My setting is above yours!

Chapter 91: Killing the Masked Dancer – A New Setting! (4k7)

'Puppet Town… Is He planning to secretly complete those rituals in this city?'

'Although I can't tell if it's for healing or a promotion... [7] I suspect it's really going to get me killed!'

Upon hearing Ron's words, the Silver Knight was immediately filled with a storm of emotions.

Although it was just a vague reminder, the Silver Knight was able to immediately extract the key point, and his expression became serious.

He did not deny Ron's words, because it was clear from a simple thought that what Ron said was not false.

After all, he had already noticed something amiss with [7] and a rift had already formed between them...

However, since he had not been able to find the target of [7], nor had he discovered that He had done anything to tamper with his promotion, and since he had a trump card to save his life during the promotion, he continued to cooperate under false pretenses, preparing to snatch chestnuts from the fire and become a demigod first.

But now... that idea is clearly impossible to succeed.

'He's already prepared to make my advancement fail? Hmm, the potion ingredients needed for the [Theatrical Actor] come from the Masked Dancer. If I lose control, I might very well be assimilated by them…'

Thinking of this, the Silver Knight gritted his teeth, only angry at himself for not being able to discover the purpose of [7] sooner, but now needing someone else to remind him to know.

He did not resent the scheming of [7]... There are countless extraordinary people in the world, and everyone is busy with promotion. Perhaps they have to temporarily unite for certain interests, but when it comes to the real struggle for profit, isn't it all for themselves?
[7] Since he is prepared to do this, it means that the benefits he can bring as a demigod are no longer as great as those he can bring as a monster...

Then there's nothing more to say.

The partnership broke down, and each side got what they wanted—the Silver Knight had been prepared for this all along.

After his family fell apart and all his relatives died, the Silver Knight learned a lesson after joining the [Secret Garden]—

Ultimately, and most reliably, the goal of everything is to rely on ourselves!
However, for now, this final measure can perhaps be postponed for a while longer...

Looking at the young man in prison garb who seemed confident of victory and completely unconcerned about his recent attack on a saint, the Silver Knight felt a surge of certainty:

'He even knows about this kind of thing... he's probably some old monster from who-knows-where!'

Knowing the identity of [7], knowing that [7] is about to be promoted, and knowing what He will do to promote Him... the Silver Knight would not believe that He is not an old monster of the same level as Him.

However, the older the monster, the better—the Silver Knight has lost an ally and will inevitably have an additional Saint-level enemy, so he naturally needs new help.

Ron was willing to come up and inform him in a way that completely offended him [7], which suggests that he had the same goal as him and was preparing to join forces with him.

but……

Why is Ron's spirituality so weak, barely reaching Sequence Seven?
The Silver Knight frowned slightly, feeling a little nervous.

If Ron is also a severely injured Saint, even falling to the seventh rank, then the upcoming battle will not be so easy.

He does have many trump cards and has made many contingency plans against [7], but if he really wants to be an enemy of [7], he doesn't yet have a reliable ally...

Perhaps the only hope of escaping is through the blessings of our ancestors.

His thoughts raced, and after a moment's hesitation, he gritted his teeth and made a decision.

'No...no, there's no time to hesitate!'

'Although [7] is very cautious, his new avatar will probably arrive here soon, and if it really involves his promotion, it's not impossible for his true body to arrive at that time...'

'If that's the case, then in our current unprepared state, we have absolutely no chance of winning!'

Thinking of this, the Silver Knight immediately and without hesitation rubbed the spear in his hand. The tip of the pure silver spear blurred instantly, and a snake-eye pendant fell out from it and hung it on his earlobe.

Instantly, a strange light shone from it, illuminating a circle that encompassed him and Ron.

He breathed a slight sigh of relief after finishing this task, then his tone became somewhat urgent:

"Your Excellency... since you told me this, I think there must be some rift between you and [7]."

"But he is, after all, a saint... Although he was severely injured in the Proric Great Smog Incident and even lost his rank as a result, he is now almost fully recovered and gradually returning to his saintly status..."

As he spoke, he tentatively asked Ron:

"I wonder if you have any way to deal with the threat [7]?"

But before he could finish speaking, Ron waved his hand, interrupting him:
"Threat? No, no, no, that's not what we need to worry about right now."

Do you know about the promotion ceremony for [theatre actors]?

Upon hearing this, the Silver Knight was slightly taken aback, and immediately realized that Ron wanted to give him a hint.

This concerned promotion, and the Silver Knight couldn't afford to be careless. Although he didn't know why Ron suddenly brought this up, his expression still turned serious.
"According to the ritual taught to me by [7]... [Theatrical actor] needs to construct a large script that encompasses a town with tens of thousands of people living in it, and include all the high-ranking superhumans in that town."

"After that, let those high-ranking superhumans occupy important positions in the script, while I hide behind the scenes until the last moment before the end, when I join the script, finish my role before the end, and take the potion at the end of the play."

Well, [7] this guy is really ruthless, he's completely blocked all the paths the Silver Knight could take to become the "protagonist"...

If a normal person is at the [Trickery] Sequence 5 and wants to advance to the [Trickery] Sequence 4, doing this might not be a problem at all.

As long as the theatrical mask drawn is a "clown" or a "supporting role," one can still be promoted normally... There's absolutely nothing wrong with this ritual.

But who can blame them when the Silver Knight is the [Mysterious] Sequence Five...?

If you can't advance as a "protagonist", then you can only become a monster - [7]'s lie is absolutely true, but he deliberately concealed the only way for a Silver Knight to advance!

Thinking of this, Ron couldn't help but shake his head:
"The ritual is correct, but that's only true for other Sequence Five [Tricks]—"

"The [Mysterious] Sequence Five wants to transcend the sequence limitations and become the [Trickery] Sequence Four... Only by becoming the 'protagonist' can it hope to advance!"
"Otherwise, it's just putting on a monster's mask and becoming a masked dancer..."

'The lead role... is completely different from the part I prepared...'

Upon hearing this, the Silver Knight couldn't help but sigh with regret:

"There's no chance anymore, Your Excellency..."

"If I can keep [7] from knowing about your existence, I might still have a chance to tamper with the ritual and get everything back on track."

"But it's too late now... By the time you killed that corpse, his clone was probably already on its way."

At this point, the Silver Knight's emotions were quite complicated, and he had already prepared to flee for his life:
"We must escape quickly, Your Excellency... [7] is the seventh assassin of the Secret Courtyard. He is ruthless and his secret has been exposed by you. He will never let this go."

"While his clone hasn't arrived yet, and I've used the [Eye of True Knowledge] to avoid being detected by the containment devices he possesses, if you can't do anything either, then we'll have no choice but to run for our lives..."

As he spoke, a hint of helplessness crept into his voice. He sighed, his voice filled with worry for the future.

"I wonder if I can escape to Chongqing..."

"If we can escape to the Fog City, there should still be a chance..."

Foggy City? Escape?
Such an opportunity is better left unseen!

It's just a second chance anyway, so what if I die...

For Ron, the only important thing this time around is to determine whether the Silver Knight has any means of counterattack once he realizes the pitfall he faces! It seems that as long as he can hold off [7] and prevent Him from knowing that the Silver Knight has betrayed him, there's a chance to push the Silver Knight to a normal promotion and gain the assistance of a demigod…

A demigod was more than enough to save Ron and Idrila's lives in front of the heavily injured saint!
The script for clearing the game has been written; the only problem is how to slow down [7]'s progress and ensure the Silver Knight's normal promotion...

'It seems I'll have to fight this saint to see if the Silver Knight has any means to hold him off, and then probe for any weaknesses I can exploit…'

After a brief moment of thought, Ron immediately came up with a plan.

"escape?"

He sneered, waved his hand to stop the Silver Knight's escape, and said confidently:
"The word 'escape' doesn't exist in my dictionary!"

"How dare a half-crippled saint be so presumptuous in front of me?"

"Don't be afraid, we'll wait for Him here!"

"I will fight Him to the death today and restore peace and order to Zhongcheng!"

Upon hearing Ron's incredibly confident words, the Silver Knight was immediately stunned.

Although his reason told him that Ron was only a Sequence Seven and couldn't possibly have that kind of power to defeat a Saint...

But considering that he knew so many secrets, and that he showed almost no fear on his face, appearing as if he didn't care at all about facing a saint, the Silver Knight couldn't help but feel confidence in him.

He's too confident!
No matter what, he will eventually have to face a saint...

If they really didn't have the confidence to beat him, how could they dare to make such a gesture?
After all, failure only means death!
The Silver Knight had never seen anyone act like this when facing certain death...

He was so confident... Could he be a high-ranking expert who plays the game of life?
Saints, angels... or something higher?
Thinking of this, the Silver Knight's eyes showed a hint of awe towards Ron, while at the same time, a restless desire stirred within him.

'I never expected there would be a chance to counterattack [7]... If that's the case, wouldn't there be a chance to obtain His extraordinary characteristics?'

'I wonder if this lord needs a [mysterious] saint as a subordinate. If such an opportunity arises, I could also improve my skills...'

The assassins of the Secret Courtyard are used to betraying their superiors and infiltrating their ranks. This opportunity to turn against their old boss, especially with the support of a high-ranking expert, is something they're quite familiar with.

The Silver Knight had no reason not to seize this opportunity!
It's done!

Thinking of this, the Silver Knight immediately swung the spear in his hand, from which fell several containment objects that he had previously been cautious about and prepared to deal with [7], and was ready for battle.

At that moment, Ron was silently looking in the direction not far away. In just a moment, he saw the gloomy gray fog gathering from there and drifting towards him at an incomprehensible speed.

Within the gray fog, a hunched old man with a gloomy face stood out in mid-air, flying with the fog and coldly watching Ron and the Silver Knight.

At this moment, the Silver Knight couldn't help but feel a surge of emotion. When he saw Ron standing beside him with his hands behind his back, looking at him with a disdainful gaze [7], he immediately felt reassured:

'Quite confident!'

'Perhaps today is the day [7] dies...'

Thinking of this, the Silver Knight looked at the hunched old man with a gloomy face in the gray fog, gripped his spear tightly, and was ready.

Next, he waited for the order from the person next to him, and immediately charged forward, beheading [7]!

But just as this thought arose in his mind, he saw the hunchbacked old man suddenly take out a gilded silver mask from somewhere and casually flick it, and the mask landed directly on the Silver Knight's face at an unimaginable speed.

'The mask…wait, this is that contained item!'

'Oh no, He wants to directly accelerate my advancement and turn me into a [Masked Dancer]!'

A flustered thought flashed through the Silver Knight's mind, but he quickly regained his composure.

"It's alright, it's alright... that lord hasn't made a move yet!"

'It's just a promotion. Even without the [Disguise Mask], it would still take several minutes for this mask to transform me into a masquerade dancer… That's more than enough leisure for a high-ranking powerhouse!'

'He could easily tear off this mask for me before I'm completely transformed, and maybe even take the opportunity to get rid of [7]...'

With these thoughts in mind, the Silver Knight forcibly suppressed the restless magic in his blood and the pain caused by the twisting of his skeleton. Without hesitation, he raised his spear and charged toward [7].

'This is the moment to prove loyalty... Although this spear will certainly be useless, it'll at least serve as a show.'

'I wonder how that person plans to handle this [7]...'

Just as the Silver Knight was thinking this, he saw the hunched old man in front of him sneer and say in a hoarse, chilling voice:
"Still dare to resist... Hmph, I was originally thinking of sparing your life and letting you become a masked dancer in Puppet Town, as a reward for your efforts for me these past few days—"

"But now that you've dared to make this choice, you should understand your own fate."

"Anyway, even dead dancers will still be received by Puppet Town..."

He spoke in a low, eerie tone. The Silver Knight was momentarily confused, not yet understanding what was happening, when suddenly he saw countless translucent threads shooting out from the gray mist, piercing directly into all his joints—

Then, his movements immediately reversed; the spear that had been thrusting towards the hunchbacked old man suddenly turned and stabbed straight at Ron…

At the same time, Ron was also pierced by countless translucent threads into his joints, his whole body exuding an aura of death. He suddenly threw a punch at the Silver Knight with the death magic of Sequence Seven.

"laugh!"

The sound of flesh being pierced came simultaneously, and the two were manipulated like puppets [7], their chests piercing each other at the same time, and they collapsed to the ground...

At this moment, the Silver Knight, barely holding on to his will, looked at Ron with a bewildered expression, his eyes filled with incomprehension and hatred:
'You...you...if you're not confident, don't pretend to be so sure!'

'Why...why are you being controlled too?!'

He simply couldn't understand why someone facing certain death could adopt such an arrogant stance, utterly unafraid of life or death.

What was he after?!

Little did he know, Ron had no intention of living...

Anyway, he's a Sequence Seven, and the previous times have already proven that escape is impossible.

Faced with a saint, all he can do now is try to fight this saint multiple times, find his weakness through countless attempts, and then find a way to push the Silver Knight to the fourth level, so as to find an opportunity to stop [7]...

Since he can start over indefinitely, Ron isn't afraid of dying at all!

Time froze under the immense power of the Dimensional Update Manual, then instantly reversed, returning to the very beginning...

But unexpectedly, this skillful act of suicide brought Ron a pleasant surprise he had never considered before—

Ron, with a strange expression, looked at the Dimensional Update Manual's screen in the prison:
[Enemy defeated: Masked Dancer!]

[Because you defeated the enemies of the world's "Potion Age," you have unlocked a new record.]

The Silver Knight's head was actually attributed to him?

It seems he inexplicably... got a setting for free!
(End of this chapter)