Carl maintained his confident facade.
"What about it? I can defeat you before the time limit is up," He sneered.
"Again," Zain shook his head. "You again forget to keep an eye on your surroundings."
"Wha—"
Just as he turned around, the blade chopped his two right arms.
"Ahhhhh!!!" Blood spurted out like a fountain.
Hanna ignored the blood and continued forward. She held the sword, which Zain had dropped for her, and sliced off Carl's another arm.
The red ogre couldn't maintain the Gravity Field.
Instantly, Hanna threw the silk thread, separating Carl's torso from his leg.
"Stop here," Zain stepped before her. Carl had only a few seconds left. It had to be Zain who finished him.
Watching Carl's teary eyes, Zain faltered. This was the first time he was killing for profit, and not because it was his last choice.
"I'll take you with me!" Carl pounced on Zain, trying to bite off his neck.
The silver needle shot into Carl's open mouth and flew out from the back of his head.
"You… who are you? Why do you know about my family name?" Before Zain could gather his thoughts, Hanna pointed the sword at him. She was heavily injured, but her gaze burned fiercely.
"I'm a fan of Walters. Well, I was." Zain smiled, despite his inner turmoil. "If I didn't know you were a Walter, I wouldn't have trusted my back to you."
Hanna trembled. The Walters were a proud family until they lost in the power struggle and got destroyed.
Zain's words answered her unasked question. She finally understood why he wasn't targeting her, despite being against Mythos Cult.
"Miss Walter, I will have to trouble you again." Zain opened the Magic Pocket. "Thank you for saving me."
'Bullshit,' Hanna thought. Throughout the battle, Zain had a calm smile. He clearly had a backup prepared.
She didn't ask questions, and entered the Magic Pocket Dimension.
At that moment, the doors of the bunker opened.
"Sir, are you there?" The officer leading the group shouted.
Zain mimicked Carl's appearance and voice. "I'm here."
He approached the police officers, then patted him on the shoulder. "Set off the explosives."
"But sir, where is the ki–"
"Were my words unclear?"
The officer was intimidated by Zain's smile.
"U-understood, sir!"
The group stood outside of the bunker. After operating the panel, they closed the gates and activated the bombs.
The building shook slightly. The corpse inside was erased without leaving anything behind.
Zain didn't wait and turned around. He announced.
"The Stellar Academy student Zain Pierrot escaped. However, I gained a crucial piece of evidence before he could run away. The Academy students are working with terrorists. Apprehend anyone from the Academy who is on the planet."
Everyone in the Meta Police Headquarters knew it was a lie. The bunker was protected by the Anti Teleportation Array and they had seen a corpse's silhouette.
They didn't have time to see the appearance of the corpse, but Carl came out unharmed. It wasn't hard to judge who died inside.
"I need to inform the Church. The Cult is making suspicious movements," One of the officers following Zain muttered.
Zain planned to strike while the iron was hot. He knew the Academy students could mess up with his upcoming actions, and ordered them to be apprehended.
He showed the corpse to create the testimony of 'Zain Pierrot's' death. Zain didn't plan to return to the Academy after this incident.
After ordering the Academy student manhunt, Zain called Carl's chauffeur. He could access Carl's intercom as Mimicry copied the outer appearance perfectly, including fingerprint and iris.
Though Mimicry wasn't perfect.
With his current Mana, he could shapeshift for 38 minutes. The time could be extended to 6 hours if he used Mana potions.
The duration would decrease further if Zain mimicked someone who was of different size than him.
At the current level, Mimicry didn't alter Zain's insides.
He had copied Carl, but he was still a human with two arms, he could only use two of the four arms of his current appearance.
The mass and stats also remained the same.
"To the Elysium." Zain told the chauffeur, who was another Mythos Cult spy.
The chauffeur nodded, taking Zain to Mythos Cult leader's residence.
Zain closed the divider curtain and returned to his original appearance. He had to save as much Mimicry time as possible.
"That reminds me, the old man can detect lies," Zain started to formulate a plan.
…
Elysium, Main Base of Mythos Cult
Zain entered the large hall with Carl's disguise. Inside, three more people stood.
Before entering the hall, Zain had changed into priest robes. The security wasn't made of Genius tech, so it couldn't see through his Mimicry.
"Why did you make a move against the Academy, first brother?" One of the three who wore priest robes asked. He had a slight smile on his face.
Zain ignored him, and bowed to the throne at the end of the hall.
"Father, I bring news."
"...Speak."
The man on the throne was no different from a patient on his deathbed. His ribs could be seen, his limbs were thin like sticks, his eyes were dim and a massive ventilator helped him to breathe.
"I've found the first lady's whereabouts." Zain kept his head down. He had to speak carefully, the cult leader could smell lies. "She is inside a Mirror Dimension."
Zain showed them the file of Mr. Invisible. Three Archbishops read through the documents.
"So this is why we couldn't find her, no matter how hard we searched." The third Archbishop said. They finally had a clue regarding Doll's location.
"My son…. Why… did you… issue the order… against… the Academy?" The Cult Leader, Ultar, asked with difficulty.
"Zain Pierrot. He had information about the Cult and the supreme being's egg. During the interrogation, he summoned the ex-mercenary Hanna and tried to escape. I found the location of Doll Moore through him." said Zain.
He added, "I fear that someone else among Academy personnel might have the same information. I decided to capture them, lest they interfere with our plan."
Zain's words were true.
He had information about Cult and the egg. Hanna helped him to fight. He knew Doll's location. And he feared that Academy students would interfere with his plan.
The only lie would be that he didn't explain about Carl's death.
But everyone inside the room had spies in the Meta Police headquarters. The show Zain put on made them think that Carl killed Zain.
"...I see," The Cult Leader nodded.
In his eyes, it was dangerous to go against the Academy. But if they could get the girl with Dalki in exchange, it was worth it.
Just then, the second Archbishop, the one with the slight smile, spoke up.
"Father, let me be one to bring your bride back," He stared at Zain, thinking that Zain would be angry.
Power struggle existed within Mythos Cult too. It was the first Archbishop against the second Archbishop.
"Indeed, father," Zain smiled. "I think the second brother is perfect for the job."
The answer stunned John, the second Archbishop. However, he couldn't take his words back.
"…What about you, son?" The Cult Leader asked. This was the first time he saw the first Archbishop willingly give up to the second Archbishop.
"I'm happy enough to prepare the place for the first lady's arrival," Zain lowered his head. "Father, let me clean the filth that is reeking on our doorsteps."
The three Archbishops froze. Filth. There was only one place that a Mythos Cult member would mean by that.
"You… think you… can defeat the… Yenner Church?"
Yenner Church and Mythos Cult were two hidden powers on Palvos Planet. The Church appeared approximately 100 years ago. Since then, they had been sabotaging Mythos Cult.
They weren't as strong as the Cult. However, they were like cockroaches. No matter how hard the Cult stepped on them, they never died.
"I can. It will take some sacrifices. But I'm confident," Zain answered.
The Cult Leader thought for a bit. He announced.
"The third and…. fourth will bring my wife… to Elysium… First and second will… bring the crusade to…. the Church… take the Executioners with you…"
"As father wishes." "As father wishes." "As father wishes." "As father wishes."
The four Archbishops bowed.
Everything was going according to Zain's plan.
…
Zain spent a day flying around Palvos Planet in Cult's private jets. He had some preparations to make.
At eleven thirty, he met with the second Archbishop John.
"I will drive," Zain sat in the car, followed by John.
Ten cars filled with the Cult's strongest metahumans followed them. In the last car sat two Executioners.
"Where are we going?" John whistled as he stared at the moving buildings.
"The main base of Yenner Church."
"Eh? Stop joking. We can't take down their main base with this amount of force."
"Hehe, we can. The Church prioritizes concealment. Their main base has strong but few metahumans."
John turned to Zain when he realized that Zain was serious. He gulped as he tried to hide his nervousness.
"Since when did you even know about their base?" John made small talk.
Zain stayed silent for a few minutes.
When they entered the highway, Zain spoke, "Hehe, I recently realized that showing mercy to my enemies is dangerous. Last time I hesitated to kill someone, he almost killed me instead by biting my neck off. If I must kill, I should be swift and decisive."
"When did you realize this?" John laughed at Zain's cringe talk.
"When I killed the first Archbishop."
"W—"
Zain stabbed the Godsbane needle into John's temple. He continued driving with the other hand.
John didn't die instantly, as a metahuman he had high vitality. He tried to control his mana, but to no avail.
"Rest easy, brother. I will clean this place."