SSS Hypnosis: I Made the Heroines Beg for Forgiveness-Chapter 42: Angel of Death

Benedict stared at the crying girl in front of him, utterly baffled by her condition.

She had just told him that all the skills she possessed had vanished after being stabbed by Jack the Ripper’s weapon.

But... how was that even possible?

No one or anything could erase a person’s skills... unless those skills had turned into cursed skills after a failed blood ritual.

Benedict scanned the surroundings, growing more cautious. A chill crept up his spine.

Jack the Ripper was no longer just some ordinary villain. He was a catastrophic threat.

In this world, the skills granted by the Essence System were as vital to an Ascendant as food and water.

Then Jack the Ripper reappeared, standing on the rooftop of a nearby house.

He had emerged through a glass mirror.

Benedict’s eyebrows shot up in shock.

Wasn’t that... Annie’s skill?

Jack’s gaze shifted toward Annie. A satisfied smile curled on his lips.

"You’ve got a few pretty good skills there," he said with a mocking laugh.

In that instant, Benedict knew exactly what weapon Jack possessed.

An artifact, an artifact belonging to Saithe, the god of death in this world.

An artifact capable of erasing and stealing another person’s skills... even wiping out their entire Essence System.

Somehow, Jack the Ripper had gotten his hands on it.

Benedict took a step back. His mind was already working on an escape plan.

He knew that artifact, it was the same one wielded by the Final Boss in The Chronicle of Enzo.

But how? How had Jack the Ripper obtained it? It was supposed to be in the hands of the Final Boss.

Wait...

In the original story, Jack the Ripper had never been defeated by the protagonist, Enzo. He had simply vanished, never to be seen again.

Could it be... that the Scythe of Saithe, wielded by the Final Boss, had originally belonged to Jack the Ripper?

If so, then it meant the Final Boss had been the one to defeat Jack and claim the artifact for himself.

Benedict shook his head. No time to think about that now.

Up on the rooftop, Jack had already summoned hundreds of mirrors.

That confirmed it, Jack had stolen Annie’s skill.

"Everyone! Be careful of those shears!" Benedict shouted.

The axe-wielding girl, now fully aware her friend’s Essence System was shattered, glared at Jack with burning hatred.

All the Academy students turned their focus toward him.

"Isn’t this convenient, Charlotte?" Jack said suddenly.

Charlotte appeared beside him.

"You have the power to manipulate glass shards," Jack continued with a wide grin, "and now I have the power to make mirrors out of glass."

Charlotte’s eyes flicked to the hundreds of glass mirrors behind him.

"So... I present them to you, Charlotte. Hundreds of shards, yours to control!"

Crack! Crack! Crack!

The mirrors shattered, not falling to the ground, but floating in midair. Charlotte had already taken control.

"Go wild, Charlotte!" Jack raised a hand.

At once, she drew all the shards to herself, spinning them in a dense orbit until they formed something like a whirling tornado.

One Academy student charged at her, but Charlotte, her expression still cold and detached, simply raised her palm.

The torrent of glass shards slammed into him, piercing and cutting into his body before hurling him away.

Her power seemed amplified now. Earlier, she’d needed enormous effort just to spawn shards from thin air, but now, with Jack supplying her with hundreds, she could unleash them freely.

"Keep them busy for a while, Charlotte. I need to rest. That weapon... as always, it puts a strain on my body," Jack muttered, his voice trembling slightly. He placed a hand over his heart.

A single mirror formed behind him—his escape route—but before he could step through, Alice shattered it.

Boom!

Benedict’s gaze shifted to Alice. Her crimson hair was dusted with frost, a crown of blue ice perched upon her head. Her body was encased in thick, elegant ice armor, and in her hands was the majestic, deadly Gungnir.

She looked every bit like an ice queen. Beautiful, cold, and lethal.

Benedict couldn’t help but smile. What kind of transformation was this?

"Alice... would you mind letting me rest?" Jack asked, a nervous smile tugging at his lips.

Charlotte moved to defend him, sending a wave of glass shards toward Alice—only for each one to be deflected by tiny, glittering ice crystals.

Alice didn’t respond. She seized Jack by the throat.

"Kkhhhk!" Jack gasped, both hands clawing at her ice-covered grip.

Without mercy, Alice dragged him across the street, smashing through the pavement, then into the walls of several houses, destroying them in her wake.

Benedict glanced over his shoulder—they were already far away. He couldn’t hide his awe at witnessing the sheer destructive might of an Ascendant-tier combatant.

Charlotte’s lips parted slightly as she saw her master dragged away.

She leapt into the air—but before she could get far, the axe-wielding girl appeared behind her, swinging her weapon down with terrifying force.

The strike missed. Charlotte had already dissolved into shards of glass, vanishing from sight.

"Everyone! Follow my lead!" Benedict shouted.

The students immediately turned to him. Even the nobles hiding near the edge of the battlefield focused on his words.

Benedict spotted a golden light flashing across the rooftops, moving to the right.

"She’s going right!"

The Academy students charged in that direction.

But Benedict’s brow furrowed as the glowing figure suddenly soared upward and stopped midair.

"Huh?"

Charlotte hovered in the sky, her violet eyes cold and unwavering. She wasn’t flying with a natural skill meant for flight.

No... she had created something to allow her to fly.

From her back sprouted three pairs of angelic wings, each one sculpted from glass, beating steadily to keep her aloft.

On her head, two glass horns curved upward and fused together.

In her hands were scythe of transparent crystal, their surfaces catching and scattering sunlight in dazzling patterns.

Everything—her wings, her horns, her weapons—was made of glass. The light refracted across her form made her appear to shine like a celestial being.

All the shards Jack had given her... she had used to transform herself into this.

Benedict could only stare in silence.

Now, all he could do was hope the Academy students were strong enough to bring down the angel of death before them.