As Fern's words fell, the aura around her seemed to completely transform into that of another person.

Although her appearance and attire hadn't changed at all, the subtle shifts in her posture and expression were enough for Lin Yu to sense at a glance that the other party had "changed people."

The Fern from a moment ago gave off a feeling of being capable and clever, yet with a touch of slyness and a frivolous, teasing air.

But now, this existence that should perhaps be called "Algae" gave off a feeling of...

Sharpness.

A sharpness so keen it was almost palpable.

Over a dozen sharp blades lay fallen on the ground, as if submitting to the woman before them.

She stood ramrod straight, her originally somewhat tall figure now even more erect.

"『Third Tier』, huh," she stared at Twenty, as if sizing up a piece of meat, "Truly a troublesome opponent."

Twenty frowned.

He vaguely felt something was off.

Even though he already knew that "May May" was just one of the identities of his investigation target, and that the other party had the ability to use multiple 『professions』.

And given the other party's performance background, this multi-『profession』 ability was likely obtained through "acting."

So Twenty had subconsciously assumed this masked woman was Lin Yu in disguise.

But now...

Twenty also realized something.

"This guy should have split personalities... so is he really Lin Yu?"

"Could it be I got the wrong person!"

But there was no time to think about it further.

Because "Algae" was about to make her move.

"Whoosh..."

A rough sound, like something heavy being dragged across sandy ground, rang out.

Algae didn't charge at Twenty;she merely drew out a new 【item】.

An 【item】 that existed as a "weapon."

It was still a sword.

But compared to the blades on the ground that the previous "Fern" had used as "flying swords," this sword was exaggeratedly large.

It was a double-handed greatsword with a simple, archaic style—its cyan blade shimmering with a rainbow-like arc of light, which Algae hefted onto her shoulder.

Just by looking at it, one could tell this thing was dangerously ominous.

And Algae slightly hunched her body.

"『Detective』, because A-Fern asked me to try my best to kill you."

"So, I will do my utmost to try and kill you next."

She explained in a stiff, formal manner, though her words were so strange they could almost be called "humorous."

"Saying all that is really quite baffling," Twenty re-coalesced the pitch-black ink-like substance in front of him and looked up at the cat overhead, "I'll pay you three days' worth of 'sleep' and 'five senses,' to be given after this game ends."

"Understood," the black cat twitched its ears and sighed as it looked at Twenty, "Then you have to hold on for five minutes, okay."

"No problem."

Twenty replied curtly.

This dialogue wasn't hidden from Algae.

Hearing it, she seriously analyzed the situation.

"So, in five minutes, that cat of yours will probably unleash some very powerful skill, right?"

"It seems I need to hurry up!"

The moment her words fell, Algae also moved.

She took a step back, then sank her shoulder and twisted her waist, swinging the greatsword—whose blade was almost as tall as she was—in a sweeping arc.

"Boom!"

The cyan greatsword practically smashed toward Twenty's direction. He rapidly retreated, dodging this strike.

"Boom!"

The ground trembled, gouged into a deep depression by the greatsword's slash.

Twenty wasn't just dodging either. The moment he sidestepped, his hand also shot forward.

"Nightmare" once again transformed into a black python, coiling toward the greatsword whose momentum had been spent after smashing into the ground.

"Go!"

From what Twenty had just observed, although the weapon had become much heavier, Algae's appearance hadn't brought any obvious enhancement to her physical capabilities.

She still relied on "technique" to wield this greatsword.

So... the other party's strength definitely wasn't an invincible strong point.

Twenty chose to use "nightmare matter" to contest strength with his opponent! 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

This decision seemed sound. The moment the nightmare matter entangled the greatsword, Algae's movements clearly slowed considerably.

"Damn it."

The half of Algae's face that was visible became somewhat flushed, the veins on her hands bulging and her knuckles protruding.

However... despite the strain, Algae still managed to drag the longsword up from the ground and heft it onto her shoulder again.

But such a sluggish movement had already given Twenty enough leeway to counterattack.

He continued manipulating the "nightmare matter" with both hands, while the whites of his eyes also began to turn somewhat gray.

Layers of gray seeped into his eyeballs, and then, a grayish-white, blurry hand extended from behind Twenty.

"Hiss—"

A rustling sound arose, making Lin Yu frown slightly.

This grayish-white hand reminded Lin Yu of the "Shadow-Type Pseudohuman."

As if they were some kind of existence sharing the same origin.

"Do you know the origin of this hand?"

Lin Yu asked the living encyclopedia, Old Zheng.

But unfortunately, the Old Zheng Encyclopedia had no entry for it.

"Not too sure. Is it something from Night Valley? But it doesn't quite seem like it..."

"Anyway, it probably isn't this kid's 【Exclusive Item】."

As Old Zheng spoke, Lin Yu nodded.

But regardless, since Old Zheng didn't recognize it, that meant this thing was probably a rarely seen trump card.

So he planned to see what this thing could do.

Then, he saw that grayish-white, blurry-edged, trembling human hand groping through the air...

Next, it seemed to grope its way to some kind of fissure and directly probed inside.

The front half of this grayish-white hand just disappeared—as if it had reached into some "entrance" in the air.

Just as Lin Yu was curious about where the hand had gone, the pained grunt from Algae's side gave him the answer.

"Shhh—"

The grayish-white hand extended out through her abdomen, dripping with fresh blood and fragments of internal organs.

Although he didn't know the principle, Lin Yu understood the effect!

This thing had opened the other end of the "exit" inside Algae's body.

And just as the hand was slowly preparing to retract...

Algae grabbed it firmly.

"Truly a bizarre and unorthodox method," she gripped this hand tightly, while her other hand single-handedly dragged the longsword forward a step, "But... this is the end."

"The sun in the heavens shines brightly, all things receive its grace;the way of heaven is clear and manifest, all methods transmit profound mysteries—"

Algae's voice rang out clearly, blood seeping from the corner of her mouth.

And on that cyan greatsword, lines of curling, mysterious talisman incantations lit up.

Old Zheng's voice rang out, almost a scream.

"Her profession is 『Monk』! That greatsword is simultaneously the 『Monk』's first and second tier 【items】—【Ritual Implement】 and 【Disciplinary Scepter】!"

Lin Yu was also somewhat shocked.

"These two 【items】 can be one?"

The two first-tier 【Class Items】 for 『Monk』 are 【Ritual Implement】 and 【Sutra】.

"Because the 【Disciplinary Scepter】 is essentially an enchantment applied to an existing 【item】... it's normal for a 『Monk』 to choose their 【Ritual Implement】, but..."

"How could her 【Ritual Implement】 be a greatsword?! What kind of religion does she believe in? This person is way too problematic!"

Old Zheng said, puzzled.

"Yeah, and compared to the two-in-one 【item】, what I'm more curious about is... so her two personalities actually have different 『professions』?"