Chapter 85: Chapter 85 : Plan (3)

Arthur gritted his teeth.

“Fuck… kindness really is shit,” he muttered. “Yuna warned me… but I just didn’t listen.”

Blood dripped steadily from the sword lodged in his stomach.

Even so—

He was still gripping Vamina by the throat with one hand, holding her easily off the ground.

He turned his head slightly, his eyes locking onto Sakura.

“So this was your plan?” he asked coldly. “You call this your grand strategy?”

Sakura’s eyes narrowed, but her smile remained.

“It was just the first phase,” she said calmly. “Did you really think someone who can see possible future outcomes would just let one of her people die so easily by your hands?”

Her gaze hardened.

“I already told him what was going to happen,” she continued. “And he gladly accepted the task he was assigned… even though he knew he could die.”

Arthur’s eyes flickered.

“And what’s the second phase?” he asked.

Sakura’s smile deepened.

“The second phase begins now,” she said.

She shifted her gaze to Vamina.

“Vamina,” Sakura called softly. “You know what you have to do.”

Vamina’s eyes widened.

Understanding flashed within them.

Her lips trembled for a moment—

Then she smiled faintly.

“Don’t forget me,” she whispered.

Her fingers moved weakly.

A small, intricate magic circle lit up beneath her feet.

Mana gathered around her, swirling like a faint mist.

“Sacrifi—”

The word left her mouth.

In the very next second—

Arthur snapped her neck.

Crack.

Her body went limp instantly.

He let go.

Vamina’s corpse fell to the floor with a dull thud.

Sakura stared at her fallen comrade.

“For what you did… I will never,” she said quietly.

Inside Arthur’s mind—

A calm, mechanical voice echoed.

[Host, I have successfully analysed the spell.]

Arthur’s lips tugged into a strained grin.

“Nullify,” he said.

Mana burst out of his body in a violent wave.

The flood of power raced through the hall, crashing into the massive layered magic circle that Vamina had constructed.

Lines of light shattered.

Formations collapsed.

The giant array that had been dominating the space—

Broke apart.

The teleportation magic that had been moments away from activation vanished like smoke.

Julia, standing just a few feet away from Arthur, stared in disbelief.

“You actually broke it…” she muttered.

But Sakura’s expression didn’t change.

She was still smiling.

That unwavering smile—

Sent a chill crawling down Arthur’s spine.

Then—

Vamina’s corpse twitched.

Her body suddenly burst apart into fragments of light.

A violent surge of mana erupted from where she had fallen.

The shockwave spread through the hall.

Space began distorting again.

Arthur tried to move—

But his body refused to respond.

His limbs felt heavy.

Distant.

As if some unseen force had taken hold of him.

He looked down.

The edges of his body—

Were beginning to blur.

Fading.

Slowly.

Sakura watched him, her eyes calm.

“This was Vamina’s last spell,” she said. “Sacrifice.”

Her tone remained steady.

“It used her last remaining life force,” she continued. “You won’t be able to do anything now… because it directly attacks your soul instead of your body.”

She added, almost casually:

“And she also managed to cast a teleportation spell on you.”

The space around Arthur twisted more violently.

The air shook.

His vision wavered, the hall stretching and shrinking in strange ways.

Suddenly—

A sharp dizziness slammed into him.

His head felt heavy.

His thoughts blurred.

He coughed—

A thick mouthful of blood spilling from his lips as his knees buckled.

He dropped down, one hand hitting the cracked floor.

He looked at his arms.

The fading had spread.

His hands looked translucent now—

Like smoke trying to hold a shape.

Sakura’s smile softened slightly.

“Vamina really did splendid work,” she said.

She raised her voice just enough for him to hear clearly.

“When you wake up,” she said, “you’ll find yourself in the Null Realm. Enjoy your time there… but please—don’t come back alive.”

Her eyes grew colder.

“You really are a monster,” Sakura said. “I had to sacrifice two of my people just to kill you. This has never happened before.”

On the other side of the hall—

Julia was still locked in combat with the remnants of Boby’s shadows.

The boy was pale and shaking, barely standing, but his remaining mana still fueled a few low-rank shades.

Julia shattered one with a straight punch.

Another vanished under a spinning heel kick.

As she moved—

She saw it.

Arthur on his knees.

His body slowly disappearing.

Space warping around him.

Her heart clenched.

“Arthur!” she shouted.

Danger screamed inside her.

Even though this whole situation would count as a failure—

She didn’t hesitate.

Her hand shot up to her ear.

She grabbed the earring Yuna had given her—

And crushed it.

The tiny accessory shattered into fragments of light.

A new magic circle flared to life beside her, its pattern completely different from any of Vamina’s spells.

A figure slowly began to materialise within it.

The process was slow—

But unmistakable.

Arthur saw it through his fading vision.

“Well…” he said softly. “Yuna will handle everything from here.”

His gaze drifted to the headless body of Jericho lying nearby.

A strange, crooked smile tugged at his lips.

“Maybe going to the Null Realm won’t be so bad,” he muttered. “I can use this too.”

He reached out and grabbed Jericho’s body.

Even as his arm flickered, his hand still closed firmly around the corpse.

Then he lifted his head and looked at Sakura.

“You said you had to sacrifice two, right…?” Arthur said. “Let’s make it three.”

His eyes slid toward Olivia.

“That girl, Olivia, really does have some awesome abilities.”

A chill ran down Sakura’s spine.

Her eyes snapped toward Olivia instinctively.

Arthur started laughing.

Loudly.

“This is a good chance,” he said. “Let’s take as much as we can.”

He looked at the unconscious girl—

Then at the half-formed figure emerging from Yuna’s magic circle.

By now, the figure’s outline had become clearer—

But for Arthur—

Time was already running out.

And he still saw it as an opportunity.

“Use Blink,” he said.

[BLINK HAS BEEN ACTIVATED.]

In the next instant—

Arthur and Boby swapped positions.

Arthur was suddenly standing where Boby had been—

Right beside Olivia.

Boby, in turn, found himself where Arthur had been moments earlier, his eyes widening in horror as he saw Arthur near Olivia.

Arthur didn’t waste a second.

He grabbed Olivia’s unconscious body, pulling her close with one arm—

While he was already holding Jericho’s headless corpse with the other.

Sakura’s jaw dropped.

Her eyes widened in pure shock.

“No!” she screamed. “No, no, no!”

She lunged forward—

But it was already too late.

The distortion around Arthur intensified.

His body—

Along with Olivia and Jericho’s corpse—

Faded completely.

They vanished from the hall.

Gone.

In the next second—

Arthur opened his eyes.

He was no longer in the auction house.

He was in an entirely different place.

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