Arknights' Lock of Heaven

Clutching the golden card in her hand, she slowly walked into the enormous, dark building before her in the night.

Pat, pat, pat.

The only sound in the building was her footsteps.

But it was a heartbeat of double digits.

She vaguely spotted a light in the distance, so she strolled toward it.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a candlelight.

The flickering candlelight cast shadows on the figures around the table.

“As expected, my prediction was correct,” the man raised his head, revealing his head covered by a mask, with only two cloudy eyes staring intently at the lion scorpion.

"You will devour your master one day."

Upon hearing this, the lion scorpion was stunned.

This is... the voice of the captain she believed to be long dead.

So, he didn't die, he got promoted.

It's a pity.

I felt a sense of relief.

Thank goodness you didn't die.

“You lied to me,” Lion Scorpion said, looking into his eyes.

“A lie? Oh, you mean that mission that was a guaranteed death sentence?” The man nodded upon hearing this. “Indeed, I was the one who arranged that mission.”

"It was specially arranged for you, but unfortunately it failed to kill you."

At this point, he shook his head regretfully, "If I had known, I wouldn't have bothered with this 'recycling' thing. I would have just killed him outright, and this wouldn't have happened."

Upon hearing this, the lion-scorpion hesitated, as if to say that he had misunderstood.

The so-called self-deception was not about the fatal mission, but about the initial promise to save oneself, which was then ruthlessly abandoned in the end.

However, she still didn't say it.

As stated at the beginning, she came to demand an explanation, not to ask questions.

Demanding an explanation shows that one already knows the truth.

After all, she's not an innocent little girl anymore, although there's still a lot to learn.

Seeing that the lion scorpion remained silent, the man suddenly became interested.

"Can you tell me how you survived?" he asked with great interest. "After all, it seemed like a hopeless situation to me."

"For so many years I thought you were dead."

Upon hearing this, the lion scorpion simply looked at him silently, without uttering a word.

"Alright, alright," the man chuckled and shook his head, "So, who did you learn this solo approach from?"

"I don't remember you being so careless back then. I even made a lot of plans for you, all linked together, but who would have thought you'd just walk right into it..."

"What a pity about my backup plan. I thought you would never come in, so I planned to hide it from you, but I didn't expect you to actually come."

“Now, I’m cornered here,” he chuckled self-deprecatingly. “I have to admit, you’ve succeeded. So, do you have anything to say?”

Who did you learn from?

Upon hearing this, the Manticore gripped the card in its hand tightly.

Needless to say?

Where is the leader?

The lion scorpion speaks concisely and to the point.

“Right in front of you,” *** stood up, and facing the scorpion’s questioning gaze, he smiled, “You’ve come at a rather unfortunate time; I just killed him not long ago.”

"If you could have come a month or two earlier, you might have been able to see him again. Oh, but maybe you would have just stabbed him in the back again."

“And now, I am the leader of the organization. No matter who you learned from, I can tell you,” he pulled out a large, exaggerated weapon from behind him, “that kind of thing is not suitable for assassins.”

As he finished speaking, assassins emerged from the darkness and surrounded him.

“There are forty-nine people in total, plus me, that makes fifty,” he said proudly. “If I hadn’t just taken the stage and cleaned up the organization, I could have pulled out over a hundred people.”

"Now, tell me, how do you plan to win?"

"Fifty?" Upon hearing this, the manticore paused for a moment, then repeated it.

“Yes, a full fifty people!” The man grinned maliciously. “Not one more, not one less.”

“Indeed, what a coincidence,” the Lion Scorpion suddenly smiled upon hearing this.

Then he decisively crushed the card in his hand.

[Dark Fog City]

A barrier artifact from Jack the Ripper, capable of unleashing a fog barrier.

As the card shattered, a magical mist suddenly appeared in the surrounding area.

In the blink of an eye, it enveloped everyone.

Fifty people, no more, no less, what a coincidence.

Because the maximum number of people that can be captured in [Dark Fog City] is fifty.

It really is a coincidence of fate...

336. To kill someone, you must first destroy their spirit.

[Dark Fog City]

A barrier-type Noble Phantasm that deploys a mist barrier. The mist itself, created using magical energy, is a Noble Phantasm.

Although it is said to "disperse the crowd," non-magicians who insist on staying inside the barrier will die after a few rounds.

The magician will not die immediately, but will continue to suffer damage.

Heroic spirits will not be harmed, but their agility will decrease by one level.

The user of the Noble Phantasm can choose who will be affected by the effect and who will not be affected by the effect within the fog.

Because the fog can disorient you, you need a skill of "Intuition" of level B or higher to escape, or to use magic.

The prototype came from the massive amounts of coal smoke that began to be emitted after the Industrial Revolution, which became sulfuric acid fog in London in the 1950s and caused a major disaster.

"Dark Fog City" is the Noble Phantasm that recreates that "Mist of Death".

In an instant, the entire building was enveloped in thick black fog, and the assassins panicked and tried to escape.

It's not their fault; after all, it was all too terrifying, and that black mist was clearly not something to be trifled with.

Even the strong and healthy Vaivavans felt their bodies gradually become heavy after inhaling the mist.

With their vision obscured and communication cut off, everyone was forced to face the unknown dangers alone.

Meanwhile, in the shadows, the top assassin, Lion Scorpion, is watching with predatory intent.

Since she released this fog, she must have been prepared beforehand.

Maybe she won't be affected?

Otherwise, how could he dare to come here alone?

The assassins knew perfectly well why they dared to ambush and kill the Lion Scorpion, which had decimated several of its branches.

It's all because their side has a large number of people and a geographical advantage.

But if the advantage of terrain is lost, and the advantage of numbers is also blocked by this black fog...

What's the point of fighting then? In a one-on-one fight, who can beat a lion scorpion?

Otherwise, the new leader wouldn't have chosen her in the first place, right?

I heard this guy fought his way here; no one would dare to guarantee he could fight alone.

Upon seeing this, the man's heart skipped a beat.

Oh no, where did she learn this trick?

This thing is a godsend for assassins. Yes, because he was close enough, he saw it, although it was just a faint golden light, but he was sure he wasn't mistaken.

This isn't a Lion Scorpion's Originium Arts, but rather the effect of an item.

Thinking of this, the man felt a surge of excitement. If he could get his hands on it, the benefits to the organization's development would be immeasurable.

But the feeling of weakness in his body poured cold water on his hopes.

"Oh no!" The man's heart skipped a beat. "This fog is poisonous!"

The confident air they had just displayed vanished without a trace.

He immediately bent over and shrank back, heading towards the secret passage that had been prepared beforehand.

After all, the effect was terrifying. In just a few seconds, the assassins hadn't even had time to react before it was pitch black all around them.