Chapter 68

“We are in the room at the end of the hallway on the third floor, left side.”

After informing Carlos of their location, Aneta deactivated her doppelganger ability, and the split vision returned to one.

With Carlos’s face gone, Aneta recalled how she had come to meet him.

Aneta began moving her doppelganger as she was led up the stairs by Randolph.

Cautiously opening the closet door, she peeked her head out through the open door and saw the same unguarded hallway she’d been dragged down.

There were two routes to get downstairs. The central staircase is where her original body was taken, and there is a narrow staircase on the right. She chose the latter and descended, seeing the mercenaries guarding the entrance through the window.

The back door and the rear garden were similarly guarded. Ultimately, she decided to go to the end of the hallway and climb out of the window on the side of the building.

The window, which looked like it would fall apart if mishandled, fortunately, opened with a small noise. As she stepped outside, her nerves became even more tense. Every step she took and every breath she exhaled was cautious.

She had to find a way out of this situation as quickly as possible.

Under the pressure, Aneta first burst the wound on the doppelganger’s hand. She did this because she believed Carlos would undoubtedly find her.

“I told him I did it just in case.’

Thinking of Carlos, who didn’t betray her trust, Aneta wiped the blood from her mouth with the back of her hand.

Unlike the wounds that burst upon deactivating the ability, the bandage that had been tied around the hand to prevent leaving traces on the floor was unaffected, indicating that the effects were limited to the body.

The blood wasn’t only seeping from her injured hand. Another stream of blood flowed from her mouth, despite her efforts to clean it.

It felt like her throat was burning as if she had downed a strong liquor.

“Does it hurt? Is it painful? You shouldn’t be in this much pain. Just think of how much damage I’ve suffered because of you.”

As Aneta coughed up blood again, Erez approached leisurely. Grabbing her by the hair as she sat on the floor came next.

As her golden hair wrapped around his rough fingers, Aneta let out a painful groan from the pulling sensation on her scalp.

Perhaps due to her weakened body from drinking poison and the exhaustion from glory, breathing became increasingly difficult.

“The poison you drank is said to be slow-acting but incredibly potent. Perfect for killing someone as annoying as you.”

Erez claimed he had gone out of his way to procure it for her, then pulled her hair back even harder, forcing her to lift her chin.

Serce, who had no choice but to watch, was naturally filled with a sense of helplessness.

Tears had begun to well up in Aneta’s eyes. Her limbs trembled weakly, like a marionette with its strings cut.

Even though Carlos had given her the antidote, it was just that—an antidote, not a cure. The internal injuries were beyond help, so Aneta gritted her teeth and endured.

“You have no idea how happy I am right now. Without you, this place will become a world that revolves entirely around me. Indeed, the flower of this world, the protagonist, is me!”

But there was no more time to listen to his deranged talk. Amid his agitated voice ringing in her ears, Aneta forced a smile.

“Well, I wonder. Will it go your way? ”

As Erez’s face twisted in the realization of something in her expression, Aneta activated her ability. Her doppelganger appeared behind Erez.

“Behind you! Look behind you! ”

One of Randolph’s subordinates, watching the events unfold, alerted Erez to the doppelganger’s presence.

As the subordinate frantically pointed at the doppelganger, Aneta quickly moved it to reach for Erez’s neck.

The doppelganger immediately grabbed the control string. A tingling sensation ran up her fingertips like static electricity, but for some reason, the resistance to the control was neither strong nor long-lasting.

“What… what is this? ”

Erez panicked as he felt the hand approaching his neck and turned around, only to find that the doppelganger had already torn apart the control.

With Aneta being two, and the relentless grip severing the connection, Erez’s face turned pale with shock.

“How… how did you…!”

Even as he turned to regain control, Erez did not let go of Aneta’s hair.

Aneta burst through the old window. With a loud crash, the glass shattered and spilled out into the open air.

“Give me that thing. Are you crazy? ”

Dodging Erez’s hand that slashed through the air, Aneta’s doppelganger wrapped the string around the wide pendant of control she was holding. Then she threw the control out through the broken window.

She felt no guilt, despite thoroughly ignoring her owner’s demand to return it.

Rather than holding onto it with her injured body and risking it being taken, it was better to throw it outside and send a clearer signal to Carlos.

Watching Erez’s mouth gape open in shock, Aneta suddenly felt dizzy and quickly deactivated her ability.

While it would be easier to escape from Erez’s grip with two rather than one, Aneta currently lacked the stamina to move both her doppelganger and her body simultaneously.

She made a hasty choice, fearing that if she held on any longer, she might lose consciousness.

However, Erez Bauter did not leave Aneta alone. Without even thinking of taking the ability or doppelganger, he pushed her to the ground.

“You, tell me now. How can you still use your ability? I made sure you couldn’t.”

His muttered words reached Aneta’s ears despite being pressed down by Erez’s body. She lifted the corner of her mouth, mocking him.

“Don’t you see? You thought you had everyone fooled, but I knew your true abilities all along. I just pretended not to know, pretended they didn’t work on me.”

Aneta revealed the truth with a voice as cracked as if her throat were broken.

Thinking back on the lengths she went to deceive Erez, it was embarrassing, but ultimately, it wasn’t bad.

“Thanks for being so easy to fool. Because of you, I found a way to solve this situation.”

She had found a way. There was no time to question her confident words. With a sudden, loud noise, all the windows in the room shattered.

Simultaneously, Carlos burst in, bringing with him a strong wind.Randolph and the mercenaries covered their faces with one arm against the wind’s force, drawing their daggers with the other. But it was a futile effort.

The mercenaries were flung against the walls with a series of explosive sounds. Their bodies were hurled by the compressed air bursting.

Those who hit their heads lost consciousness, and only a few managed to stand, including Randolph.

But Carlos didn’t stop there. He compressed the air again, striking their solar plexuses.

“Ugh!”

With painful groans, those struck at their vital points collapsed helplessly. It was the most certain way to deal with them.

The only ones left were Chris, still unconscious, and Serce, who had lost his balance due to the effects of the ability. Daggers lay scattered on the floor, one of them rolling close to Aneta.

The fierce wind died down as Carlos returned to his original form. With a grim expression, he ground his teeth, checking Aneta’s condition.

He wanted to remove Erez, who was pressing down on Aneta, immediately, but he couldn’t recklessly use his ability. Aneta’s condition was poor, and any impact could worsen it.

“Erez Bauter. Let go of her, now.”

Carlos spoke, his voice still brimming with killing intent. Erez, who turned pale and looked back, trembled at the sight of Carlos’s blazing golden eyes. Despite being terrified to the point of being unable to speak, Erez’s hand showed no sign of letting go.

Taking advantage of Erez’s distraction, Aneta reached for the dagger that had fallen not far away. She couldn’t just sit and wait for Carlos to save her.

Her trembling fingertips barely managed to reach it. But Aneta didn’t give up and finally succeeded in pulling it close.

Holding the dagger, Aneta immediately turned its blade toward the frozen Erez in front of Carlos.

“Aagh! What are you doing!”

Squeezing out the last of her strength, she slashed Erez’s arm, which was gripping her hair, drawing a scream of pain. The sharp blade cut through his flesh, making Erez reflexively withdraw his hand.As soon as Erez let go of her hair, Aneta rolled to the side to get away from him. No sooner had the distance between Aneta and Erez widened than Carlos activated his ability.

Bang!

Erez was overpowered with a force far greater than that used on the mercenaries. With a loud crash, his body was slammed against the wall, then bounced off and collapsed helplessly to the floor.

Carlos mercilessly stomped on Erez’s wrist as he lay on the ground. Even in unconsciousness, Erez’s body convulsed in pain.

Carlos only glared at him momentarily, like one might look at a bug, before hastily moving toward Aneta.

“Are you okay, Aneta? I told you not to drink it.”

“Scold me later. I don’t feel well right now.”

Lying on her back and slowly catching her breath, Aneta’s condition was anything but good.

Carlos felt his breath catch in his throat with worry as he gently lifted Aneta into his arms.

Having fought to stay conscious, Aneta finally felt she could relax once she was in Carlos’s embrace. Now certain that she was safe, her vision quickly began to blur.

“I’m sorry, Carlos. I’ll just sleep for a bit.”