At this moment, Selt, a Sequence 7, felt somewhat uncertain facing the Sequence 8 Lelouch. He simply couldn't figure out the purpose of the lines Lelouch had drawn; why there were so many bizarre traps in this house...
Then, like a collector showcasing his prized possessions, Odis started, "The moment you entered the building, you encountered an illusion array. It looked like intact flooring, but I had actually drilled holes between the floor and the basement..."
"...In the basement, there were iron spikes erected, each coated with a powder made from Black Corpse Peony and Blue Ghost Grass. Neither herb is particularly rare, but they can cause immediate reanimation of the dead into zombies. Of course, I don't have the ability to control zombies, but their nature is to bite living creatures. They would only come up to the second floor to attack me after biting all of you to death!"
Selt came to a realization, "Those were all carefully designed traps!"
"What else?" Odis chuckled and said, "Did you think this was really the Underworld?"
He paused for a moment, then continued, "As for the skeleton warriors that followed, that was an undead summoning array. At the time I set up these arrays, my research on summoning the undead wasn't very thorough. Now, after my improvements, however, the array can now summon much stronger entities. The only downside is that they become unwilling to return to the Underworld after dealing with the enemy."
"What about the red-mouthed monster?" Selt asked, "What was that?"
"That was last year's research," Odis explained, "It's a Spirit Word creature that loves sucking blood. It can cause a person's blood to spurt out and flow into its mouth. I added that summoning array just now, after seeing your companion get injured."
Selt hadn't expected that those bizarre attacks were seemingly laid out effortlessly by Lelouch.
"What about the staircase? What was that trap?" He questioned.
"That's my exclusive invention," Odis said with a smile, "I call it the Rotation Array. It targets the Body of Heart and Mind, causing a certain confusion in the target's sense of direction. For example, if your brain commands a 90-degree turn, your body might turn 180 degrees or not turn at all..."
"...In short, your physical movements become uncoordinated with your brain's commands. Unfortunately, this array only works when the target inside it turns. It doesn't affect other movements or cause other types of confusion."
"No wonder my spiritual intuition didn't sense any danger. It's because these are all traps harmless until triggered." Then Selt sneered, "As I said, they're all just petty tricks."
As he spoke, he suddenly threw a small piece of wood at Odis, which he had pinched off the wooden railing when he jumped to the second floor.
But the moment the wood left his hand, Selte was shocked to find that his forward-throwing motion had become an upward throw.
His Bribe failed to reach the target, so it became ineffective.
Odis chuckled, saying, "Did you really think I was showing off my arrays to you? Ever since you laid foot on the stairs, the array on the wall has been attacking your Body of Heart and Mind. Your logical faculties are about to become completely disordered!"
This was the core array placed here. Not only did it attack the Body of Heart and Mind, but staying here for too long would also impact the Spirit Body.
This was a side effect of necromantic arrays. Such arrays, or rather their link to the Underworld would have certain effects on Spirit Bodies.
Odis had previously discovered these effects and made some guided adjustments as he desired.
Grant, who had fled earlier, had his Spirit Body impacted. Otherwise, the mere sight of his companion's gruesome death wouldn't have been enough to make a Sequence 8 in decent condition collapse.
The worn black coat Odis wore could effectively resist such attacks. So the original plan was that even if he encountered a Sequence 7 opponent, he could gain the upper hand quickly by stalling.
Selt indeed felt that his movement-related sense had become somewhat disordered, but he didn't retreat. Instead, he used his Weaken ability again...
This time, he Weakened the influence of the external forces on him. After using the ability, he instantly felt much better.
However, Odis had already taken advantage of this opportunity to enter one of the rooms.
Selt quickly chased after him and saw Lelouch standing against the wall, looking at him with a faint smile.
Selt snorted coldly and kicked a nearby chair toward him. This time, he finally completed the Bribery. Then, he used Arrogance. This ability could make the target proud and Arrogant, lowering their intelligence, and causing them to make mistakes or wrong judgements on their situations.
Although Lelouch wore a mask, Selt could sense that the smile on the other's face had turned into an arrogant expression...
At that moment, the wall behind Odis suddenly became illusory. He passed through the wall and entered the adjacent room. Smiling proudly, Odis found a chair to sit in, crossed his legs, and leisurely waited for Selt to die.
"Haha, this trap is perfect. My genius is truly unparalleled," Odis preened at his own intellect.
At that moment, a chilling aura permeated the surroundings. This coldness wasn't like the gloom brought by the gray fog of Backlund, nor was it the biting chill of a winter sea breeze... It was a coldness that struck directly at the soul, freezing from the inside out...
...
*Bang!*
In the adjacent room, after Odis left, the door slammed shut.
Then, Selt saw eerie patterns and symbols emitting a pale white light appearing on the four walls, ceiling, and floor. Realizing something was wrong, he immediately rushed toward the door.
The moment he took a step, icy water surged from the ground. All the hair on his body stood on end. He felt as if his soul was being constantly washed by the freezing current, and his body became extremely stiff.
This water was no ordinary water... it was the flowing water of the River Styx, which spirits cross by ferry to reach the Underworld.
Even a Sequence 7 Beyonder couldn't withstand prolonged exposure to this water. Moreover, the water level was rapidly rising, soon reaching his waist.
Selt's lips turned purple, his face pale, and cold sweat poured from his body. He still struggled forward, doing his utmost to reach the door. He knew it was his only way out.
The water from the River Styx soon reached his chest. The air he exhaled from his lungs turned into cold mist.
Finally reaching the door, Selt threw a fierce punch.
*Crack!*
A whole appeared on the door. But it wasn't enough. Since this water didn't exist in the real world, a small breach wouldn't cause it to flow outward.
By now, the water had reached the corners of his mouth. Selt felt the suffocating sensation of death and mustered his last ounce of strength to throw another punch.
*Crack!*
The door split in half from the middle. The enclosed array was damaged, creating a leak. The water immediately flowed out through the gap.
Inside the room, the bone-chilling and soul-scouring water of the River Styx passed through the hole in the door, but it didn't flow into the hallway outside... Instead, it flowed into a void, returning to the Underworld.
The hallway was only filled with a chilling wind, becoming extremely cold, but without any trace of liquid moisture.
With the River Styx gone, only a thick layer of frost remained in the room. All the furniture, carpets, and other furnishings were completely dry.
The bruised and freezing Selt collapsed to the ground and crawled into the hallway with great effort, finally feeling as if he had returned to the world of the living.
"Your Spirit Body has suffered permanent damage," Odis said with a smile, standing at the doorway of the adjacent room, "I was really careless. I should have sealed the door completely…"
"Ahh, I was really careless!" Odis seemed to snap back to his senses.
He had originally intended to come out and seal the door, but ended up sitting there, indulging in self-admiration.
He quickly stepped back, but Selt, who was lying on the ground, managed to use Weaken on him. Odis immediately felt his Spirituality and strength decline.
He sighed inwardly: 'Dealing with a Sequence 7 alone is indeed somewhat challenging...'
Fortunately, this was his home ground. It had been equipped to handle the strongest of Sequence 7 opponents.
Although Odis was now Weakened, he had regained his composure.
He took down a sword prepared in advance from the wall. The sword was as white as bone, made from the bone of a Hell Rhinoceros that Odis had unintentionally purchased. It was a weapon specifically designed to attack the target's Spirit Body.
With the sword in hand, Odis quickly stepped into the hallway. Sure enough, he saw Selt crawling toward the window at the end of the hallway, trying to escape from there.
But because he was now extremely weak, and the previous attacks on his 'Body of Heart and Mind' and 'Spirit Body' had intensified, his crawling movements were very sluggish. Several times, he seemed on the verge of a complete mental collapse...
Sensing Lelouch approaching, Selt struggled to turn over, wanting to use his Beyonder abilities to stall him again.
But Odis didn't give him the chance. He directly threw the silver-white sword like a javelin.
*Whoosh!*
It flew out and pierced Selt's abdomen.
Selt cried out in pain, feeling a heart-piercing agony from the sword strike that further injured his already weakened Spirit Body.
Odis grabbed a handful of pre-prepared powder from his pocket; a substance that increased his affinity with the Underworld. He then sprinkled it on Selt.
Selt instantly stiffened, unable to move at all...
Odis stepped forward, pulled out the sword, and cleanly slit Selt's throat. Dark blood flowed from his neck, sending this 'Briber' straight to the Underworld.
Odis pinned the silver-white sword to corpse's chest to prevent it from turning into a zombie. Then, he dealt with the zombies on the first floor, collected the Beyonder characteristics from the three individuals, and took off Selt's cold gloves.
Finally, he set a fire, completely abandoning this stronghold...