Fantasy Writers 1860

Chapter 106 A Misplaced Warm Winter Day

"What?!"

He fell straight to the ground, not even managing to hold onto the dagger in his hand, which flew out of his grasp.

During the fall, the handle of the knife got stuck between two floor tiles, with the blade pointing directly at the scarred man who was hurtling towards him.

*Pfft—*

The knife tip pierced straight through his arm.

He staggered to his feet, enduring the pain as he pulled the dagger that had pierced his arm, and threw it aside with a clatter.

More than pain, his face showed disbelief.

"What have you done?"

For someone as skilled in all kinds of martial arts as well as the martial arts of the distant Shun Kingdom, such a basic mistake was simply impossible.

Given his level of control over his body, such a thing could never have happened.

Therefore, I must have been interfered with by external factors.

Magic? Divine arts? Or the power of the Phantom Book?

This is the sphere of influence of the "state of nature" created by "Discourse on the Origin and Foundations of Inequality Among Men," which, in theory, should have neutralized all magic, divine arts, and the power of most magical books.

unless----

Indeed, when Dorian first noticed that something was wrong, he possessed the illusory manuscript "Police and Hymns" into himself through possession synchronization.

This illusionary manuscript's ability is "Warm Winter," which can misalign the "motives" and "results" of external events that happen to the user. Malice from the outside world will be reversed, and goodwill will be punished; regardless of whether it is good or bad to the holder, it will target them all equally.

It is very suitable for use as a defense.

Moreover, this is a purely mechanistic effect, and has nothing to do with status, wealth, or power, so it is naturally not affected by the "state of nature".

Of course, at this moment he didn't start explaining like a villain, but quickly picked up the short staff that had flown over with the hooded woman and slashed it fiercely at the scarred man.

The opponent had no idea that Dorian would not only not use this opportunity to escape, but would instead launch a surprise attack during this gap. In his haste, he could only turn to the side and raise his arm to block. The short staff slammed heavily into his forearm bone, and a crisp sound of bone cracking mixed with a muffled groan instantly rang out. The scarred man lost his balance and fell to the side.

Dorian took another step forward, accidentally kicking the hooded woman who had just fainted. She let out a soft groan and then regained consciousness.

The scarred man looked at Dorian and began to sweat profusely.

It's definitely a fantasy book!

Otherwise, how could everything have developed to this point by such coincidence?

Could it be some kind of illusionary book that manipulates probability, such as amplifying low-probability events?

In short, this man currently possesses a strange and mysterious book of illusions with unknown effects, and it may take a great deal of testing to figure out its bizarre power.

His current state clearly indicates that he is not in a position to linger in battle.

The situation is dire; it's time to retreat. He thought to himself. After all, his initial goal was simply to escape from that auction, and now that goal has been achieved, and he's even defeated the two executors who had been pursuing him, he has far exceeded his mission objectives.

The auction was truly a battle of titans.

I had only decided to go because I heard that the auction would be selling some demi-humans and magic books, hoping to find some new and powerful ones. I never expected a fight to break out so suddenly. And all the guests there possessed extraordinary skills; my own abilities were simply too inadequate.

The scarred man didn't make any more arrogant threats as before. Instead, he turned around and ran away quite pragmatically, completely abandoning his previous condescending and judge-like demeanor.

But at that moment, the female hooded man, who had already awakened, suddenly sprang up and grabbed his leg, while the male hooded man, who had somehow recovered, punched him in the face.

The scarred man's vision went black instantly, and at the same time, Inspector Richie fired several shots at him. This time, he was being held back tightly by the two hooded men, and coupled with his existing injuries, he could no longer dodge the bullets. Several lead bullets pierced straight into his body, blooming into glaring flowers of blood.

The officers rushed forward and pinned him to the ground. The two secret executors took the opportunity to quickly search his entire body and found two books, the very same two illusion books he had just used.

At the same time, the dark gray ripples gradually dissipated, the domain was dispelled, and everyone felt the flow of magic again.

"Finally caught it—"

Inspector Richie breathed a sigh of relief. The hooded man, clutching his still-aching chest and with his hands covered in blood, walked over. "Where did you get this copy of 'Discourse on the Origin and Foundations of Inequality Among Men'?"

The scarred man didn't answer, remaining silent, only letting out a beast-like growl from his throat.

The hooded woman finished tending to her scrapes and looked up at Dorian, who had been standing beside her, her voice still somewhat weak: "Thank you."

Dorian shook his head and handed the short cane back to her. "So, who exactly is this person? And what's going on at the auction?"

"This man is Noah Grant, a free book collector, a fugitive we've been tracking. He's suspected of being involved in a book collector's murder case, and we'll have to take him back for trial. But besides that, he's done a lot of bad things," the hooded woman said.

"In the eyes of a despotic tyrant, what a revolutionary like me is doing is certainly a bad thing." The scarred man actually spoke, but his words were full of sarcasm.

The hooded woman holding him down pressed her hand against the scarred man's nape, forcing him to lower his head: "Stop confusing the issue. Your so-called 'revolution' is just using the power of the illusionary book to incite those dissatisfied with the country to cause sabotage, isn't it?"

"Have you ever thought about why they're dissatisfied?"

"If there are problems, they should first be reported to higher authorities and local officials so that everyone can work together to find solutions, instead of inciting chaos and causing destruction everywhere."

"Yes, why didn't Mara and Lafayette report this to their superiors?"

"You're using a fallacy again. This is a republic now, how can it be compared to the feudal kingdom era?"

"Why is it different?"

Dorian, temporarily uninterested in the debate between the hooded woman and Noah Grant, turned his attention to the hooded man and asked, "So, what's going on at the auction?"

"The situation over there is more complicated," the hooded man said. "It's a mixed bag of people; to be honest, I don't even know how the fight started."

"At first, they were auctioning off demi-humans, but then suddenly they brought out a few phantom books, the phantom books that the murdered bibliophile had disappeared from. We were going to wait and see what happened, but suddenly someone rushed up to snatch them, and then the organizers' ambush team came out, and now there's chaos there."

"We still need to go back; there's a dangerous phantom book over there that needs to be retrieved first!" the hooded woman suddenly said. "As for him, we need to keep a close eye on him!"

"I'll go. You stay here and keep an eye on him, and also try to calm down that officer over there." The hooded man pointed to Richie and the other officers, who were still in a daze.

"But—" Before the hooded woman could finish speaking, the hooded man gave her a look, and she fell silent.

"It's decided then." The hooded man said calmly, and then took out a fantasy book that Dorian was very familiar with: "The Travels of Ibn Battuta".

Teleportation is indeed a useful ability.

He even felt that this magical book might be standard equipment for field staff in magical book management agencies in all countries.

"Wait a minute, please let me through too. I have—a friend over there." Dorian thought for a moment and then changed the word "colleague" to "friend."

"To be honest, I really don't recommend you go. The situation there is quite complicated and dangerous. If you've thought it through, then come." The hooded man didn't say much, but simply turned the pages of his book, golden light emanating from it. "What happens after you get there is beyond my control."

Dorian did not hesitate, or rather, he made up his mind before saying those words.

He stepped forward and stood in the light with the hooded man, then vanished without a trace.

When he came to his senses, he found himself standing in a corner of a magnificent but chaotic hall. The air was thick with the smell of blood and burning, and there was a huge hole in the wall in his sight.

"Dorian! Use your manuscript, 'Mr. Hakimi's Joke'!" The next second, Dorian heard Lily yell at him from in front of him.

>