The ritual can be interrupted.

Whether it's the mystical knowledge that Jason has learned, or the mystical knowledge he has been exposed to, this can be clear.

But, how should it be interrupted?

The interruption of the ritual is not a rash action, but requires a corresponding approach.

Therefore, Jason had been thinking about it since he confirmed that Edward's actions were the completion of the 'ritual'.

After all, with the right interruption, the 'ritual' can immediately turn against the person who presides over and performs the ritual.

But what if it's wrong?

Those who interrupt the ritual will suffer unimaginable costs.

Even, some of the costs will be irreversible.

So, Jason was very careful.

Even though he knew that Edward's explanation was a part of the 'ritual', he didn't try to interrupt it.

Because such an 'interruption' is too simple and too direct.

With the prudence and cunning that 'Edward' once showed, would such a glaring flaw be exposed?

The answer is no.

In the way of interrupting the other person's words, 'interrupting the ceremony' should be the trap!

Or to be more precise, Jason thinks that the other party's so-called explanation is also part of the 'ritual', which is simply deceitful, in order to make the person who enters the 'ritual' blindly interrupt.

This is quite normal.

Both sides are enemies.

Believe what the enemy says?

It would be better to believe that the enemy is well-intentioned.

Of course, there is a more important point!

Jason was absolutely sure that he would turn everything around at the last minute.

Because—

He, Jason, is not dead!

No matter what the final result of the 'ritual' in front of him is, he, the one who is 'replaced', will definitely die.

And as long as he doesn't die, the 'ritual' will naturally be interrupted.

As for whether 'Edward' wanted to kill him?

Jason is very sure of this.

Ever since he appeared, Edward had been smiling, but he couldn't hide the malice and murderous intent in his eyes.

It was a gesture of undying.

In fact, it is also true.

In order to keep the ceremony going, 'Edward' made a decisive move.

Although this was a bit different from what he had originally expected, it didn't end the ceremony, it just took some work and some cost, and 'Edward' thought he could afford it.

And then—

Click!

With the crisp cracking sound of bones, Edward's face stiffened with a smile and was ready to meet the victory, and the whole person fell to the ground.

The short-handled broad-bladed machete he held in his hand appeared straight into Jason's hand.

The moment Jason held the hilt of the knife, he subconsciously danced twice.

Woo, woo.

The blade tore through the air and let out a low growl.

It seems to be the wailing of unjust souls.

Like the roar of a monster.

It's handy.

Same as before.

However, Jason could feel the short-handled broad-bladed machete in his hand becoming sharper and stronger.

There is no doubt that this is a credit to 'Edward'.

And in the next moment, the ice hockey mask on Edward's face also appeared in Jason's hand.

The cold, cozy feeling came to my heart.

It made Jason feel the comfort he hadn't felt for a long time.

Involuntarily, Jason reappeared wearing his hockey mask.

As before, it's no different.

But the moment Jason put on the mask, a coercion from the fear in the creature's heart began to emanate from the mask.

Jason clearly felt the power of the mask.

"Not bad."

He commented.

Naturally, this is also a credit to Edward.

But that's not the only thing Edward's demerits.

[Ritual transformation, hand-to-hand combat is upgraded to master level!] 】

[Hand-to-hand combat (master): The body itself is a powerful weapon, and you are the master of it, you not only rely on fists and feet to fight, your whole body will be a deadly weapon; Effect: Constitution, Strength, Agility +0.3 (Mastery, Expert, Master +0.1)]

[Hand-to-hand combat is upgraded to Mastery level, and you get the Intrinsic Talent Option: Well-Trained]

[Raise to Master level in hand-to-hand combat and gain an Intrinsic Talent Option: Danger Intuition]

[Well-trained (passive): A lot of combat training, so that you have this talent, when encountering unexpected battles, long-term training can make you adapt to unexpected situations faster]

[Danger Intuition: Long-term training and constant fighting, let you sharpen your perception of danger to an extreme, effect: perception +0.5]

……

The next moment, a text prompt appeared in front of Jason's eyes.

The skill [Hand-to-hand Combat] has been directly upgraded from the expert level to the master level, and the Constitution, Strength, and Agility are once again +0.1 respectively.

But what surprised Jason the most was that there was also a fixed talent option at the Master level.

And the new [Danger Intuition] directly increased his perception by 0.5.

At this moment, Jason's attributes have been changed to: Strength 3.8, Agility 3.6, Constitution 4.5, Spirit 2.6, and Perception 6.2.

Crunchy!

Feeling the tone between the knowledge and the body in his mind, Jason clenched his fists, feeling the change at this moment.

The physical changes are not significant, but the changes in perception are extremely noticeable.

The latter influences the former.

Powerful perception allows Jason to better control his own changes.

At the same time, you can also grasp the surroundings.

At the very least, Jason can now determine that Edward, who had broken his neck, was not dead.

Even if the other person has no breath or heartbeat.

But the flow of blood is still there.

In a different way than ordinary people.

"Is there the power of the 'reincarnation ritual'?"

Jason guessed.

Then, cut it down with a single sword.

He could confirm that the 'Ritual of Conversion' had been interrupted and that it had taken Edward's back.

Just now, he only broke Edward's neck, but he didn't break the opponent's strong heart.

The heart was directly exploded under the 'ritual' reaction.

Woo!

The short-handled broad-bladed machete whistled across Edward's neck.

Burst!

Edward's head flew straight away.

However, there was no blood spurting.

The headless 'Edward' rolled quickly for a few laps before standing up.

Then, as if taking off an overcoat, Edward emerged from his tall, muscular body.

Edward, covered in some kind of slime, looked rather embarrassed, and his tall, strong body, with his head flying out of the distance, began to wither after Edward came out.

In the middle of breathing, it becomes something like a 'snake molting'.

No!

To be precise, 'human transformation'!

Edward touched the slime on his face.

At this time, Edward finally had no smile on his face.

All that's anger and resentment is ...... Unbelievable.

Edward was convinced that he had decapitated Jason.

Can a person live without a head?

Apparently impossible.

So how did Jason get alive?

Is it a 'ritual'?

Involuntarily, Edward began to make associations, and his gaze at Jason also changed.

"I see!"

"I'm not the only one who found that!"

"You found out too!"

"It's no wonder that after you wrote a good "Cross Street Stalker", you would become mediocre, not only did your pen power decline, but there was no logic, and it turned out that your energy was invested in the study of the 'mysterious side'."

Edward nodded as he spoke, and the surprise and disbelief in his eyes began to fade.

The power of the mysterious side, Edward has seen and experienced.

With that kind of magical power, no matter how many things go against the norm, it's normal.

Jason was resurrected.

Isn't he also resurrected?

There's nothing strange about that.

But there was one omission, and Edward was obsessed with it.

"You have mastered a considerable degree of 'mystical knowledge', and your own perception is excellent, and you even have skills and rituals similar to applying perception! Because only then will you be able to combine the two, divination, and extrapolate to my perfect plan! Therefore, you naturally did what you planned, you didn't stop everything from happening, you didn't act rashly, you just waited quietly, waiting for me to show my flaws! ”

"I didn't even think that my opponent was also a 'mysterious side', this was my biggest mistake!"

Edward's face was filled with resentment.

Jason raised his eyebrows behind the mask.

He really wanted to say that you think too much, things are not like this at all.

However, Jason didn't speak.

He didn't mind if the enemy thought a little more.

Because, it's good for him.

Edward continued.

"You've cleverly caught my flaws!"

"It's right, you know when to interrupt my 'ritual.'"

"I also know that the flaw of 'interrupting the speech' that I deliberately exposed before is a trap."

"But!"

"Do you really think you're in control of everything?"

Edward's voice became high-pitched, and he pointed his cane at Jason and said word by word, "Do you really think I didn't plan for the worst?" ”

"Tell you!"

"I didn't just complete the 'reincarnation' ritual!"

"There's more!"

As soon as the words fell, Edward vanished in place.

The next moment, when Edward reappeared, he was already standing behind Jason.

Edward 'emerged' from Jason's shadow.

The former king of Cherry City still pointed at Jason, and the bottom of the staff shone with a little deep light.

This light was like the light of a firefly, but Jason, who was 'shining', felt as if a mountain was pressing on him, but Jason didn't care.

Under the hockey puck mask, Jason's nose twitches.

He smelled the smell of 'food'.

It's Edward's cane.

Jason was sure that before that, this cane was a very ordinary cane.

And now?

But it became very delicious.

Is some kind of 'ritual' masking its own smell?

Jason guessed excitedly.

Since it is possible to disguise a 'food'.

Wouldn't that disguise more 'food'?

At the thought of this, Jason's saliva began to secrete involuntarily.

His heart was full of anticipation.

Edward looked at Jason who was bound, but his heart was full of resentment and hatred.

This kind of resentment and hatred is far ten times stronger than when he first chose Jason's "Cross Street Stalker".

After all, when it came to choosing, he took the initiative to choose.

Can now?

It's all the layout of the person in front of you!

That's right!

It's all about the layout!

Edward, who had just thought of something again, looked at Jason's back, his teeth crunching.

"You must have sensed something from my original movements, so you began to subtly influence me before I even picked Crossstreet Stalker, and thus made me choose your book."

"I have to say, you're really smart!"

"I didn't find out until now!"

"That's not right!"

"That's not it!"

"You shouldn't have started influencing me at that time, it should have been a little earlier!"

Edward said, abruptly denying his words, and then, a flash of surprise appeared on his face.

"I've been wondering why I suddenly came into contact with the special knowledge of the 'mysterious side' when I knew about that thing, and it turned out that it was all your arrangement."

"You came into contact with the special knowledge of the 'mysterious side' earlier than me, and your talent is also quite outstanding, so naturally you know about it."

"You have the same fear of that as I do."

"So, you also started to save yourself."

"It's a pity that you have a lot of talent, but you don't have enough 'money' to collect and buy more materials, so you need someone who is also tormented by fear, but extremely rich, and then, you have chosen me."

"I see!"

Edward took a deep breath and looked at Jason's back, his eyes full of fear.

He never thought that everything about himself was just someone else's layout.

Such people are simply terrible!

You can't let each other live!

"But you're missing something!"

"Not only am I richer than you think, but I'm also talented!"

"After I confirmed the existence of the 'mysterious side', I purchased several strange objects in a short period of time and completed several 'rituals', you felt uneasy, you were afraid that I was beyond your control, so you secretly intervened, interrupted my key 'ritual', and made me mentally damaged, and had to use the 'reincarnation' ritual!"

"I wondered why I failed when I was well prepared, and I happened to have measures to make amends for my failures."

"I'm glad I did that."

"And now I'm glad!"

"I'm glad I didn't find out too late!"

At this point, Edward paused.

He already had a complete understanding of what happened.

Right now?

Naturally, he wanted to kill Jason.

Kill this Jason who manipulated his life!

"Die!"

"You guy who manipulates other people's lives at will!"

Edward yelled, his cane stabbing straight out.

Jason, who was bound by the special force field, had no room to dodge at all, and the cane pierced straight into Jason's heart, which was able to resist explosive-level defense, and under the piercing of this seemingly blunt weapon, it only resisted for less than a second.

Burst!

The cane that pierced Jason's heart protruded directly from Jason's chest.

But that's not all.

Edward let go of his staff, took a few steps back, and twisted the ruby ring on his hand.

Rumble!

A large amount of flames erupted from the ring, directly drowning Jason.

The flames burned.

Laugh at!

The characteristic sound of grease during incineration was heard in the flames.

"Die!"

"Die!"

"I'm going to leave you with no bones!"

Edward roared and twisted the ring again.

Suddenly, the flames became even more ferocious.

"Jason!"

John and Brian in the distance exclaimed, but they couldn't do anything except exclaim, and the little fluorescent light that belonged to the cane also shrouded them.

"Since you can't be my knight, you can die."

Edward said coldly to the two of them.

He raised his finger slightly, and the bound John and Brian each pointed their guns at each other.

The two struggled.

But compared to the power of the bondage, it was too weak.

Simply useless.

Looking at the muzzle of the gun that was close at hand, helplessness appeared on the faces of John and Brian.

Death, they had thought about it more than once.

But I didn't expect this to be the result.

Just when the two were about to give up, suddenly the little fluorescence on the two disappeared.

The two regained their freedom.

And in the sound of the flames burning, it also sounded, as if it was a strange sound of chewing—

Crunchy.