A thread in his ear?
Faceless's expression shifted slightly before quickly twisting into a sneer.
"So that's it—trying to bluff and scare me? That won't work. I won't fall for your tricks. You're not escaping today!"
A thread in his ear... He had heard of such a phenomenon, but it was absolutely impossible.
He was Grimalkin's strongest operative, never active in the open. Within Grimalkin, he might as well have been dead. Even rumors about him claimed "no one knows if he exists," a testament to how thoroughly he stayed hidden. Even that terrorist couldn't have secretly slipped a thread into his ear!
"Does he really have a thread in his ear?"
Sylvia immediately tensed upon hearing Roy's words.
She focused intently, scrutinizing Faceless for any sign of the thread. But no matter how narrowly she squinted, she couldn't detect anything resembling a thread and had to turn to Roy for confirmation.
"I wouldn't joke about something this serious."
A cryptic smile surfaced on Roy's face as his gaze settled beside Faceless's ear.
That's right.
He wasn't joking or trying to intimidate Faceless.
Because there really was a thread in Faceless's ear—completely colorless, transparent, and intangible. Without extraordinary vision, one wouldn't even sense the slightest incongruity. It was identical to Akatsuki's threads.
But with Roy's exceptional eyesight, he could spot it.
Yet Faceless seemed utterly unconvinced, dismissing it as a bluff.
"If you don't believe me, why not use that sword to slash beside your left ear?"
Roy gestured with his chin toward the Sword of the Guardian Goddess in Faceless's left hand.
"Of course, you'll need Meteor Arts to even touch it."
The resilience of those threads wasn't particularly high.
At least, the dispersed threads weren't. As for the threads Akatsuki himself wielded, Roy had never clashed with him directly, so he couldn't say. But these scattered threads could be severed even with ordinary Orga Lux, provided one used Meteor Arts with sufficient speed.
"Trying to trick me into lowering my guard? Not so easy."
Faceless sneered, adopting an unyielding stance.
Among the Orga Lux he carried, only this one was sword-shaped. If he used Meteor Arts with it to check his ear and Roy suddenly attacked, wouldn't that be disastrous? Against Roy's godlike speed, he needed to concentrate fully just to keep up. Distracted, he might miss Roy's movements entirely—getting bisected would be the least of his worries.
"Hmph. No use reasoning with a dead man walking."
Roy scoffed before falling silent.
Faceless had a thread in his ear but refused to believe it, which meant he had absolute confidence in his concealment skills—and that Akatsuki himself might already be in Asterisk City.
Roy had hoped to use Faceless to pinpoint Akatsuki's location. Tracing the thread would inevitably lead to its source. But since Faceless wouldn't cooperate, Roy could only express his regrets.
And then send him to hell.
"Sword of the Black Furnace, grant me more power!"
Roy's gaze fixed on the demonic sword in his hand as he uttered a low, resolute command.
At that moment, the Sword of the Black Furnace seemed to awaken, a surge of fury emanating from its core and directly transmitting into Roy's heart.
In a daze, Roy realized something—the Sword of the Black Furnace was angry.
But it wasn't angry at Roy for demanding its power. Instead, it was furious that mere ordinary Orga Luxes dared to flaunt their might so brazenly before it.
The mana crystal at the sword's core erupted with a brilliant red flash. Roy steadied himself, as if receiving a signal, and channeled a massive amount of astral power into the core.
An inconceivable force burst forth from the sword, and Roy, as if sharing a mind with the blade, instantly understood the nature of this power.
As the Sword of the Black Furnace radiated its intense crimson glow, Faceless noticed the anomaly. His pupils constricted sharply as he swiftly drew another Lux from behind him.
Whoosh!
Roy took a single step and crossed over a dozen meters in the blink of an eye, appearing right before Faceless. Without hesitation, he swung the sword down mercilessly!
The moment Roy moved, Faceless immediately activated the ability of the Guardian Goddess's Sword. In an instant, a peculiar force field formed around him, reversing any incoming force within an extremely short range.
But as Roy's blade descended, it seemed to pierce through the void.
A flash of steel.
The Guardian Goddess's Sword emitted a sharp, mournful hum, as if wailing in agony. The mana crystal embedded in its hilt abruptly dimmed, and the special force field vanished in an instant.
The power of the Sword of the Black Furnace was to sever and incinerate all things.
Its inherent ultra-high temperature could effortlessly melt the earth into a crucible, slice through the defensive barriers of massive stages with a single strike, and—if its ultimate power was unleashed—even sever the abilities of witches, magicians, and Orga Luxes themselves!
Yes, not just physical matter, but even abilities fell within the Sword of the Black Furnace's domain of destruction!
At this moment, the sword lent Roy its greatest power, allowing him to sever and incinerate the Guardian Goddess's Sword's ability with a single strike. The special force field dissipated like smoke in the wind.
With the field gone, nothing stood in Roy's way. He stepped forward, his eyes devoid of mercy, and swung the blade once more—this time aiming for Faceless's head!
Clang—!
At that moment, Faceless drew his fifth Orga Lux.
Upon activation, it transformed into a small bell resembling the wailing of the dead. With a gentle shake, a deep, earth-shaking vibration resonated through the surrounding air.
A soundwave capable of distorting everything struck, plunging Roy's mind into blankness.
The lapse lasted only an instant—less than 0.1 seconds—but it was enough for Faceless to retreat. Swinging his clawed weapon repeatedly, he summoned the countless threads he had previously laid out, weaving them into an invisible net-shield that protected him from behind.
Roy regained his senses and flexed his limbs, only to feel as though his bones had been rattled to their core. A numbing, itching sensation pulsed from deep within his marrow, his brain and organs still trembling from the impact. His entire body felt unbearably uncomfortable.
"That's the Savage Bell of Yalos. Its soundwaves penetrate everything—the closer you are, the deadlier they become. No living being within a meter's range survives after being hit... Why do you look completely unharmed?"
Sylvia's incredulous voice came through, filled with doubt about whether he was even human.
The Savage Bell of Yalos emitted sound waves radiating outward in all directions, weakening with distance. At extremely close range, no living being could survive, and the sound waves penetrated everything, especially effective against internal organs and the brain. However, maintaining distance would prevent fatal injuries.
Roy had been too close just now, within a one-meter range, which was why he had been knocked unconscious instantly.
The abilities of Orga Lux were truly bizarre—one misstep could lead to an unexpected downfall.
Yet, upon closer inspection of the five Orga Lux weapons that Faceless had brought out, while each was troublesome, their capabilities were also quite limited—far from being as absurd as Pandora or Alde.
Faceless distanced himself from Roy, deploying a wire shield in front of him, his expression turning unusually grim.
"You've even mastered the full power of the Sword of the Black Furnace... Fine. I didn't want to use this, but—"
With a pained look on his face, Faceless deactivated the Guardian Goddess Sword and stored it back in his pouch. Then, he retrieved a sixth Orga Lux weapon from the pouch.
Activating it, the weapon transformed into a club with a mana crystal embedded at its tip.