MIGHT AS WELL BE OP

Chapter 425: Riddle-Final

As Anthonyʼs answer rang out, the sixtieth second ticked over.

All eyes shifted back to him, and even the Executionerʼs gaze was fixed, his calm smile never faltering.

”I honestly thought you were going to fail this time”

He mused, his tone still unhurried.

”You didnʼt respond right away… I almost believed you wouldnʼt answer at all. Yet here we are, and once again, Iʼve been proven wrong”

The Executionerʼs voice held a note of amusement, but there was an edge of curiosity beneath it.

”You knew the answer from the start, didnʼt you?”

His eyes gleamed with interest.

”But you chose not to speak right away. Why is that?”

Reynold, Dale, Seraphim, and Kingsley all turned their gazes toward Anthony, their expressions filled with silent expectation.

They had assumed he had only arrived at the answer in the final moment.

But it seemed they were wrong.

At the Executionerʼs question, Anthony didnʼt respond.

He remained silent, his face unchanged, as though the question hadnʼt been meant for him at all.

”Seriously, human kid… how is it you can come up with the answers, and we canʼt?”

One of the demons asked, his voice laced with frustration.

None of the demons dared direct their words toward the Executioner, knowing full well the consequences of drawing his attention.

After all, no one wanted to dig out their own heart and eat it.

Anthonyʼs gaze momentarily shifted from the Executioner to the demon who had spoken, his expression unreadable.

”Iʼm sure you heard what I told my teammates about simplicity being key”

Anthony replied coolly, his hand drifting away from the hilt of his katana, resting casually at his side.

”But the reason you demons canʼt answer is simple. Youʼre too complex. All your scheming and calculating have blocked out the simplicity thatʼs right in front of you”

The demonʼs lip curled into a sneer at Anthonyʼs words, clearly unimpressed by the response.

”Your reasoning”

The Executioner finally spoke, his tone neither pressing nor impatient, though his eyes remained locked on Anthony.

He didnʼt push for an answer to the earlier question, allowing Anthony to continue at his own pace.

Anthonyʼs gaze returned to the Executioner, steady and calm, as he began to speak.

”As usual, Iʼll start with the first line: ʼOldest without age.ʼ A mirror has existed conceptually for millennia, yet it never ages. The second line: ʼA witness in silence, a turning page.ʼ Mirrors silently reflect everything that passes. The third: ʼWatched the sun rise, watched it fall.ʼ Mirrors capture both day and night. The fourth: ʼYet Iʼve never moved.ʼ A mirror stays still, but reflects all that moves. The fifth: ʼMy face reflects all, yet shows none.ʼ It shows the world but reveals nothing of itself. And finally: ʼThough I remain, Iʼm always gone.ʼ A mirror only exists as a reflection; its own identity disappears into the image it shows”

Anthonyʼs voice was calm, certain, with no hint of doubt in his words. He spoke as if daring the Executioner to challenge him.

Confident. Precise. Flat.

At Anthonyʼs words, his teammates seemed to forget how to breathe, their gazes fixed on the Executioner, waiting for his response.

The Executioner broke the silence with a chuckle, his smile still wide and unnervingly calm.

”You know”

He mused, his voice light but laced with something darker,

”Despite being so young, less than twenty, I presume, youʼre already so smart and strong. I canʼt help but wonder… whatʼs a monster like you doing in a lower galaxy?”

His smile only deepened as he continued, his eyes never leaving Anthony.

”I must admit”

He said with a hint of amusement in his tone,

”Even in the higher galaxies, Iʼve never encountered anyone quite as sharp as you”

Anthonyʼs teammates let out a collective sigh of relief.

Though the Executioner hadnʼt explicitly confirmed it, they all knew, Anthony had been right again.

”Captain, I have to admit, you had me there”

Dale said, his voice tinged with a lighthearted chuckle.

”For a moment, I thought weʼd failed the riddle”

The smile on his face was unmistakable, a mix of admiration and relief.

And he wasnʼt the only one.

Reynold and Seraphim both shared in the moment, their smiles matching Daleʼs.

After all, they had successfully prevented the demons from obtaining whatever it was they had come for.

And despite the mission shifting from reconnaissance to something far more perilous, they had still gathered valuable intelligence.

The most significant being about a higher galaxy.

They had learned about their own galaxy on some level, of course, but the existence of another, and a higher one at that, this was new.

And it was something that weighed heavily on their minds.

Yet, amidst the relief and camaraderie, Kingsley remained silent.

He hadnʼt spoken much since stepping onto this floor.

His gaze was steady, his attention focused, but he made no move, no gesture.

He simply observed.

The Executionerʼs gaze shifted to the demons, a knowing smile curling on his lips.

”It seems your race was never fated to possess the Severed Crown of Echoes”

He remarked, his tone smooth and taunting.

The demons didnʼt respond verbally, but their expressions shifted into smiles, smiles that seemed to mirror the Executionerʼs, a silent acknowledgment.

Without a word, they turned their attention to Anthonyʼs team.

Their smiles twisted into smirks, cold and unsettling.

Anthony, however, understood the meaning behind those smirks all too well.

It wasnʼt a promise, but a threat, a vow that they would meet again, and this time, outside of the Fractured World.

With a casual wave of his hand, the Executioner dismissed the demons, and in an instant, they vanished from the space they had occupied, erased as if they had never existed.

The Executioner had ejected them from the realm with a mere flick of his will.

Turning to Anthonyʼs team, the Executioner spoke, his voice a mixture of amusement and happiness.

”Since your group has won fair and square, I wonʼt waste your time with meaningless speeches”

He stretched out his right hand, and the very air seemed to tremble with the simple motion.

Space above his palm cracked, as if reality itself were bending, and in a heartbeat, an object materialized there.

It was the Severed Crown of Echoes.