As a Sanguine who liked to stay home, the number of battles Emlyn had involved himself in could be counted on one hand. Furthermore, he had never attempted fighting in the state of a numbers disadvantage.
Be it his attack on the previous Primordial Moon believer, or resisting Bishop Utravsky from the Harvest Church, he basically had the numerical advantage in being the worst at one-on-one fights.
Thinking back to the failure of his family of three attempting to defeat the half-giant bishop, Emlyn's expression turned livid as though he had recalled the torture he suffered back at the Harvest Church.
As there weren't many residents living here, and with Galis Kevin having sharp senses as an artificial vampire, he didn't dare stay outside the door for too long. He quickly walked past the area and walked to the end of the corridor and hid in the shadows.
What should I do next... Emlyn leaned against random objects that blocked the crimson sunlight as his thoughts rapidly whirled in an attempt to find a solution with his pitiful amounts of experience.
Gradually, the words which The Hanged Man had taught The Sun surfaced in his mind:
"Patience is an important premise when dealing with many situations...
"Only by being able to curb your urges and irascibility will you be able to avoid danger to the greatest extent...
"At times, tolerance is very important..."
Tolerance... Emlyn nodded indiscernibly and knew what he needed to do.
He planned on laying in ambush until Argos left!
As this wasn't the artificial vampire's residence, it was certain that he would leave. When the time came, Emlyn could deal with a one-on-one situation.
Patience, tolerance, waiting... Emlyn repeated these words inwardly so as to resist the damage the surroundings were dealing to him.
The air wafting through the first floor of the condominium was filled with the stench of piss, rotting moisture, the unflushed smell of feces, the odor of some of its residents, as well as all kinds of nauseating, unpleasant, and disgusting smells. Mixed together, they were like a poison that ate at Emlyn's senses.
For the first time in his life, Emlyn wished that he could slice off his nose. He had the feeling as though he was stuck in an abyss or was in hell suffering torture.
Patience... Tolerance... Waiting... he mechanically chanted the principles, finding each second that passed excruciatingly long.
Finally, he saw Galis Kevin's door open. A thin dark-brown figure walked out. His cheekbones protruded, and he had a high, sharp, and crooked nose. He was none other than the Primordial Moon believer, Argos.
At that moment, his face had patches of swollen festering that looked disgusting.
Indeed, as that young boss, Ian, said, these fellows wear clothes that are clean and tidy, completely unlike the residents of East Borough... Emlyn became spirited as he watched Argos leave the condominium.
After patiently waiting for nearly five minutes, he stood up and decided to take action.
As his target, Galis Kevin, was an artificial vampire, Emlyn was rather aware of his opponent's strengths and traits. Hence, he had made preparations in a targeted manner.
Galis Kevin's sense of smell isn't weaker than mine when I just came of age. Heh, this actually cannot be confirmed. For him to stay in such an environment, he might've already lost his nose and brains... Besides, his spirituality can't be weak, and he has an innate instinct that's geared towards danger... His vision and hearing can't be too bad either... As Emlyn viewed his opponent with scorn, he consumed a potion and sprayed out a liquid to cover his body's scent again.
Right on the heels of that, by consuming the potion and spraying it on like last time, he hid his body and attire, disappearing as though he had been wiped away by an eraser.
In a dark, uninhabited corner, a palm-sized notebook which was bronze-green in color had suddenly appeared out of thin air, as though it had passed through a transparent screen.
It began flipping itself almost silently before fixing onto a white page that was filled with astromancy symbols.
As these symbols vanished, the surroundings brightened up a little.
This was the disruption ability of an Astrologer!
Then, Leymano's Travels was retracted, disappearing inch by inch as it was completely concealed by the invisible screen.
Prepared, Emlyn recalled his plans. He lightened his footsteps and silently arrived outside Galis Kevin's apartment without approaching the door.
The notebook appeared out of thin air once again before being flipped to the Door Opening page.
An illusory sound immediately resounded in Emlyn's mind as it "prompted" him to reach out a hand towards the wall.
At the same time, Emlyn cautiously pulled back Leymano's Travels into his clothes, using his invisible coat to hide it.
When Emlyn's palm finally pressed the wall, he saw a ghostly-blue, incorporeal, blurry door appear before his eyes. It was embedded in the wall, but it also showed signs of masonry at the bottom.
Cocking his ear to hear the goings-on inside the house, he took a sniff of the air before taking a step forward. He then passed through the ghostly-blue door as if he was passing a screen of water.
The scene before him changed immediately. It was filled with walls covered in stains and three wooden beds on the side, a worn-out cupboard, and all kinds of miscellaneous items.
This was the inside of Galis Kevin's apartment!
As for the ghostly-blue door behind Emlyn, it had long vanished as if it had never existed before.
Cautiously surveying the area, Emlyn caught sight of his target, Galis Kevin.
This Primordial Moon believer was a good-looking mixed-blood. He had long hair that reached his shoulders, and his eyes were a little red, as though he didn't fully acquire the eyes of a Sanguine.
At that moment, he was sitting by the side of the bed, staring at the door; his thoughts a mystery.
Emlyn circled to his side without causing a commotion. He took out Leymano's Travels which he ensured was in a blind spot, and he flipped to a page that left his fingers slightly numb.
It was a yellowish-brown goatskin page. The surface was filled with all kinds of ancient and distorted symbols and patterns. Together, they constructed a figure that looked like a thin tree with outstretched branches.
After adjusting his angle, Emlyn slid his finger across the page.
Suddenly, silver lightning illuminated the room as if it was daytime.
A sizzling sound was heard as the lightning smote Galis Kevin on the head, charring the Primordial Moon believer instantly. His body convulsed as his eyes lost focus.
The silver bolts of lightning continued snaking around while Emlyn's figure surfaced behind the frozen target's back. He reached out his right palm and clenched his opponent's neck.
Kacha!
He calmly snapped Galis Kevin's neck and yanked off his head and tossed the body away, eliminating the possibility of letting his opponent heal himself with his strong restorative powers.
Pa!
Galis Kevin's headless corpse collapsed to the ground as blood sprayed everywhere.
An artificial vampire lost its life just like that.
Emlyn's calm expression was quickly replaced with surprise. He looked at the head in his hand with disbelief. He realized that Galis Kevin didn't realize what was happening even upon death. Fixed in his eyes were pain and puzzlement.
It's that easy? It happened like a breeze?
Although Emlyn was proud, he didn't believe that he could finish off an artificial vampire that easily. However, reality told him that it was as easy as a breeze.
A Lightning Strike that can cause paralysis, together with my high movement speed, had allowed me to instantly kill my target... Heh, the premise is that he's weak to lightning, allowing him to be easily paralyzed... Also, I had interfered with his spiritual intuition ahead of time and avoided attacking him head-on by passing through the wall. Those were key to my success... After a few seconds of surprise, Emlyn recalled the details and concluded plenty of useful experience.
This made him truly realize the potency of matching Beyonder powers, as well as the value of Leymano's Travels.
It's no wonder Mr. Hanged Man was the first one to have thoughts of renting it... Emlyn reined in his thoughts and looked at the blood that gushed out of Galis Kevin. His throat couldn't help but move.
He hadn't had that much fresh blood in a while.
However, he didn't dare drink it. This was because the deceased Beyonder characteristic had yet to appear. The blood would still contain parts of it, and drinking it would easily result in excessive Beyonder characteristics, adding the risk of losing control. This wasn't conducive to his subsequent operations.
Emlyn retracted his gaze and surveyed the surroundings. He found a stack of old newspapers and a tiny wooden chest. He planned on using that to store Galis Kevin's head in.
And before that, he sat down and waited for the Beyonder characteristic to appear.
Two minutes later, Emlyn suddenly looked up at the door.
He heard footsteps!
Immediately after that, he caught the scent of Argos!
Why is this artificial vampire back? He returned midway? Emlyn White instantly became a little nervous, unsure how he was going to handle the issue.
Thump!
Argos knocked on the door from the outside without making a sound. This resulted in an abnormal silence.
Emlyn was stunned. He immediately understood that Argos had caught scent of the blood and knew that something had happened inside.
What should I do... Rush out and finish him? No, others will see me if I do so. I would then be caught by the official Beyonders... Emlyn instinctively took out a potion ad planned on hiding himself again.
Suddenly, he had an idea.
Exhaling silently, Emlyn placed Galis Kevin on the bed as he drank an invisibility potion and spewed out the corresponding amount of liquid. Slowly and very gently, he moved to a corner of the room and hid there.
This way, it made it seem like the assassination was completed and that the murderer had long fled the scene.
As time passed, aside from the occasional passing by of the residents, there was silence both inside and outside.
Suddenly, Galis Kevin's window creaked open as a pair of eyes shot its gaze inside.
After careful inspection, Argos, with a festering face, leaped into the room and slowly walked to the corpse which was still indistinctly expelling the Beyonder characteristic.
In the corner, Emlyn White secretly took out Leymano's Travels while Argos wasn't looking in his direction. He flipped to another page of Lightning Strike.
At this moment, Argos's sight landed on the bed and on his companion's head, as well as the stack of old newspapers and the tiny wooden chest.
His pupils suddenly constricted.
