Chapter 154: A Strange Existence

"Must you truly stand in our way?" Sakura asked once again, looking at the man before her. Medusa had already informed her that this man blocking their path harbored no hostility whatsoever, treating them with the casual indifference of a mere passerby.

"This is unchangeable. My duty is to block the two of you. Of course, should you kill me, I shall bear no resentment," the man said, lowering his hood.

"No more words. Since you are in such a hurry, let us begin at once. After all, what starts early ends early." He produced his habitual small notebook, then suddenly flung his arms wide. Rather than falling to the ground when released, the notebook remained suspended in the air, its pages flipping on their own.

"..." Judging by his exaggerated gestures and roaring delivery, he appeared to be chanting something. Though Sakura felt a twinge of reluctance, her concern for her sister and her current father far outweighed any pity for him.

"Attack him, Sasa!" At Sakura's command, Medusa removed her blindfold, struck a seductive pose, and asked, "Am I beautiful?"

As Medusa moved, a visible wave of pink energy drifted toward the man. Unexpectedly, before the energy could even touch his body, it was absorbed entirely by the strange book. By this time, the man's actions were clearly drawing to a close.

"I have no intention of killing either of you. Unlike those fellows, though we pursue the same ends, our methods differ somewhat." With these words, the book stopped its rapid flipping, having reached the final page.

"Undergo your metamorphosis!" At his command, a harsh, piercing sound echoed through the air.

"Ah!" A heart-rending scream tore from his throat. He dropped to his knees, violently pounding the earth. At the very least, this proved that the man was suffering immensely. Although myth had deliberately vilified her, a heroic spirit was hardly soft-hearted; without hesitation, she drew a pair of daggers linked by a chain and hurled them at him.

"Ah!" The man's entire body grew at a visible rate. His ordinary facial features sharpened into distinct angles, and his slender frame gradually became encased in layers of bulging muscle. Whether by design or sheer providence, the frantically pounding man violently deflected Medusa's thrown daggers with a sweep of his arm.

"Ah! How utterly refreshing! If not for the agonizing pain I must endure each time, I would truly wish to maintain this state forever." He ripped away his visibly ill-fitting garments. Fortunately, no awkwardness ensued; as the master of his abilities, he retained a shred of decency, his body wrapped in a sleek black bodysuit that, combined with his striking appearance, made him look like a sharp, unsheathed blade.

"Is this your true form?" Medusa asked, shielding Sakura behind her, while the man paused before laughing and replying, "No, this is not my true appearance. Or rather, having changed forms so many times, I have long since forgotten what I originally looked like."

"Are you in such a rush to turn into a statue and be placed in a museum?" Seeing that her opponent had no intention of engaging in idle chatter, she gripped her two daggers. Yet she chose not to use the far more convenient petrification, opting for physical weapons instead. After all, petrification consumed a vast amount of magical energy; even Sakura, who constantly manipulated vacant elements, could not sustain its casual use.

"A statue? I have indeed performed in museums, but to be frank, that feeling was utterly dreadful. I should never wish to recall it for the rest of my life."

"You can shut your mouth now, you jerk!" Ordinary though his words were, Medusa could not help snapping at him, hurling her daggers once more. The man once again deflected the blades aimed at his chest with his forearms, locking them in a strange stalemate.

"Petrify him directly, little Sasa!" As time slipped away, Sakura grew increasingly anxious, especially with the intermittent sounds of explosions echoing from ahead, heightening her sense of urgency. Having made up her mind, she issued a direct command for a decisive kill. Although the Crest Worms were gone, Lord El-Melloi II had frequently instructed Sakura during this period, and the magical crest originally attached to Shinji had been relinquished and transferred directly to Sakura. Consequently, her current magical energy reserves fell little short of their original capacity.

"Mystic Eyes!" Her eyes, previously concealed by the blindfold, flew open as the cloth vanished in an instant. Every living thing directly in front of Medusa—whether insect or plant—instantly turned to stone, then disintegrated into stony dust for reasons unknown.

"Is this the pride of your Mystic Eyes?" Just as Medusa felt a surge of confidence in her achievement, a ghostly voice suddenly rang out.

"Impossible! Your body shouldn't have..." Halfway through her sentence, the words died in her throat. Paralyzed by shock, she had forgotten how to speak—a phenomenon unheard of even in the Age of Gods.

"How disheartening," the man said, turning his neck slightly before continuing, "Let us continue. I am rather curious just how many times Sakura's current magical energy can sustain this level of petrification ability." His tone remained entirely unchanged, though his present state was hardly as serene as his words implied.

The cause of this situation was that the person who should have been petrified was standing there safe and sound, yet something was different. Crucially, his original body had vanished, replaced by someone else standing in its place. Yet Medusa's intuition told her that the man before her was, without a doubt, the exact same person as before.

"In truth, there is no need for us to fight at all. The duration for which I promised them is brief, no more than ten minutes at most. You have no reason to do this. Besides, if you exhaust too much magical energy on me, even if I step aside and let you pass, you will likely lack the capacity to fight in the battles that follow." He offered no explanation for his transformation, simply analyzing the situation calmly. But right at that moment—

"Hey, what are you playing at? Haven't you withdrawn yet? Do you seriously intend to work for that guy?" A flippant voice suddenly pierced the awareness of all three.

"Gilles? What are you doing here? Where is Assassin?" He merely furrowed his brow at the sudden intrusion. More importantly, however, was another matter—the greatest variable of this battle. Though classified as an Assassin, as a character who had never appeared in any other incarnation, he commanded their utmost caution.