Why? Why is Kelly here?!
A sudden, overwhelming fear gripped Lyney's heart.
Meanwhile, the other Fatui soldiers were completely stunned. Over the past few days, many of them had developed a strong admiration for the girl's unwavering will and fearless courage. Some had even planned to pursue her romantically after this operation, believing she embodied all the world's virtues.
But reality had delivered a crushing blow to their hopes, leaving their minds reeling.
Onstage, the girl's expression was utterly alien to him—a smile so eerily unnatural it chilled him to the bone.
She had deliberately applied heavy makeup, her blood-red lips sending a chill down Lyney's spine.
The girl remained as beautiful as ever, but now her beauty was laced with venomous poison!
"Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon!"
"Thank you all for attending my magic show today."
"I especially want to thank Great Magician Lyney for personally supervising my performance!"
"Now, let's give him a round of applause!"
As her words trailed off, only the girl's solitary applause echoed through every corner of the room.
After all, everyone else was bound hand and foot, incapable of any other movement. Even if they could move, none of them would have cooperated with her.
But the girl seemed unbothered, reveling alone in her own applause.
After a long moment, she finally stopped, turned to Lyney with a smile, and said:
"Mr. Lyney, I didn't expect we'd meet again so soon."
"And I certainly never expected you to be one of them!"
Lyney couldn't help but recall Arlecchino's warnings. Regret washed over him. It was clear Arlecchino had sensed something, yet he had foolishly trusted Kelly, never once excluding her from the planning of their operations.
It was his carelessness that had plunged so many others into this perilous situation alongside him.
"Why? Why are you one of them?"
"You helped us rescue Vinani, and you helped us destroy so many secretly built laboratories. What was your purpose in doing all this?"
"Answer me, Kelly!"
"Kelly?"
"Don't call me by that awful name anymore."
"Mr. Lyney, allow me to reintroduce myself."
The girl placed a finger to her lips, her smile dazzlingly alluring.
"Mr. Lyney, I am No. 6. You may also call me Six."
With those words, Lyney felt as if he had been plunged into an icy abyss. His gaze at the girl was filled with shock.
"No, this is impossible!"
"No. 6 should have died long ago!"
"Even if he had mastered the ability to transfer his consciousness to other bodies, there's no way he could have assumed your identity and appeared before us so quickly to deceive us!"
Suddenly, a horrifying thought struck Lyney, and his breath caught in his throat.
"Could it be... the No. 6 we encountered that day was a fake?!"
If this hypothesis were true, it would be utterly horrifying—meaning that everything about to happen had been under the girl's control from the very beginning.
No, more precisely, under No. 6's control!
"No, he was absolutely real."
"We are all No. 6."
"And every one of you can become No. 6 as well."
"Everyone can be Six!"
The girl spread her arms wide, her voice dripping with manipulative allure.
"As for why I'm helping you..."
"I simply find it fascinating. Don't you agree, Mr. Lyney?"
Seeing the undisguised madness in the girl's eyes, Lyney's heart sank.
At that moment, Lyney realized with chilling clarity that this girl, like the man before her, was a complete and utter madman!
Suddenly, a realization struck him, and he asked with a trembling voice, "Where is Lynette? Have you hurt her too?"
"Miss Lynette is a very important guest of mine."
"Rest assured, Mr. Lyney. She's likely enjoying tea in the lounge right now."
Hearing the answer he dreaded most, Lyney was seized by overwhelming panic, his composure shattered.
"No! Let her go! Take it out on me instead! Let me see her, No. 6!"
"Don't worry, Mr. Lyney. You and Miss Lynette will be reunited soon."
"But before that, please quietly enjoy the magic performance I've prepared especially for you."
"Mr. Lyney, as a professional magician yourself, I expect a thorough critique!"
With a clap of her hands, the girl signaled a group of masked figures to emerge from behind the stage, pushing various props onto the platform.
The figures moved in perfect unison, never uttering a word, as if they had rehearsed the performance countless times or were mere marionettes controlled by invisible strings.
Though the scene contained no overt horror, the eerie synchronization of so many figures sent a chill down the audience's spines.
"Release Lynette, No. 6!"
"I said, let her go!"
Lyney, having lost his composure at the sight of his sister in danger, erupted in a commotion from the audience. A flicker of displeasure crossed the girl's face.
"Magic performances require quiet observation, Mr. Lyney."
"It's not time for your outburst yet. Go, and let our Great Magician have some peace."
With a wave of her hand, two masked figures approached Lyney and sealed his mouth with duct tape.
Lyney struggled, but his resistance proved futile.
Soon, his protests were silenced completely. The girl nodded in satisfaction.
"Though we've encountered a slight disturbance, our magic performance shall continue."
"First up, for our first magic trick: Human Dissection Magic!"
"As a magician of the new era, I'm quite different from my peers!"
"In the past, everyone only ever dissected people horizontally. Today, I'll show you something different: vertical dissection!"
"Now, I'll randomly select one lucky audience member to assist with our performance!"
As the girl spoke, she reached for a machine beside her.
"This machine is filled with numbered balls. Simply pulling the lever will release one at random, and the number on the ball corresponds to your seat number."
"Now, let's see who our lucky audience member will be!"
With that, the girl pulled the lever without hesitation. A series of crisp clacking sounds followed, and moments later, a ball was ejected.
"It's... No. 14!"
"Let's welcome our lucky audience member!"
Lyney stared wide-eyed at the scene unfolding on stage, knowing this was no mere magic show. His eyes burned with Pyro energy as he glared at the girl, desperately trying to will her to stop.
The girl simply gestured, and four masked figures swiftly descended from the stage, approached No. 14's seat, and carried the "lucky audience member" onto the stage.
"No, please! I don't want to be part of any magic show! Please, spare me!"
"My younger brother is waiting for me at home! I can't die here!"
Faced with his impending fate, the Fatui soldier completely broke down, weeping and begging hysterically.
Though Lyney couldn't see the soldier's face clearly due to the angle and distance, he could sense his despair and helplessness through his desperate cries.
"What's this? Our lucky audience member can't wait any longer?" the girl exclaimed with amusement.
"Then what are we waiting for? Get him into the wooden box!"
The girl let out a gleeful laugh. To the audience, she now resembled a demon straight from hell!
The still-pleading Fatui soldier was gagged with tape and shoved into a massive, upright wooden box standing on the stage.
At that moment, the Fatui soldiers began frantically communicating through coded knocks.
[What's going to happen to him?]
[Am I next?]
[I don't want to die!]
"And now, the moment you've all been waiting for—the moment of miracles!"
"Ladies and gentlemen, please turn your attention this way."
"No. 6's Personal Magic Show, far ahead of the world in innovation, begins now!"
The girl announced loudly, her words accompanied by a slightly deranged laughter.
"First, let me showcase my personal research: Human Dissection Magic!"
"Bring out the prop!"
As she finished speaking, a massive machine was wheeled onto the stage. Suspended from its apex was a colossal circular saw blade.
The Masked Men pushed the machine next to the giant wooden box standing upright on the stage, positioning the circular saw blade directly above the box. They then activated the power source.
With a spine-chilling grinding noise, the circular saw blade began to spin at high speed.
This scene left the audience breathless, especially Lyney. With his years of experience as a Magician, he knew the box the Fatui soldier had entered earlier contained no special mechanisms. If the suspended circular saw blade were to fall, the Fatui soldier inside the box would have no chance to evade it.
This wasn't Magic at all!
"And now, for the most thrilling moment of the show!"
"I'm sure you're all as eager as I am for the magic to begin!"
"Rest assured, the magic will start immediately!"
A sinister smile spread across the girl's face.
"Three..."
"Two..."
No!
Lyney wanted to stop her, but his body was completely immobilized, his mouth sealed with tape. He could only watch helplessly as the girl's hand swung down.
"One!"
As the girl's arm swung down, the Masked Men simultaneously operated the machine, driving the rapidly spinning circular saw downward.
The blade soon made contact with the wooden crate's top, emitting an ear-piercing screech.
Without pausing, the saw continued to plunge deeper.
Lyney's eyes widened, his teeth grinding together as his mind raced ahead, visualizing the horrific scene about to unfold.
Just as he had envisioned, when the saw reached a certain depth, a deafening, piercing screech erupted, as if the blade had struck something hard.
Moments later, torrents of blood erupted from the crate's seams, some splattering onto the girl's face, making her radiant smile even more chilling.
The circular saw paused briefly before resuming its downward cut, sending more blood splattering in all directions. This time, however, the girl had already moved away from her original position, the stage now drenched in a glaring crimson.
Lyney's pupils constricted sharply, his eyes flooded with an indescribable grief and rage.
No. 6!
Lyney roared silently in his heart.
As long as I live, I will kill you with my own hands!
He conveyed this message to the girl with his eyes, and she, ever vigilant of Lyney's reactions, noticed but paid it no heed.
The girl turned back to admire the scene before her, her terrifyingly gleeful laughter echoing through the theater.
Finally, when the circular saw had completely split the wooden box from top to bottom, the girl ordered the Masked Men to remove the machine. She then stood beside the box, placing one hand on its surface.
Throughout these actions, blood continued to seep relentlessly from the wooden box, deepening the stage's vivid red hue.
"As you've all seen," she announced, "the wooden box has indeed been cut in half."
"And now, the moment of truth!"
"Will our lucky audience member remain whole?"
"Or will this world gain another version of him?"
"I, No. 6, will personally reveal the answer!"
With that, the girl pulled the wooden box's front door halfway open.
As soon as she did, a mangled, bloody half-body tumbled out through the opening.
Thud!
A dull thud echoed across the stage.
"Oops! Looks like our magic show has encountered a slight mishap."
The girl raised an eyebrow at the gruesome sight, then continued, "But rest assured, everyone! I can handle this little setback perfectly!"
She clapped her hands, and a Masked Man quickly approached, carrying a massive steel needle and a length of wire. He scooped up the mangled half-body from the floor and climbed into the wooden box.
Smiling, the girl closed the door again. Turning to the audience, she declared, "Miracles are the most elusive things to witness."
"Often, witnessing a miracle requires just a little more patience, however insignificant."
"Now let's see if this miraculous moment will come to pass!"
This time, the girl flung open both halves of the wooden box. Inside, a mangled body stitched together with iron wire appeared before Lyney and the others. Behind the body, the Masked Man who had entered earlier was holding it upright, preventing it from collapsing. The Masked Man was now drenched in blood.
"A miracle has occurred!" the girl declared, pointing at the body.
"Behold! Even though the wooden box has been cut in half, he remains whole!"
"The Human Dissection Magic has been a resounding success!"
"Applause!"
The girl clapped first, followed by the Masked Men, and soon thunderous applause filled the stage.
At that moment, the girl appeared to the audience like a demon straight from hell.