The cold blades flew, gleaming with sharp light.
The sound of air being torn apart echoed like a torrential rain.
"Screaaam!"
The Avatar twisted her body violently.
Hundreds of daggers struck her tough carapace, bouncing off.
Only about 5% of the aid daggers hit their target.
But it was enough.
Even 5% ant dozens of hits.
The daggers found their way into the gaps of the Avatar's exoskeleton.
Blades pierced through cartilage, tearing flesh apart.
Colorful fluids burst out everywhere.
It looked as if tubes of paint had been squeezed all at once.
The Avatar scread in agony, thrashing around.
It hurt.
It was the first ti she had felt such pain.
She had trusted her tough carapace too much.
Inside, she was too vulnerable.
She raised her antennae sharply.
To think she would suffer such agony.
After repaying this several tis over, she would kill.
But she was astonished by what followed.
As she writhed in pain, the daggers that had bounced off floated back into the air.
Maya flicked her wrist.
The blades aid at her again.
"This… this…"
Terror filled the Avatar's eyes.
Maya did not hesitate.
She launched more daggers.
The Avatar's screams filled the banquet hall.
The sa thing repeated as before.
Maya's thrown daggers pierced her joints, again and again.
With each attempt, more daggers hit their mark.
As blades lodged into her body, the Avatar's movents slowed.
Silver streaks painted a chaotic picture in the air.
But Maya's expression showed no joy in her newfound skill.
Despite her vastly improved abilities, she felt nothing but sadness.
In less than a minute, all 1000 daggers had been expended.
"Ughh… ugh… ugh…"
The Avatar lay on the ground, gasping for breath.
Despite gaining strength, her mind was that of an 18-year-old, now wracked with pain.
She lacked the resolve or patience to accept such suffering.
"I'll kill you…!"
But she harbored enough hatred for revenge.
Struggling to her feet, she barely managed to rise.
Watching her, Maya's forehead beaded with cold sweat.
Controlling a thousand blades simultaneously was no easy feat.
It required imnse ntal strength to calculate their trajectories and forces.
She was frozen in place, unable to move a muscle.
The Avatar also recognized her condition.
"You're not in top condition either."
Crawling towards her, the Avatar lunged.
With a thud, the marble floor shattered.
She smiled with satisfaction as she rose to her feet.
Surely, she must have been crushed.
Yet she felt another blow to the back of her head.
As she stood up, she saw Maya still sweating profusely.
She had been deceived again.
"Ahh! You!"
Maya was equally surprised.
Her fake illusion had lured the Avatar into the wrong place.
Who created this illusion?
As her magic depleted, the invisibility wore off.
As her body threatened to collapse, soone grabbed her shoulder.
She looked up to see the person supporting her.
It was the person she respected most.
Her ntor.
"Director…?"
"Good work, Maya. Leave the rest to us from now on."
Us?
Maya tilted her head slightly.
Next to Wonderstein stood soone she vaguely recognized.
Soone who had been seen sowhere.
A petite woman wrapped in a cloth.
Maya rembered her.
She had seen her in the first-week performance of "Kinema" at the Rose Windmill Cabaret.
Playing all the roles alone, the voice of Kinema, Byeonsa.
The deputy head of the Silver Veil Circus.
"Two minutes have passed since cardiac arrest. With blood flow stopped and oxygen supply cut off, there's about one minute left until brain cells start to die."
My words could have sounded like a cold death sentence, but Maya, being as smart as she was, understood what I ant right away.
"Then…"
Maya's pupils noticeably trembled.
I nodded confidently.
"Yes. If we can restore the heart and body within one minute, we can bring her back to life."
I carefully laid Maya down on the ground and approached Karen.
There was no ti to hesitate, not even for a second.
"Vice Head, Byeonsa."
"I got it."
She stuck close behind .
She was also an exceptional illusionist mage, capable of using invisibility magic.
However, to cast magic, she needed to be close to the target.
The Avatar was still causing chaos, chasing after her created illusions.
I began the procedure, starting with supplying oxygen to the brain cells.
Then, I removed all the corrupted blood, replaced it with healthy blood, restored the heart, aligned the broken bones, and healed the damaged tissues.
Debulroot was being rapidly consud.
She stood guard behind , as if escorting .
As I continued the treatnt, I casually struck up a conversation with her.
"You're Arno, aren't you?"
I could feel her tremble through her back.
The Evolution Research Lab could analyze the state of living beings.
So, if the diagnostic function didn't work, it ant the target wasn't a living being.
During our acrobatic duel earlier, I assessed Arno's physical condition.
But I couldn't analyze his body.
The Evolution Research Lab didn't even detect his existence.
He wasn't real; he was an illusion.
"How did you know?"
Her words made shrug lightly.
"I have a skill for analyzing living beings. How did you produce the voice? Illusions don't usually have sound."
She hesitated for a mont before speaking.
"I can imbue illusions with physical force. That includes the throat and mouth."
It was a blunt explanation, but I already had a hypothesis in mind, so I understood imdiately.
"You created vocal cords, didn't you? Well, that's one of the secrets behind the 'Kinema.'"
"Exactly."
She was an astonishing woman.
Handling both roles by herself.
In their performance, Arno was responsible for the core of the illusion.
Did she manage that and play the role of a secondary illusion at the sa ti?
Her skill was truly impeccable, deserving the title of the greatest illusion mage.
"Amazing."
I raised my head, and she nodded in response.
"That's what I wanted to say. I've never seen dical magic of this caliber."
Most of Karen's major organs had been restored.
We had passed the critical mont.
She started breathing steadily.
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Now, only the external restoration and cleaning of necrotic cells remained.
"It's magic. Kirku gave it to ."
Suddenly, air bubbles began to bubble up around us.
The Avatar turned her head towards us.
"There they are!"
"We've been found."
The Avatar thudded towards us.
She dispelled her invisibility.
"I'll hold her off; you focus on treating that girl."
A large illusion of iron sh appeared in front of her.
I picked up Karen's body and stood up.
"I'll leave it to you then."
I swiftly retreated to a corner of the banquet hall, behind a large decoration.
It was a good place to hide the body.
But soone had already arrived there before us.
"Miss Clara."
A girl with blue hair was crouched behind the decoration.
She seed perfectly fine, unlike the others.
"Sir… No, Director…"
I glanced at the object in her hand.
A blood-stained dagger lay there.
And there was a fresh wound on her neck, as if she had just been stabbed.
"What were you trying to do?"
I realized the situation.
Cinepecus's power.
It stimulated the trauma of the target.
Clara, who until recently had been contemplating suicide, had undoubtedly just attempted to kill herself.
"I thought there was no other way."
I understood what had touched her heart, though I didn't know what it was.
She had definitely tried to die just now.
"That's the only thod I could think of."
I let out a small sigh at her words.
I could tell that her decision wasn't impulsive.
What reason could there be to bring a knife to the party in the first place?
Perhaps she always carried it with her.
She was still contemplating suicide.
"I told you. Don't take your life lightly."
She didn't respond to my words, avoiding eye contact.
What pain was lurking in her heart that made her consider suicide as the only option here?
It seed like there was more to her than just the rumors floating around.
"Aren't you upset? Letting your life be decided by chance."
At my words, she suddenly looked up.
She bit her lip and muttered as she lowered her head.
"But… I can't help it. I was born like this."
It was a serious self-loathing.
I had nothing more to say.
To her, it might seem like unnecessary ddling from soone who didn't matter.
Instead, I decided to do what I could.
I now laid Karen, whose treatnt was finished, on the ground and approached Clara.
"Co here. I may not know much, but I can take care of your body."
At my words, she widened her eyes.
"Really?"
"Of course."
She was surprised but didn't doubt .
It was natural, considering she had witnessed treating Karen firsthand.
And the mont I touched her neck, I understood everything.
The Evolution Research Institute had inford that her body was collapsing.
She would die within a week if left untreated.
She was on borrowed ti.
Now, I finally understood her despair.
"Can you really… heal my body… with your power…?"
As the debulroots faded away, the wound on her neck healed.
Clear liquid welled up in her eyes.
She looked at with eyes filled with tear stains.
The Evolution Research Institute had inford her that to prevent the collapse of her body, she needed periodic injections of debulroots.
The cost was not insignificant.
If I were to think only about completing the ga objectives normally, I would have denied her request.
But I couldn't abandon a friend who was contemplating suicide because of her desperate body.
It felt like I was looking at my old self.
"Yes. Of course."
***
Leaving Clara, who was staring at with vacant eyes, I stood up from my seat.
The fight between Byeonsa and the Avatar was intense.
Neither could land a blow on the other.
The Avatar repeatedly struck at the illusions Byeonsa created, while
Byeonsa couldn't land a blow on the Avatar, who had a sturdy exoskeleton.
She was an excellent illusionist but lacked the skills of a fighter.
"Let's finish this and talk."
I took out a small vial from my pocket and drank its contents.
I always carried it with just in case.
Emptying the vial, I walked towards the Avatar.
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