, the 'ceremony' will naturally be interrupted.

As for whether 'Edward' wanted to kill him?

In this regard, Jason is very sure.

Ever since he appeared, 'Edward' has always been smiling, but he couldn't hide the maliciousness and killing intent in his eyes.

It was a stance of immortality.

In fact, it is.

In order to keep the ceremony going, 'Edward' made a decisive move.

Although this is somewhat different from his initial expectations, it will not end the ceremony, it just takes a lot of work and bears some costs. 'Edward' thinks he can bear such a loss.

Then--

Click!

With the crisp sound of bones shattering, the face of 'Edward', who was ready to welcome victory with a smile, stiffened, and the whole person fell to the ground.

The short-handled wide-bladed machete he held in his hand appeared directly in Jason's hand.

The moment Jason held the handle of the knife, he subconsciously danced twice.

Woo, woo.

The blade ripped through the air and let out a low growl.

It was like the wailing of a ghost.

Like the roar of a monster.

Very handy.

As before.

However, Jason could feel the short-handled broad-blade machete in his hand becoming sharper and stronger.

There is no doubt that this is due to 'Edward'.

And at the next moment, the ice hockey mask on 'Edward''s face also appeared in Jason's hands.

That cold, comfortable feeling penetrated into my heart.

It made Jason feel comfortable for a long time.

Involuntarily, Jason put on his hockey mask again.

As before, there is no difference.

But the moment Jason put on the mask, a coercion derived from the fear in the creature's heart began to radiate from the mask.

Jason clearly felt the power from the mask.

"good."

He commented like this.

This is naturally also the credit of 'Edward'.

However, 'Edward' is not alone in this.

[Ritual transformation, hand-to-hand combat is upgraded to the master level! 】

[Unarmed Fighting (Master): The body itself is a powerful weapon, and you are the master among them. You not only fight with fists and feet, but your whole body will be a deadly weapon; Effect: Constitution, Strength, Agility +0.3 (Proficient, Expert, Master +0.1)]

[Unarmed combat is upgraded to the proficient level, and the inherent talent option is obtained: well-trained]

[Unarmed fighting is upgraded to the master level, and the inherent talent option: Dangerous Intuition is obtained]

[Well-trained (passive): A lot of fighting training gives you this talent. When encountering unexpected battles, long-term training can make you adapt to emergencies faster]

[Dangerous Intuition: Long-term training and constant battles have allowed you to sharpen your perception of danger to an extreme, effect: Perception +0.5]

...

The next moment, a text prompt appeared in front of Jason's eyes.

The skill [Unarmed Fighting] has been directly upgraded from the expert level to the master level, and the physique, strength, and agility are +0.1 again.

But what surprised Jason most was that the master level also had fixed talent options.

And the newly appeared [Dangerous Intuition] directly increased his perception by 0.5.

Jason's attributes are now changed to: Strength 3.8, Agility 3.6, Constitution 4.5, Spirit 2.6, and Perception 6.2.

Crunch, crunch!

Feeling the harmony between knowledge and body in his mind, Jason clenched his fists, feeling the changes at the moment.

The physical changes are small, but the changes in perception are extremely obvious.

The latter affects the former.

Powerful perception enables Jason to better control his own changes.

At the same time, you can also grasp the surrounding.

At least, the current Jason can determine that the 'Edward' who twisted his 'neck' in front of him is not dead.

Even if the other party did not breathe or heartbeat.

But the flow of blood is still there.

in a different way from ordinary people.

"The power of the 'Reincarnation Ritual'?"

Jason guessed.

Then, slash directly.

He can confirm that the 'transformation ritual' has been interrupted, and backfired on 'Edward'.

Just now, he just twisted the neck of 'Edward', but did not break the strong heart of the other party before.

The heart burst directly under the backlash of the 'ritual'.

Woo!

The short-handled broad-blade machete whistled past 'Edward''s neck.

puff!

The head of 'Edward' flew far away.

However, there was no blood spray.

After the headless 'Edward' rolled around quickly, he stood up.

Then, as if taking off a 'coat', 'Edward' emerged from this tall, strong body.

Edward, who was covered in some kind of mucus, looked quite embarrassed, and the tall, strong body, with the head that flew out far away, began to wither after Edward got out.

In the breath, it becomes something like a 'snake shedding'.

Do not!

To be precise, 'human slough'!

Edward touched the mucus on his face.

At this time, Edward finally lost the smile on his face.

All there is is anger, resentment and... unbelievable.

Edward was sure he had cut off Jason's head.

Can people live without a head?

Obviously not possible.

So how did Jason live?

Is it a 'ceremony'?

Involuntarily, Edward started to make associations, and his eyes on Jason also changed.

"So it is!"

"It's not just me who discovered that!"

"You found it too!"

"It's no wonder that after you wrote a good "Cross Street Stalker", it became mediocre. Not only did your writing skills decline, but there was no logic. It turned out that your energy was devoted to the study of the "mystery side"."

Edward nodded as he spoke, the surprise and disbelief in his eyes began to disappear.

The power of the mysterious side, Edward has seen and experienced.

With that kind of magical power, it is normal to have many things that go against the norm.

Jason comes back to life.

Isn't he also resurrected?

There's nothing surprising about this.

But there was one omission, and Edward was brooding.

"You have mastered a considerable degree of 'mystical knowledge', and your own perception is superior, and you even have skills and rituals similar to applying perception! Because only in this way can you combine the two, divination, and deduce my perfect plan. So, you naturally take the plan, you didn't stop everything from happening, and you didn't act rashly, you just waited quietly, waiting for me to reveal my flaws!"

"I didn't even think that my opponent was also a 'mysterious side person'. This was my biggest mistake!"

There was resentment on Edward's face.

Jason frowned behind the mask.

He really wanted to say that if you think too much, things are not like this at all.

However, Jason did not speak.

He didn't mind the enemy thinking a little more.

Because it's good for him.

Edward continued to speak.

"You are clever enough to catch my flaws!"

"This is as it should be, you know when to interrupt my 'ceremony'."

"I also know that the flaw of 'interrupting the speech' that I deliberately revealed before is a trap."

"but!"

"Do you really think you have everything under control?"

Edward's voice became high-pitched, he pointed at Jason with the cane in his hand, and said word by word: "Do you really think I didn't plan for the worst?"

"Tell you!"

"I did more than just the 'reincarnation' ceremony!"

"There are others!"

The voice fell, and Edward disappeared in place.

The next moment, when Edward appeared again, he was already standing behind Jason.

Edward 'emerged' out of Jason's shadow.

The cane of the former King of Cherry City still pointed at Jason, and the bottom of the cane shone with a little deep brilliance.

This brilliance is like the light of fireflies, but Jason, who was 'illuminated', felt like a mountain was pressing down on him, but Jason didn't care.

Under the hockey mask, Jason's nose twitched.

He smelled the aroma of 'food'.

It was Edward's cane.

Jason can be sure that this cane was a very ordinary cane before.

And now?

But it became very delicious.

Is some kind of 'ritual' masking its own scent?

Jason guessed in a heartbeat.

Since it can cover up a piece of 'food'.

Would that disguise more 'food'?

Thinking of this, Jason's saliva began to secrete involuntarily.

He was full of anticipation.

Edward looked at Jason who was bound, but his heart was full of resentment and hatred.

This kind of resentment and hatred is ten times stronger than when he chose Jason's "Cross Street Stalker".

After all, when he made the selection, he took the initiative to choose.

But now?

All this is the layout of the person in front of him!

That's right!

It's all about layout!

Edward, who had just thought of something again, looked at Jason's back, his teeth crunched.

"You must have noticed something from my original change. Therefore, before I chose "Cross Street Stalker", you began to influence me subtly, so that I chose your book."

"I have to say, you did a really good job!"

"I didn't find out until now!"

"wrong!"

"It's not like this!"

"You shouldn't have started affecting me at that time, it should have been earlier!"

Edward said, suddenly denying what he just said, and then a look of surprise appeared on his face.

"I've been wondering why I suddenly came into contact with the special knowledge of the 'mysterious side' when I knew about that. It turned out that this was all your arrangement."

"You came into contact with the special knowledge of the 'mysterious side' earlier than me, and your talent is also quite outstanding. Naturally, you know that."

"For that matter, you have the same fear in your heart as I do."

"So, you also started to save yourself."

"Unfortunately, your talent is very good, but you don't have enough 'financial resources' to collect and buy more materials. Therefore, you need a person who is also tortured by fear but is extremely wealthy. Then, you I was picked."

"So it is!"

Edward took a deep breath and looked at Jason's back with fear in his eyes.

He never thought that everything he owns is just someone else's layout.

People like that are horrible!

It is absolutely impossible to let the other party live!

"However, you missed something!"

"I am not only richer than you think, but also talented!"

"After I confirmed the existence of the 'mysterious side', I purchased several strange objects in a short period of time, and completed several 'ceremonies', you felt uneasy, you were afraid that I was beyond your control, so , you secretly took action, interrupted my crucial 'ceremony', and caused my sanity to be severely damaged, so I had to resort to the 'reincarnation' ritual!"

"I was wondering at the time, why I still failed when I was well prepared, and I happened to have measures to make up for the failure."

"I'm glad for that."

"And now I'm still glad!"

"I'm glad I found it not too late!"

Edward stopped at this point.

He has fully understood the cause and effect of the matter.

Now?

Naturally, to kill Jason.

Kill this Jason who has manipulated his life!

"go to hell!"

"You guy who manipulates other people's lives at will!"

Edward roared, and the stick in his hand stabbed straight out.

Jason, who was bound by the special force field, had no room to dodge at all. The cane pierced directly into Jason's back heart, which could resist the defense of explosives. Not even a second.

puff!

The cane that pierced Jason's heart protruded directly from Jason's chest.

However, this is not the end.

Edward let go of his cane, took a few steps back, and twisted the ruby ​​ring on his hand.

boom!

A large amount of flames spewed from the ring, directly drowning Jason.

The flames were burning.

laugh!

The peculiar sound of grease when burning came from the flames.

"Die!"

"go to hell!"

"I want to leave you dead!"

Edward roared and twisted the ring again.

Immediately, the flames became more ferocious.

"Jason!"

John and Brian in the distance exclaimed, but apart from the exclamation, the two of them couldn't do anything, and the little fluorescent light that belonged to the cane also shrouded them.

"Since you can't be my knight, you can also die."

Edward said coldly to the two of them.

He raised his fingers slightly, and the bound John and Brian pointed their guns at each other.

The two struggled.

But compared to the power of that restraint, it is too weak.

Totally useless.

Looking at the muzzle at hand, John and Brian showed helplessness on their faces.

Death, they had thought about it more than once.

But I didn't expect this to happen.

Just when the two were about to give up, the little fluorescence on their bodies suddenly disappeared.

The two regained their freedom.

And in the sound of burning flames, it also sounded, as if it was an abnormal sound of chewing—

Crunch, crunch.