Stop Hypnotizing Me, Villainous Princess!

Chapter 134: Activation of the Cursed Sigil

“What a strange woman…”

Late at night, in the sleeping compartment of the train, Lynn lay on his bed, staring at the cramped ceiling as he muttered to himself.

Two days had passed since leaving Orne City and boarding the train.

Now, in the early hours of the third day, the journey was nearing its end. By evening, they would reach Troy City and conclude this relatively short trip, then proceed to the Imperial Capital via the teleportation matrix.

Yet, Lynn’s mind was a swirl of confusion.

He had fully expected that bizarre woman to launch a nighttime ambush, but, to his surprise, three whole days had gone by without even seeing her once.

Even Greya and Afia had barely visited him, leaving him feeling almost ostracized.

Still, Lynn wasn’t the kind of person to throw himself at a cold shoulder.

Instead, he had used the time to carefully organize his current arsenal of powers.

[Name: Lynn]

[Race: Human]

[Age: 17]

[Faith: End]

[Rank: Second Rank]

[Extraordinary Abilities: Temporal Cloak (Second Rank) / Fraud Game (Third Rank) / Crown of Thorns (Fourth Rank) / Heart of the Scorching Flame Dragon (Fourth Rank) / Chosen of the End (Fifth Rank)]

[Divine Factors: 55]

[Remaining System Points: 253]

During the previous Level 0 Sealed Artifact incident, his significant deviation of both Yveste and the Witch of the End’s storylines had rewarded him with a whopping 2,000 system points.

He had immediately used those points to push his Divine Factor count to the maximum a Second-Rank individual could withstand.

Fifty-five Divine Factors. This was a number that exceeded even many Third-Rank Extraordinaries.

More importantly, these Divine Factors originated from the Witch of the End herself, their strength and amplification capabilities terrifyingly potent.

In terms of raw power, Lynn was already a standout among Third-Rank Extraordinaries, even before factoring in his combat skills.

If the Witch of the End further enhanced these Divine Factors, his abilities would skyrocket even further.

It wasn’t long ago that Lynn had only just ascended to the Second Rank.

Apart from the Divine Factors, he had also upgraded two of his skills: Fraud Game and Crown of Thorns, each rising by one rank and gaining significant improvements.

Fraud Game now had a higher probability of stealing the abilities of others. Additionally, the Lie Eater aspect of the skill saw a substantial increase in its success rate.

At his current level, unless faced with a Fifth-Rank Legendary opponent or higher, Lynn could use his lies to subtly manipulate others without them realizing it.

For those with weaker wills, he could even achieve a deadly outcome using lies alone.

The improvement to Crown of Thorns, on the other hand, was less dramatic. The pain-reflection multiplier increased from double to quadruple.

Though modest, this skill had proven useful in the past.

For example, during his possession by the two demons, Creation Demon and the King of Malice, this ability had inflicted brief pain upon them simultaneously.

Granted, their states at the time were severely weakened—only around Sixth-Rank Demigods—and they were already nearing exhaustion due to intense combat.

If their true forms had been present, Lynn doubted this skill would have caused them any harm.

Even now, 1,000 points of accumulated pain energy was the upper limit of what he could manage in the short term. Any more, and his mind would likely collapse under the strain.

Moreover, for many deities, whose divine natures surpassed their human ones, pain immunity rendered this ability ineffective.

Thus, the prior success was merely a stroke of ingenuity.

The skill’s greatest utility was likely on the battlefield, against humans or lower-ranked Extraordinaries.

Given a few years to build up his pain energy reserves, Lynn could unleash it in a single moment through a fear aura, turning the battlefield into a slaughterhouse and obliterating all manner of monsters.

This was one of Lynn’s hidden trump cards.

Should he ever step onto the Demon Battlefield, this ability would undoubtedly shine with devastating brilliance.

Thus, knowing Yveste’s succession score didn’t faze him at all.

Even if the Second Prince currently led by over 10,000 points, Lynn believed that catching up would only require a few large-scale military campaigns against the demons.

Let alone the fact that Glostein, the Imperial Capital, was a vast stage filled with endless opportunities to score points.

Until the very end, no one could say for sure who would win.

Lynn mused silently before shifting his gaze to the newly added ability in his list.

This was the latest skill he had drawn, at a steep cost of 1,000 points. The sheer expenditure made his heart ache.

He couldn’t even imagine how he would scrape together the 10,000 points required for the next draw.

Unless he completed the Witch’s trial and maximized the storyline deviations of several original female leads, there seemed to be no feasible way.

After all, Lynn was acutely aware that these were new S-tier storyline characters.

With a sigh, Lynn extended his hand, and a small sigil resembling a pocket watch appeared on his palm, emitting a faint white glow.

He gently turned the second hand on the watch three ticks forward.

In the next instant, his body, which had been lying on the bed, vanished without a trace.

Three seconds later, Lynn’s form reappeared on the bed, lying in the exact same position as if he had never moved.

This was his new ability:

[Name: Temporal Cloak]

[Rank: Second Rank]

[Effect: Borrow a limited amount of time from yourself ten minutes into the future. During this borrowed period, you enter a temporal rift, becoming untargetable by any attacks from opponents.]

[Activation Requirement: Possess 20 or more Divine Factors]

[Upgrade Cost: 300 Points]

While it wasn’t the offensive ability Lynn had hoped for, its effects were undeniably game-changing.

The mere fact that it rendered him untargetable placed it among the most powerful survival skills in existence.

Even more impressive—this ability had no cooldown.

It perfectly compensated for his current fragility, significantly boosting his survivability.

Still, he couldn’t help but feel his build was drifting further away from his original concept.

Once upon a time, he had been all about brute-force, a warrior specializing in explosive output.

But thinking about it now—

With both the Princess and the Witch of the End around, no matter how strong his damage output was, how far could it take him?

Better to cling tightly to their fair, beautiful legs.

Shaking his head at the thought, Lynn reached into his pocket and retrieved a card.

It was Sealed Artifact 1-0106, Piennes’ Card.

This artifact had been a gift from Yveste, though he had been unable to activate it before due to his insufficient Divine Factor count. Now that his strength had greatly increased, he decided to try again.

The card belonged to a set of 54, with each unique face and suit representing a powerful Extraordinary weapon or special ability. These cards granted their holders significant boosts in power.

But the one in his possession was particularly unusual.

Recalling the voice that had echoed in his mind the first time he encountered it, Lynn frowned.

This artifact seemed deeply intertwined with the Prisoner of Fate, and ever since acquiring the Lie Eater ability, he had repeatedly come across incidents related to this deity.

Oddly, in Milanie’s eyes, this card appeared to be the Two of Spades. Lynn had asked Greya and others to confirm, and their responses were consistent.

Yet, the face Lynn himself saw was a Joker Card.

Was he unique?

Lynn pondered silently.

As he slowly infused a faint red Extraordinary energy into the card, the artifact began to change.

Ten black threads appeared in mid-air, writhing like tiny black snakes before coiling themselves around his ten fingers, forming what seemed like ten black rings.

“What is this…”

The cold sensation on his skin and the incredible flexibility of the threads made Lynn instinctively move his right index finger.

In the next instant, accompanied by a faint sound of something slicing through the air, the black thread shot out from his finger like a knife through butter. It effortlessly bisected a wine bottle on a nearby table, cutting it cleanly in two.

The process was almost soundless, as if an invisible assassin had struck.

Lynn felt a jolt of surprise.

He hadn’t even exerted much force, yet the thread had so easily sliced through a glass object. If it had been someone’s neck instead… the result would’ve been lethal.

Moreover, he could control ten threads simultaneously.

Intrigued, Lynn began experimenting.

One by one, the black threads tightened and loosened, twisting and dancing through the air like agile black snakes.

A Cold and Indifferent Puppy

In another compartment, Yveste sat at her desk, her expression impassive as she read a book.

The recently bathed Princess was dressed in a light robe, its loosely tied collar hinting at the deep curve of her neckline and the pale expanse of her skin.

Yet, she wasn’t entirely focused on her book.

Her mind was preoccupied with irritation—directed at a certain bastard who hadn’t bothered to visit her for two whole days.

“Heartless little dog,” Yveste thought, her expression cool and unreadable as her eyes scanned the pages.

Just two days ago, they had kissed in the study.

And now, only a few days later, he was acting like nothing had happened? That everything was in the past?

The thought made Yveste flip the page of her book absentmindedly, her attention clearly elsewhere.

Though she had boldly declared her intention to make Lynn fall in love with this version of herself, that statement was more of a proclamation aimed at the future Witch of the End.

It didn’t necessarily mean she had the means to actually achieve it.

After all, such feelings and experiences had only ever been tied to that person throughout her life. She had absolutely no experience in such matters otherwise.

At that moment, her gaze happened to fall upon a line in her book, purely by chance:

"As a woman, you must learn to enhance your value, rather than constantly diminishing it."

"For men—especially those who are hesitant toward you—a hot-and-cold approach is far more effective than relentless pursuit."

"Make them realize that it’s not you who needs them, but rather, that they need you. You are unique, irreplaceable."

“…”

Reading these lines, a faint gleam sparked in Yveste’s crimson eyes, followed by a sly smile curling her lips.

It seemed her recent strategy of ignoring him had perfectly aligned with the book’s advice.

Now, it was time to show him just how irreplaceable his “Master” truly was.

By her calculations, “that” should be happening soon.