Chapter 93: Testing Hollow Eyes, Ten Seconds
Rank 5 Cursed Spirit [Fate] worked in strange ways.
Just as the saying went—Fate is fickle—it sometimes helped, and other times attacked without warning.
It could control probability, which allowed it to make the most unlikely event happen as if it were inevitable.
"We need to be careful," said the head of security.
"Yes. Thankfully for us, Fate isn’t all-powerful. It can only touch things that already had a chance of happening. That’s the power of probability manipulation. It’s powerful but limited. If we can account for every possible risk, we can overcome this problem."
"Since you know it, be careful. I’ll warn the guards in the mansion above to keep a close watch on the Exorcist Police."
There was a pause, then the head of security ended the call without another word.
The combat specialist stayed in place.
His eyes were fixed on the small device in his hand.
Despite what he’d just said, doubts were eating at him.
’If it was really Fate, why did it blow two generators out of four? And why one after the other?’
...
MC POV, Two minutes earlier
The moment the second generator went down, I moved.
I searched for the head of security.
He was alone between the lounge and the patrol corridor.
His long coat swayed as he walked.
I followed him through the shadows, planning our battle in my mind.
’My stats are high thanks to my connection to the System.’
The people on earth were without System privileges, which meant I should have similar stats to the person in front of me, given I was in Shadow Assimilation stat.
’I should be able to fight even though I lack a physical combat Class.’
The reason I was doing this was simple.
If I stole the gold, someone had to take the fall.
Without a scapegoat, people would start asking where the gold went.
They would realize an intruder had been here.
’You’re going to take the fall for this.’
I would kill him, hide the body, and let everyone assume he ran off with the gold once it became clear the Exorcist Police were closing in.
His disappearance would explain everything neatly.
’And it’s a good chance to try Hollow Eyes in an actual fight.’
I stopped, exhaled, and activated the Hollow Eyes.
My eyes, hidden by my Shadow Assimilation appearance, became silverish-grey.
The world drained away in an instant.
Everything became white—so blinding it almost felt like snow glare—but instead of clean emptiness, it was covered in chaotic black scribbles.
They were messy and tangled, like an artist’s discarded sketches.
Vertigo hit me hard.
I forced my breathing to remain steady.
The chaos began to settle.
Lines within ten meters shifted, rearranging into something coherent.
The head of security was now a crude figure of lines in my vision.
I could see the outlines of his nerves, skeletons, muscles and organs.
Silver lines moved around his muscles, showing the direction of force he was applying to walk.
Two short sticks were attached to one side of his waist.
Despite them looking like sticks, I could tell what they were.
’He has gauntlets hidden under the coat.’
I focused harder.
Another shorter stick came into view at his belt.
’That’s his communication device.’
This was the ability of [Colorless World].
It stripped away the unnecessary distractions of the world, letting me see only what I wanted to see.
My current mastery let me pick out hidden weapons and gear, and the visual clarity made feints pointless against me.
Once I had memorized the location of his comm device, I stopped focusing on it, and it vanished from my view.
The strain in my eyes eased a little.
I took out a pair of daggers from my Inventory rune, feeling the familiar weight in my grip.
My feet made no sound as I stepped from the shadows into the corridor.
He didn’t notice me yet.
With [Colorless World], predicting his movement became simple.
The way his shoulders shifted, the minute tilt of his head. All of the information was directly entering my brain as I stared at his ’stick figure’.
I closed the gap fast and drove the dagger forward, burying it in his neck.
Before I could twist the blade, his elbow shot backward.
I predicted it, and moved back, softening the blow.
The blow hit square in my ribs and launched me several meters down the corridor.
My back slammed against the wall, air bursting from my lungs.
He had reacted instantly, without even looking.
As expected of someone who’s the head of security. He was good.
...
Adam (Head of Security) POV
Adam’s elbow connected, and he turned sharply, following through on the motion.
A shadowed figure flew backward, smacking into the far wall of the hallway.
Instead of crashing to the ground after hitting the wall, the figure slipped into the shadow on the floor.
He vanished from sight, only to reappear several meters away, stepping out of another patch of shadow like he was simply walking through a door.
’An assassin.’
Adam pressed one hand to his neck.
The warm, slick feeling told him all he needed to know.
Blood was already flowing heavily from the wound.
The strike had been clean and deep.
’It’s a lethal strike.’
Even so, Adam’s body was that of a Rank 2 Martial Adept.
His body was strong and more resilient than normal people.
’I should be able to fight and stay conscious for a full minute, even with this kind of injury.’
His palm remained pressed to his neck.
’But the dagger might have been poisoned. I should assume I’ll be unconscious within thirty seconds.’
The thought didn’t shake him.
If anything, his earlier tension faded.
Because he had found his enemy.
’It must be him who killed big brother.’
The shadow-clad assassin stood with his weapon lowered slightly, watching Adam as if weighing the next move.
’Judging from the power behind his first strike and the speed he showed just now, he’s Rank 2 at most.’
Adam remained calm.
’I’ll finish him in ten seconds, and use the remaining twenty seconds to get treated.’
But Adam wasn’t about to charge blindly.
He reached for the communicator clipped at his waist to sound the emergency alarm.
He had to warn others.
His fingers brushed empty air.
The communicator was gone.
’The assassin must have stolen it during the initial strike.’
From Adam’s counterattack until now, only three seconds had passed.
That left him seven seconds to win before his body gave out.
Adam’s free hand slipped into the gauntlet strapped to his belt.
As his fingers tightened inside it, a faint hum of energy met his skin.
His gaze never left the assassin.
The earlier exchange told him something important.
When the assassin tried to retreat, he stepped into the shadows instead of running physically.
That meant his mobility was tied to shadow contact.
He could enter the shadows on the floor.
If Adam could keep him from touching the ground, he might cut off that escape route.
It would also stop the sneak attacks the assassin could do by entering and jumping out of shadows.
Aura flared around Adam’s body.
It was thick and overwhelming.
He stomped forward, closing the distance in a flash.
One hand stayed clamped over his bleeding neck.
The other—now wearing the gauntlet—was drawn back, Aura flowing into it.
He aimed straight for the assassin’s head.