End of Days Game: I'm the Only One Who Can See the Hidden Cues

Chapter 190: Ritchie, Unnoticed by Anyone

In reality, it wasn't just Bonnie who doubted Howard's ability to ensure Jeremy's safety.

Even Claire and Emma had lost faith in Howard.

Having accompanied Howard on the helicopter, they too witnessed the disastrous consequences of his order to launch the missiles.

The entrance of the instance was already halfway covered, and it was highly likely that the boss within the instance would be enraged by the explosions caused by the missile attacks.

Jeremy, now inside the instance, was undoubtedly in even greater peril.

Howard paid no heed to Bonnie's words.

"If you don't trust me, what course of action do you intend to take? If you wish to enter the instance, I can permit you to accompany me.

After all, you are the daughter of an old friend of mine, and I must ensure your safety during the operation. I certainly don't want to be blamed by your father should you encounter any danger."

In truth, Howard had never fully trusted Bonnie.

Howard always felt that everything Bonnie had accomplished in the past was only possible with Jeremy's assistance.

Upon hearing his words, Bonnie responded calmly.

"I will enter the instance to provide aid to Jeremy. However, I will not be accompanying you. You and your subordinates would only serve to hinder me."

With that, Bonnie resolutely stepped into the instance.

In reality, Bonnie wouldn't encounter any danger whatsoever, as all the threats within the instance were far from the entrance at this moment.

When Kean first entered the instance, he immediately confronted a colossal monster right at the entrance.

This gigantic creature was one of the two bosses of the instance.

Following the missile attacks, one of the monsters within the instance charged toward the entrance, while the other rushed deeper into the instance.

This meant that Kean had to defeat the instance's monsters with the assistance of the White Tower if he wanted to delve deeper into the instance and find Jeremy

During the battle, Kean fought with utmost seriousness, but he suddenly realized he couldn't easily defeat the instance boss.

"What on earth is going on? Why is an instance boss of this level so difficult to defeat? Can you provide me with some assistance?! If I end up failing, it will be a mutual failure for both of us! You absolutely cannot stand idly by now!"

Kean hoped that the White Tower could provide him with some assistance.

Under normal circumstances, the White Tower was indeed willing to aid Kean. After all, its objective was to eliminate Jeremy, and to achieve that, cooperation with Kean was essential.

However, during Kean's battle with the instance boss, the White Tower suddenly sensed that something was amiss within the instance.

The White Tower had an unsettling feeling that this instance had been tampered with. Furthermore, the tampering seemed to involve the power of an apocalypse game designer.

The White Tower wanted to quickly ascertain which apocalypse game designer's power was present within the instance. However, due to its own power being weakened in the real world, it couldn't make a swift determination.

Because the White Tower was preoccupied with other matters, Kean had to face the instance boss alone. This made the battle exceedingly difficult for Kean.

In the deepest part of the instance, Jeremy was also engaged in a fiercely difficult battle.

Jeremy had to ensure that the traps he had set in the depths of the instance were not destroyed by the instance boss.

One of the instance bosses had already blocked the entrance to the area where Jeremy's deepest trap was located. The instance boss seemed intent on breaking into the trap-laden zone.

While fending off the instance boss, Jeremy complained aloud.

"There's nothing in there that you want! Even if you get in, you'll only be severely injured by the traps inside."

Of course, it was impossible for Jeremy to successfully persuade the instance boss through mere words to stop being his adversary.

The words Jeremy had just uttered were merely a form of venting.

Jeremy had never imagined that this particular mission would be fraught with so many unforeseen events.

Although Jeremy was unaware of the exact cause behind the violent explosion at the instance entrance, he could roughly surmise that it was the doing of his allies.

While wielding the Longsword of the Undying against the instance boss, Jeremy pondered his next course of action.

As everyone within the instance was entangled with their respective opponents, a shadow emerged from the vast, empty hall within the instance. This shadow was none other than Ritchie.

Ritchie first glanced upward towards the instance entrance, then cast his gaze downward towards the deeper parts of the instance.

"It seems I should assist Jeremy first! Once I team up with Jeremy to eliminate the instance boss, the two of us can easily take down Kean."

After making his decision, Ritchie once again shifted into his shadow form, swiftly advancing through the darkness towards the deeper parts of the instance.

In actuality, Ritchie had arrived at the instance earlier than both Howard and Bonnie.

Ritchie had overheard the argument between Kean and the members of the White Tower.

During their heated exchange, Ritchie seized the moment when both parties were distracted to slip into the instance.

Despite his early arrival, Ritchie was an exceedingly cautious individual. In this mission, his caution bordered on excessive.

Only after ensuring that he would encounter no danger did Ritchie begin his operations within the instance.

Ritchie quickly arrived at the battlefield where Jeremy was engaged with the instance boss.

By this time, the instance boss had been significantly weakened by Jeremy. Seizing the opportune moment, Ritchie immediately employed the Ravager's Gloves.

With the enhancement provided by the Ravager's Gloves, Ritchie's control over shadow-manipulating skills had become significantly more potent.

The shadow of the instance boss was directly seized by Ritchie, who cunningly manipulated it to turn against the instance boss itself.

Under such circumstances, the instance boss's strength rapidly diminished, and it could no longer focus its attention on battling Jeremy.

Seizing this opportunity, Jeremy swiftly used the Longsword of the Undying to slay the instance boss.

Although the instance boss was defeated, no rewards were given. This was because the instance was, after all, a dual-boss instance. Only by vanquishing both bosses would the corresponding rewards be bestowed.

"It seems your support arrived just in the nick of time. Where are the others now? They haven't encountered any danger, have they?"

Jeremy inquired calmly, turning towards Ritchie.

Ritchie shook his head. "I don't actually know if the other two have encountered any danger. After you and Kean left, I hurriedly followed in your direction."

"However, I believe they should be safe. Before I set out, I specifically gave General Howard a call."

"If my judgment is correct, General Howard and Bonnie should have already arrived."

Upon hearing Ritchie's words, Jeremy's expression finally relaxed a bit.

"This time, our mission should be successful. However, I still have no confidence that we can completely eliminate Kean. At best, we can only severely wound him."

Ritchie showed a momentary look of confusion upon hearing this.

"I really don't understand. Why can't we finish him off? Kean has already lost to you several times before. Can't you take this opportunity to defeat him once and for all?"

Facing Ritchie's inquiry, Jeremy responded softly, "Now is not the right moment to eliminate Kean. I have a feeling that Kean will only be defeated by me at a very pivotal moment."

"If I eliminate him prematurely, we might not reap as many benefits. We must wait for the most opportune moment to strike."

Jeremy's words left Ritchie even more puzzled.

However, one of Ritchie's strengths was that when he encountered something he couldn't understand, his strategy was simply to stop thinking about it.

"What you're saying has really confused me. But honestly, I don't care whether we can completely eliminate Kean this time or not. Since you believe we can't, I'll trust your judgment."

"My only question now is, what should our next move be? Since we've already taken down one instance boss, should we go after the other instance boss next?"

"Or should we head directly to the instance entrance to confront Kean?"

Ritchie proposed two different courses of action. However, Jeremy knew that these two options were essentially the same.

"We just need to wait here a bit longer. Although Kean isn't as strong as I am, I doubt that a mere instance boss could hold him back. Moreover, he now has even more powerful assistance."

Just as Jeremy finished speaking, the sound of footsteps echoed from not far away.

"Impressive as always, Jeremy! Your assessment of the situation is quite accurate. However, this time, there is no way you can escape my grasp."

Kean's voice emerged from the shadows.

As the footsteps grew louder, Kean's detestable face gradually came into view.

Ritchie could only see Kean alone, but from Jeremy's perspective, he could discern another figure faintly floating behind Kean.

That figure behind Kean was the true formidable adversary Jeremy needed to confront, [the White Tower].