Iris tightened her cloak and secretly followed behind them.
Thanks to her Stealth skill, she was able to tail them without being detected.
The worker carrying a load on his back and the watcher climbed the stairs for a long time before stopping at a middle floor.
“This way.”
“Yes.”
They turned and headed toward a hallway. One side of the circular corridor that spanned the floor featured a set of stairs leading down to the backyard.
When they opened a small iron door, sunlight poured in, offering a brief glimpse of the scenery outside.
After they disappeared beyond the door, Iris slightly parted the curtains of one of the windows lined up in a row.
Looking down, she saw the backyard crowded with people and an altar positioned in the center.
Realizing that the door they had just exited led to the stairs descending to the backyard, she bit her lip.
‘If I follow them there, I’ll draw too much attention. I should stay here and control my clone instead.’
While practicing her Clone skill several times in the prison for the sake of the operation, she had discovered one fact.
Maintaining the skill for a long duration was possible because mana consumption was low as long as the clone remained stationary.
Furthermore, it seemed she wasn’t just sharing skills with Johannes, but mana as well.
Normally, she wouldn’t have been able to maintain a clone for this long, but seeing as she was still holding up fine, it was clear her reserves were deep.
Iris intended to wait for the moment the clone lying on the altar and the Relics drew close.
Her plan was to command the clone to grab the Relic and flee toward her while Johannes and his allies intercepted “That One” and Abellus.
Once she combined her original Relic with the newly acquired King’s Crown, the power of the Relics would be complete.
Afterward, she planned to evade her pursuers until the total solar eclipse ended before finally wiping out the enemies.
The plan was quite good. The plan… Well, she couldn’t be certain if it would actually succeed.
Iris shook her head, forcing her honey-colored eyes to stay sharp as they threatened to glaze over.
‘No. I have to be confident. The Goddess told me to believe in myself. Believe, just believe.’
She took a deep breath, trying to calm her racing heart. If this plan failed, both she and Johannes were finished.
She was incredibly grateful that he had readily agreed to help, even though success wasn’t guaranteed.
The same went for the allies helping him.
She sighed as she watched the altar through the slight gap in the curtains.
Then, she looked around, searching for a window that would provide the best view of the altar.
‘Hmm, I can’t see the altar very well. There. The window in that hallway should give a good view.’
Iris adjusted her cloak and walked cautiously down the hallway.
Since the residents and visitors of the castle were likely gathered in front of the altar, she expected the area to be empty.
If she sensed anyone, she could hide quickly, and even if she were caught, she could pretend to be a visitor.
According to Johannes, numerous Superpowered Individuals had gathered here today to witness the ritual, so pretending to be one of them shouldn’t be a problem.
Besides, with a clone with her exact face right over there, who would suspect her?
Since “That One,” Abellus, and the Watcher—the ones who knew her face—were in the backyard, she could probably fool anyone else she encountered with a decent excuse.
‘It’s a good thing there are so many attendees. I heard many Villains came… Wait.’
A flicker of anxiety suddenly appeared in her honey-colored eyes.
One person she really didn’t want to run into in this situation came to mind.
Johannes had said most of the Villains from Gyodam City would be here.
If so, wouldn’t Laika naturally be here as well?
Especially since he seemed to be close with Abellus.
‘They spoke harshly to each other, but they seemed close. They exchanged the kind of conversation only best friends would share.’
Just as she was worrying about thoughts that would have horrified the two men involved, Iris froze.
As if summoned by her thoughts, a familiar face appeared at the end of the dark hallway.
If it had been anyone else, she could have shamelessly made an excuse about being a visitor, but there was only one person to whom Iris could offer no explanation.
That man emerged from the shadows. With red hair and blue eyes, it was Laika—the man she never wanted to see again.
She belatedly snapped out of it and hurriedly tightened her cloak, but judging by his expression, he had already recognized her.
“Iris?”
A low voice echoed through the hallway. Dressed in a well-fitted black suit, he had his red hair slicked back with pomade as usual.
With his eyes narrowed and his head tilted, he looked as sexy as if he had just stepped out of a magazine shoot.
Someone who didn’t know the situation might have mistaken him for being in the middle of a photo shoot.
However, Iris didn’t have the luxury of admiring his handsome face. She stood frozen in place, unable to move.
Like a mouse facing a cat, her feet wouldn’t budge, and her entire body trembled.
‘What do I do? To run into Laika, the person I wanted to see least, in a place like this. Since Laika is surely on Abellus’s side, he won’t leave me alone. Especially since he won’t have any good feelings left for me…’
Fragments of the conversation they had shared on the rooftop flashed through her mind.
Before dropping her from the railing, he had told her, “You should try your best not to run into me again.”
Those words were likely a warning that he wouldn’t let her off the hook if they met again.
Yet, by some cruel twist of fate, they had crossed paths in this exact situation.
Right before an operation where failure meant nothing but death.
Laika glanced toward the window before turning his gaze back to Iris.
Then, he narrowed his eyes. He seemed to be contemplating something, or perhaps trying to gauge her plan.
To the tense Iris, every one of his gestures and expressions seemed to move in slow motion.
Why was he up here instead of down there? How much of the situation had he grasped?
As she tried to read his intentions, Iris’s clenched fists became soaked with sweat.
‘A battle… is out of the question. If that happens, the operation fails.’
Fighting Laika was not a good idea. Although he had lost several of his primary skills, he was still a powerful Villain and would not be an easy opponent.
Her own current strength was also incomplete. Furthermore, if she caused a disturbance, others would come swarming.
‘It’s over…’
Laika, who had been standing still, began walking toward Iris.
The sound of his clicking dress shoes reached her ears, and Iris bit her lip hard enough to draw blood.
Her mind raced. If he attacked first, she would have no choice but to strike back.
If she did, the clone that should have arrived at the altar by now would disappear, and the operation would fail.
She planned to inform Johannes of the situation via Telepathy.
After that, she would have to dodge Laika’s attacks somehow and flee with Teresa.
Even if the mission failed, she had to at least do that…
‘I should have been more careful. I should have considered every possibility and moved with more caution…’
She wished she had waited one floor higher.
Since she hadn’t intended to follow the Watcher and his group to the end anyway, staying hidden on another floor would have been better.
She could have just used a skill to bring the clone directly there.
Despair filled Iris’s face at the thought of being inevitably retaliated against by Laika.
She was focusing entirely on his hands, preparing to counter, when a low voice leaked from his red lips.
“It seems you’re still putting the skill you stole from me to good use.”
“…What?”
Iris’s mouth hung open at the completely unexpected remark.
A flustered, cracked voice escaped her lips. As she cleared her throat, her eyes filled with confusion.
Instead of attacking, he was speaking to her as if they were on good terms.
If it had been the past when she knew nothing, that would be one thing, but they were hardly in a position to speak like this now.
She wanted to know Laika’s intentions. But as soon as she lifted her head to look at his face, he stepped up beside her.
‘I can’t use [Mind Reading] like this. I want to know what he’s planning…’
Recalling their last meeting, they were by no means in a position to trade jokes.
Iris, who had been intending to use Johannes’s [Mind Reading] by making eye contact, flinched at the sudden, light tapping on her shoulder.
‘What? Why is he doing… this?’
She felt no bloodlust at all. Iris’s expression turned peculiar at the playful yet gentle touch on her shoulder.
For a fleeting moment, it felt as if she had returned to the past—back to when she faced a Laika who knew nothing of her true identity.
As she bit the inside of her lip, a low voice spoke into her ear.
“I’d rather die than become that guy Abellus’s subordinate. That’s all.”