Lord: Sequence Master

On Shell Street in Redstone City, only the city's wealthiest merchants could afford to live.

At number 15 stood a three-story mini-castle surrounded by roses of various colors, known as the Rose Castle. Rosen peered out from the window of his mysterious study, staring at the Rose Castle and waiting for its owner, Stephanie Dora, to appear on the terrace. Of all the wealthy women young Rosen had been involved with, Stephanie was the most beautiful, the wealthiest, and the most powerful.

Initially, Rosen hadn't paid much attention to young Rosen's romantic entanglements. Even though Stephanie had sent people all over the city searching for him, Rosen wasn't particularly concerned.

Firstly, Stephanie wasn't responsible for the tampering that caused young Rosen's death. She had no reason to kill him, as she had wanted young Rosen's hereditary title. Killing him would have been a self-defeating move. Even if Rosen sought revenge, it wouldn't be against Stephanie.

However, what puzzled Rosen was how Stephanie had been able to track his location so accurately.

During his last outing to distribute the static image keys, Rosen had stocked up on food and taken it into the mysterious study. But after staying inside for a while, he ran out of supplies. When he left to gather more, he was nearly caught by a hunter sent by Stephanie.

Young Rosen had been close to Stephanie, making it easy for her to obtain strands of his hair or nail clippings. Hunters in the Sequence specializing in tracking could use such items to lock onto someone's location.

However, young Rosen had been reduced to ashes, and Rosen only possessed his memories. Yet, Stephanie's hunter had still been able to track him, appearing at his last known location within minutes.

Rosen didn't know what medium the hunter was using, but he realized that leaving Redstone City wouldn't be as simple as he had hoped.

Though humanity had slain five deities and established the world government, the gods had left behind eternal curses before their deaths. Since then, endless gray ashes had covered human civilization, retreating only in places with populations greater than a thousand.

Crossing the ash-covered wilderness between cities was out of the question. Not only did Rosen not know the way, but even if he did, he had no desire to face the dangerous and mysterious ash-born creatures.

His only viable option was to leave Redstone City by train. However, the mysterious study couldn't move along with the train. The moment the train left, the study would remain anchored in its original position. This made Rosen realize that the study was bound to a particular space, not to the physical door through which he entered and exited.

Unable to sneak onto the train using the mysterious study, Rosen would need to buy a ticket like everyone else. But as soon as he boarded, the hunter would track him down.

If Rosen wanted to leave the city, he needed to figure out how the hunter was tracking him.

He had considered setting a trap to kill the Sequence 9 hunter, but if Stephanie could hire one, she could easily hire another. The best way to free himself from the pursuit for good would be to eliminate Lady Stephanie herself.

Despite the frustration of being hunted these past few days, Rosen had made a valuable discovery.

He had initially thought the door was the only way to enter and exit the study. But over time, he realized that the window could also be used.

Moreover, exiting through the door would cause it to close behind him, and he would need to reopen it to return. But leaving through the window left the study open, making it far more convenient than the door.

Armed with this knowledge, Rosen transformed into a master thief, effortlessly obtaining a considerable amount of food. By opening the window, he could simply reach out and pull in food nearby. Unlike the door, which created a visible portal, the window remained invisible from the outside when used.

This new ability gave Rosen the confidence to make plans against Stephanie.

Rosen now held a spiritual artwork in his hand, depicting a high-speed, spinning bullet. He infused it with spiritual energy, aligning it with the bullet, and used it to lock onto the Rose Castle's terrace.

Soon, Stephanie stepped out onto the terrace, gazing over her castle and gardens. It was her favorite daily routine.

Just as she took a deep breath, a bullet suddenly materialized from a window across the street.

The bullet closed the distance in less than two seconds. Just before it pierced Stephanie's skull, a necklace around her neck glowed with spiritual light, activating a protective enchantment that enveloped her body. The bullet, trapped by the magical barrier, quickly dissipated into nothingness.

Stephanie glanced at the spot where the bullet had vanished, her brow furrowed.

She twisted a ring on her left hand, and instantly, a translucent ash assassin appeared beside her. The assassin, a soul corrupted by the ash after death, had been captured and reconditioned by someone in the Sorcerer Sequence, now serving as her summoned creature.

Though the ash assassin no longer had a physical body, its speed had increased exponentially.

Within seconds, it crossed the few hundred meters to the opposite building, phasing through walls as it searched the premises. After a brief sweep, it found nothing and returned to Stephanie, awaiting further orders.

"A painter in Sequence couldn't have escaped so quickly," Stephanie murmured to herself.

Though she couldn't awaken her own spiritual energy due to natural limitations, her wealth and connections—particularly her sister, who had married the city lord's son—granted her access to extraordinary knowledge. She was convinced that the painter who attacked her must have had an accomplice.

Stephanie turned to leave the terrace, heading toward her bedroom, where a hidden safe room awaited.

However, as she pushed the bookshelf aside to reveal the secret door, she noticed something unusual about its texture.

Upon closer inspection, she found several sheets of paper stuck to the side of the shelf, camouflaged to match the bookshelf's color. It was nearly impossible to spot at first glance.

Clearly, someone close to her had tampered with the shelf.

The attack on the terrace wasn't intended to kill her—it was a distraction to lure her into the safe room. By touching the side of the bookshelf, she had triggered one of the papers.

Realizing she had walked into a trap, Stephanie didn't panic. Instead, she took a moment to assess the situation. She noticed that one of the papers was missing from the bookshelf, precisely from the spot she had touched. The fact that it had vanished immediately after contact reminded her of reports coming from the outer city.

The news of ordinary citizens being dragged into a Spiritual Realm couldn't be hidden from the city's elite. Most already knew it was the work of a suspected Sequence 6 painter, which had prompted the city's aristocrats to stay indoors for fear of provoking the artist. After all, the most powerful figure in Redstone City, the city lord, was only a viscount, equivalent to a Sequence 7.

To deal with a Sequence 6 painter, they would have to call for aid from the duchy. And it was likely this Sequence 6 artist was backed by one of the duchy's great nobles.

So far, only a thousand people from the outer city had died, all of whom were criminals or lowlifes. Not a single aristocrat had been harmed, so the city's elite had chosen to let things lie rather than escalate the situation.

The medium for entering the Spiritual Realm, according to the information Stephanie had gathered, was a series of card-sized static images.

With a grim expression, Stephanie tore down one of the papers and found that, sure enough, it contained a static image on the other side.

(Chapter End)