Chapter 318: Maria Wisteria

Chapter 318: Maria Wisteria

Misunderstanding after misunderstanding…

Rael thought, his head spinning.

How the fuck did they come to the conclusion that I’m Maria? Just because I arrived here with the… Yeah, I can kinda see their thought process.

Even so, Rael simply shook his head.

“I’m not Maria, and I don’t want to spar. I did come here with her though. She should be arriving at the top of this mountain shortly,” Rael replied with a slight smile. “On the other hand… you two have some interesting skills.”

Rain’s brows furrowed. “Parrying is the weakest skill I could’ve gotten. I was a sniper in the past. Why didn’t I get something I could use at long range?”

“Why are you asking me? I can’t just give you a power,” Rael said with a scoff. “But you’re undermining yourself. You can parry anything, right? So can’t you technically survive every attack as long as you parry it?”

“Well sure, but there’s a parry window of less than a millisecond,” Rain replied. “I can’t hit it accurately all the time, and when I do, it enters a five-second cooldown before I can parry again.”

Rael shrugged. “Just make that parry count.”

He turned to Alisa.

“You’re a ninja? Or do you just like to cosplay?”

Alisa’s brows twitched as she nodded skeptically. “My class is Ninja, yes. But I do have a few other attributes from before the world changed.”

She extended her arm, then twisted it backward, once, then again.

It looked gruesome, but from the relaxed look on her face, Rael knew that she wasn’t really feeling any pain.

With that kind of dexterity and flexibility, her combat prowess was undeniable.

“I see… well, your team is going to be quite interesting then,” Rael commented. “Maria controls minds to a certain extent, so you’ll have to let her fight from the backlines.”

Rain’s brows twitched for some reason, but he didn’t say anything.

And like that, a few minutes passed until eventually, the others made their way up the mountain.

Though they seemed slightly exhausted, Maria confidently stepped up and glanced at her teammates.

“You two seem pretty plain. Where are the colorful robes and magic spells?” Maria asked innocently.

A moment of silence ensued, when all of a sudden, Rain lunged forward, his hands reaching straight for Maria’s neck.

But before he could reach her, Rael stepped in.

He grabbed hold of Rain’s head and slammed it down onto the ground.

-450! Critical Hit!

“Whoops,” Rael said, lifting Rain up.

Yet it seemed like he had lost consciousness as his forehead split open.

Since he wasn’t dead yet, Rael brought him over to Julian, who quickly healed him.

And just a few moments later, Rain finally reopened his eyes, a furious look on his face.

“That woman… how is she still alive?” Rain muttered, clenching his fists tightly.

“Uh… well I guess first impressions do matter, don’t they?” Maria remarked with a giggle.

However, Rael was more interested in what Rain had just mentioned.

“What do you mean?”

“You don’t know and you’re traveling with her?” Rain asked with wide eyes. “That woman used to be a hypnotherapist. But one day, she had a change of heart and decided to implant all sorts of impulsive thoughts in the minds of the people she treated.”

His gaze sharpened. “One of those people were my parents. They had something as simple as a spider phobia, and what did she do? She gave them the impulsive idea to kill every spider on the planet.”

Fuck spiders, but…

Rael trailed off, his expression serious. “So your parents couldn’t break out of the hypnosis?”

Rain’s brows twitched. “Do you seriously not know her? She’s Maria Wisteria, the psychopath serial killer who broke into a government facility and triggered a national alert. But instead of the usual high-pitched siren, she used the broadcast system to transmit a hypnotic command, one that activated the impulses she’d planted in everyone she had ever treated.”

The moment Rain finished his words, Rael’s eyes widened.

He remembered something like that happening a long time ago. He had seen it on the news.

A hypnotherapist caused a worldwide panic after she hypnotized several high-ranking figures in the governments of multiple countries.

Word spread that those same figures opted for missile launches at innocent cities, and since she had somehow controlled the majority vote, some of those missile launches actually went through.

A chill ran down Rael’s spine.

The news didn’t cover the regular civilians who were affected, but it seemed like some of those people were Rain’s parents… shit…

He straightened his posture as he glanced at her.

She was smiling, not denying even a single claim he had spoken.

“Well… cat’s out of the bag now, I guess?” Maria giggled. “I did do that, but it was a very long time ago. Plus, look at the bright side, your parents no longer fear spiders. That’s all me.”

Rain’s eyes widened, then settled in anger.

“They’re dead and it’s all because of you. What do you think happens to people who run around the streets carrying weapons and shooting fingernail-sized spiders, huh?”

“Pfft…” Maria held back a laugh as she brought a single hand up to her mouth, covering it.

Then, she narrowed her eyes, shooting Rain a cold gaze.

“Not everyone I treated was affected when I triggered the implanted hypnosis, so that just means your parents were weak-willed. And because of their weak will, they ran around like idiots and got themselves killed.”

She let out a chuckle, and just as she was about to utter a few more words, Rain kicked off the ground, arriving in front of her.

He extended his arm as a faint blue glow surrounded it, almost like aura.

Then he swiftly slashed down, his arm nearing her neck.

Yet as it was about to make contact, Alisa dashed in, stepping in front of Maria and blocking the blow with her dual katanas.

“What are you doing!?” Rain yelled. “Do you not see her for what she is? Do you think she’s still redeemable? You’re pathetic.”

“She’s mind-controlled,” Rael added calmly as he glanced at the unfocused eyes of Alisa.

Then, his cold gaze traveled toward the smirking Maria.

She was irredeemable, and the ends did not justify the means. However…

“All of you stand down. If she tries anything again, then I’ll kill her myself,” Rael stated.

I will kill her regardless, but I first want to see what the arena has to offer.

“As much as I hate to say it, you three will all die if you don’t work together, and for that… I want you to set aside your grievances, at least until tomorrow.”

It was a morally gray choice, and it was clear the others didn’t like it.

Jane and Julian had conflicted looks on their faces, and Rain wore an expression of disbelief.

Then there was Maria, whose grin grew further.

Yet she complied as she suddenly pushed Alisa, causing her to snap out of her trance.

Maria raised her hands playfully. “I’ll cooperate.”

There was a small pause, but the next person soon spoke up.

“I’ll… I’ll do the same,” Alisa muttered, scratching her neck.

And finally, it was Rain’s turn. However, instead of saying a word, he simply turned around and began running off the mountain.

It wasn’t a clear answer, but Rael knew that when their lives were on the line, these people would do anything to survive, even if it meant allying themselves with someone as despicable as Maria.

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