Tap Tap Tap
The guard's footsteps echoed through the narrow alley as he ran alongside Theo on the right. Just minutes ago, he had seen the white-haired kid vanish into thin air, and shortly after, Theo had glanced back with an expression of pure shock etched across his face.
A sinister smile crept across the guard's face. 'Judging by the red-haired kid's reaction, the white-haired kid should be dead by now,' he thought, a surge of satisfaction coursing through him. His colleague, sprinting alongside Theo in the left alley, shared the same thoughts.
Suddenly, the guard's eyes darted upward, drawn by an inexplicable sensation. His relic had detected someone approaching him. A shadowy figure materialized in the sky before gracefully descending next to him. When the guard saw the figure, he exhaled a sigh of relief. "Why are you here? You should be behind those kids."
Running alongside him was a guard in the same uniform as himself. "That white-haired kid was tougher than I thought," he admitted, his voice laced with frustration. "I ended up wasting too much of my soul energy. I need you to switch with me." The gravity in his tone was grave.
His colleague's lip curled in disdain, a sneer twisting his features. "How can you not even handle a bunch of Lesser rank kids?" he spat with contempt. "If it was me, I would too ashamed to show my face in front of others". The new guard remained silent, his eyes fixed ahead, seemingly lost in thought.
"Hmph," the original guard grunted in his disappointment. "I'll let the supervisor decide what to do with you after we're done with this." He turned to leave, his mind already racing with plans to capture Theo. But as he moved, a prickle of unease ran down his spine. His Superior Rank 1 sense, honed by years of training, picked up on something... off. A Lesser Rank 1 aura was coming from behind him. Confusion clouded his features as he turned back, words forming on his lips. "Why am I sensing a Lesser Rank 1 aura coming from yo-"
His sentence was abruptly cut short as a sharp, searing pain exploded in the side of his neck. Instinctively, his hand flew to the source of the agony, only to come away slick with warm, sticky blood. His eyes widened in shock and betrayal as he saw the new guard retracting his hand, from which a thin, golden line of light emanated.
"W-...why?..." The words gurgled from his throat, barely audible as blood filled his mouth. With his neck half split and barely supporting his head, the guard then collapsed to the ground.
The new guard observed the fallen body with clinical detachment, casually wiping the blood from his hand as the air around him began to ripple and distort from which Seren appeared.
'Hmm, looks like I was worried for nothing,' Seren mused. 'It seems the concepts created by the conceptual creation ability don't leak out energy that others can detect. The guard only noticed something was off when I activated my Luminar Crystal.' He knelt beside the body, examining the partially severed neck. 'Still... the Luminar Crystal's power is too weak with the scarce light in Glowhaven. The laser broke before it could even cut off the neck completely.'
Seren sighed as he bent down and gathered the few relics that had materialized beside the dead guard's body. As he straightened, a small smile played across his lips. 'At least I won't have to worry about soul stones for a while,'
…
The last guard's footsteps echoed through the narrow alley as he observed Theo, but an unsettling silence had fallen over the chase. Something felt off, but he couldn't quite place it. The absence of his colleagues' voices or any sounds of struggle with their target was disconcerting.
Suddenly, his instincts flared. Two unidentified objects entered his detection range, hurtling towards him at alarming speed. Without hesitation, he leapt backward, narrowly avoiding the projectiles as they whizzed past.
Heart pounding, the guard's eyes darted ahead, searching for the source of the attack. What he saw made his blood run cold. There, on the damp cobblestones, lay the severed heads of his two companions. Their lifeless eyes stared blankly upward. Blood pooled beneath them, seeping into the cracks between the stones.
As the guard's mind reeled, trying to process the gruesome scene before him, a figure emerged from the shadows. Seren stepped forward, his silvery-white hair gleaming in the dim light. With a casual air that belied the horror of the moment, he placed one foot atop one of the severed heads, regarding the remaining guard with cold, calculating eyes.
"Peek-a-boo," Seren said, his voice eerily playful, a stark contrast to the grisly scene around them. The incongruity of his words sent a chill down the guard's spine.
The guard's hand trembled as he reached for his weapon. "W-what are you?" he stammered, fear evident in his voice.
Seren's lips curved into a mirthless smile. "I'm the one who's going to end this little chase,".
Panic seized the guard as he made the quick decision to flee, realizing his fate wouldn’t be much different from his companions. With his feet slipping on the blood-slicked stones, he fled like a rat on a sinking ship.
But fate had other plans.
Before the guard could even activate his relic or get a few steps, Theo suddenly appeared from around the corner of a dilapidated building, mounted atop his monstrous beast.
The creature's eyes glowed with an otherworldly light and without hesitation, it lunged forward as its powerful jaws clamped down on the guard's torso. The muffled screams of the guard resounded as he desperately tried to free himself.
Crunch
With a sickening crunch, the screams abruptly stopped. The beast shook the guard violently before tossing him aside like a rag doll.
Theo, his face pale and expression unreadable, observed the scene before him. His eyes darted between the mangled body of the guard, the severed heads on the ground, and Seren, who had somehow managed to kill all three Superior Rank guards. The last guard would have been able to put up a fight if he was cool-headed but who could stay calm after seeing their beheaded colleagues? The realization of Seren's nasty fighting style slowly dawned on Theo, a mix of awe and trepidation settling in his gut.
Seren surveyed the scene around them. "We should move quickly," he advised, breaking the tense silence. "It won't be long before the supervisor reaches us"
Theo stayed silent, only nodding lightly as he followed his instructions. A light of satisfaction appeared in Seren’s heart seeing Theo becoming more submissive towards him.
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…
Woosh Woosh
Dorian cursed under his breath as he narrowly dodged to the side, an arrow whizzed past him.
Boom!
A small explosion erupted beside him, the shockwave grazing his body. Gritting his teeth against the pain, Dorian glanced back to see Oliver perched atop a distant building, bow aimed squarely at him.
'Blast it!' Dorian thought bitterly. 'Of all the rotten luck, I'm stuck facing a Lexarch specialized in long-range attacks!’
As another arrow came flying. Dorian dashed into a nearby store, bursting through the entrance. The building shook violently as the arrow detonated, destroying part of the structure. Panicked screams filled the air as people inside the store rushed for the exits.
Wasting no time, Dorian sprinted for the back door. 'I can't let him get close or I'll be bombarded with those arrows'
Once outside, Dorian ran with all his might, frantically pulling soul stones from his storage artifact. He crushed them in his hand, releasing a fine white dust. Some of the energy seeped into his body, but most dissipated into the air before it could be absorbed.
This was a risky and inefficient method of replenishing soul energy - Lexarchs normally needed to remain still and regulate their Mind Core whenever they used soul stone to replenish their soul reserves. But Dorian couldn't afford to stop. He'd only gain a 1/10 of the stones' power, and the unstable energy could even harm his Mind Core if not properly controlled.
'If I survive this, I swear I'll kill you first!' Dorian seethed, seeing Oliver gaining ground behind him. His desperate plan was to somehow reach the Backdoor Collective's store and have the supervisor and other guards turn the tide.
Little did Dorian know, the Backdoor Collective’s store was in ruins with the supervisor and the guards giving chase to Seren and Theo who were headed in his direction.
…
"Ohhhhhhh, Serennnnnnn!"
Seren looked back as he sat atop the beast, his eyes widening slightly at the sight of a massive wave of sand rising in the distance, covering almost the entire street. The supervisor stood atop the sand wave, a twisted figure of fury and madness. Surrounding him were hundreds of guards, leaping from building to building like a swarm of locusts, their eyes glinting with determination. They had already caught up to them and their sheer force made Theo tremble slightly.
The supervisor laughed maniacally, his voice echoing through the air like a deranged symphony. "Ahaha! Ahaha! Ahaha! Seren, look at this! This is what you and that other prick did to me!" He spread his arms wide, a grotesque display of triumph amid his suffering.
Seren's eyes narrowed as he squinted. From this distance, he could barely make out that the supervisor had used his Sand Shifting Relic to create temporary hands for himself—clumsy, monstrous appendages that only amplified his madness.
"I'm not mad that I lost my hands," the supervisor spat, his voice low and venomous. "I can always spend a few thousand soul stones to grow them back. I'm also not mad that the Collective's store was blown to smithereens; it can always be rebuilt..." His expression twisted into a mask of rage as he at Seren, "But what about my dignity as a Rank 2 Lexarch?!"
The supervisor wanted nothing more than to kill Seren. In the Lexarch society, ascending to Rank 2 was regarded as a significant milestone. This transition from Rank 1 to Rank 2 represents the first major challenge that a Lexarch must overcome on their journey.
While becoming Rank 1 was simply a matter of luck and innate talent, advancing to Rank 2 was different. Becoming a Rank 2 truly meant you had what it took to be a Lexarch. It was a form of pride and achievement for some people.
Seren could see the raw desperation in the supervisor’s eyes—a need for validation that had spiralled into an obsession.
"I will never get back my dignity for having suffered such disgrace from a mere Rank 1!" The supervisor's voice cracked with fury, his desire to rip Seren apart evident in every syllable.
Seren listened with an impassive expression.
"Ah... if only I hadn't accepted your bet back then..." The supervisor's tone shifted as he shed a theatrical tear for himself.
Then, like a switch flipping in his mind, a malevolent smile spread across his face. "I already dealt with Javier, and now it's your turn, Seren. I will make sure to kill you as painfully as possible. That's the only way I can regain some of my dignity! Ahahahaha!"
As the crazed laughter echoed in the distance, Seren couldn't help but think: '...I guess he has a superiority complex.'
Theo glanced at Seren, his voice filled with urgency. "What do we do now? The supervisor is going to catch up to us shortly!"
Seren smiled lightly, reassuring him. "Don’t worry. Just focus ahead."
As they raced forward, Theo felt a wave of incompetence wash over him, the more he stayed with Seren. Yet, he knew that feeling incompetent was far better than the alternative—death. He concentrated on controlling the beast, trusting that Seren would find a way to pull them out of this predicament.
Away from Theo’s eyes, Seren reached into his storage artifact and pulled out a crate of gunpowder. Tearing a strip from his sleeve, he fashioned a makeshift fuse, quickly creating a simple bomb with the gunpowder.
In this world where military warfare revolved around Laws and Concepts, it was unlikely anyone could tell that this simple-looking crate was a deadly bomb. Still, Seren remained cautious about revealing his hand to others—even Theo.
As the beast approached a tall building, Seren waited for the perfect moment. Just as they passed by it, he ignited the fuse using his Luminar Crystal and tossed the crate of gunpowder against the building's base.
Seconds later, the supervisor and his guards surged past the structure. The supervisor's eyes narrowed as he spotted the sealed crate with a line of fire creeping toward it. Dismissing it as insignificant, he continued forward.
But just when the fuse reached its end, the crate erupted in a massive explosion.
BOOM!
The blast rocked the ground beneath them.
"What the hell was that?!" the supervisor coughed through a thick cloud of smoke. He scanned the area, relief flooding him when he saw none of his guards were caught in the explosion.
"S-sir, look!" A trembling guard pointed skyward.
Confusion morphed into horror as the supervisor glanced up. The entire building next to them was collapsing toward them!
The explosion had destroyed its foundation, and now it was falling directly onto him and his guards as they stood frozen in disbelief.
"Damn you, Serennnnnnn!" the supervisor screamed in horror and anger just before—
CRASH!
On the beast, Seren smiled looking back at his handy work before turning to Theo. "This should buy us some time."
Theo watched in awe at how effortlessly Seren had managed to thwart their pursuers. He didn’t even think to ask how he did it.
"By the way," Seren said casually, shifting the conversation, "did Ronan answer yet?"
Theo shook his head anxiously. "No, I’ve been trying to reach him for a while now, but he’s still not responding."
Seren contemplated silently for a moment. 'Considering how the Collective knew about our attack beforehand, they likely ambushed Ronan as well. He's a peak Rank 2 Lexarch; they probably sent some Rank 2s after him. By himself, he might have trouble with his foes even if he’s a Superior Rank 2.'
Taking Ronan's predicament into account, Seren quickly calculated his options. "Alright, keep trying then," he instructed Theo.
Then taking a deep breath, Seren gazed up at the dark sky. A hint of evil glinted in his calm crimson eyes.
'Ronan, I will pray for you…'
A creepy smile appeared on his face.
‘...I pray that you don’t make it out alive today’
…
Cough! Cough!
Ronan gasped violently, blood spilling from his mouth and staining his tattered clothes as he slumped against the wall of a dark alleyway. Surrounding him were the lifeless corpses of Rank 2 Lexarchs.
None of the passersby on the main street noticed this gruesome spectacle unfolding in the dark alley.