World Occult Usage Guide

Chapter 116 Countdown

The clear scenery transformed into a ball of light, flickering over the two figures, one chasing and the other fleeing.

Lin An manipulated the airflow of his wand and took advantage of the chaos to escape the scene, while Evancia gritted her teeth and followed closely behind.

The streets of the city of ecstasy swept past them, the vibrant nightlife never ending, and giant neon billboards proclaimed: "If you're well-behaved, your life is over! You must be loud, colorful, and lively!"

Evancia spread her wings, like an owl blending into the night, her eyes fixed on Lin An's direction.

"Snapped!"

She snapped her fingers with her right hand.

As they traversed the city lights, both bright and dim, Lin An observed her movements.

As the snap of his fingers fell, Evensia's ominous power grew stronger and stronger. His chest became increasingly gloomy and heavy, almost suppressing his heartbeat. He couldn't help but feel dizzy and have difficulty breathing.

At the same time, Evensia's left-hand gesture changed, eventually stopping at four o'clock.

A feeling of blockage crept up his limbs and bones, and Lin An suddenly felt an overwhelming dizziness and drowsiness, which he figured was due to Evancia using a hypnotic-type magic.

Four points, the effect is above average.

Lin An reversed his wand, pointing the Healing Gem at his forehead and chest. A burst of green light instantly dispelled the abnormal control and suppressed the spreading malevolent influence.

However, since the wand's functions cannot coexist, his figure suddenly plummeted downwards.

Evensia was stunned. Then she saw Lin An's figure fly up from the corner of a building before being smashed into a bloody pulp, making a figure-eight circle and leaving her far behind.

That was... a tactic?
Unable to see through the situation tonight, Evensia was starting to have second thoughts.

Clinging to a last shred of hope, she circled around the building that spanned the two of them. The beams of light from the various casinos crisscrossed and rotated, occasionally two of them intersecting in an X shape, illuminating Lin An who was suspended in mid-air.

What happened to him?
Using the visual illusion of the building to rise and fall, Lin An had already escaped Evensia's pursuit, but before he could fly far away, he suddenly felt a familiar touch on his skin.

The invisible hands surrounding him reappeared, this time grabbing Lin An and trying to drag him somewhere.

It's Hill Catherine.

Seeing the drone's actual footage through the surveillance camera, she clearly realized that Lin An had tricked her.

Unfortunately, Hill had used three types of "binding" earlier to create chaos, so he couldn't inflict fatal damage on Lin An at this moment. He could only try to salvage the out-of-control situation while dragging Lin An back to his side as a scapegoat to take the blame.

The energy binding his neck and wrists is called the marriage vow ketubbah, which consists of the property rights, labor rights, and sexual rights agreed upon by both parties, representing the unbreakable bond between husband and wife.

Using them as a medium, Hill can not only enhance energy, but also firmly control Lin An's life.

However, these "restraints" are time-limited, as the law stipulates that a healthy adult male only needs to fulfill his marital obligations once a day: manage the joint property once a day, go out to work once a day, and have sex with his wife once a day.

Hill must wait until the next day for the three bonds to reappear on Lin An.

The original plan was for Evensia to be responsible for killing him to cover it up, so Hill had already treated Lin An as a dead man and used his power recklessly, to the point that he couldn't be dealt with remotely now.

That damned bastard! She's going to kill him!

And we must get there before Evancia! We absolutely cannot let her get the "Reader's Fragment"!
Thinking about the woman's strange behavior before, Hill felt that she and Lin An might be in cahoots, or that the holder of the MGM Grand Inspectorate might not be sincerely cooperating with the inspection team!
Unlike the branch president, Hill stayed at the MGM Grand Hotel to accommodate the "presiding judge's" scope of authority. As she pushed through the chaotic crowd, her steps quickened.

The next moment, to her surprise, the "supporting hand" encountered strong resistance.

Lin An held his wand horizontally, the wind whistling past his side, pulling against Hill. Not only could he not do as she wished, but he even seemed to have a slight advantage in strength.

The energy created by the gemstone appeared to be ordinary airflow, but the wand, as a mythical and mysterious artifact, was already capable of suppressing Efron. How could it possibly be at a disadvantage due to the weakened energy of Hill caused by distance?

Feeling the strong resistance coming from the other end, Hill gritted his teeth in hatred.

"This is... the Philosopher's Stone? Damn! This guy hid it really well! But as long as our engagement is still in effect, I can always interfere with your every move! One day, one year, one lifetime!"

That's right, the remaining "hand of support" is still a threat.

In order to counter her energy, Lin An had to focus all his efforts on manipulating the airflow, pulling it in the opposite direction.

Evensia, who was watching from a distance, squinted.

Within seconds, the two women seemed to be of one mind and suddenly attacked at the same time, using their mysterious techniques to kill Lin An before the other could make a move.

What a chaotic scene!

Lin An sighed.

If the healing gem on the wand is switched, the levitation gem must be discarded, causing Lin An to be pushed towards the drone's location by Hill; if the levitation gem is switched to counter Hill's energy, the ominous black lines that keep wrapping upwards around his chest cannot be suppressed.

It was a difficult decision, but Lin An quickly figured out what to do next.

They abandoned fighting the ominous signs and instead focused all their efforts on grappling with Hill.

No matter how much Evancia urged him, the death caused by the ominous signs was a long and gradual process, but Hill's supporting hand had a strong pull. Even though Lin An was doing his best, he still couldn't help but be pulled back towards the MGM Grand Hotel.

"To use all the wand's functions at once, I'll probably have to wait until I forge the true Philosopher's Stone," Lin An thought to himself.

Not only were Hill and Evensia staring intently at his figure, but the two figures flying across the sky were also occasionally illuminated by the intense light emitted from the casino, appearing and disappearing in the dim light, which made more and more tourists below notice the chaos in the sky.

Fortunately, the non-stop revelry in Rasmedos prevented too much panic. "Look, darling, there are people flying in the sky!"

"How could it be a person? It's just an inflatable plastic doll. It's probably just for advertising purposes for some casino."

"Something's not right. They seem like real people. Here's the telescope—give me the binoculars—I can't see clearly, they're flying too fast."

"That proves their claims are false. The human body can't withstand that speed; it would cause fractures."

"Hmm, aliens really do exist! Look, there's a person glowing blue all over... wait, the blue light disappeared, was it just my imagination?"

As the unrest escalated, Evensia finally lost her temper. Although she didn't want to give up the "reader's" fragments, she also didn't want to be on the front page of tomorrow's news.

After a few seconds of mental preparation, she made up her mind and flew back to the top floor of the MGM Grand Hotel as if giving up.

What a failed gamble.

As soon as I landed, I heard an unusual wind sound behind me.

Evensia turned around abruptly and was surprised to find that Lin An had not taken the opportunity to escape to a farther place, but was following closely behind, his figure floating in mid-air, with an enigmatic smile on his face, gesturing to her.

10?

Is he performing a mystical spell?
She paused, then the number changed to 9 and continued to decrease.

“What does this mean?” Evencia frowned, muttering to herself, “A countdown? What is he waiting for?”

As he spoke, Lin An's fingers dwindled to just a handful.

3, 2, 1...

The air currents swept across the ground, allowing Lin An to bypass a beam of light that pierced the sky, thus avoiding revealing his identity and appearance. In the distance, the Eiffel Tower rang the hourly chimes, echoing throughout this city of ecstasy that never sleeps.

"when--"

At the same time, a cold yet familiar voice echoed in his mind.

"This self-adjustment is complete, and the [Mysterious Encyclopedia] has been reactivated."

"With your witness, the encyclopedia entry for [Ainx] has been unlocked."

"I'm back, Lin An."

…………

The offices in Caesars Palace were in complete disarray, with corpses lying haphazardly everywhere, and people sprawled out, some seriously injured and unconscious.

In the conflict between the Dawn Association and the Inspectorate, both sides suffered casualties to varying degrees, but the Inspectorate was ultimately unable to stop them from storming the office due to their numerical disadvantage.

As the smoke cleared, the knights and the remaining members of the Dawn Society stormed into the headquarters, which was filled with surveillance footage.

"Ding!"

A piercing, high-pitched electronic sound filled the entire space, and the buzzing air-cooling device spun wildly.

The sound reached the ears of the branch president, who was leaning against the wall, and he let out a long breath.

Fortunately, I caught up.

This sound meant that the researchers who remained behind used the time they had gained to completely delete all the data.

While it can't be called a victory for the inspection team, it wasn't a complete defeat either, since the Dawn Association didn't know how to send an emergency message to X and couldn't interrupt the meeting midway.

By the time they hurriedly submitted their report to headquarters, the meeting had already ended, and the voting results were beyond redemption.

The branch president closed his eyes weakly, and the thought flashed through his mind.

I wonder how things are going with Butler Catherine. With her abilities and skills, she can at least salvage the situation.

However, a voice rang out from the office, speaking with uncanny clarity the words that left the branch president in disbelief.

"Don't worry, I have another copy."

Turning his eyes, which were covered in bright red blood, the branch president stared wide-eyed, futilely gazing into the unseen interior.

who is it?

who's that person?
Through a closed door, the knight of the Dawn Society watched the man who was speaking, who was fiddling with a miniature USB drive, turning it around as if playing cards.

This person had stayed behind to help delete information during the chaotic battle. Unable to fight back, the front line fell, and the other researchers, including him, surrendered.

The knight recognized his face, stopped his companion who was holding a gun, and nodded slightly to him.

"It seems you're in cahoots with Lin, Barry Fenton."

“Of course,” Barry said. “Now is not the time for explanations. I know the inspection team’s communication code. If we don’t send this video to interrupt the meeting, things might be settled over there.”

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(End of this chapter)