NOVPUBDaniel stepped into the inn.
Upon entering, he could instantly feel a dense atmosphere of dread and panic engulfing the place.
The gazes from Alex and the others carried a sense of caution towards him, be it intentional or not, everyone except for the naive Mike who walked forward to welcome him.
Julia hastily warned, "Mike, don’t go over there yet!"
Mike turned back with a smile, saying, "What’s there to fear? He is the real Daniel."
He had felt the real essence of Daniel when he took that kick — he was sure it was Daniel.
Approaching Daniel, Mike beamed, "Daniel, why did you only return now?"
Daniel replied indifferently, "There was a complication; the Blood-eyed Monster did not appear."
Feeling the scrutinizing eyes of Alex and the others, Daniel met their gazes one after another.
Julia suggested, "Daniel, there’s a high probability that we have fallen for the illusions of the Blood-eyed Monster."
Daniel calmly responded, "What do you mean?"
Wes pushed his way to the front, elaborating, "We encountered someone who looked exactly like you earlier. He attacked us as soon as he entered. But we managed to fend him off collectively. Strangely enough, he didn’t have a physical body and vanished as if he was just an illusion."
"So we suspect it might be the illusionary tactics of the Blood-eyed Monster."
Daniel swept his eyes over everyone calmly, agreeing, "I have the same suspicions. Right now, we can’t differentiate between what’s real and what’s fabricated."
Suddenly, Alex spoke, "That includes you."
Calmly, Daniel retorted, "I can’t be sure if any of you are real either."
In an instant, the atmosphere in the hall became taut, as tension steadily escalated.
Mike sensed something was amiss and slowly moved towards where Alex and the others were grouped.
He looked at Daniel hesitantly, murmuring, "He should be the real one, shouldn’t he?"
Wes shook his head, asserting, "We can’t be sure. We need to test him."
"Ask him some confidential questions, see if he can answer them correctly."
"Daniel, what do you think?"
Daniel replied evenly, "Sounds reasonable."
"But... I have a better method."
The others looked puzzled. "A better method?"
Boom!
A deafening sound rang out, followed by a blinding flash of light as a bullet shot straight towards Wes.
Wes, a bona fide Level 3 Evolver, was not an easy target.
Despite Daniel’s sudden and unanticipated assault, it was highly improbable to take Wes down in a single shot.
With a swift move to the side, Wes managed to avoid the bullet with remarkable ease.
An anger bubbled up inside Wes as he shouted, "He isn’t the real Daniel! Attack now!"
Alex and the others sprang to their feet, faces tense as they all fixed their eyes on Daniel.
Daniel didn’t respond. Instead, he unleashed a force amplified a hundredfold.
Boom!
A furious energy erupted from within Daniel, generating an invisible vortex of wind around him, a maelstrom of power that spiraled frenetically, though invisible to the naked eye.
He held a Desert Eagle in his right hand, raising his left hand slightly.
From the palm of his left hand, a dense array of white silk threads emerged, gathering in front of him to morph into a blade with a broad back.
As the razor-sharp blade sliced through the spiraling air, it visibly split the currents in its path.
Alex and the others had never seen Daniel in this state before. This shocking transformation convinced them that the Daniel before them couldn’t possibly be real.
Wes perceived a horrifying aura of death in Daniel’s eyes, prompting him to rise up and shout in alarm, "He is not Daniel! He is an illusion created by the Blood-eyed Monster, attack now!"
Swish!
Daniel made the first move, opting not to use his gun.
Considering Wes’ speed, a bullet from a distance might not necessarily hit its mark.
Advancing forward with strides that resembled a ghostly figure, his speed was so swift that only afterimages could be seen. In the blink of an eye, he appeared in front of Wes.
Under the terrifying oppressive force, Wes’s facial skin turned rapidly dark, his eyes bulged, and his lips flipped outward revealing sharp, fanged teeth.
His features distorted horrendously, demon-like in appearance.
He brought up his hands, which were comparable to bear paws, to shield himself, protecting the location of his Life Gate.
Daniel’s hand rose and fell with the blade, aiming to sever Wes’s hands.
However, the gap between their realms was too vast.
Although Wes had managed a defensive stance in a frantic rush, his defensive power increased several-fold in his demonic state.
Struck by the silk thread blade, he rolled several meters backward before lying prone on the ground.
His hands were numb, a nearly invisible line of blood marking the strike.
Even so, a turbulent shock surged in Wes’s heart.
So strong!
He looked at Daniel, who stood not far away, with amazement.
He had always been known for his defense, yet his guard was broken by Daniel, who supposedly only had the strength of a level one Evolver.
This guy was truly extraordinary!
Daniel’s assault did not cease.
He unleashed his power to its utmost limit, risking the collapse of his own body in the process.
However, Daniel didn’t care in the slightest.
From the palm of his right hand too, a dense mass of silk thread erupted and spread out like a torrent, expanding crazily.
In just a moment, the entire hotel hall was thoroughly enveloped by the silk thread.
Seeing this, the faces of Alex and the others changed drastically.
Each one of them summoned their own abilities to block the encroaching silk threads.
Alex and Julia were relatively safe for the time being, given their potent offensive powers. They wouldn’t be affected by the silk threads immediately.
Mike, whose attack power was weaker or rather non-existent, couldn’t hold back the invasion of the silk threads.
In an instant, a cluster of threads, shaped into sharp ends, pierced through his chest.
Alex, who had been hesitant until now, was thoroughly enraged.
He finally got serious, pulling out a dagger that gleamed with golden light, his eyes filled with grave killing intent.
In the end, Alex had been somewhat careless, assuming that since this Daniel could speak, he must be the real one, thereby underestimating the Blood-eyed Monster’s abilities.
In the next moment, a formidable force erupted from beneath Alex’s feet.
Like a missile launched, Alex dashed, appearing instantly before Daniel.
Daniel eyed the golden dagger in his grasp, his eyes slightly narrowing.
It seemed Alex had no Spiritual Artifact, resorting to utilizing a weapon crafted from gold.
While gold bore the merit of negating supernatural powers, its potency in a true battle was hardly comparable to a regularly forged steel blade.
However, at this juncture, he discerned that these people were not mere illusions.
As Alex held the golden dagger, poised to strike, Daniel raised his silk thread blade, slashing mercilessly across the main artery in his neck.
Blood spewed out violently.
...
Entering, Daniel met the malevolent stares of Alex and the others, their stances bearing the gravity of facing a formidable adversary, leaving him bewildered.
"What is... going on with all of you?"
Mike, steadfast in his belief that the Daniel before him was another illusion conjured by the Blood-eyed Monster, vehemently seized a chair and charged forward.
"You damn son of a bitch, thinking the same trick would work twice?!"
With swift strides, Daniel advanced, taking the opportunity before the chair could descend, to land a fierce kick in Mike’s abdomen.
A beautiful arc of a human silhouette traced through the air as Mike fell to the ground, the chair in his grasp smashing onto his own head subsequently.
"Ow, that hurts like hell."
"Dan, weren’t you a bit too harsh?"
Feeling the real and potent force of the kick, Mike realized that the individual before him is the real Daniel.
Daniel cast a glance at Wes; it was this very individual who had persistently doubted his authenticity the last time.
"I have to break some bad news to you all," he began solemnly, "we are currently enveloped in an illusion cast by the Blood-eyed Monster."
Alex eyed Daniel suspiciously, asking, "Are you truly Daniel?"
Moving closer, Daniel whispered something into Alex’s ear.
In an unprecedented moment, a blush blossomed across Alex’s usually impassive face.
He then affirmed adamantly, "He is Daniel, there’s absolutely no doubt."
Daniel smiled gently.
What he had whispered was nothing other than the tale Brooks had shared with him about Alex adjusting his trousers.
While the exact words remained a secret between them, Alex’s endorsement vouched sufficiently for Daniel’s identity to the rest of the group.
Relief washed over Julia as she sighed, "You’re finally back. How could you leave without a trace, having us worried for so long?"
Daniel replied, "The Blood-eyed Monster hasn’t made an appearance."
No one found this revelation strange.
"Just before you arrived, we managed to defeat an illusion spawned by the Blood-eyed Monster," Alex shared, his brow creased in thought. "So, I surmise it must be lurking not far from here."
Wes wore a puzzled expression, asking, "But why did it abruptly alter its attack strategy, shifting its focus from Daniel who was alone to target us instead?"
With a weighty concern marking his features, Daniel suggested, "Perhaps it never had a fixed pattern for its attacks in the first place."
Hearing this, a shadow of grim realization fell upon everyone’s faces.
If this were true, it meant they had been mere toys in the sadistic games played by the Blood-eyed Monster up until now.
A troubled frown settled on Alex’s face as he emphasized, "We must hurry and eliminate the Blood-eyed Monster; otherwise, we will eventually be worn down to death in this place."
With a tone dripping with sarcasm yet underscored by anxiety, Wes retorted, "You make it sound so simple. But how do you propose we kill something that we can’t even lay our eyes on at the moment?"
Alex faced Wes’s skepticism without anger, instead turning the question back on him with a discerning gaze. "Did you plan to take down the Blood-eyed Monster without making any preparations at all?"
Caught off guard by the sudden query, Wes stuttered, "Prep... preparations? What kind?"
"With Liam and Stanley by my side, facing a typical Rank A monster would not have been a problem. Who could have foreseen the grotesque and overpowering nature of the Blood-eyed Monster? We lost Liam and Stanley without even catching a glimpse of the monster itself." he retorted with a blend of frustration and desperation evident in his voice.
Alex stared at him piercingly, his voice icy as he warned, "If there’s anything you’re hiding, it’s better we go our separate ways right now."
