Lofan watched the grief-stricken group from above, his own heart heavy.
But he couldn't remain "Grett" forever; this role's departure was inevitable.
Unwilling to witness their pain any longer, Lofan drifted higher, reaching the maximum distance he could move just as he floated above the tent.
"Time to think about happier things now!"
Lofan eagerly checked his points, and his heart skipped a beat.
He had a staggering 114,514 points!
He'd thought he was still a little short of unlocking the System's next stage, but it turned out he had more than enough.
This instantly replenished his previously dwindling four-figure fortune, and Lofan's excitement surged.
However, remembering how far he still had to go to reach his ultimate goal, he forced himself to suppress his elation for the time being.
Next, Lofan focused on the System's newly unlocked feature. He held high hopes that this function would alleviate the numbness he felt inside.
It allowed him to exchange points for multiple bodies simultaneously, with his consciousness freely shifting between them. While he was occupying one body, the others would be managed by the System, rigidly performing daily routines—like clockwork office workers.
He could issue simple commands to these bodies, such as instructing them to stay put or move to a specific location. However, anything more complex was beyond their capabilities. For example, ordering one to dance to "Two Tigers Love to Dance" would be futile—the Artificial Idiot simply couldn't execute such a nuanced instruction.
"Want better AI? That'll cost you extra Points!"
The next System feature unlock required 300,000 Points. Lofan estimated he'd need to pull off two major operations or perhaps target the Hydro Archon Furina herself.
The thought stirred something within him. It wasn't just the potential Point haul from Furina; it was also the revelation of Fontaine's dark underbelly. As the nation's ruler, Furina bore undeniable responsibility for this hidden corruption, and Lofan couldn't resist the urge to teach her a lesson.
Yet he remained puzzled. Why was Fontaine's Hydro Archon so unimpressive, barely distinguishable from an ordinary person? Lofan couldn't determine whether Furina was merely feigning ordinariness or if there was another explanation.
He also needed to understand the operational principles of the Oratrice Mecanique d'Analyse Cardinale to plan his next move effectively.
For now, however, those considerations would have to wait. He still had loose ends to tie up.
Lofan glanced one last time at the tent below before initiating the exchange for a new body.
He invested 3,000 Points, disregarding other attributes as long as he obtained the Marechaussee Hunter identity. He assigned his allegiance to Marquis Relf's faction and activated the one-click generation.
In the next instant, when Lofan reopened his eyes, he once again felt solid ground beneath his feet.
Lofan surveyed his surroundings, finding himself in a dense forest. Ahead, several figures clad in black hurried away, their footsteps fading into the night.
A sudden realization struck him. He glanced down at his own attire and confirmed it matched theirs perfectly.
Without a doubt, he was now a Marechaussee Hunter, just like the men ahead. They were pressing on through the night, seemingly on a covert mission.
Marquis Relf hadn't explicitly informed him of these arrangements for the Marechaussee Hunters, but Lofan had already guessed the Marquis's intentions: to establish an extra layer of control over Poisson, using the town's inhabitants as leverage against Navia and her group.
The memories of his new body confirmed his suspicions. Their mission was to infiltrate Poisson covertly and seize opportunities as they arose.
This was the Marquis's final safeguard, implemented after his initial plans had faltered.
Indeed, Marquis Relf lived up to Lofan's expectations—ruthless and thorough.
"Rookie, why are you dawdling? Can you afford to delay the Marquis's plans?"
Noticing Lofan's hesitation, the lead Marechaussee Hunter stopped and glared back at him.
"With your pathetic strength, do you think you'd have been sent on this mission if we hadn't lost a few brothers recently? The Marquis is taking no chances."
"We're here, we're here! I know you're all eager, but hold your horses!"
Seeing this, Lofan immediately snapped into character, cheerfully hurrying to catch up with the group.
"This is my first real mission, so I'm a little nervous!"
"Seniors, please calm down. Once the mission is complete, this junior will treat you all to a proper drink!"
Lofan's words slightly eased the tension, and they resumed their journey.
"Alright, let's hurry up and finish the task assigned by the Archon."
"If you perform well, kid, we'll put in a good word for you with the Archon."
Overjoyed, Lofan showered them with gratitude and a fresh wave of flattery. Having unlocked his silver tongue, his smooth-talking flowed effortlessly, like a well-oiled machine.
Before long, the group was thoroughly charmed, finding Lofan increasingly likable.
Why hadn't we noticed how silver-tongued this kid was before?
"Ouch!"
Suddenly, Lofan stopped, clutching his stomach with a pained expression.
"Oh no, oh no! I think I ate something bad and upset my stomach."
What's going on? Why do you always have to cause trouble?
That's what they had originally wanted to say, but remembering Lofan's earlier flattery, the words caught in their throats.
"How are you holding up? Can you hold on a little longer?"
"I can't! I'm about to shit my pants!"
Hearing this, the group immediately frowned and backed away several meters from Lofan.
"Alright, alright, five minutes. Hurry up and take care of it."
"Got it!"
Lofan's face lit up with relief as he darted away, his figure quickly vanishing into the distance.
"Now that's what I call being resourceful!"
"Forget it. He knows how to play the game. As long as he doesn't delay the Archon's business, it's fine."
After a brief exchange, the group settled down to wait.
Five minutes passed, but Lofan still hadn't returned.
Unpleasant expressions resurfaced on their faces, but they patiently waited a little longer. Finally, their patience wore thin.
"That kid... did he actually shit himself?"
"Even if he did, he should have come back by now! Can he even take responsibility for delaying the Archon's business?"
"Let's go check on him."
Reluctant expressions appeared on their faces, but they dared not delay the Archon's orders. With no other choice, they reluctantly followed the path to where Lofan had last been seen.
When they arrived, they froze in their tracks.
Lofan lay sprawled in a pool of blood.
One of the Marechaussee Hunters reacted first, stepping forward to examine him, his expression grave.
"He's dead. His throat was cleanly slit with a sharp blade. The killer was swift and efficient."
"Looks like we've been targeted."
A solemn mood settled over the group as they heard this conclusion.
"Damn it! How did our operation get leaked?"
One of the Marechaussee Hunters slammed his fist into a nearby tree trunk, sending it shuddering violently and showering leaves to the ground.
The others wore equally grim expressions. Though they hadn't known Lofan well, his murder right under their noses felt like a blatant act of provocation.
"There's only one enemy. Let's stick together and avoid getting separated. We don't have time for games; we need to hurry."
The group nodded in agreement and resumed their journey.
Without Lofan slowing them down, their pace improved considerably.
Whether their assessment was correct or not, they encountered no further attacks for quite some time.
Just as their tension began to ease, they detected movement ahead, instantly snapping back to full alert.
"Hey, why didn't you wait for me?"
A familiar voice echoed from the distance. Lofan emerged from the undergrowth, and the group stared in disbelief, their hearts pounding with dread.
"Phew, catching up with you guys was exhausting!" Lofan gasped, staggering toward them.
With a synchronized shing, the Marechaussee Hunters drew their weapons.
"Stop! Come any closer and I'll kill you!"
Lofan froze, stunned by their words. "What do you mean? I'm with you guys!"
"Shut up! Who are you really?"
"This man is dead! We all saw his corpse with our own eyes!"
Lofan's confusion deepened. "What? I'm dead?"
"You must be mistaken! I'm right here, perfectly fine!"
"Heh-heh-heh, you're just joking with me."
Grinning, Lofan continued to advance, calling out as he approached. "Stop messing around! We still need to complete the task the Master assigned us... Ah—!"
As Lofan drew nearer, one of the Marechaussee Hunters gritted his teeth, steeled his resolve, and thrust his sword straight through Lofan's heart.
"You..." Lofan pointed a trembling finger at his killer before collapsing lifelessly to the ground with a soft thud.
"We definitely saw his corpse earlier. This guy's an imposter!"
The Marechaussee Hunter who had killed Lofan explained his actions, then knelt to inspect Lofan's face for signs of makeup.
There was none.
His expression turned ghastly.
"So the body we saw before was the fake! Damn it, they tricked us into killing our own brother!"
"Forget it. Let's just say he died in battle. You were forced to do it. We'll keep it a secret."
The man took a deep breath and nodded.
Having taken more than ten lives already, even this accidental fratricide did little to disturb their composure.
The group resumed their journey shortly after. But they hadn't gone far when they saw Lofan running toward them, beaming.
"Ah, finally caught up with you guys!"
"Why did you all just leave me behind?"
"Were you afraid I'd steal all the credit?"
Seeing Lofan appear again, the group's minds crashed as if struck by a boulder, their faces contorting in horror.
"Ah—!"
With a single sword strike, Lofan fell to the ground, never to rise again.
This time, the attacker was another Marechaussee Hunter. After finishing Lofan off, he immediately began tearing at Lofan's face, desperate to find a human skin mask. But even after nearly shredding Lofan's features, he found nothing.
What was even more disturbing was the sinister smile that now stretched across Lofan's face, sending shivers down their spines.
A wave of icy dread washed over them, making every hair on their bodies stand on end.
"Someone's definitely messing with us!"
The group scanned their surroundings with heightened vigilance, desperately trying to regain their composure. But the sheer bizarreness of what they were witnessing—as if trapped in some nightmarish loop—made it impossible.
"Or maybe this place itself is cursed. We can't stay here any longer. Let's go!"
The group set off again, this time fleeing with desperate urgency, pushing themselves to their absolute limits.
They hadn't gone far when they came across a corpse hanging from a tree branch, swaying back and forth.
When they recognized the face, terror washed over them.
Lofan dangled from the branch, a sinister grin plastered on his face as he stared down at them. With each swing, the tree trunk behind him revealed blood-soaked words:
[You killed me!]
"Who's behind this? Show yourself!" one of the Marechaussee Hunters roared, trying to bolster his courage, but his voice trembled.
"Don't panic, everyone. This might just be an illusion..."
Even the speaker didn't fully believe his own words, but clinging to that hope was the only thing keeping him from losing his mind.
"Ah!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
A volley of gunfire erupted, tearing Lofan's corpse to pieces under the bullets' force.
After the violent release, the firing ceased, and the Marechaussee Hunter who had pulled the trigger gasped for breath.
The gunfire had visibly calmed the group.
"Move!"
The group stepped over Lofan's mangled corpse and resumed their journey.
Midway, one of the Marechaussee Hunters couldn't resist glancing back at the shattered remains. His eyes met Lofan's, who wore a sinister grin.
A sudden chill ran down his spine, his fear amplified tenfold, nearly causing him to collapse. Fortunately, his strength allowed him to regain his composure, and he hurried to catch up.
This time, they walked for a long while without another sign of Lofan.
Just as they secretly breathed a sigh of relief, feeling like survivors after a disaster, one of them spoke up.
"Has anyone else noticed how unfamiliar our surroundings are becoming?"
The question struck their minds like a thunderbolt. They frantically scanned their surroundings.
Unfamiliar was an understatement. The forest had grown impossibly dense, the towering trees so tall they blotted out the sky, their leaves almost completely obscuring the moonlight.
For a moment, they felt as if they had stumbled into Sumeru itself.
The group halted once more, each swallowing hard.
The bizarre events were becoming increasingly unsettling, filling them with growing dread.
"Who's behind this? Show yourself! If you've got the guts, face us head-on! What kind of coward hides in the shadows?"
Their challenge echoed unanswered through the eerily silent forest. The silence was oppressive, bordering on terrifying.
"Should we... should we keep going?"
"What choice do we have? Stay here and wait to die?"
"Wait! There's a body over there!"
Suddenly, a Marechaussee Hunter pointed a trembling finger into the distance. The others flinched violently, now conditioned to react with panic at the mere mention of a corpse.
As their eyes fell upon the body, their minds shattered once more.
A corpse hung suspended in mid-air, completely entwined in countless vines. The vines writhed slightly, as if alive, while the body itself was shriveled and drained, its limbs withered and shrunken.
Despite the darkness, they could still clearly see the familiar face, its eerie grin stretched wide, and its eyes glaring at them as if whispering, "You can't escape."
"Ah, I can't take it anymore!"
One of the Marechaussee Hunters—the same one who had locked eyes with Lofan earlier—finally snapped. His mental defenses shattered, he completely lost his composure and bolted off in a random direction.
The suddenness of the event, coupled with the others' shock, left them no time to react.
By the time they regained their senses, the man had already vanished into the dense undergrowth, his desperate howls fading into the distance.
"Damn it! We told him not to run off!"
Though they considered retrieving him, the memory of his crazed expression and the speed of his flight weighed heavily on their minds.
They hadn't even unraveled the current mystery, and now they seemed on the verge of losing another member.
"Don't dwell on him. We need to keep moving!"
"We've survived countless dangers before. We'll get through this too!"
One of the Marechaussee Hunters spoke up, trying to rally the group, and his words were met with a chorus of responses.
Their inner fears seemed momentarily subdued as they resumed their journey in the original direction.
Though the environment had completely transformed, they had no choice but to press onward.
However, as they continued, they repeatedly stumbled upon Lofan's mummified corpse, each encounter amplifying their terror beyond anything they had previously experienced.
Finally, they reached an open area, where the scene before them shattered their last defenses.
Dozens of desiccated corpses lay scattered across the clearing, stretching as far as the eye could see. Among them were Lofan's and that of the Marechaussee Hunter who had panicked and fled earlier. The only thing they shared was the same eerie, twisted smile etched onto their faces.
The survivors could no longer delude themselves. Madness contorted their features into grotesque expressions.
"Retribution! This must be retribution!"
"Hahaha! Those we killed have come back for revenge!"
"We're trapped! We'll never escape this place!"
"There has to be a way out of here."
"Everyone, please try to stay calm..."
Only one Marechaussee Hunter had barely managed to regain his composure, desperately trying to soothe the others who had completely lost it. But then, a voice filled with overwhelming joy erupted beside him.
"I found it!"
"I finally found it!"
"A way out!"
The hunter froze for a moment, then his face lit up with equal elation.
"Everyone, did you hear that? Someone's found a way out of here!"
"Calm down, everyone! We'll be out of here soon!"
He spun around to face the source of the voice, blurting out excitedly, "Did you really find a way out? Tell me—"
Bang!
The voice abruptly cut off.
Blood splattered across his face, trickling down his neck and into his clothes. But he felt nothing. It was as if his soul had already fled his body.
He didn't know how long he'd been unconscious, but when he finally came to, he was greeted by a chaotic scene of corpses strewn haphazardly before him. They were the bodies of his fellow Marechaussee Hunters, each wearing a serene smile as they lay slain by their own weapons.
"Ahhhhh!"
A piercing scream tore through the air as the last surviving Hunter collapsed to the ground, his face twisted in primal terror.
"They're all dead... they're all dead..."
"I don't want to die! I don't want to die yet!"
He frantically wiped the blood splattered across his face and scrambled away from the hellish scene.
His mind was consumed by a single thought: escape. He had to escape, endlessly.
As if fortune favored the desperate, he noticed the surrounding forest gradually thinning.
The path ahead began to feel familiar.
He remembered this place! Just a little further and he'd reach the edge of the woods!
He could escape this place! He could live!
Overwhelming joy surged through him, propelling his feet faster than ever.
Almost there! Almost there!
The edge of the forest was just ahead!
He thought he could see the edge of the forest!
But in the next instant, he froze, his face ashen.
There, at the forest's edge, stood several corpses, their faces twisted into grotesque smiles directed at him. They were the very companions who had taken their own lives moments before.
"Ha ha ha ha ha!"
"This must be a nightmare! I have to wake up!"
Laughing hysterically, he pressed the barrel of his gun against his chin and pulled the trigger without hesitation.
Bang!
The forest fell silent once more.
After an unknown amount of time, Lofan reappeared, this time alive.
He approached the grinning corpses and piled them together. A ball of fire materialized in his palm, which he tossed onto the heap. Instantly, a fierce blaze erupted, engulfing the bodies in a raging inferno.
Before long, the corpses had been reduced to ashes by the intense heat.
Having now mastered intermediate-level Pyro Element manipulation, Lofan wielded incredibly precise control over fire. The flames remained contained to the bodies, leaving everything else untouched. Once the last trace of flesh had burned away, the flames dissipated without a trace.
With this final task completed, Lofan stepped over the remains of the suicidal Marechaussee Hunter and left the forest, humming a tune as he walked toward Poisson, the town visible in the distance.
-
TL Note: Man is a straight up menace