The rain was falling heavily on the ground, each drop carrying sorrow and deeper meaning… Secret stretched his hand forward, welcoming the rain with open arms.
He then looked toward Ophelia and Gehrman, who were lying on the ground due to his last attack. Secret spoke in a doubled voice with a harsh, sharp tone:
"You're using techniques I created. How do you plan to defeat the creator?"
The Jester watched the massacre unfolding below, tilting his head like a madman, laughing stupidly. Gehrman stood up and threw his sword aside. He clenched his fists tightly, ready to face him.
Secret spoke in a calm tone:
"Oh, so you've abandoned your sword, and instead of steel, you're using mud… That's good, Gehrman."
Gehrman lunged at him quickly, trying to pierce his abdomen with a kick, but Secret grabbed him and slammed him to the ground violently. Gehrman's eyes widened as he coughed up blood.
He twisted his legs quickly to strike Secret, but Secret retreated back by a millimeter, then stomped the ground to disrupt Gehrman's balance.
Gehrman lost control but stood up again. He gritted his teeth and growled in frustration:
'What's with this guy? Every strike I try to land, he blocks it—like he knows where I'm going to hit before I even move.'
As Gehrman was talking to himself, Ophelia appeared from above, her eyes glowing with rage, and she fired a barrage of bullets at Secret. But he dodged them at a terrifying speed, and she ended up behind him, attempting to stab his back.
Secret suddenly appeared beside her and coldly said:
"Good move, but useless against me."
He then used Kyokushin Karate and struck her in the abdomen. The force of the blow made her bleed from her mouth and eyes. She flew toward the wall and slammed into it with such power that the entire place trembled.
Gehrman looked at Ophelia in shock—afraid, angry, and worried. He slammed his foot on the ground and charged at Secret, swinging his leg to strike his torso, then switching to aim a crushing blow at his chest. But with terrifying grace and dread, Secret grabbed Gehrman's leg mid-attack and spoke with a chilling calmness, blood dripping from his throat:
"The fool thinks he can deceive the Lord of Martial Arts. What a joke."
Secret broke Gehrman's arm. Gehrman bit his lip in pain. Secret shaped his hand into a solid, sharp spear, then gathered all five fingers and delivered a powerful blow to Gehrman's chest.
The ground burned from the force of the impact—then it went dark. The Jester began clapping like a madman, saying mockingly:
"What a powerful blow, Lord Secret! Hahahahaha!"
Secret stood in his place, speaking with a rough tone:
"And you think that was strong? That wasn't even '0.000001%' of my power… Neither of them is worth showing even a fraction."
Ophelia leaned against the wall, clutching her stomach in pain. She looked toward Gehrman, who was bleeding from his head with a broken arm.
She heard Secret's words and spoke to herself in a weary tone:
'This is terrifying… He was toying with us… He didn't even use a high percentage of his power to fight us.'
Before she could finish her thoughts, she looked at her bloody hand. Then she smeared the blood across her face and said in a frightened tone:
'Are the Great Ones really like this?'
Ophelia stood up and threw her sword at Secret like a missile. He looked at it approaching. Then, in a terrifying motion, he moved faster than the speed of light, his body surrounded by mist. The sword vanished.
"What?" Ophelia was shocked by the strange movement.
"It was fast… but I saw it as slow," Secret said as he stood beside Ophelia. She looked at him in absolute terror—he stood with a terrifying and gothic presence.
He tried to cut her head off, but both Gehrman and Ophelia grabbed the sword with their bare hands. Secret spoke coldly:
"Oh, a beautiful synchronized move… but pointless."
Before he could finish the attack, Secret stopped, dropped the sword to the ground, and appeared in front of the train at a speed so immense that the air around him couldn't keep up.
The two looked at each other in shock. Ophelia spoke in a surprised tone:
"Why did he stop?"
Gehrman looked toward him and replied with a tired tone:
"I don't know… but standing near him for even a few seconds makes me lose my mind."
Secret pulled out a Victorian-style pocket watch, gold-colored, its hands moving in reverse. He spoke in a rough voice:
"Seems the time is up, Jester. They lasted thirty minutes—just as I planned."
Their eyes widened in horrifying shock. The Jester landed on the ground, clapping and dancing like a lunatic:
"Hahahahahahaaaa! That was a beautiful fight! It pulled me out of my boredom!"
Gehrman spoke in a cold, shocked voice, full of fear:
"That son of a bitch played us. It wasn't about solving any puzzle. It was about surviving this monster for thirty minutes."
Ophelia held her forehead and laughed quietly. Then she said in an exhausted tone:
"He's been toying with us from the moment we entered the Black Mountain up until now… I've never seen a manipulator as terrifying as him."
The Jester laughed even harder, watching them. He spoke with a dark comedic tone:
"I was dying of laughter inside. Imagine fighting with everything you've got, trying to survive deadly traps, only to realize it was all a prank. A beautifully executed prank! Hahahahahaha!"
"Now, I have to return to the train. Anything else, Jester?" Secret said, lifting his hand with terrifying authority.
The Jester, lying on the ground holding his stomach, laughed loudly and said sarcastically:
"Nothing at all. But it was hilarious. Hahahahaha!"
"That damned eye bastard… He's laughing at us," Gehrman clenched his fist in anger, grinding his teeth.
Ophelia placed her hand on Gehrman's shoulder. He looked at her—and in her eyes were fear, exhaustion, and madness. She spoke in a calm tone:
"When the Crimson Moon rises… remember one thing: everything you see is made by the Great Ones. It's all designed to drive humans insane."
"That's true… sometimes I feel like someone's whispering in my ear, saying just two words: 'Yellow' and 'Red'—a clear sign of the Jester." Gehrman looked at his bloodstained hand as he spoke with horror.
Before Secret boarded the train, he pointed his index finger at Gehrman and spoke in a chilling, majestic voice:
"You have strength and experience. But they're useless… unless you're mad—and calm at the same time."
Secret stepped into the train. The surroundings changed. The rain stopped. The golden pillars disappeared. Everything returned to normal.
"It seems you've reached your destination. A crazy journey awaits you," the Jester said with a mocking tone.
Gehrman was burning with rage at the Jester's twisted games—especially the manipulation he endured. The Jester spun his scepter in a spiral. A portal opened beneath them. They both looked surprised.
The doors were crimson, emitting horrifying sounds and a foul stench. Four hands emerged and dragged them down.
The Jester stood alone in the massive hall. A dark, terrifying aura radiated from beneath him. The silence was disturbing until a voice spoke—only white eyes visible from the darkness, speaking in an eerie tone:
"Your manipulation was terrifying. The original plan was better, but you do love to improvise."
The Jester didn't look back. He spoke in an unexpectedly calm and cold tone:
"There are many interests at play. But the highest priority is to let Londes live."
Gehrman and Ophelia appeared on the road leading to the Jester's Forest, a vast stretch of giant woods between them. Gehrman held his head and said:
"Man, finally… we got out of that terrifying hell."
Ophelia looked ahead and said with a sarcastic tone:
"We escaped one hell, only to walk into another."
Gehrman turned around and saw the Jester's Graveyard about two kilometers away behind them.
"Looks like we'll have to walk the rest of the way," Gehrman said, exhaustion lacing his voice.
They both walked the long path. As they walked, Ophelia spoke, a hint of curiosity in her tone:
"I just remembered something… I noticed the Jester called you by another name."
Gehrman was startled inside, but didn't show it. He replied quickly, calmly:
"He's a manipulative bastard. He probably makes names up on the spot."
Ophelia placed her thumb and index finger on her chin and nodded:
"Yeah, that makes sense. He's just trying to throw us off. That's how he works."
After a long conversation between the two, they finally reached the gate of the Jester's Graveyard. The gate was massive, made of blood-stained crucifixes.
"It looks like we're walking into a glorious massacre," the Jester spoke, his voice wild with excitement.
Just as Gehrman was about to push open the gate, two giants appeared. They had no eyes, blood poured from their mouths, and massive black wings protruded from their backs.
The giants opened the gate and bowed deeply in respect to Gehrman. Both Gehrman and Ophelia were stunned by this strange gesture. One of the giants spoke in a deep, thunderous voice:
"He is waiting for you on the small hill, Hunter Gehrman."
They looked at each other, clearly shocked. As they began to walk through the gate, one of the giants added:
"The master wants only the hunter Gehrman. No one else."
Gehrman looked at Ophelia and spoke with absolute confidence:
"Looks like you're about to witness a legendary fight, dear Ophelia."
A sweet smile appeared on Ophelia's face. She spoke softly:
"Seems like I'll get to see you fight again. Don't forget, I still owe you a duel."
Gehrman chuckled under his breath and replied with joy in his tone:
"Alright then, I accept."
Ophelia gazed at Gehrman, holding within her a mixture of unspoken, unclear emotions.
The Jester's Graveyard was massive, filled with ancient Gothic-style tombs. Some of the graves had inverted crosses.
Gehrman arrived at the top of a small hill, where a mysterious figure sat quietly beside a grave. The figure spoke with a harsh, commanding tone that oozed power:
"You've finally arrived… Gehrman, the Faceless One."