The Gamer's POV

The last of the daffodils finally arrived at Cedric’s position, after which it flowed into him, mending a bit more of his injuries and granting the ability to move again.

Cedric then quickly turned around to his bond and extended his hand to her. "Come, Aika Soryu!"

Now that his nodachi had been destroyed, he was basically without a weapon, which made him feel very exposed. Hearing the call, Aika didn’t waste a second and immediately burst into multiple ravens that all flew toward him. As they reformed into a katana in his right grip, he simultaneously reached toward his shadow, and a wakizashi flew out of it into his left grip.

At that moment, an expected notification popped up in his vision.

[Activating Combat Style: Two Heavens as One.]

’Gamer Privileges. I should be able to view that Lord’s skills, right? Even though I may not know what they do, can I just see all of them? I need to see every single thing in this man’s arsenal!’ Cedric thought, his mind racing on a strategy to kill this Lord.

In response, notifications popped up.

[Activating Gamer Privileges...]

[Retrieving information.]

[...]

But then, it took longer than usual for a reply to manifest.

While this happened, Leon had also armed himself with Uriel, who had taken the form of a golden spear. His bloodshot eyes darted around before settling at the cliff in the distance. Celeste, too, turned toward the cliff and immediately began chanting to summon her chains. Even though she had summoned them already in the fake reality, they were not yet summoned in the real one.

The whips of flames began to flicker into existence around her, and while that was happening, Gamer Privileges finally retrieved Lee Lim’s information.

As the messages flooded his vision, Cedric’s eyes widened, and his blood ran cold.

’What...?’

~~~~~~ New Character Profile ~~~~~~

Character Name: [Lee Lim]

Age: [24]

Level: [40]

Grade: [4]

Ultimate Skills: [Administrative Privileges], [Plagiarist’s Eye]

Skills: [Flames of Decay], [Contract of Pain], [Word of Advice], [Spatial Anchor], [Night Vision], [Viper’s Strike], [Shadow Step], [Phantom’s Veil], [Godfather’s Mandate], [Great Equalizer], [Thou Shall Not Die], [One with the Ravens], [High Tier Poison Resistance], [High Tier Petrification Resistance], [Demon Queen’s Chains], [Lead-Lined Poker Face], [Debt of Honor], [Smuggler’s Pocket], [Omertà], [Camouflage], [Eye of Truth], [Architect’s Blueprint], [Shepherd’s Wings], ...

As more and more skills crowded his thoughts, Cedric continued to sink further into despair.

’What sort of monster is this...?’

How could one person have this many skills? It was absurd!

And as if that were not enough, Cedric could see that this Lord possessed not just his skills, but also the skills of his unit members.

He could see Flames of Decay and One with the Ravens, which belonged to him. He could see Architect’s Blueprint, which belonged to Goldie, and he could see the skills of the Demon Queen as well.

How was that even possible?

’It doesn’t make any sense.’

Cedric took a breath to calm his anxiety. ’I need to calm down. If I panic, I won’t be able to think properly.’

At that moment, through the eyes of his ravens, who were zooming in toward the cliff, Cedric could see that the Lord was also chanting alongside Celeste.

Sparks of red flames began to dance around his frame as he continued to chant.

[The Character Lee Lim has activated the skill: Demon Queen’s Chains]

Cedric’s eyes darted to that notification for only a second before returning to the list of skills, his mind already racing to analyze them.

’I know they are many, but they might not all be combat skills,’ he thought, trying to console himself. ’I’m assuming ultimate skills are his most powerful...’

Since he already had an idea of what Lee Lim’s first Ultimate Skill did, he tried to analyze the second.

’Plagiarist’s Eye... is that what he uses to copy skills? From the name, that looks like what it does. I can only see my skills, Goldie’s, and Celeste’s. I can’t see Leon’s. Why is that?

’I remember that he copied my skill after I tried to fight him back then. Could it be that he can only copy a person’s skill when they use it while in combat with him? That seems to be the only logical explanation, because I’ve used both my skills while in combat with him. Goldie used hers too, and Celeste did the same. The only person who has not yet used their skill while in combat with him is Leon.

’Yes. Looking at it from that angle, that might be the case.

’But then... shit. No matter how I look at things, they are bad. How are we supposed to kill him if he has a skill like Thou Shall Not Die in his arsenal?’

At that moment of intense contemplation, the chains of the Lord fully formed around him, humming with an ominous vibration that warped the air.

Lee Lim then raised his right hand and pointed it toward Cedric’s unit. Like striking vipers, the ten whips suddenly shot forward in a blur of chaotic motion.

Seeing that, Celeste stepped forward and thrust both hands toward the oncoming assault. Her own whips of flames shot forward, and in the next instant, the twenty chains collided with each other in intense, fiery explosions.

They then recoiled and slammed into each other again and again, engaging in a vicious battle of their own. The chains of the Lord tried to break away to strike the unit, but the chains of the Demon Queen blocked their paths again and again.

At that moment, Leon shouted over the roar, "What’s the plan now? All the plans we made are falling apart!"

Cedric turned to him and began, "I think we should—"

He was still talking when he suddenly felt a shadow loom behind him, followed by a violent notification that appeared in red.

[The Character Lee Lim has activated the skill: Shadow Step]

Lee Lim, who had suddenly appeared behind Cedric, then swung his bare hand from left to right, aiming to take off Cedric’s head.