Chapter 162: The Wrong House

The mansion collapsed around them. Stone pillars cracked, the ceiling split apart, and entire sections of the corridor crumbled into dust. Yet the three A-Ranks found themselves standing on an apparently untouched floor, surrounded by countless versions of Reinhard Ashcroft.

Some stood beside the broken walls. Others watched from the ceiling. Several walked toward them with their hands in their pockets, wearing the same irritating smile.

The leader swung his black blade at the nearest Reinhard.

The figure shattered.

Another appeared behind him, and he spun and attacked again, but his weapon passed through empty air. A third Reinhard stood farther down the corridor, while a fourth approached from his blind spot.

"What is this?" one of the A-Ranks demanded.

Reinhard’s voice came from everywhere. "Welcome to Fool’s World."

"An illusion?" the leader gritted his teeth.

"That’s a little insulting. I’ve put quite a lot of effort into this."

The A-Rank ignored him and raised his hand. Crimson threads erupted from his fingers, spreading through the corridor as he searched for Reinhard’s real position, sweeping across the walls, floor, and broken pillars for anything they could restrain.

"Damn it! It’s a True Domain—"

"But how!?" one of them shouted, fear flashing across his face. "Only S-rank—"

"I know! He might be—"

"Don’t speak nonsense! He hasn’t even been an Awakener for a year! How can he reach S-Class?! This is most likely a relic, we need to move!"

They found several targets.

He pulled his hand sharply, and the threads tightened around three Reinhards, tearing their bodies apart.

None of them were real.

Before the A-Rank could react, a fourth figure appeared beside him and struck his ribs. The impact sent him skidding across the floor, and he caught himself before falling, but his expression had changed.

The attack had felt real. He had heard the impact, felt the pressure against his body, even tasted blood in his mouth and yet when he touched his ribs, there was no wound.

Reinhard appeared several meters away. "Confusing, isn’t it?"

The A-Rank stared at him.

"Your eyes tell you one thing," Reinhard raised one finger. "Your ears tell you another. Then something hits you, and suddenly you don’t know which information to trust." He shrugged. "That’s the problem with relying on your senses."

The second A-Rank activated his black ring, space folding around his body as he tried to escape the corridor by distorting the distance between himself and the nearest exit. He reappeared beside a broken pillar. He tried again, this time emerging several meters above the floor and landing awkwardly on his feet.

His face darkened. The space itself hadn’t changed. Reinhard was making him misjudge the direction and distance he was trying to reach. "Stop playing tricks!" he shouted, releasing a wave of Mana to destroy everything around him.

The corridor exploded. Walls shattered, pillars broke apart, and debris flew in every direction. When the dust settled, Reinhard stood in the same place, completely unharmed.

The A-Rank’s eyes widened.

"You destroyed the wrong part of the room," Reinhard explained. "Although, to be fair, you were never standing where you thought you were."

The leader finally understood the danger.

The Domain wasn’t simply producing multiple images. It was corrupting their understanding of the battlefield, and every attack they launched depended on information Reinhard could manipulate.

They needed another way to find him.

"Close your eyes!" the leader ordered. "Use Mana perception instead!"

His companions immediately obeyed.

The three A-Ranks released their Mana senses, searching for the real Reinhard through the disturbances in the corridor. For a moment, they found him. Then his Mana signature split into several overlapping impressions, one approaching from the left, another moving behind them, a third remaining directly ahead.

The leader hesitated. That single moment was enough.

Reinhard appeared beside the second A-Rank and tapped his shoulder. "Found you."

The man turned and swung his ring-covered hand, but Reinhard had already moved, and the A-Rank’s spatial distortion opened in the wrong direction, tearing through a section of collapsing wall. Reinhard struck him across the jaw, sending him sprawling.

The third A-Rank rushed to help, but Reinhard lifted his hand. The man’s surroundings changed, the floor appearing to slope sharply beneath his feet as a gaping hole opened directly in front of him. He jumped sideways to avoid falling.

There was no hole. His movement carried him straight into Reinhard’s waiting fist, and the impact sent him crashing across the floor.

Reinhard glanced at his hand. "Two."

The leader’s expression twisted with anger, and he forced more Mana into his relic, sending crimson threads racing through the corridor in every direction. This time, he didn’t care whether he hit Reinhard.

He wanted to cover the entire area and restrain anything that moved. The threads swept through the false figures, crossed the broken pillars, and spread across the floor.

Then they found something. The leader pulled, and a section of the corridor tore apart as the threads tightened around the real Reinhard’s position. For the first time, the A-Rank’s face brightened. "Got you!"

The threads contracted. Reinhard looked down at them, then smiled. The leader’s expression froze. The figure caught in his restraints dissolved into dust.

A voice came from behind him. "Almost." Reinhard’s hand struck the back of his neck, and the leader dropped to one knee, his vision swimming. He tried to turn, but Reinhard caught his wrist and twisted it until the relic’s crimson threads disappeared.

"You’re strong," Reinhard said. "Your teamwork isn’t bad either." He released the man’s wrist. "But you came into my house without an invitation."

The leader struggled to stand. "We were sent to capture Emily."

"I know."

"Then you understand that this isn’t over. The Baal Family—"

Reinhard struck him in the stomach, and the A-Rank folded around the blow and collapsed. "I’m sure they’ll send someone else to explain their position."

Reinhard looked toward the other two A-Ranks, both still struggling to rise, their weapons still in their hands. He spread his fingers, and the corridor changed again. One man saw his companion transform into a monstrous figure towering over him.

The other saw Reinhard standing directly in front of him, preparing to strike. Both reacted instinctively, one swinging at his companion, the other throwing himself backward to escape an attack that never came.

Reinhard walked between them and struck each with a controlled blow, leaving both unconscious on the floor. The false images disappeared, and the corridor went quiet.

He looked around at the destroyed walls and broken pillars, then glanced toward the ceiling. "I’m going to have to renovate this place."

A voice came through the communication network. "Are you seriously thinking about the house right now?" Emily asked.

"Of course. Do you know how expensive repairs are?"

"You just collapsed half the mansion with your Domain!"

"Technically, the mansion was already collapsing."

"That doesn’t make it better."

Reinhard chuckled as he approached the fallen A-Ranks. His Domain faded, letting the surrounding space return to normal. The remaining B-Ranks were scattered throughout the manor, many of them restrained by Maki’s seals or disarmed by Emily and Lily.

But the fight wasn’t completely over. Reinhard’s Mana Perception detected movement elsewhere in the building. Several B-Ranks had regrouped in the western wing, their communication devices stopped working and contact with their leaders lost, and rather than surrender, they had decided to force their way toward the entrance.

Reinhard touched his phone. "Yuna, the western wing is yours."

"Understood," came her immediate reply.

Yuna stood at the entrance to the western wing, watching five B-Ranks emerge from the corridor. They looked exhausted and angry, one carrying a broad axe, another wearing metallic gauntlets, the remaining three with weapons reinforced with Mana.

Their leader pointed at her. "Get out of the way."

"You’re trying to leave?" she tilted her head.

"We have no reason to fight you."

"You came into our home to capture my sister-in-law."

His expression hardened. "Orders are orders."

"Then you should have received better ones," Yuna sighed.

The axe wielder charged first. Yuna didn’t activate her Domain. Instead, she altered the gravity acting on his body, increasing the downward force just as he raised his weapon. His knees buckled, and the axe struck the floor, sending cracks through the tiles.

Before he could recover, she shifted the direction of gravity around his body, and he was thrown sideways into the wall, where he slumped to the floor.

The gauntlet wielder attacked next, his fists accelerating as he poured Mana into his arms and aimed a heavy punch at her face.

She reduced the momentum of his fist, slowing the attack just before impact and giving herself enough time to turn her head aside. She caught his wrist and increased the force pulling his body downward, and his legs collapsed beneath him. She released him, letting his own forward momentum carry him onto the floor.

The remaining three spread out, finally realizing that charging her one at a time was useless. Two attacked from opposite sides while the third prepared a ranged attack.

Yuna watched their movements carefully, recognizing that they intended to force her to choose which opponent to defend against. She smiled.

The first B-Rank swung his weapon, and Yuna reduced the friction beneath his leading foot. His boot slid across the floor, ruining his balance, and his strike passed wide. She used the opportunity to increase the momentum of her own movement, slipping past his shoulder before he could recover.

The second attacker came from behind, and she changed the direction of gravity around him, his body lurching sideways as his weapon struck the wall instead of her back.

The third released a burst of electrical Mana. Yuna raised her hand, and electromagnetic forces shifted around the attack, bending its trajectory away from her, the electrical discharge sweeping across the ceiling and shattering a row of lights.

"You can control electricity too?" the man stared at her.

"Among other things."

She advanced. He fired again, but she redirected the discharge toward the metallic weapon held by his companion, electricity racing along its surface and forcing the B-Rank to drop it with a shout.

Yuna immediately increased the gravity around both men, and they fell to their knees. The first tried to stand, reinforcing his body with Mana, but she increased the pressure again, the floor cracking beneath him as he struggled to move.

"You’re wasting your Mana," she told him. "You should stop."

He refused. She raised two fingers, and the gravity beneath him shifted sideways, throwing him into the wall hard enough to lose consciousness.

The other two hesitated. Yuna took another step. One tried to escape through the corridor behind him, but she reduced the friction beneath his feet, causing him to slide uncontrollably before he could reach the corner.

The last B-Rank raised both hands. "I surrender!"

Yuna stopped. "Good choice." She used a controlled gravitational force to hold him in place while she secured his weapon, then contacted Maki, who sent a set of prepared seals to restrain the surviving attackers.

The western wing fell silent. Yuna looked at the broken lights and cracked floor, rubbing her forehead. "Reinhard is paying for the repairs."

"He’ll probably blame you for the floor," Maki replied through the communication network.

"He can try."

Yuna walked toward the center of the manor, checking each room for remaining enemies. Her control over gravity, momentum, friction, and electromagnetic forces had let her defeat the group without exhausting herself or relying on her Domain.

When she reached the central corridor, she found Reinhard standing beside the three unconscious A-Ranks, and Emily, Maki, and Lily soon joined them.

"Everyone accounted for?" Reinhard asked.

Maki checked the communication network. "All thirteen attackers have been located. Most are unconscious or restrained."

"And the house?"

"It’s fine," Lily glanced at the ruined corridor.

"Lily," Emily stared at her.

"What? Most of it is fine."

"I leave you alone for one night," Reinhard sighed.

"You collapsed half the mansion!" Emily reminded him.

"And I defeated three A-Ranks. Let’s focus on the positives."

"You are paying for the repairs," Yuna folded her arms.

Reinhard opened his mouth, then closed it. "Fine."

For a moment, the family stood together amid the wreckage. The ambush had failed, their enemies were defeated, and nobody in the family appeared to have suffered a serious injury.

Then Reinhard’s vision flickered, and a familiar notification appeared.

[Investment Objective Completed.]

[C-Grade Investment Successful.]

[Calculating Investment Returns...]

[Reward Calculation Complete.]

[Reward Granted.]

[Legendary Reward Granted: Emergency Recovery Elixir ×10.]

[Effect: Instantly restores severe physical injuries, replenishes a large amount of Mana, and stabilizes the user’s condition. It can restore injuries that would normally require days or weeks of recovery, provided the user’s body remains intact.]

His eyebrows rose slightly. Ten of them.

[Additional Reward Granted: High-Grade Mana Restoration Potion ×30.]

[Effect: Rapidly restores a large amount of Mana when consumed. Multiple potions can be used throughout prolonged combat, allowing an Awakener to continue fighting after exhausting their Mana reserves.]

[Additional Reward Granted: Advanced Healing Potion ×30.]

[Effect: Rapidly heals physical injuries, including broken bones, deep wounds, damaged muscles, and severe blood loss. Accelerates natural recovery and can be consumed repeatedly as long as the user’s body can withstand the restoration.]

His expression softened slightly. "That’s going to be useful."

[Additional Reward Granted: Mana Recovery Crystal ×10.]

[Effect: When crushed, releases restorative Mana directly into the user’s Gnosis. Rapidly restores depleted Mana reserves and reduces the strain caused by repeated ability usage. Particularly effective for Awakeners engaged in prolonged combat.]

[Additional Reward Granted: One Hour Tech Advance.]

[Effect: Temporarily amplifies the performance of any compatible technology by 1,000% for one hour.]

[Usage: One time.]

He blinked. "One thousand percent?"

He stared at the notification for several seconds.

Eclipse headquarters had plenty of technology that could benefit from something like this, their defensive systems, communication equipment, research equipment, and transportation systems all potentially becoming dramatically more powerful for an hour.

Which one would benefit the most? He could think of several possibilities, but he only had one use. He would have to choose carefully.

Before he could think any further, the final notification appeared.

[Additional Reward Granted: Mass Restoration Mist ×5.]

[Effect: Releases a wide restorative mist when activated. Gradually restores physical injuries, replenishes Mana, reduces exhaustion, and stabilizes weakened Gnosis for everyone within its effective area. The mist remains active for ten minutes.]

Reinhard looked at the final reward as the tension in the manor finally began to fade.

Then his expression changed.

His Mana Perception detected something. The surviving A-Rank’s right hand was moving, very slowly, his fingers slipping beneath his sleeve. A small object was hidden against his wrist.

Reinhard crossed the distance instantly. The A-Rank’s eyes widened as he caught his wrist before he could activate it. "Oh, no."

The object was a small black crystal, its Mana feeling different from everything else Reinhard had sensed that night. It wasn’t a communication device, or a normal combat relic. And it definitely wasn’t something the strike force had mentioned.

The A-Rank smiled despite the blood running down his face.

"What is that?" Emily stepped closer.

Reinhard’s eyes narrowed. The crystal began to pulse beneath his fingers.

Then—