'Fuck!
For how long will we have to pretend to fight each other, Reva? My comrades are dying as we continue this vain fight.'
The close combat expert from Layos asked Reva Rain through voice communication. His tone was mixed with a hint of accusation, prompting the Paladin of Pain to initiate a stalemate and respond.
'Do you want me to get identified as a traitor without assuring my security first? I'm a bona fide title holder. What do you think will happen if they find out that I have defected to your side?
Anfang's forces will target me immediately. I'm not protected by a Sage like Demonmir, you know.'
The Paladin of Pain also betrayed Edinburgh under Demonmir. She knew more about Demonmir's plans than Layos' forces.
Reva knew this was not the right time to come out as a traitor. There would be an apt timing for her to reveal her betrayal and officially join Layos' forces- after the third force intervened.
The Expert-ranked elf stared at Reva with disapproval. But in the end, he clenched his fists and decided to play ball with her for a few more minutes. After that, he decided to scream about Reva Raina's betrayal all by himself.
The short stalemate between Reva Rain and the elf Expert ranker was over. It was decided that both of them would play their parts. Just when he was about to clash with Reva, he noticed something wrong with his heart.
The Expert ranker looked down to see a dagger through his chest. And the dagger tip was visible at the front.
Someone used the Expert's ranker's clash with Reva to launch a critical strike at him. And the strike was so precise that his entire body froze into inaction. All he could do was scream.
"Aaaaaargh!"
The elf Expert ranker couldn't believe he would be assassinated with this precision. He thought his rank was high enough not to get killed by sneak attacks.
Apparently, he thought wrong.
The invisible assassin behind the elven close combat expert twisted the dagger that pierced his heart and pulled it out from the man. His fire-element mana cauterized the wound right after the weapon's exit, preventing blood escape.
The elf ranker dropped dead without a ruckus. He didn't even get to say his final words to his killer. That's because the killer was yet to show himself.
Reva had a cold shiver run down her spine when she witnessed the elf ranker's death. The slumbering demon fragment in her saved her by making her aware of the assassin's presence.
Reva guessed she was the first target. And that the elf ranker who died was only a compromise the assassin settled for.
"Who the fuck is it? SHOW YOURSELF!"
The Paladin of Pain had already activated her defenses against the assassin. She was on edge and highly alert, making it difficult for the assassin to do what he did to her pretend opponent.
A man wearing a beak mask appeared in front of Reva Rain. His presence had become as fleeting as the passing wind– his emerald green eyes looked at Reva with various emotions reflecting in them.
"You… Eren Idril!
What are you doing here? And why are you targeting me? I'm from Edinburgh, you bastard."
For some reason, Reva remembered those eyes. She met with Eren before the graduation event. The Paladin of Pain decided to get rid of Eren after the graduation event's completion.
Eren's class was changed from an assassin to a close combat expert before he revealed himself. He willed his beak mask and dagger to disappear. The butcher looked at Reva Rain and responded coldly.
"Do you take Sages, who are currently watching you and the rest of the rankers, for a fool? If Demonmir has defected, then you– his harlot– can't remain behind."
In his hands, Eren summoned Diceros Left and Right. He knew that Layos forces were still unsure of Rev Rain's status. That's why he incited Reva with his words. All so that he wouldn't get seen as a traitor by Edinburgh forces and get attacked for it.
The butcher didn't let Reva Rain speak. He closed in on her using Blink and used his ocular Ability on her.
Sedating Gaze.
Bzzt. Swoosh. Pitchook.
The Paladin of Pain finally recognized Eren as a real threat to her life. She was made to understand the hard way that she couldn't just swat him away like a bothersome fly.
Reva activated her Ability at the same time as Eren's Ocular Ability. As a result, she was forced to remain motionless.
Reva's consciousness was sucked into the illusory world of blood and gore. A world in which giant flowers made of flesh and organs blossomed before wilting away. A world of banshee screams, bloody earth, and red skies. A world in which she was the sole observer of the gory phenomenon happening around her.
At the same time, Eren experienced an unfathomable amount of pain, sickness, hunger, and aggression. That's because he was getting drenched in the rain caused by Reva's Rain's Ability.
The illusory raindrops of the spectral rain weren't falling to the ground from above. Rather, they came from the ground and reached for the stars.
Reva Rain could affect her opponents' consciousness and soul using her Ability along with their pain receptors. Her multifaceted Ability would render almost all of her opponents useless when exposed to this illusory rain.
The Ability could be called multifaceted because of the types of suffering that it can cause in the minds of Reva's targets.
First was the Rain of Pestilence– those affected by this form of rain felt sick to the core. Sickness manifestations would also appear on their bodies.
The second form was the Rain of Famine– the subjects would suffer from the same physiology as if they starved like mortals.
The third form was the Rain of Destruction– the subjects would feel that every muscle fiber and bone had imploded. The feelings would become reality if the subjects gave in to those feelings.
The fourth form of rain was the Rain of Death– the subjects would receive sought-after relief from their sufferings if they accepted these raindrops to act on them. However, doing so would eventually kill them.
This was Reverse Rain– the Paladin of Pain's Ability.
AN: Thanks Daoist_Culture for the super gift. ;)
