Chapter 199: Operation II

Reiji realized that the door was quite thick and it may be too difficult to destroy it…

However, he didn't plan to just wait here. He needs to do something about it.

He activated his Sword Intent, used his Weight Overload, and boosted himself with his Sword Kinesis…

Bang! 

The first hit created a sound of explosion… The puppets were alerted and Yui even thought that Reiji met an opponent inside.

'Tsk… Odette! Let's use the Taunt Magic once more!'

'Alright!'

If she didn't activate the Magic, Reiji will be swarmed by these unkillable creatures.

She can only try to delay them until Reiji gave them the signal that the Chamber was clear. 

As Reiji was about to try again, he heard the Mask Arcana's voice in his mind.

'Don't just target anywhere… There should be a crystal embedded at the center. You have to target it first and the whole thing will start to crumble…'

Reiji didn't answer but he acknowledged him. 

He seemed to believe that he truly came from the Execration so he didn't bother explaining things for now

Anyway, this Arcana would most likely become Odette's sacrifice to increase her power so he didn't have to socialize with him.

Bang!

As soon as he found the red crystal, he used all of his strength to try and destroy it…

Boom!

A wave of energy came out after he hit the crystal. There was something on it as expected. 

He has to continuously hit it if he wanted to destroy the defensive array…

'We can't hold on… We managed to disable 13 puppets, but the others eight are coming to you… Careful!'

As he was about to hit for the fifth time, he heard Odette's voice. He doesn't have enough time, Yui and Odette won't be able to get the Mask Arcana if he can't remove the Array…

'Tsk!'

There was no other choice… 

'Guide, max the Weight Overload's level!'

[ -90 Skill Points ] 

[ Weight Overload Lv 10 ] 

'Good!'

With this ability, he can get heavier than before… 

[ You have been affected by corrosion. ]

[ Your durability has decreased by 2. ] 

The defensive array has adapted to his resistance and it can now decrease his durability again… 

What a powerful array! 

This Tower was truly mystical… The only Defensive Array that he had seen before was the one that the Chaos Knight has brought to protect the village from any ambush…

Its effect would only last for a few hours before it would give in. But this Ice and Corrosion Array seemed to be capable of strengthening itself depending on the power of the one trapped in their territory. 

Reiji gathered all his Spiritual Energy as he attempted to crush the crystal…

Boom!

The wave of energy was different this time as it created a small explosion… The door started to shatter as the defensive array was removed…

'I did it---'

He immediately informed Odette but was interrupted by the swarm of puppets. It seems that Yui could not use the Taunt Magic repeatedly. 

'Hmph!'

Although he doesn't have a wielder with him. He lived within the jungle filled with various beasts for a couple of years.

If he treated the puppets as skinny wild apes or something, there was no way for them to catch him…

'Alright, we'll deal with the Mask!'

Reiji heard Odette's serious voice… It seems that removing the array wasn't the end of their mission yet…

He then felt that dreadful aura of the Mask Arcana…

'Kekeke! Thank you, Wooden Sword! I'm not sure which one from the seven officials of Execration has sent you… but give my regards to them! Also, let them know that I have no plans of returning… I'll be leaving now!'

The Cursed Mask said as if he's about to disappear… Reiji gave a glance at it and noticed that it was indeed being covered by a shadow very slowly…

'You won't be going anywhere!'

Odette's voice seemed to carry some power as the vanishing Mask was shaken… The shadow also started to dissipate…

She managed to interrupt the Mask from leaving!

'We'll take over from here… but…'

'Don't worry, let me deal with the rest of the puppets… Just focus on dealing with the Mask…'

Reiji said as he knows that the puppets were miscalculated in their operation. Since he already helped this much, he decided to just go through with it and end it with them…

If he formed a connection with the Sakura Clan, it might benefit his formation of a Dojo in the future…

***

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The tower seemed to be shaking and Rufus was immediately alarmed. He hasn't been sleeping for long so his senses weren't dulled yet…

'An earthquake?'

There has been no earthquake ever since he arrived in this tower so he felt weird about this… 

He also recalled his master's words before he decided to sleep.

'Is it connected?'

The shaking then stopped after about 20 seconds….

"Ruthren!"

"I'm here, Sir Rufus."

The man immediately answered from outside his door. It seems that he was working hard as his servant even though it should be time for his rest.

"Did master Reiji contact you?"

"Not yet. He didn't give any more instructions after he left about an hour ago."

"I understand… Let me know if you find anything amiss…"

"Yes..." Ruthren answered dutifully. 

The young Arcanist knows how loyal this man was so he felt better than he's guarding outside.

After about half an hour, he heard a commotion from the outside as it seems that the guards were utilized to search the whole tower…

"I will find out what's going on outside. Please stay here, Sir Rufus."

"Alright…"

Ruthren then found a guard to question about the commotion this late at night…

"I can't tell you all the details since I'm in a hurry. But there seems to be a problem with the devices around the 9th Floor and it's very dangerous if it wasn't fixed or isolated quickly… The damages might spread to the lower floors if we didn't do anything about it now…"

"Is a malfunction?"

"I'm not sure…"

"I see… Thanks for letting me know."

"It's alright, just tell your master to not worry and we'll handle everything."

The guard replied to Ruthren… He noticed his position as a servant so he felt a connection with him. After all, their position was somehow at the same level…

"Thank you! I will inform my Master…"

***

About two hours had passed before Reiji managed to return to Rufus's room…

"Master, are you alright?"

Ruthren was shocked after a wooden just suddenly appeared out of nowhere… It took him about two seconds before realizing that it was Reiji with various grime and dirt around its body…

His presence was completely untraceable… He didn't even hear the door open, just how did this sword enter the room?

There should be a limit on what a Sentient Arcana can do, right?

"Mhmm… I'm fine… Just rest for now…"

"Yes, Master."

Cleanse…

He immediately activated the ability to clean himself… He forgot about it while hurrying to this place…

Their mission was successful. Apparently, Odette has an ability similar to the Storage Ring… She was capable of storing objects including Arcana within her space…

It was such a magical ability and Reiji wanted that as well… Unfortunately, it would consume most of his Skill Points to purchase that ability…

[ Void Slash – 1650 SP ] 

This ability can be used for offensive and utility as the slash can create a specific void to store objects as well…

'Right, I completed one of the missions…'

He then quickly checked the Unseen Test.

[ Congratulations! You have completed the Unseen Test! ] 

[ You have received 200 Skill Points. ]

[ Creating New Mission… ] 

[ More Unseen Test ]

[ A Sentient Arcana must be capable of protecting their bodies. However, they must learn another method of staying alive. You need to stay unsighted in front of at least 30 people for 40 minutes.

Reward: 500 SP ] 

At this time, Reiji has 1,710 Skill Points as he spent quite a lot of SP in the previous operation.

He has enough points to purchase the Void Slash but decided to just keep it for now unless he truly needed it.

In the meantime, Yui and Odette have to recover their strength as they seemed to have overexerted themselves to capture that Cursed Mask Arcana…

"Mhmm… Only two years had passed… He must have a very stable foundation at least…"

Reiji muttered…

He's talking about Diether Luxford, his first student…

It has been a while since he met the kid and they were about to cross each other's path again through a duel against his new student…

In terms of Kendo Skills and Techniques, there was no way for Rufus to fight against Diether… However, Rufus also has his own method of fighting even before he learned the art of the sword. 

He should be able to give him a good fight considering their age gap… 

The wooden sword then leaned on the table as he waited for the night to pass…