Chapter 34: A Death Without Warning

[Remaining rewinds for today: 0]

The sudden warning sign rose from the depths of his heart and pierced Luka like a steel blade, chilling him to the bone.

His brain snapped awake from its dull, sluggish state, brain cells bursting into flame like crackling firewood.

The surge of adrenaline ignited his body, making his heart pound like a war drum.

‘Did I die? When? How?’

The three questions burst out almost at the same time.

Luka pressed a hand to his chest, suppressing the violent tremors in his heart. He poured magic into his eyes and activated night vision.

He surveyed his surroundings with the wary alertness of a tense meerkat.

Inside the pitch-black, silent safehouse, the only sound was his own heartbeat booming in his ears.

The first thing he saw was Moye, standing guard in front of the illusion wall.

She sat in the chair with her back to the room, one leg crossed lazily over the other, her posture slack and casual.

In one hand she held a tube, pressed against her single eye.

The other end of the tube extended through the illusion wall, shifting position now and then.

Luka knew that tube was the tool used to observe the outside during night watch.

The illusion wall blocked vision in both directions, for creatures inside and out alike.

As long as the illusion was running normally, no one inside could see what was happening outside.

A night watcher couldn’t exactly stick their head out to look around, so the tube was needed to keep their position hidden.

Moye’s posture looked relaxed as she held the tube, but her other hand never left her magic gun. She remained alert.

Judging by how often the tube moved, she wasn’t spacing out or slacking off.

Nothing seemed wrong.

Luka’s gaze shifted to Alesia, lying on the other bed.

Alesia lay on her back, the blanket tucked neatly around her. Even in sleep, her posture was proper and solemn, as dignified as a slumbering mummy.

Her eyelids were shut tight, long lashes resting on her cheeks.

Her breathing was steady and rhythmic, the blanket rising and falling. She seemed to be in a deep sleep, unlikely to wake anytime soon.

She seemed normal too.

Besides Luka, the room held only these two people. The rest of the space lay open and empty, with nowhere for an enemy to hide.

Having confirmed the environment, Luka quietly took out his pocket watch and checked the time.

Eleven forty.

Twenty minutes remained until the death rewind count refreshed.

The rewind count wasn’t the only thing that reset. The save point would also update the moment the clock struck twelve.

But…

Luka took a deep breath.

And yet, within those twenty minutes, he had died. Silently, without any awareness, without leaving behind a single conscious memory.

He had no idea when he died, how he died, or who had done it.

His final remaining rewind for the day had been consumed, for reasons he couldn’t understand.

It was inexplicable. It was terrifying.

It meant that if he couldn’t find the cause of his death and stop it in time, he would die horribly again at some point in these twenty minutes.

Maybe nineteen minutes from now. Maybe the next second.

And with no rewinds left, that would be a true and final death.

Fear squeezed Luka’s heart. His breath came fast, and cold sweat streamed down his skin.

The only other time he had felt this kind of terror, the feeling of a hand closing around his throat, was on his first drop, before he had ever experienced death rewind.

What should he do in this situation? Find the cause of death?

But he had no information at all!

The fear of death sent his thoughts spiraling.

Yet the ordeal of dying multiple times had tempered him. A thin thread of clarity still remained in his mind.

Calm down. Calm down.

Think it through calmly.

This was definitely not a case of having no information.

Because having no information was itself a piece of information.

Think about it. What would it take to kill him in his sleep without him noticing anything?

Poison?

The only food he had ingested was prepared by Alesia.

If the food was poisoned, the poison would have to show no effect after eating, then erupt suddenly during sleep and kill him painlessly in an instant.

That effect was too bizarre and unrealistic. He ruled it out for now.

Magic?

Spells that killed silently and instantly with no sensation existed, but they were all rare, top-tier, high-level magic. Cast at lower star ratings, their power dropped drastically.

Not very likely. Ruled out for now.

A one-shot attack?

A bullet to the head, a blade driven straight through the heart or brain: any of these could kill him in his sleep, before he even knew what was happening.

This was the most likely possibility. He would go with it as the premise for further analysis.

So who did it?

Had an enemy killed him silently without Moye or Alesia noticing?

Or had the enemy killed Moye quietly first, then taken him out?

That kind of enemy would need to see through the illusion wall’s concealment and possess overwhelming power, enough to kill Moye, a two-star veteran, before she could raise any alarm.

And the process couldn’t make a sound, or the two sleeping people would be awakened.

What level of enemy could pull that off?

He couldn’t think of one.

Even if such a terrifying enemy existed, it was unlikely to be in this war zone.

If it wasn’t an enemy, then who was it?

He drew a sharp breath.

A terrible suspicion surfaced in Luka’s mind.

As the saying went, a crime that left no trace of intrusion was usually an inside job.

A victim who showed no signs of struggle was usually killed by someone they knew.

By the same logic, what if the killer was one of these two, Moye or Alesia?

Either one could assassinate Luka without disturbing anyone.

The suspicion was too horrifying, too vile.

He and these two had just fought through a bloody battle side by side. They had supported one another, built a measure of trust, and even set a common goal of survival and revenge.

And now he had to turn suspicion on them?

Luka clenched his teeth, his young face showing a pained, reluctant expression.

He was truly afraid!

So afraid that he couldn’t help but keep analyzing it.

He ruled out Moye first.

Because in that first battle against the bat-winged demon, Moye had truly sacrificed herself to save his life.

And he had used a revival rewind to push Moye’s favorability to an extremely high level.

If Moye could still betray him after all that, then even if he had misjudged her, he would have no room to complain.

Could the killer be Alesia, then?

Verifying it was simple.

Luka put away his pocket watch, steadied his breathing, and pretended to sink into a deep sleep.

In reality, he narrowed his eyes into thin slits and fixed them on Alesia across the room.

If his guess was right, the answer would come soon.

Five minutes passed to the sound of his pounding heart.

On the bed, Alesia suddenly opened her eyes!

She pushed the blanket aside gently, turned over, and got out of bed. Her bare feet touched the floor softly, without making a sound.

‘Alesia, don’t… don’t do this…’

Luka’s heart sank.

Extreme shock and grief followed close behind.

Moye remained focused on the outside, unaware of what her companion was doing inside the room.

Alesia padded softly toward the stove, step by step.

There lay the kitchen knife Alesia used for cooking.

That blade was so sharp. It could prepare a meal, or it could pierce a human heart.

Luka’s shock and grief nearly reached their limit.

Alesia, why would she do this!

Was she a spy planted in the war band by the Second Princess?

Had she been waiting to finish him off if he survived the ambush?

Luka clenched his jaw. His hand had already moved to the edge of the bed.

He was ready to unleash Illusion Mirage and strike at any moment.

Finally, under his wary gaze.

Alesia stopped in front of the stove and reached for the knife!

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