Super Righteous Player
Chapter 280 - 278: Counteracting Rituals with Rituals (2nd Update)_1

Chapter 280: Chapter 278: Counteracting Rituals with Rituals (2nd Update)_1

The direction of this nightmare was very clear.

Annan needed to find a way to break the ritual, not to continue it. That suggested that the nightmare didn’t originate from Philip’s faction... or rather, the Transcendents from the Corrupted faction.

Besides that, there were only two other factions.

Those were the official forces of the two countries, headed by Dmitry and Elizabeth.

In the original history, Annan inevitably didn’t have the immunity ritual buff added by old Vasily. In other words, this ritual was disrupted while everyone was under ritual surveillance... yet still, it was sabotaged.

And as everyone knows, Ferdinand didn’t die at that moment, nor was he wanted or exiled.

So, those Leystones, be it one or several, that were sabotaged in the original history must not have belonged to Ferdinand.

Who could notice a problem with the ritual without raising anyone’s suspicions, and then sabotage it?

He had to be someone with extremely keen powers of observation. And his whereabouts wouldn’t arouse suspicion from others...

There was only one person who could do it.

It was old Merlin.

——Merlin Manning.

He was a cripple and a mute—at least, to outsiders he seemed a mute. As the most reliable guardian, he would inevitably stick close to Annan... because only Merlin would know that "Annan Winter"’s "value" had become greater than Dmitry’s at this time.

As a guardian, his presence anywhere wouldn’t look suspicious... as long as Annan wasn’t far away.

His brother, Vasily, was a Ritualist by profession; as an elite of the Hand of Winter, his job included capturing illegal ritualists—how could he not understand ritual knowledge?

If you say there was someone related to Annan, who could quickly detect and disrupt a ritual, whose actions would not alarm others, who wished to disrupt the ritual... and most crucially, who wished for "Annan Winter", "Dmitry Winter", "Elizabeth Noah", and "Kafney Noah" to all survive,

then the answer was self-evident—

This nightmare could only have originated from Merlin Manning, who died in Michelangelo’s ritual!

"...But he’s just a silver-tier Transcendent. Could he give birth to a Twisted Tier nightmare?"

Such a doubt flashed through Annan’s mind.

This was the only thing Annan couldn’t explain.

Merlin... Was he really that strong?

Normally, only after a gold-tier or higher Transcendent died would a Twisted Tier nightmare be born, right?

However, even ignoring this part, the information Annan had gathered was already sufficient.

If he wanted to conquer the nightmare through the third method, he would need Merlin’s support...

The second plan would provoke the anger and obstruction of the "Tragedy Writer." So, did a way exist to unravel the ritual while still pleasing the Patron?

——There was one.

The Tragedy Writer is the deity of murder and conspiracy... but They are not the protector of murderers and conspirators but their "accomplice" and "confidant".

The Patron kept silent about all murders and conspiracies and very much enjoyed "perfect crimes." "Perfect crimes under everyone’s nose" were one of the Tragedy Writer’s favorite rituals.

——Yes.

Annan decided to make a sacrifice to the "Tragedy Writer."

He planned to murder, in front of everyone’s eyes, the criminal who intended to murder others, seize power, and provoke a war!

The Third Prince, Philip Noah.

With a sacrifice to deny a sacrifice, a ritual to cover a ritual, a murder to thwart a murder.

——An explosion to mask another explosion.

The "Tragedy Writer" would not only refrain from stopping this, but They would probably be especially excited...

But if Annan decided to proceed in this way, he would need Merlin’s cooperation. Because Annan couldn’t reveal his identity throughout the whole process.

He also couldn’t arouse suspicion—he couldn’t let people think the murderer was a Winter, especially not allow Merlin to commit the murder.

"So preparations must be made on both fronts."

If all went well, Philip Noah would be murdered before the "opening." Otherwise, he would use the first method, push through the nightmare first—there could be no hesitation with a nightmare of this level.

Just like if a teammate was hanging in a tree and couldn’t be saved easily, and the door was already open, then obviously, running would be best...

The key was that the murderer had to be Annan. Or rather, it had to be Annan in his "David" form.

Because when Annan entered the "David" state, not only would his appearance change... his name would temporarily become "Giralda David Buonarroti," and he’d be able to deflect spells from any "Prophet" or "Idol" school below the gold tier unconditionally.

This would let "David" bear the blame, and no matter how much one investigated with spells, they could only find that someone named "Giralda David Buonarroti" had committed the murder.

But as everyone knew, this person did not exist in the world—this was the name Annan had given to the last statue in Michelangelo’s life.

"I will heal you."

Looking at the somewhat uneasy Ken Carter, Annan nodded and said in a deep voice.

As he spoke, he did not put away the gun in his left hand but bit the thin sword he was holding in his right mouth and took out the last silver coin from his pocket.

He wiped the gunshot wound on Ken’s thigh with the silver coin—like it was erased by an eraser, the wound was directly wiped away by Annan.

Ken’s expression visibly improved.

He whispered his thanks, "Thank you very much, Father."

"I won’t attack you, nor will I reveal your identity... If you’re worried about me, you can lock up the basement. I won’t go anywhere."

"That would be best."

Annan nodded gently and picked up his sword again.

But a flicker passed through the depths of his pupils.

In his mind, a scene suddenly emerged:

Ken Carter sat in the empty basement, looking hesitant. He frowned and thought hard.

In the end, he slowly stood up from the ground. He found several pigeons in the kitchen basement, tore off their wings...

The vision came to an abrupt end.

—As expected.

Annan didn’t need to see the rest to know that Ken was planning to set up a ritual to send a message. It was understandable, and Annan had anticipated it.

However, Annan hadn’t intended to truly let him go, so he wasn’t infuriated by the betrayal.

He was just a bit surprised:

...Could this be the "Prophetic Experience" of the wizards from the School of Prophets?

This is awesome!

Annan casually warned, "By the way, Ken... you better stay here and behave yourself, don’t think about anything bad. If I manage to survive and find out...

"—No matter how far, I will come back and kill you."

He said flatly.

Ken chuckled nervously, murmuring in a low voice, "Of course not... definitely not..."

"Best that way."

Annan nodded indifferently.

He turned and walked towards the exit of the basement—but he didn’t rush out.

He just walked slowly out the door of the basement, silently pointing the gun roughly in Ken’s direction from behind the shelves.

Four rounds of dialogue, as well as a somewhat vague "death declaration," were given.

Let’s see if a death declaration of this degree could trigger the effect of "Miss Silence"...

Annan pulled the trigger silently and without looking, through the shelves.

The gun’s very low recoil shook slightly in his hand but didn’t cause "David’s" marble body to tremble in the slightest.

But no bullet flew out from the muzzle—naturally, the shelves weren’t pierced by a bullet either.

Yet, Annan definitely felt the gun shake.

...Could it be "that kind" of sure hit?

Without thinking, Annan took two steps back and stepped out from behind the shelves.

Ken had already been shot, lying in agony against the wall, struggling silently and violently—with blood flowing out from his heart.

"...As I thought."

Annan nodded, satisfied.

The distance from "gun muzzle" to "target" was directly erased—this degree of sure hit was indeed still valuable. If it was just the auto-tracking kind, a living curse could accomplish that.

The experiment was complete.

Immediately, Annan strode forward, raised the "Sharp Object" in his right hand, intending to give this NPC a quick end.

A flash of silver light passed. With the support of "David’s" powerful bodily strength—Annan cut Ken’s throat without any hindrance.

The head flew off.

—Dead in one strike.

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