Poison's flight was desperate.
Though assassins excelled at stealth and evasion, facing three players in pursuit — especially with a [Silence] hunter among them — she was virtually cornered.
After running for a long ti, the towering city wall lood ahead. Poison knew she couldn't escape.
A cryptic light flickered through her eyes. She exhaled hard, and while the hunters hadn't yet closed in, she stopped at the base of the wall and drew her last-resort dagger.
It was a blade brimming with [Corruption]'s power, nad Dance With Desire. Whether the wielder or the one struck, anyone touched by its aura would have their desires stretched and amplified without end — until they plunged into boundless madness, satisfying untouchable, impossible fantasies through delusion.
In simpler terms: first lose your mind, then go insane.
Dance With Desire's effect was exceptional. But Poison rarely used it. Unless cornered in a life-or-death fight, she almost never took it out — precisely because it was too effective.
So effective that even a [Corruption] Chosen One couldn't resist its pull.
Yet today, right now, she'd drawn this dagger from storage. She gripped it tight, gravity etched across her face.
All because Poison had suddenly realized she could no longer read the little priest she'd once encountered.
In her mory, he was a player who lied through his teeth, was cautious to the extre, yet stayed cool under fire and could turn the tide single-handedly. Most importantly — he was a good person worth trusting.
But today, that good person had changed.
He hadn't beco bad. He'd beco... too strong.
Poison knew with certainty that Gongyang Jiao had been dead. Yet only a few hours later, this resurrected Screaming Earl had beco the little priest's enforcer.
Yes — she believed the little priest had masterminded this ambush.
The mont Gongyang Jiao passed up attacking her and went for Jiang Chi instead, Poison knew sothing was off. The Chaleon might play indirect gas, but the straightforward Screaming Earl never would. His tactics had always been head-on confrontation — generating fear through raw violence. He'd never bother with misdirection.
The only person among the three who favored this kind of battlefield-splitting maneuver was the little priest.
So when the sa-faith warrior wheeled toward her, Poison knew: she was the little priest's real target!
'Run!'
In the past, she might have tried to read his intentions. But under this mad-dog assault, she had no such luxury.
So Poison ran.
But she couldn't escape.
She knew that against three hunters, an all-out sprint was rely delaying the inevitable. Running wouldn't save her. And with the dagger still unfound, she wasn't ready to quit the trial. So her only option was to shift strategy and strike first.
Poison didn't know what deal Gongyang Jiao had struck with Cheng Shi. She only knew that if she killed Gongyang Jiao first, there might still be room for negotiation with the little priest. They were old acquaintances, after all, and she had no real grudge against the Chaleon.
The [Silence] hunter seed more like a "rcenary" hired by Gongyang Jiao.
Except this rcenary appeared... a tad too professional.
So Poison stopped, drew Dance With Desire, and prepared to fight Gongyang Jiao before the three hunters converged.
She gripped the dagger tight, concealing herself in the wind and snow beneath the wall. When three dark shapes rapidly approached, a ghostly silhouette materialized right beside the center figure — Gongyang Jiao.
A Chosen assassin, delivering her most flawless kill, prepared a devastating surprise for the warrior who'd been hunting her.
Gongyang Jiao had already started scanning his surroundings when the Chaleon slowed — but Poison's ambush was too perfect. As seamless as his own attack on Jiang Chi monts ago. The target never had ti to react.
The Screaming Earl didn't even manage a roar before a ghastly gash appeared across his throat.
A clean hit!
But she wasn't done!
Poison knew one strike wouldn't kill Gongyang Jiao. She vanished instantly, reappeared below his falling trajectory, and drove the dagger perfectly into his lower back.
Overwhelming [Corruption] power surged into the wound. Even a fellow [Corruption] follower had his desires ignited instantly.
"You filthy bitch! You're dead!!"
The raspy voice grated like a broken bellows. The peak warrior seized Poison's forearm mid-air and twisted his body in an unthinkable acrobatic reversal — spinning from back-to-Poison to face-to-face. His other hand lunged for her shoulder, desire blazing in his eyes, ready to tear her apart on the spot.
Poison wasn't fazed. She knew she couldn't trade blows with a warrior. With a contemptuous smile, she broke her own arm, vanished again, and reappeared behind Gongyang Jiao — plunging the dagger into his back with blinding speed!
Three hits, all clean!
In this brief window, anyone who ate Poison's full combo would lose half their life, especially with Dance With Desire's desire-amplification. Gongyang Jiao instantly fell to a disadvantage.
But just as Poison prepared to close in and finish the warrior — the [Silence] arrows arrived.
Three whistling shots in rapid succession targeted Gongyang Jiao's position. The angles were wickedly precise — from their original trajectories, the arrows didn't look like extraction cover for the warrior at all. They looked like Poison's ally helping her finish Gongyang Jiao off.
The catch: Poison had flashed behind Gongyang Jiao and swapped positions. During her descent, she dropped right into the arrows' path!
It was a perfectly predicted triple shot. The hunter had bet on Poison attacking from behind — and won.
Poison's expression shifted. She imdiately blinked backward, trying to attack from another angle. But what ca next was truly devastating.
A column of healing light poured directly onto Gongyang Jiao. The surging restorative power rapidly nded his ravaged flesh.
Seeing this, Poison's heart sank.
'The little priest...'
'No chance left. Perhaps there never had been one.'
Realizing her assassination attempt was dood, she gritted her teeth and bolted outward.
But as she tried to use the blizzard's shadows to break contact once more, she crashed into soone.
Her pupils contracted. She spun to strike — but when she saw who stood behind her, she froze for a split second. And that split second was all it took for bloody shackles to clamp around her, binding her tight.
A familiar scalpel pressed against her chest in the very next instant.
Poison's expression stiffened. A cryptic light flickered through her eyes before she simply... gave up resisting.
She laughed at herself, then arched her neck backward, looking up — back pressing against chest — at the face re inches above hers. She sighed softly:
"Little priest, you really have changed."
Yes — the one who'd caught her was Cheng Shi. And he'd removed his mask, reverting from Hero of Today back to Fate Weaver.
As for why he'd swap out of a combat-ready class to return to priest... naturally, it was to maintain his persona.
He didn't want to prematurely expose his "second profession." Only by keeping that hidden could he retain trump cards in the peak circle.
Switching back to priest was risky, but Cheng Shi had already prepared contingencies. At minimum, if the situation went completely south, he could still save himself.
So he'd reverted to priest and used one devastating healing spell to seal off every escape route for Poison.
But he also knew Poison wasn't so easily caught. The reason she'd fallen into his hands was most likely...
She'd done it on purpose.
From the direction of her flight to that montary freeze — it was probably all scripted.
'Tch. Clever girl. Spotted him here and just bodychecked her way in. What, planning to lean on that [Corruption] will again to earn trust? Sister, please.'
'Outdated!'
'Although... why was her face so red?'
Cheng Shi held the captive tight in his arms, choosing not to call out her ga. He rely scoffed:
"Well? How does it feel, having a blade held to you?"
Poison's breathing grew unsteady. Her gaze turned slightly hazy. She glanced at the scalpel pressed to her chest, and far from fear, she licked the corner of her lips. In a voice dripping with bewitching allure, she murmured:
"Little priest, I suggest you try a different angle. Otherwise, a blade this short...
"I'm afraid it won't reach my heart."
"?"
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