Chapter 231: Riddle

Charles, in female appearance, walked past many houses and alleys and entered the Merchants' District. Then, he appeared in Grove Street and started walking towards a two-storied house.

At that same time, he began to recall personal information about Casey.

'Casey is a 35-year old man with average height and weight. He has short black-hair, rough face, brown eyes, and elongated eyebrows. To outsiders, he is a butler of Griffin Household. But in truth, he has some big ties with few big shots like Larry Foster, Archbishop Royce, Laney Griffin, etc. From Jessie's observation, he seems to have some mysterious background...'

Charles had 100% trust in her information-gathering abilities!

'But something feels off about this guy. Hmm, I wouldn't be surprised if he turned out to be a dual-class Rank-3 Mystic. As long as he isn't a Rank-4 Mystic, I can capture him, and replace his position. For now, I should use [Cryptic Analysis] skill and learn more about him. Then, I also have to check how many guards are staying in this house and their strength. There is a high chance that another Rank-3 Mystic protecting him in the shadows.'

While he was in muse, Charles suddenly saw a long silver-haired woman in a black frock coat walked out of the two-storied house and became stupefied.

Although she covered half of her face with a brown scarf, Charles still identified her instantly.

She had a square face, sky-blue eyes, and a bulging chest. She appeared around 30 to 35 years old, and her face seemed a little pale.

'Vivian!' His black eyes flashed in surprise and shock.

'Why is she here?'

She was the only person who managed to escape during the previous kidnapping incident!

'No, the woman's consciousness also managed to escape when I destroyed Eric's body. But I didn't expect that I would meet her here.' Noticing his gaze, Vivian also turned her gaze towards his direction and soon squinted her eyes.

'Who is she? Why does her face look familiar?' Vivian furrowed her brows.

Then, she raised her hand, adjusted her brown scarf, and started walking in the opposite direction.

At that moment, Charles fell into a deep contemplation.

'Should I follow my original plan? Or, should I go after her?' A frown appeared on his smooth forehead area.

'From the looks of it, this butler might not be a normal man... He has some deep ties with powerful people like Vivian, Archbishop and Rank-4 Mage, so there is a high possibility that he might also be a Rank-4 Mystic in disguise! Even if he is a Rank-3 Mystic, he might be in possession of some powerful artifacts. Damn, I thought Rank-4 Mystics are rare.' A forced smile appeared on his face.

He then sharpened his gaze towards the direction where Vivian was walking and narrowed his eyes.

'If I manage to capture her, I might get some useful information about this butler, and also the one skeleton. Moreover, I knew about her curse magic spells.' He didn't think for a moment as he adjusted his coat and started walking in the same direction.

But he didn't hide his motive at all!

Instead, he deliberately acted like he was following after her!

At that moment, Vivian also felt that someone was following her and started to frown.

'Who is it? Is that the black-haired woman? Who is she? Why do I feel like I have met her before?' Multiple thoughts whirled in her mind.

But there was one thing she was sure of.

'She seems to have found out my identity! Wait... She also saw me walking out from Casey's house. Sh*t! Casey's identity mustn't be exposed.' Her heart thumped harder.

While walking, she used her wisdom power and started to analyze her.

'Hmm? Her stealth skill is terrible and looks like a beginner. Hmm, her body strength appears to have only reached Expert Stage... she must be a Rank-3 Mystic.' Such thought appeared in her mind.

'I have to kill her before she tells others.' A cold glint appeared in her eyes.

Without any delay, Vivian moved towards the main street and started walking towards the Eastern gate.

She was planning to lure this woman out of the city and kill her swiftly!

While walking, she also took out a strange black ring and informed her teacher about the situation if anything goes wrong.

On the other hand, Charles was pleased by her response.

He continued to follow after her and soon saw her exited through the eastern gate.

At that moment, Vivian moved towards the left side dirt path and continued to walk while walking past many pedestrians.

She also constantly used her wisdom power on Charles and monitored his location.

After a few minutes of walking, she took a right turn and entered the nearby woodland filled with dense trees, vines, and shrubs.

Once she walked in, she deliberately left her foot trails and began to search for an open area for battle.

She also took out a palm-sized disc from her space ring and curled her lips upward.

It was filled with countless weird engravings and appeared to be made of iron.

"Riddle of Nightmares."

This disc was an extraordinary artifact which she brought from her teacher.

Even her teacher felt unsafe when using this artifact.

The only reason that her teacher gave this artifact to Vivian was due to their last encounter with Ancient Mage!

That was the first time even her teacher got outsmarted by someone and decided to enchant Vivian's personal strength.

Shaking her head, she moved her fingers and pressed at the center.

The next instant, an invisible ripple came out from the disc and began to alter the surroundings.

At that moment, Charles suddenly felt that the whole forest began to turn denser and eerier and got startled.

'Something is wrong.' He furrowed his brows and soon saw Vivian's footsteps began to disappear.

Simultaneously, the sky also turned darker and gave him a sense of uneasiness!

Not only that, but he also saw creepy black vines and plants popped out from the ground and went on an alert mode.

Just when he was about to take a step forward, an eerie woman's voice echoed behind his ears.

"Small doors…"

'Small doors?' Charles turned around in shock and soon noticed no one was behind him!

'Whose voice was that?'

Just as he was about to say something, he once again heard the eerie woman's voice from the surrounding trees.

"The doors that do not make any sound even when you close and open one million times - What are they?"

'A Riddle?' Charles's eyes squinted all of a sudden.

'I have a bad feeling about it.' Although he was shocked by the sudden eerie woman's words, he didn't lose his calm and pondered.

'Is this some kind of dream ability? It looks like there is only one way to find out.' Nodding his head, Charles started to recall her earlier words.

'Small doors that do not make any sound even when you close and open one million times, huh...' He raised his hand, rubbed his chin, and then blinked his eyes.

The next instant, a smile crept on his face.

"Eyelids." His icy voice echoed in the gloomy forest.

At that moment, his [Vision] skill triggered on its own and sent tens of futuristic images to his mind.

The next instant, the whole surroundings began to shimmer a little and broke away like an illusion.

The creepy black vines and plants faded away and were soon replaced with the normal ground.

The sky also appeared brighter and still illuminated the dense woods.

But Charles had no time to look around at all.

A chilling sensation appeared behind his nape and caused his heart to thump all of a sudden.

"Don't move."

Simultaneously, a cold female voice echoed behind his ears, causing his lips to curl upward.

'Vivian!'