Her body was flung through the air by an invisible rope, and Irina lightly spun twice in midair before landing steadily on the ground.
Despite wearing high heels, her movents were completely unimpeded.
Her mind raced, but her actions never stopped.
She swung her long legs beneath her maid skirt—legs that countless people had once admired—pressed the tips of her high heels into the ground, and dashed toward the square at breakneck speed.
Her movents were graceful and fast, so swift that even a seasoned sprinter couldn’t keep up with her in those heels.
But that wasn’t enough.
The small, delicate pocket watch with its silver chain appeared in her hand again, snapping open with a soft click.
One by one, double-sided rings materialized before her.
Five in total.
The white side faced her, the black side faced outward.
She darted through the five translucent rings in rapid succession, passing from the white side to the black.
Boom!
She transford into an indistinct blur, carrying a shockwave of air as she charged toward the central Notice Board in the square.
Then ca the sonic boom, trailing behind her.
The middle-aged man didn’t stop her. He stood still, raised his right hand, took a half-step back, and assud the posture of throwing a javelin.
Flowing magma spread from his hand, coalescing into a rough, makeshift spear.
It was rough because it was nothing more than a simple shaft and tip, utterly devoid of decoration. The shaft wasn’t even straight; it twisted like a broken branch snapped off on a whim. The tip looked equally unsharpened, lava flowing over it just barely giving it a shape.
There was neither murderous intent nor guilt in his eyes.
His pupils glowed with the color of molten rock, like two miniature suns simply hanging there. Whether they scorched people or triggered a drought, there was no malice behind it.
He was rely doing what needed to be done.
He knew the situation with Iris Housekeeping Services.
Since Irina refused to cancel the mission, they were already on opposite sides.
And now, all he needed to do was take her out of the ga.
She ran into the square and reached the Notice Board.
Crossing one street and most of the square had taken her only about a second.
But the Notice Board in the square was gone.
Not only was the board gone, but she also noticed that the entire municipal square was eerily empty.
And despite the massive explosion earlier, no one had co out to check, and there was no panic.
It felt as though only the three people who had just been inside the Hat Shop remained in the entire city.
She understood instantly.
That man had sohow replicated the entire city, temporarily isolating them from the rest of Liant Town.
The entire city was “fake,” which ant, of course, they could vandalize public property without consequence.
As long as the real items in the town weren’t damaged, it was fine—a loophole to exploit.
It was like how no rule said you couldn’t smash things in a dream.
But this place was still “Liant Town.” As long as this isolated “fake Liant Town” fell within the boundaries of the real Liant Town, they naturally wouldn’t be violating the rule against leaving the town.
As long as they simultaneously t the conditions of “being physically inside Liant Town” and “being surrounded by Liant Town,” no one could claim they were outside it.
Moreover, this technique of his seed to temporarily sever their connection to the rules. Even if he were to be judged for malicious assault and attempted murder, that judgnt would have to wait until they left this fake Liant Town and re-established contact with the rules.
So, all she had to do was stall for ti.
Stall until this unknown isolation ended and they returned to the real Liant Town.
At that point, he wouldn’t be able to act so recklessly, and he’d be subject to the “punishnt” from the rules.
Malicious assault was bad enough, but attempted murder was a major cri.
On the other hand, she was just acting in self-defense. Even if she faced “punishnt,” it would be far lighter.
Furthermore, he not only had to maintain a barrier covering and disguising the entire town, but also had to cut off their connection to the external rules.
He was fighting against the entire system of rules, exploiting its loopholes. The consumption would inevitably be staggering.
Irina, who held partial authority over the rules of this place, knew this very well.
Whether he exhausted his spirituality or she broke the isolation at the level of the rules, either outco worked in her favor.
So, all she needed to do was drag things out. The longer she delayed, the more advantageous it beca.
A piercing sound split the air.
Irina’s eyes lit up.
Literally lit up.
The lava javelin shot through the air, carrying light and heat, heading straight for Irina.
Having already decided to stall for ti, Irina didn’t hesitate. She once again created the sa five rings, accelerated herself past the sound barrier, and sprinted toward the opposite end of the town.
But it seed she wasn’t the only one who had figured this out.
The man still standing inside the Hat Shop relaxed his control over himself and let the spinning fire tornado catch him, lifting him into the air.
Then, centrifugal force hurled him outward, bringing him effortlessly to the very center of the sky above the city.
That spot was directly above the municipal square.
A golden horn appeared in the man’s hand.
He brought it to his lips and blew hard.
Woo—
The sky was instantly covered in thick, dark clouds.
One… two… three…
One fire tornado after another, wreathed in flas, rose from the ground.
Accompanied by crackling sounds, spear after spear, laced with lightning, erged from the clouds, densely covering the entire sky.
Seeing this, Irina knew there was no point in dodging anymore.
The Law of [Calamity] had always been adept at large-scale destruction. When this attack fell, there would be no safe place left in this fake Liant Town.
So she stopped and stared straight at the man in the sky.
“Why are you doing this?” Her voice wasn’t loud, but thanks to the Law Mark “ssenger,” it easily reached the man’s ears.
The man lowered his gaze slightly, looking down at the maid about to die below him.
“Fate has strayed down the wrong path,” the man said in a flat tone. “And what I need to do is correct it.”
“I will destroy what shouldn’t exist and return everything to the right track.”
“But this ritual should be sothing that was ant to happen,” Irina said, her tone still gentle, with no trace of fear in the face of death.
“Indeed it is,” the man raised one hand. “But now, the ritual has let the wrong people in on the right path.”
“Since I’ve already made my move, I won’t give you a chance to reconcile. So…”
“I’m sorry.”
It was unclear whether the apology in his words was for the ritual having to be interrupted, or for having to kill Irina.
With that, he lowered his hand.
Following his gesture, the silver spears in the sky began to fall, one after another.
Irina watched this scene, then clicked open her pocket watch again.
Click.
Before the countless thunder spears could strike, her figure blurred first, then vanished.
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