Chapter 27: Raising the stakes. (Part 2)

3rd person POV

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Adam's hand instinctively reached for his iron dagger, but just as his fingers brushed the hilt, Dix’s urgent voice cut through the tension.

“We can’t use weapons! If we fight back, the security might arrest us instead!” Dix whispered frantically, his golden eyes darting around for an escape route.

Adam narrowed his eyes as Hector’s smug grin widened. The massive man rested his axe casually on his shoulder, exuding the confidence of someone who thought he had already won.

“At least someone in your group’s got a brain,” Hector sneered. He stretched out a meaty hand toward Adam. “Look, kid, I’ll make this simple. Hand over your stock, and I’ll let you walk away.”

Hey, isn’t this too fast? Adam’s mind raced. He had anticipated something like this—eventually. But not on the very first day of setting up shop. This was supposed to be his trial run, a warm-up, and now he was already facing down a full-blown shakedown.

Adam straightened up, radiating an eerie confidence that immediately put Dix and Dara at ease. His posture relaxed, a genuine smile forming on his lips as he placed a hand on his hip. “Hey, we’re just a bunch of kids trying to make an honest living. You’re not really gonna hurt a child, are you?” His tone was light, almost playful.

Hector’s grin only grew sharper, like a vulture circling its next meal. “With Core Nodes like yours? Yeah, I think the hell not,” he chuckled darkly. “Kids or not, you’re damaging my economy, and I can’t let that happen.”

Dix and Dara exchanged worried glances. They weren’t combat specialists. Their strengths lay in scouting and espionage, not direct confrontation. And Hector? He wasn’t just some street thug. Rumors said he could bring down houses with a single swing of his axe and walk away without a scratch.

To them, winning meant getting away.

But that was their plan.

Not Adam’s.

“I’ve already said enough,” Hector sighed, shifting the weight of his axe in both hands. “So what’s it gonna be? The easy way or the hard way?”

Both siblings looked to Adam for guidance, sweat beading on Dix’s forehead. “Adam, we don’t need to risk this,” he whispered urgently. “We’re not his match.”

Adam, however, shook his head with a smirk. “Pffft, as if.” He raised a finger and pointed it directly at Hector. “We both know you’re not gonna let us go even if I hand over everything, right, Hector?”

Hector stepped forward, his deep laughter echoing through the empty market street. “Well, I guess I don’t need to act anymore,” he sneered, his eyes glinting with malice. “Who cares if street rats like you end up dead anyway? Oh, and don’t even think about running.” He tapped his axe against his shoulder with a smug grin. “I’ve got friends everywhere.”

Without warning, Hector hoisted his massive axe high into the air. The trio’s eyes narrowed in unison, instincts kicking in as they braced themselves. In a flash, Hector brought the axe down in a devastating horizontal swing, aiming to cleave them all in one brutal strike.

Dara and Adam leapt to the side just in time, their reflexes saving them from being cut down. Meanwhile, Dix lunged forward toward Hector, dodging the massive blade by a hair’s breadth and preparing for a counterattack.

With a flick of his foot, flames erupted from Dix's shoes, propelling him into a rapid spin like a fiery Beyblade. He unleashed a flurry of kicks, his strikes landing in quick succession against Hector’s broad chest.

But just before impact, a layer of jagged rock formed across Hector’s skin where Dix’s blows landed. Sparks flew with each strike, and Adam’s eyes widened as he saw damage numbers flicker above Hector’s head.

-6 -6 -8 -9 -5

Barely a dent.

Before Dix could react, Hector swung a fist like a wrecking ball, sending him flying like a ragdoll.

-32

“Brother!” Dara screamed, rushing to catch Dix mid-air, breaking his fall with a thud. Dix groaned, coughing up blood, his face contorted in pain.

Adam’s eyes narrowed. That barely did anything, he thought. Meanwhile, Hector stood tall and unbothered, his grin widening at their growing despair. Before the jaggy rocks that formed on his chest disappeared.

“What the hell?” Adam muttered under his breath.

Hector chuckled darkly, clenching his fists as chunks of rock formed across his knuckles. “Rock Armor, son,” he boasted. “My Nexus Core ability. It hardens in response to physical trauma. You brats? You can’t even scratch me.”

Dara’s expression hardened as she gently set Dix down on the ground, her eyes burning with determination. With a swift motion, she swung her arm forward, releasing a blast of icy air toward Hector’s feet.

Frost spread rapidly, encasing Hector’s boots in thick ice. He raised an eyebrow, unimpressed, but Dara didn’t wait. “Adam!” she shouted urgently. “Take my brother and run!”

Her voice carried desperation—she knew that, out of the three of them, Adam was the least suited for combat. The truth was unsettling. When Dix had scanned Adam earlier, the results were baffling. His intelligence stats were insanely high, bordering on unnatural—but his other stats? They were a different story. Almost all of them were in the single digits, barely better than that of a nine-year-old child.

“What did I just say?” Hector’s voice thundered like an angry warden, his eyes scanning them like cornered prey. “Run if you’d like, my friends will catch you all the same.”

With a casual stomp, he shattered the ice encasing his feet as if it was nothing more than a mild inconvenience.

As Dara frantically calculated their next move, Adam knelt beside the downed Dix, pulling a small vial from his inventory. He tilted Dix’s head up and poured the Lesser Healing Potion into his mouth.

“Why are you guys always so dramatic?” Adam muttered, tapping Dix’s forehead lightly before slapping a glowing rune onto his chest. “There. If you don’t turn into Superman after this, I’m gonna be really disappointed.”

Rune of Sul Effect: Agility of a Dancer

Adam had no idea what that actually meant, but it definitely worked. Dix shot up onto his feet like he’d never been hit, his eyes gleaming with renewed energy. “Nya! Sorry for worrying you, Dara!” he chirped, bouncing slightly on his feet like he’d just downed an energy drink.

Dara exhaled in relief, clutching her chest. Adam, meanwhile, clapped Dix on the back. “Go get ‘em, tiger,” he said nonchalantly.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

And Dix did exactly that.

With a burst of speed, Dix rocketed forward, his movements sharper and faster than before. Hector’s eyes widened in mild surprise as he swung his massive axe down, aiming to crush the feline speedster. But Dix side-stepped the attack effortlessly, darting past the heavy blade and delivering a flurry of strikes to Hector’s chin.

-3 -2 -2 -1

Rocks formed under his chin as the damage numbers appeared above Hector’s head, disappointingly low. Dix cursed under his breath. “Dara! Nya, let’s do it!” he called, quickly using the axe’s handle as a springboard to launch himself into the air. The entire sequence unfolded in a blink of an eye.

Dara didn’t need further explanation. Channeling her energy, a sphere of wind formed in her palm before she hurled it at Hector.

Hector smirked and swung his axe to swat the wind ball away, but Dix landed gracefully on his outstretched arm, moving with an almost weightless finesse.

“Nya! Eyes on me, big guy!” Dix teased, his cocky grin driving Hector into an irritated frenzy.

As Hector attempted to shake him off, a pair of glowing white wings suddenly sprouted from Dix’s back. In an instant, he soared upwards, his flaming shoes igniting once more as he spun rapidly, gaining speed.

Meanwhile, the wind orb Dara had thrown suddenly expanded, spiraling into a vortex around Hector.

Adam squinted, his analytical mind processing the sudden shift in energy. A faint blue shimmer flickered around the whirlwind—the same hue he’d seen when performing Metalweaving.

“Wait... Is he Metalweaving?” Adam muttered, his eyes widening.

Before he could finish his thought, the swirling wind cyclone erupted into a blazing inferno.

The air crackled with heat as the fiery hurricane engulfed Hector, roaring like a beast unleashed.

“Nya! No matter how much armor you’ve got, Hector, you’re still gonna burn!” Dix taunted from within the fiery hurricane, his voice ringing with confidence. With a powerful flap of his wings, he shot out of the swirling inferno, landing gracefully on the ground as his ethereal wings disappeared.

A string of damage numbers flickered above Hector’s head, and for a moment, Dix grinned victoriously.

-22 -19 -20 -18

“Nyahaha! He’s as good as dead!” Dix cheered, pumping his fist in the air.

But his triumph was short-lived.

The flames died down, revealing Hector standing there, now encased head to toe in thick, jagged rock armor. Smoke rose from the cracks, but his smirk remained firmly in place.

Adam could see why Dix was getting cocky—after all, it looked like they had done some serious damage. But in reality, Hector’s health bar had only dropped by about 20%. Barely a dent.

Hector spat out a glob of blood, wiping his mouth with the back of his rocky hand. “Gotta admit… that stung,” he said with a menacing grin.

Before Dix could even process what was happening, Hector’s hand glowed a vibrant blue.

“Dix, watch out!” Adam shouted, but it was too late.

With a flick of his wrist, Hector punched the air. A jet of pressurized water shot forward like a bullet—too fast to react to.

“DARA!” Dix cried out in horror, turning to intercept the attack, but he was too far away.

Dara’s eyes widened in shock as the blast struck her square in the chest, sending her flying backward.

-54

Adam lunged forward, catching her before she could hit the ground. “O-Oi! Dara, can you hear me?” His usual calm cracked, worry creeping into his voice.

He inspected the damage. Dara’s clothes were shredded at the impact site, revealing a nasty, purple bruise blooming across her stomach. Her breathing was shallow, and her face twisted in pain, eyes fluttering weakly.

Dix stood frozen, his eyes wide and filled with terror. His hands trembled, fists clenched so tightly they turned white.

“I’ve played around enough,” Hector growled, his voice now dripping with menace. His massive axe started glowing a deep crimson, heat radiating from it in waves. “But you brats… you’ve pissed me off.”

With a roar, he slammed his axe down, shattering the ground beneath Dix. The force of the blow cracked the stone, sending debris flying. Dix staggered, struggling to keep his footing, but the agility boost from the rune kicked in just in time.

He leapt away—only for Hector to anticipate the move, launching himself right after him. The air cracked as Hector’s axe came swinging down mid-air, aiming to split Dix in two.

In the blink of an eye, white fog oozed out of Dix’s hands. A frozen shield formed between him and the axe, the air around it hissing with frost.

CRACK!

The shield shattered into a million pieces on impact, and Dix crashed to the ground, landing in a heap next to Adam, groaning in pain.

Hector landed heavily, the ground shaking beneath him. He loomed over them like a mountain, his predatory grin widening.

“Finally,” he rumbled, rolling his shoulders. “Now for the pipsqueak.”

Adam knelt beside Dara, gently pressing a Lesser Healing Potion to her lips. The bruises across her abdomen slowly faded as the potion took effect, though her torn clothes did little to hide the damage already done. With calm efficiency, he then strolled over to Dix and poured another potion into his mouth.

“A-Adam…” Dara gasped, clutching her stomach, her voice strained but laced with urgency. “You need to get out of here. As long as you can escape, it’ll be fine…”

Adam paused, scratching the back of his head, an almost lazy expression crossing his face. Even now, when all hope seemed lost, these two were still thinking about his safety before their own.

But their fear was palpable. The siblings had never faced a situation like this before—where death loomed so close, suffocating them, paralyzing them. They were shaking, hearts pounding in their chests, their survival instincts screaming at them to run.

And yet, Adam…

He stood calm. Composed. As if this entire situation was second nature to him.

Dara’s hands trembled slightly as she watched him. Why is he so calm? It was unsettling.

Adam's voice cut through her thoughts. “Dara, your Nexus Core can blind people in a small area, right?”

Dara blinked, caught off guard by the sudden question. “Y-Yes, but it’ll affect everyone—including you,” she replied, her skepticism evident.

“It doesn’t matter,” Adam said without hesitation, his eyes locked onto Hector’s approaching form. “Just do it on my signal.”

Dara bit her lip, unsure, but nodded.

Adam straightened up, exhaling slowly, before stepping forward—directly toward Hector.

“Wait! Adam!” Dara called out, desperation clear in her voice. “You’re not his match!”

But Adam didn’t stop.

Instead, he walked with a deliberate, eerie confidence that sent chills down Dara’s spine. His posture was loose, but his gaze was razor-sharp. It was almost as if… he’d done this before.

What the hell is he planning?

Hector chuckled darkly, spreading his massive arms wide in mock amusement. “Oh? Instead of running away, you’re actually walking toward me?” he sneered.

Adam’s lips curled into a slow, unsettling smile. His eyes held a glint that sent a shiver down Hector’s spine—an expression so unnerving it momentarily wiped the grin off his face.

“I can’t beat you without getting closer,” Adam said, his tone dripping with something far more dangerous than bravado.

A predator’s calm.

Hector’s smile faltered for the first time.

Hector's brow furrowed, watching the kid approach with an unsettling sense of ease. What the hell is he thinking?

He had just wiped the floor with his friends, leaving them bruised and broken. So why did he look like he was walking in for a casual conversation?

Hector's lips curled into a smirk. It doesn’t matter.

Strength was the only thing that counted, and as long as this brat couldn’t hurt him, he’d already won.

Meanwhile, Adam cracked his knuckles leisurely, stretching his arms as if he were getting ready for a workout instead of facing an opponent twice his size.

“You know,” Adam said, rolling his shoulders with a casual air, “I wouldn’t be smiling if I were you.”

Hector raised an eyebrow. “Oh? And why’s that, kid?”

Adam’s grin widened—calm, casual... and deeply unsettling.

“Because,” Adam flashed a creepy smile at him that made even Hector flinch. “I’ll show you why they used to call me the reaper.”

Hector’s smirk wavered. His blood red eyes and creepy smile sent a shiver down his spine. Something about the kid’s tone—so effortless, so sure—sent warning bells ringing in his head.

And then—

Darkness.

Total.

Absolute.

“What the hell?!” Hector shouted, his voice laced with an edge of panic.

Nothing.

No answer. No movement. Just an oppressive, all-consuming void. He swung his axe in frustration, cutting through empty air, his heart pounding louder with every passing second.

“Is this your plan, huh?! Running away like a coward?!” Hector barked, forcing himself to sound confident. “I’ve got the entire security force under my thumb, brat! One word, and I’ll make sure you never—”

Silence.

Not even an echo of his voice.

Only the sound of his own ragged breathing, his own frantic heartbeat thrumming in his ears.

Thump-thump.

The longer he stood there, the tighter the void seemed to press against him—like it was swallowing him whole.

And then—

BAM!

A brutal force slammed into his chest, sending him sprawling backward with a guttural grunt.

"OOOF!"

He landed hard, coughing and clutching his stomach.

-34

He gasped for breath, fingers pressing against his abdomen—only to feel something warm and slick seeping through his fingers.

Blood.

It had been years since anyone had managed to draw his blood, let alone bypass his rock armor. His mind reeled in disbelief.

How…?

And then he remembered.

That smile.

Adam’s demonic, blood-red eyes flashed through his mind, the unsettling grin carved into his memory like a nightmare.

For the first time in a long, long time...

Hector felt something unfamiliar. Something cold, crawling up his spine and wrapping around his chest like a vice.

Fear.