Chapter 153: Chapter 153:Déjà Vu [5]

There was only one answer: destroy all its tethers.

"...well, let's not do anything too drastic yet."

As Lily, Alya, Kevin, Zach, Irene, Ruby, and Liam all passed by my new hiding spot, I tapped my eyes, instantly slowing my perception of time.

Instantly, all seven of their figures seems to freeze and their pace slowed to basically a stop, their legs moving in slow-motion.

Communicating and talking with Alya wouldn't be easy... not because of all the main cast members around her but because of the possibility of the spirit influencing her.

How could I trust anything she said? content source mvlempy r

What if she had already been compromised by the spirit and was leading us right to the end of this path, where the trap stood?

A contracted spirit can remain by their bond's side for as long as it wants to and talk to them, making it able to influence their bond's emotions without them even realizing it.

At the same time... I couldn't just kill Alya and destroy the spirit's only tether, making it disappear and lose its astral body.

Planning for the worst possible scenario, I decided to just assume that the spirit was our enemy and needed to be destroyed, which wasn't a far-fetched guess at all, considering all the information I had.

To break a bond formed between a human and a spirit, two parties needed to agree to separate the agreement.

Convincing the influenced Alya to destroy the bond would be hard but not impossible... if I had the help of the main cast, who were actually Alya's friends.

On the other hand, I doubted that the spirit would just agree to terminate its agreement as it would basically be sentencing itself to death, losing its last tether and only support to its astral body. Sёarᴄh the Nôvelƒire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

But... if the spirit wanted to lead us into this trap, which was at the end of the path, it would want a bond which was strong.

Since Alya, the spirit's only contractee, was here, the trap at the end of the path had to be a physical thing, like a treasure chest that opens the floor below it when you touch it.

In that case, the spirit would want to have the best possible contractee, so that even if the trap doesn't work, it's still able to outpower and destroy everyone.

As the four girls at the back of the group stepped right back my rock in slow motion, I slipped backward, hiding in their shadows,

Then, like an assassin, I silently stood up, manifested a corrupted mask, and moved to my right, where Alya and Lily stood.

Raising my hands, I slipped the mask around the bottom portion of Lily's face, immediately covering her mouth.

Tightening the mask around her face before she could realize what was happening, I pulled the mask backward and slipped into the shadows.

With the trailing mask behind me and Lily pulled behind me, I hid behind another rock before pulling Lily under, hiding us from the main cast.

Lily, who had noticed what was happening, stared at my face with her eyes wide, but my corrupted mask still restricted her from making any noise.

Ignoring her, I glanced forward, and as if confirming my theory, the usually observant Alya didn't even seem to notice the disappearance of her best friend, Lily.

Slowing back down time, I looked back at the wide-eyed Lily, carefully removed the mask covering her mouth, and indicated for her to be quiet.

As the mask's grip tightened, Lily raised her hands and furiously threw off the mask off her face before asking.

"And, what exactly was that!?"

Pointing ahead at the fleeting figure of Alya, who still hadn't noticed Lily's disappearance, I whispered back.

"Something's wrong with your friend."

Still fuming, Lily turned to me before grabbing my ear and whispering right in.

"You really think I didn't know that!? She's a hundred times closer to me than you. If you had noticed it, why wouldn't I?"

"...I had to confirm."

"Oh, so then, instead of practically kidnapping me, maybe try asking me when she's out of hearing range? Just an idea."

Raising my hands in defeat, I slowly and carefully explained the details of what I had found out about the spirit, leaving out some parts.

Of course, I didn't mention that killing with the spirit right now would require killing her, but Lily could fill in the blanks.

Taking a minute to comprehend my mass load of information, Lily's expression transformed from furious to a grimace as the realization slowly set in.

Not bothering to ask any questions or verify my information, she turned to me and hurriedly asked.

"You didn't bring me here and tell me all of that just to tell me you don't have a plan, did you...?"

Shaking my head, I explained.

"I do... but it'll require some help."

After glancing over the rock to make sure the main cast, oblivious to Lily's disappearance, was out of sight, I got up from above the rock and dusted off my pants.

Turning to Lily, who was below me, I preemptively said.

"Don't make any noise."

But before I could even do anything, Lily's expression immediately turned a bright red as she stared at me with a weird expression.

Standing up, Lily carefully and eerily calmly asked.

"What exactly do you mean by that?"

"...? just watch."

Ignoring the bright red Lily, I dove inside my body, finding the lake of corruption spread inside my body.

Raising both my hands, I allowed the corruption to ooze out of my hands and onto the floor.

Within seconds, the floor below Lily and I was covered in a dark and stick black substance that further spread across the floor with each second.

Creating a mental image in my head, I kneeled down to the floor and allowed my brain to move my hands through the corruption below me.

Like a sculpture maker from the Renaissance, I carefully and intricately used the corruption below me to make a figure.

This was my Mona Lisa!