The Eldritch Files

”You should know, your kidnapping case has nothing to do with me. I couldn’t care less about it...”

”I was just writing a report for the higher-ups. Do you really need to hate me this much?”

Han Su’s undisguised killing intent seemed to exhaust the Drunkard in an instant. A bitter smile even appeared on his face. He took out his flat flask, took a swig, and said self-deprecatingly, ”So you want to kill me. You actually want to kill me.”

”If I’d known this was what you really wanted, why would I have been so careful, done so much, and sent out so many people? I should have just...”

”...given you the chance!”

”...”

’All this time, the one I’ve been afraid of is Zhang Chiguo, and that file that shouldn’t see the light of day...’

’If I’d known they wanted to kill me, there would have been no need to arrange so much. I could have just left the city alone.’

’Things didn’t need to get this complicated. So many people didn’t have to die...’

’So what if he came to kill me?’

After all, a rookie who’d been with the Disaster Management Bureau for less than two months, and a candidate for the Queen’s Organization—

—he didn’t even know why she was here. She was wearing a cat mask and deliberately changed into baggy clothes, but with a figure that good, there was really no point in trying to disguise it—what were two kids going to use to kill anyone?

”I respect your decision!”

The Drunkard took two deep swigs from his flask before putting it away. He then straightened up, his expression turning serious.

”Then let me see...”

”...if you two youngsters have what it takes to force my hand!”

”...”

At this point, he didn’t even mind telling them he had a trump card.

Making his opponents back down in the face of difficulty was also an effective tactic that worked in his favor.

However, having said he would act, he acted.

His figure seemed to stretch into a long, blurry afterimage in the night.

In an instant, he appeared beside Han Su, reaching for the briefcase Han Su had placed on the car next to him.

Banshee Sequence, Number 06: Shadow of Swift Movement.

Channeling the projection of a Banshee’s Mysterious Power onto oneself grants terrifyingly immense speed.

Moreover, the longer one runs, the faster one becomes.

Uncontrolled followers of the Banshee often die by crashing into something because they can’t react in time, or their bodies collapse under the pressure as their speed continuously increases.

Simply put, there is no upper limit to this increase in speed.

The maximum speed someone from the Banshee Sequence can master depends entirely on how far their own consciousness can keep up.

Han Su had fought many who had mastered the power of the Banshee Sequence before, so he knew how to deal with it.

The moment the Drunkard moved, Han Su abruptly unleashed the power of the Giant’s Eye. Accompanied by a faint drumbeat and immense power, his right eye turned a blank white as he focused on the Drunkard, intending to use the Giant’s power to forcibly strip away his projection.

But unexpectedly, once the Drunkard started moving, his speed was truly terrifying. Han Su’s right eye tried to track him, but it could only follow a faint shadow. He spun halfway around and still failed to lock onto the Drunkard’s figure.

By the time his gaze caught up to the Drunkard, he discovered that the man had flickered and was already right beside him.

A cold gun barrel was already pressed against his temple.

Han Su’s heart skipped a beat. He was about to raise his hand, but in the next moment, the Drunkard pulled the trigger without a change in expression.

”BANG!”

Even before the deafening gunshot rang out, the bullet had already burrowed into Han Su’s temple.

No one could dodge a bullet fired point-blank at their temple.

”CRACK!”

But this shot from the Drunkard did not result in death.

Following the gunshot was the sound of a mirror shattering from Wei Lan’s direction.

Across from them, Wei Lan’s face was also deathly pale, and she looked rather horrified.

She was holding a surreal-looking mirror with both hands. The mirror was aimed at Han Su, reflecting his image.

But now, the Han Su in the mirror had been shot in the head and killed, and the mirror shattered along with him.

At the last second before the Drunkard fired, she had used the reflection of Han Su in the mirror to take the bullet.

She had successfully saved Han Su from a crisis, but it had also brought her out in a cold sweat. The look she shot him was full of vigilance and a warning: ”This man’s power is no small matter. One mistake and you’ll lose your life!”

”SWIPE!”

At that same moment, with no time for fear or relief, Han Su suddenly shot his left hand out and grabbed for the gun in the Drunkard’s hand.

A faint Cross Copper Scar had already appeared on the back of his hand.

The Banshee’s Shadow of Swift Movement was unimaginably fast, but it required time to activate.

At this close range, the Drunkard couldn’t dodge Han Su’s grab. With no time to spare, he also raised his hand and grasped Han Su’s left hand. His pupils contracted slightly as an indescribable Spiritual Activity invaded Han Su’s body through his palm.

His Spiritual Activity was far higher than Han Su’s, so much so that it was beyond Han Su’s imagination. In an instant, it threatened to suppress all of Han Su’s Spiritual Activity and invade his brain.

This was a form of suppression in the Mysterious Circle, where the higher-ranked crushes the lower-ranked.

Using one’s own Spiritual Activity to suppress another’s, achieving instantaneous control.

But something unexpected happened. Although Han Su’s Spiritual Activity couldn’t compare to his, it was far higher than he had estimated.

He had suppressed Han Su’s Spiritual Activity in an instant, but he couldn’t render Han Su completely unable to resist.

”You’ve also stepped over the threshold of the Divine Forbidden Area?”

The Drunkard’s expression changed drastically, shocked that events had spiraled beyond his predictions.

A person who had joined the Disaster Management Bureau less than two months ago, offended all the other Investigators, and had no one to even train him in Mysterious Powers—how could he possibly cross the threshold of the Divine Forbidden Area?

Unless... he had started his training in Mysterious Powers long ago, and joining the Disaster Management Bureau was just a cover.

’Damn that Zhang Chiguo!’

’This must all be his elaborate scheme!’

As countless thoughts flashed through the Drunkard’s mind, in the blink of an eye, the Cross Copper Scar on the back of Han Su’s left hand flared. His entire palm instantly filled with immense strength. Amidst a CRUNCHING sound, before the Drunkard’s mental assault could succeed, Han Su had already crushed his left hand.

In that instant, an expression of pain appeared on his face.

’How is his left hand so strong?’

Moreover, while in direct contact like this, the Drunkard couldn’t even use the Banshee’s ability of Vaporization.

But before his hand could be completely crushed, the Drunkard suddenly muttered an obscure phrase. His palm abruptly became swollen and slippery, as if covered in mucus, and he wrenched it free from Han Su’s grasp.

Sea Beast!

This was no longer the power of the Banshee Sequence, but a characteristic of a Sea Beast.

The Disaster Management Bureau has three major Sequences, and an Investigator can only choose one. Yet, after displaying the power of the Banshee Sequence, the Drunkard was now showing the power of a Sea Beast.

The next moment, he raised the gun in his right hand and pointed it at Han Su’s face. In that same instant, Han Su raised his own gun and they fired at each other.

”BANG! BANG! BANG!”

After exchanging several shots, the Drunkard was the first to flicker and retreat into the nearby shadows.

This kind of shootout was the most unfair for him. Han Su was currently protected by Wei Lan, so his own bullets couldn’t hurt him, but Han Su’s bullets were a very real danger.

He hastily dodged to the side, evading Han Su’s bullets, and his body was once again shrouded in a gray aura as the Banshee projection reappeared. But this time, before he could build up his speed, a faint CRACKLING sound came from all around.

A glance from the corner of his eye revealed that crystals had begun to form in the air in all directions.

It was as if countless mirrors were condensing and growing out of thin air.

It was Wei Lan, rapidly chanting a Spell to conjure innumerable mirrors and trap the Drunkard within them.

For the Banshee Sequence, losing its uncanny speed was equivalent to losing more than half its advantage.

And as it happened, the mirrors conjured by the Queen’s Organization could disrupt their senses, making it impossible for them to control their own speed.

The Drunkard knew the danger. He immediately gave up on summoning the Shadow of Swift Movement and instead used the Mysterious Power of Banshee Sequence Number 04: Howl.

His eyes suddenly turned a hazy gray, and then he opened his mouth and let out a piercing howl.

He was clearly a man, but the sound that came from his throat was the sharp scream of a woman. While female Investigators were typically better at mastering this Mysterious Power, the Drunkard demonstrated a potency no less than theirs.

The shriek instantly spread in all directions.

Han Su felt a sharp pain in his eardrums and couldn’t even concentrate. He failed to put two more bullets into the Drunkard, and he couldn’t even recite an Encrypted Spell.

The Banshee’s Howl ability could assault a person’s mind, making it impossible for them to recite an Encrypted Spell.

The mirrors that had already condensed in the air were also shattered in an instant by the Drunkard’s howl. Even Wei Lan, who was still chanting her Spell, paled and staggered back two steps.

”Ghost Truck!”

At this critical juncture, Han Su suddenly clenched his fist, and the Cross Copper Scar on the back of his hand appeared.

BEEP—

The Drunkard had just stopped his shriek when he was suddenly enveloped by two dazzling beams of light.

BOOM!

Before he could react, the massive Ghost Truck charged out of a thick fog and slammed into him.

”It hit!”

Han Su saw it clearly. This time, the Ghost Truck had solidly hit the Drunkard, not even giving him a chance to use the Banshee’s Vaporization ability.

His heart leaped. He quickly gripped his gun and charged forward.

He could see the Ghost Truck was unable to brake, careening another seven or eight meters forward.

Its wheels were still spinning wildly, kicking up two sprays of mud.

The muscle tissue on the truck’s body contracted and bulged like iron sinews.

But just as he rushed toward the front of the truck, he saw Wei Lan’s tense face. And, reflected in the huge crystalline mirror beside her, he saw the scene at the front of the truck.

The Drunkard hadn’t been crushed under the wheels. He was still in front of the truck, his legs braced against the ground, plowing two deep furrows in the earth. One hand was pressed firmly against the truck’s grille, and his entire body flickered with blue arcs of electricity.

The Ghost Truck hadn’t stopped on its own. He had actually stopped it with a single hand.