Jacob was finally able to see his assailant, who was tall, slender, and draped in a mantle that seemed to blend colors. This was the reason behind his current situation.
Furthermore, the mantle that figure was wearing was extremely strange and mystical as its color was neither black nor white, but something in between, as if it didn’t exist in the visible spectrum at all, with no aura, no life, nor any trace of law, like an ordinary speck of dust.
"If you can see it, then why didn’t you tell me?!" Jacob couldn’t help but complain furiously, "All you did was just leave me a cryptic nonsense!"
"Hehehe, just watch for now!"
Immortika had no intention of revealing anything, yet it laughingly stated, making Jacob indignant. However, he was also curious about what had happened and waited.
As time passed, Jacob watched, however, not himself, but the figure in a mantle who was hovering a few meters above him, waiting for a chance.
At that moment, ’Jacob’ finally revealed his true form as he spread his soul sense to its fullest extent. Jacob knew it was also the moment when Immortika had said those cryptic words before vanishing without a trace.
"What business do you have with me?!"
’Jacob’ uttered, and at that moment, he saw that the figure in the mantle seemed to flinch and slightly distance itself from him as if wary of his bluff.
"Don’t worry, the ’Cursed One’ can’t preserve us." An emotionless, static voice suddenly sounded from the Möbius-stripped buckle on the mantle.
"Cunning bastard!" The figure cursed with a hint of relief as if believing fully what that voice said.
"The Cursed One?" Jacob’s eyes flickered violently when he heard that term.
But he also noticed something else as he couldn’t help but ask, "Are they communicating via soul transmission? And you can even hear that?"
Since this ’reality’ was now controlled by Immortika, Jacob knew that everything he was seeing was, in a sense, from Immortika’s perspective. Knowing that Immortika could also hear someone else’s soul transmission, he was both astounded and perplexed.
"Just a small matter." Immortika dismissively stated, but didn’t elaborate, changing the topic, "Now don’t speak, this is my favorite part!"
Although Jacob knew that Immortika was definitely hiding secrets, he didn’t say anything and kept watching with killing intent raging in her heart.
As Jacob saw himself as all vigilante and on edge, he couldn’t help but think that he was like a clown who was performing a show for his assailant and felt humiliated.
"It’s about time!" That static voice sounded again.
"Are you sure he won’t be able to react?" The figure seemed skeptical and slightly worried.
"Please trust my owner’s judgment. The ’Cursed One’ won’t be able to escape my owner’s grasp!" The static voice sounded again, filled with confidence.
’Why are they calling me ’Cursed One’? Furthermore, the conversation between them suggests that the buckle serves as a proxy for the real perpetrator who instigated all of this, and the cloaked figure is merely a hired gun.
’But who could that be? Furthermore, if the perpetrator also gives that cloak, then not only his identity but his power also seems unfathomable, which means someone from the Upper Plains.
’However, to be able to be entrusted by that kind of person, the attacker also needed to be someone extraordinary, especially if they knew who they were attacking, and I have a feeling that they knew exactly who I am!’
Right at that moment, Jacob’s eyes contorted because the Möbius-strip buckle suddenly detached itself from the mantle and morphed into a strange revolving blade.
But even after that, Jacob still couldn’t sense anything from them, as if reality couldn’t preserve their existence at all, and Jacob knew that Immortika was aware of what that power was.
However, Immortika was probably deliberately blocking any aura because he might not be able to handle it if or for another reason.
As for Immortika, also not able to see through that power, Jacob didn’t even consider that possibility for a second since there was nothing that the Cursed Book couldn’t do.
"Well, you and your master better be right, or I won’t hesitate to abandon everything!"
The figure warned before she finally moved right when the Möbius-strip blade seemed to have given her some signal.
Jacob finally realized how meticulous and terrifying they were because they moved exactly when he considered that there was no danger.
As Jacob watched everything play out, he felt a shiver because all it took was a vague moment before the figure plunged the Möbius-strip blade into the back of his skull!
Jacob trembled with disbelief and fury when he saw the scene of himself struggling like a fly while unable to do anything, not even able to retaliate.
Furthermore, when that blade stabbed into Jacob’s skull, it seemed to have nullified all the protections, including the treasures he was wearing, and the hood on his head came off after losing its effect.
The moment Jacob’s figure was revealed, a violent ripple surfaced from the figure in the mantle, filled with surprise and disbelief.
The next moment, a sound of gritted teeth was heard before a voice filled with indignation sounded, "I finally found you thieving bastard!"
Jacob was startled because that statement seemed very personal, which meant that the figure seemed to know who he was, but wasn’t actually aware of it until his hood came off.
But Jacob didn’t remember showing his runic skull face to anyone or leaving anyone alive who had seen his true form, yet this figure knew which again astonished him.
Right at that moment, a flash of argent light tainted with darkness erupted behind him, too fast to perceive, too silent to react to, as his body went limp, and from behind him, the wielder of that blade finally stepped from the rippling void.
With boundless killing intent, Jacob saw the figure’s hood tilted slightly as it observed the limp form of Jacob, with the Möbius-blade remaining embedded in his skull.
At that moment, the reality suddenly paused again like a recorded video, and Immortika’s lunatic like laughter reverberated, "Hahahaha...you saw, right? I know you are as entertained as I am, and you should be because you won’t see such a meticulous show every day!"
Jacob’s emotions were raging to the extreme with no outlet to go on, and only a sliver of rationality remained as he used it to ask only one question...
"Am I dead!?"