Chapter 114: Ancient Assassin, The Envy Effect

Thunder boomed outside the castle, breaking the silence and tension. But Faust stayed focused, ignoring the pounding rain and the creaking cages hanging in the ceiling.

Stay disciplined. Watch Drekar’s every move. When the fight starts, he can get a hang of how Drekar fights.

Still, the tension was grating.

Maybe he should just strike first.

"What do you mean, finally coming?" Thalia asked calmly. "Were you expecting us?"

Drekar coughed and cleared his throat repeatedly. But there was mirth in his voice. "Why, of course. We who were banished, stranded in this distant world. We were put here for a reason."

He turned a dark, pitying gaze on them. "But you’ll understand soon. All you need to know is that you’ve been given a role for this game. And so have we."

The castle began to rumble with more than the storm outside of it. Faust shifted a little as the entire building moved, but he kept his eyes fixed on Drekar and held his stance ready.

The others stumbled and lost balance as the building shook harder and harder. The castle was moving. Something was happening.

Thalia’s eyes flicked through the air and she interacted mentally with her interface to pull up the stream, cursing under her breath. Her eyes widened.

"Th-the entire castle is rising."

Even Faust had to glance back in that moment in shock. He returned quickly to Drekar, but the man was uncaring of Faust’s attention.

Drekar muttered tiredly. "This castle was built to fly. Long ago, this land belonged to a special race made illegally by a powerful Player. The outsider, Kenkida."

"Why are you telling us this?" Faust asked, his face contorted by confusion. Something was wrong.

"I wanted you all to understand. We’ve spent centuries preparing this, after all. We’ve restored flight to the castles, given this castle the ability to fly again, and lured the majority of you players into the tunnels."

Drekar coughed once more, his voice now strong and sure. "All to defeat you and end our exile. Finally, we will return home. Or you will kill both of us. Either way, this story ends today."

Those were fighting words. Faust accepted the invitation.

’Shadow Step.’

He reappeared behind Drekar and swung to cut the man, imbuing the strike with Annihilation. But he underestimated the lanky man.

Drekar jumped over the slash and spun midair to slash at Faust’s throat. The daggers hadn’t been in his hands until now. The attack was smooth, fluid, and seemed practiced despite its absurdity.

Faust leaned back and the blade hissed past him. Drekar touched the floor and was immediately attacking. His daggers flickered forward in an almost dancing rhythm.

Each move was so smooth it looked slow, but Faust deflected them by just centimeters sometimes.

’Unknown Trespasser.’

Faust felt his body relax to an almost ridiculous degree. He tracked Drekar’s blade through the air, watched it slash through his shoulder, but it bit air instead of flesh. It passed right through him.

The opening allowed him a counterattack, but Drekar jumped back before he even struck. The assassin searched the space around him for a second, confusion written vaguely in his expression.

In that moment, Nirvana and the others caught up. Faust’s exchange with Drekar had happened in just a few seconds.

Zen’s arrows forced the assassin to dash across the room quickly and unpredictably. Spider surged towards Drekar with arched legs and slashed at him with her dagger, but he easily dodged.

He tried to counterattack, but Thalia, who had been trying this whole time, hit an Interrupt on him. Drekar paused mid-swing, and Spider kicked him in the chest so hard he bounced off the stone floor and into a wall.

Unknown Trespasser ended after ten seconds, allowing Faust to gauge its limits.

He studied Drekar, who was resting against the wall with an unconcerned look on his face. But a trickle of blood fell from his forehead.

’He has way less combat power than me, but is still faster. So he must have most of it in agility. Meaning he can’t take a good hit. But can he deal damage with such a distribution?’

Faust eyed those daggers in his hand. They were jagged black steel that seemed like they were made of shadows. Something about them assured Faust he did not want to be touched by them.

He couldn’t replicate Drekar’s Schema right now—he had no free slots—but he wanted to know what it was.

’Schema Replication.’

[Schema: Darkshadow]

[Rank: Gold]

[Details: You are a shadow. Unseen, long lost, but you still continue. Find your light and existence will become even sharper.]

[Schema Abilities: Shadow Glide, Bittersteel]

[Shadow Glide(Gold): You are faster in darkness and, for a brief time, you can transform into a shadow.]

[Bittersteel(Gold): A weapon drawn from the shadow of your light. You are the blade. You can imbue a strike from this blade with the Envy effect.]

’The Envy effect?’

Faust had no idea what that was, but he definitely didn’t want to find out. He sent a mental text to Nirvana over the party chat.

[Red God: Don’t get cut by that blade, tell the others.]

Nirvana flicked her eyes at him once, the only indication she got his text. Her skeletons were rising from the ground, and silver ghosts appeared beside her.

’Come. All of you.’

His summons appeared in a storm of brilliant lights. Drekar chose that moment to move.

At first, it looked like the assassin was standing in one place, watching all of them warily. But Faust saw the edges of his form flicker, and his instincts screamed something was wrong.

’Dash!’

He shot backwards at his top speed just as that wicked black dagger tore through the space he had just stood.

Drekar was in two places at once.

He was standing at the center of their encirclement, and he was also standing where Faust had just been.

The first was a mirage that disappeared shortly after. Zen was the first to react, pulling Thalia back as she was the closest to Drekar. Spider rushed in to distract. The summons finished forming and attacked Drekar, too.

Faust was still processing what had just happened. Did Drekar move so quickly he left an afterimage? How fast did he even have to be for that?

’No. That’s not it. I saw him. I saw him moving when I dashed back.’

So it was some kind of deceptive movement skill. How insidious.

Faust would have been the first to die despite gaping everyone in this room in combat power.

Drekar danced past the combined attacks of everyone with ease, contorting his body to slip past arrows, spinning and kicking Spider away midair, before vaulting off the Red wolf summon to get past them all.

The ghosts and skeletons tried to bar his path, but were cut to pieces in an instant.

He was after Faust.

He was standing at the center of their encirclement, and he was also standing were Faust had just been.

The first was a mirage that disappeared shortly after. Zen was the first to react, pulling Thalia back as she was the closest to Drekar. Spider rushed in to distract. The summons finished forming and attacked Drekar too.

Faust was still processing what had just happened. Did Drekar move so quickly he left an afterimage? How fast did he even have to be for that.

’No. That’s not it. I saw him. I saw him moving when i dashed back.’

So it was some kind of deceptive movement skill. How insidious.

Faust would have been the first to die despite gaping everyone in this room in combat power.

Drekar danced past the combined attacks of everyone with ease. Contorting his body to slip past arrows. Spinning and kicking Spider away mid air, before vaulting off the Red wolf summon to get past them all.

The ghost and skeletons tried to bar his path, but were cut to pieces in an instant.

He was after Faust.