Round 20: The Spy

“Kegan, Bloodaxe. Well, I’ve always thought that name is pretty dull.” Jason removed his chainmail, tossed aside his longsword, and donned black attire. “I’ve given you so much help, yet you still messed everything up… to the point where I wanted to abandon you when I encountered the goblins.”
His tone was soft, even tinged with pity. “Fortunately, the female mage you brought along isn’t bad—she corrected many of your foolish mistakes… Without her, because my power clashes with Lady Mist, I would never have found my way here.”
Jason turned to look at Moriel; his face seemed gaunt. “Eternal Darkness will appreciate you.”
“He’s one of Xyrik’s followers!” Billy trembled violently. “He’ll kill us all! We must unite to destroy him!”
“Oh… what a pathetic lie.” Jason rolled his fingers, and another silver needle slowly emerged from his fingertip. “Actually, my only goal is to kill that bitch you worship… By killing you, once this temple is destroyed, Lady Mist won’t have any foothold in the Primary Material Realm, right? Well… I guess not. Her few remaining pitiful followers will forever kneel at the feet of Eternal Darkness, and her despicable name will never be mentioned again… let alone some ridiculous attempts at growth like this…”
Jason suddenly turned, his body flickering as if it had no skeleton. A giant flying axe passed by his afterimage and returned to Bloodaxe’s hands—Bloodaxe nearly lost it for the first time. He gritted his teeth and gripped it tightly, blood seeping from the gaps in his armor. The needle that was once in Jason’s hand was now half buried in his shoulder.
Forty-seven said nothing, standing in front of Moriel.
“Don’t you trust me?” This time, two needles appeared between Jason’s fingers. “I really don’t care whether I kill you or not, especially you, Bloodaxe. After all, I also worked under you for a while…”
“I don’t care either.” Bloodaxe gritted his teeth and used his left hand to slowly pull the needle out. “It’s just that you killed my pet… and now I think you make a decent replacement.”
“Hmph, I’m already getting tired of this.” Jason shook the needles in his hand. “I’m giving you a choice… just one. I’m going to kill that old drunk now. I really didn’t spot him in Rain City—he wasn’t lying about that. Find your own way out, as long as you leave before I kill him. Well… I guess that will take some time. I’ll let you go because I’m busy and have no time to waste on you… But if you’re still here when I’m done, it’ll depend on my mood, understand?”
Billy said nothing. He grew even older, his hands trembling as if he’d drunk too much—yet the mist behind him grew thicker, turning red and purple.
Two humanoid figures crouched there gradually became visible. Standing tall at around 14 to 15 feet, their bodies formed from thick mist and had turned into purple stone. Their hands were black, their fingers sharp, and their faceless heads bore Lady Mist’s twisted symbol, oozing oily blood.

Wandering Illusions? Moriel was slightly surprised—she hadn’t expected Billy to still be able to summon the Mist Goddess’s servants under such circumstances…
But Jason didn’t seem to take them seriously at all. He even winked at Moriel before turning to face Billy and his servants.
Bloodaxe gripped his axe tightly but hadn’t made a second attack yet. Was he hesitating?
“We’re at a disadvantage… we should retreat…” Forty-Seven thought, but for some reason, Jason’s gaze made him extremely uncomfortable.
The two Wandering Illusions bent over and stepped forward toward Jason one by one. With each step, ripples spread across their stone bodies—purple mist dispersed under the pressure, drifting away from that black presence, only to return to the Illusions under some unknown force, making their bodies appear to be both evaporating and condensing at the same time—becoming increasingly eerie and terrifying.
No wonder Old Billy was so confident. Though the Mist Lady was on the verge of extinction, these two, once the goddess’s representatives, were still incredibly powerful. In the temple, they were almost immortal, and their attacks could cause near-permanent confusion and disorientation, as if trapped in endless illusions… But against one of the strongest deities—the God of Murder, the King of Lies, a servant personally chosen by the Eternal Dark Sun, Xyrik—did they have any chance of winning?
Moriel glanced at Bloodaxe, who was also staring at her with his blood-red eyes.
Jason seemed to not care about the two illusions at all—as if nothing here deserved his attention.
He seemed to raise his hand slightly, and two silver needles immediately pierced Billy’s eyes, as if they had always been there.
Billy’s body dissipated, melting into drifting mist. The long needles fell to the ground with a crisp sound. Jason smiled dismissively as the two Wandering Illusions lunged at him at the same time.
A tattered parchment dropped with a thud between Moriel and Bloodaxe. Its texture had yellowed, and its edges were even turning black. If thrown in a trash pile, it wouldn’t stand out in any way, but it was this broken thing that made Bloodaxe’s entire body tremble.
Billy’s hoarse, urgent voice echoed through the mist: “This is for you—you must help me! Don’t you know Xyrik’s divine name? He even crazily proclaims himself the only true god. He will never spare anyone who might oppose him!”
The mist around them began to swirl violently: “I’ll send you deep into the temple now… I’ll hold him off for as long as I can. Use this chance to release the scroll and harness the power of the God of Forging within it… Only with the combined power of two gods can we have a chance! Help me—”
Billy’s voice cut off abruptly.
The mist surged and rolled around them before dissipating.
A perfectly sculpted female statue appeared before them. Though the stone forming the statue seemed to have been eroded over millions of years, becoming mottled and decayed, Forty-Seven couldn’t help but admire its beauty—the statue’s face was indistinct, as if covered in fine sand, yet it seemed to display countless expressions…

Blood Axe saw no goddess statue at all. He didn’t care that his body was already half covered in blood; he rushed forward, grabbed the scroll, and glared viciously at Moriel, as if he would swing his axe at her at the slightest move.
Moriel didn’t argue with him. She even stepped back. “Do you really want to use this scroll?”
“Of course! Why else am I here?” Blood Axe held the scroll tightly. Blood stuck to it, but surprisingly, the drops rolled down to the ground unimpeded, while the scroll itself seemed to be made of the purest metal, free of any impurities—yet it was still just a tattered parchment, now crumpled from Blood Axe’s tight grip.
“I don’t believe the followers of the Lady of Mist are that kind,” said Moriel.
“Ha! I don’t care about their kindness! Can’t you see he’s at his wits’ end?” For the first time, Blood Axe slammed his axe onto the ground and grabbed the scroll with both hands. “It’s all to get me to help him—Hmph! Once I channel the power in this scroll into my axe, I won’t care about Mist or Xeric!”
Forty-seven stood beside Moriel, watching the nearly frenzied Blood Axe in silence.
Blood Axe clutched the scroll tightly, set his axe aside, and swung his blood-soaked right arm violently. The wound spilleda large amount of blood blood, splashing onto the cold, barren stone floor, instantly cooling the air.