#028. When Flames Meet Flames (2)
—
A sticky sweat coursed down the body.
Hot breaths escaped through parted lips.
**Swish─! Thwack! Thud-thud!**
Kedrick and Ray exchanged relentless blows.
Punches and kicks tore through the air sharply, colliding against each other’s guards.
**─Waaaaaah!**
**─He wasn’t injured at all!**
Sweat. Heat. Cheers.
And again, sweat. Heat. Cheers.
**─What’s with the flames in those barrels? Are they real?**
**─Damn! This is insane! If they step back, they could catch fire!**
**─Hell yeah! Kedrick really came prepared!**
Surrounding the duel arena were barrels.
Bright crimson flames roared from them.
The arena was far more perilous than usual, its environment fraught with danger.
But the kids in the audience couldn’t care less.
**─Kill him! Beat him to death!**
**─Kedrick! Do you know how much money I’ve bet on you?!**
**─Both of them are insane! Look at how well they’re fighting!**
Under normal circumstances, things might have been different.
Perhaps some would have left, fearing the danger.
But not today.
The searing heat emitted by the flames, the enormous stakes tied to the duel, and the high-level combat between the two boys—
Each element compounded, numbing the rationality of the not-yet-matured audience.
The atmosphere grew increasingly intense.
Cheers and shouts swelled, coalescing into a single chant.
**─Kill him! Kill him!**
**─Kill him! Kill him!**
**─Kill him! Kill him!**
Every voice wished for one thing:
The death of the outsider from beyond the sector.
It was nothing short of madness.
“……”
But the boy in question remained unfazed.
Focused solely on the battle, he kept a close watch on his opponent as a brief gap formed.
**“Dieeeeee──!”**
Kedrick shrieked with a burst of ferocity, kicking off the ground and charging forward.
In an instant, he closed the distance, spinning on one leg like a top.
**Ssshhhiiing──!**
*A spinning back kick.*
Aimed straight for Ray’s face.
The force was fierce and menacing.
Though the form wasn’t perfect, the explosive strength and agility granted by the red mana of his ring compensated for any flaws.
Would he block and counterattack?
By using the red mana to harden his skin, Ray could significantly reduce the impact.
But doing so would consume a substantial amount of mana proportional to the absorbed shock.
In a split-second decision, Ray ducked deeply.
**Ssshhh──!**
Kedrick’s foot narrowly grazed over his head, brushing against Ray’s ashen hair.
With his lowered vision, Ray spotted Kedrick’s supporting leg planted firmly like a pillar.
**Whrrrm──!**
Red mana surged through Ray’s body, concentrating at his ankles and soles.
**Thud!**
He sprang forward, sliding into Kedrick and wrapping his arms around the boy’s thigh.
The red mana surged from his feet, racing through his veins to flood his entire body.
Arms. Legs. Thighs. Shoulders.
His muscles expanded momentarily, brimming with power.
Ray pressed forward without pause.
*Take him down.*
He knew firsthand how monstrous Kedrick’s strength was.
To match him head-on might require depleting all the red mana in his gem.
That was not an option.
Ray needed to save strength for what might come after the duel.
Fortunately, there was a way to subdue Kedrick with relatively less effort.
*”While fighting bare-handed is sometimes unavoidable, it’s best to master techniques for such situations.”*
Among the combat skills taught by Niles were various grappling techniques.
*”When fighting bare-handed, size and strength usually dominate. But against joint locks? Those advantages are meaningless. They’re a powerful weapon for overcoming differences in physique.”*
Ray had grown adept at applying these techniques.
He had perfected them through countless trials on the streets of Sector 50.
He only needed one successful attempt.
Once Kedrick’s thrashing limbs were restrained like chains and shackles, it would be far easier to snatch the ring from him.
As Ray’s pressure mounted, Kedrick’s body began to tilt backward.
*Good. Just a little more─.*
Then, Ray felt a weight on his shoulders.
Pressure bore down on both his left and right shoulders.
In an instant, he realized Kedrick was shifting his balance to climb onto Ray’s back.
Danger. Ray swiftly changed tactics.
He released Kedrick’s thigh and gripped both of his ankles instead.
**Grab!**
Still carrying Kedrick on his back, Ray straightened his waist and rotated half a turn.
Then he hurled Kedrick with all his might.
**Whoooosh──!**
Kedrick sailed through the air before slamming into a barrel.
**Bang!**
The impact was so powerful that the barrel toppled over, spilling its flaming contents onto the ground.
**─Did you see that? Did you?!**
**─At this rate, Kedrick’s bones might’ve broken!**
**─How can kids that small have such monstrous strength? Is that even possible?!**
The cheers reverberated through the abandoned factory.
Kedrick lay sprawled, motionless.
Amid the uproar, someone murmured:
**─Could Kedrick actually lose?**
Kedrick twitched.
Propping himself up on trembling arms, he rose shakily to his feet, his eyes burning with hatred as they locked onto Ray.
He roared with rage, charging once again.
**“You son of a bitch──!!!”**
Ray dodged Kedrick’s wild punch, observing his opponent carefully.
*His eyes are losing focus.*
Meanwhile, Kedrick’s movements grew more violent and desperate, likely fueled by the growing tendrils of red mana coursing through him.
**Sssshhhiiick──!**
The red mana pulsated relentlessly, resembling massive veins.
Ray knew he needed to finish this quickly.
The longer the fight dragged on, the more it would tilt in Kedrick’s favor.
**“Dieeeee──!!”**
Kedrick’s punch, initially aimed at Ray’s face, veered suddenly toward his abdomen.
Having made his decision, Ray concentrated his red mana into his abdomen.
**Thump──!**
A dull impact sounded as Kedrick’s fist drove into Ray’s stomach.
The force was devastating, enough to make Ray wince slightly despite his magical defenses.
But that was fine.
It created the opportunity he needed.
Kedrick’s lips curled into a grin of triumph.
That fleeting moment of elation caused his follow-through to falter.
A slight delay.
A minor hesitation.
That was enough.
Enough for Ray to exploit the gap.
*Grab!*
Ray seized Kedrick’s arm and forced it down.
Leaning his body forward.
Using the full weight of his body.
“What the…!”
Kedrick tried to shake him off with brute strength, just like before, but his response was delayed.
Like being sucked into a pit of quicksand, the upper bodies of the two boys suddenly slumped forward.
*Thud!*
Ray and Kedrick collapsed to the ground at the same time.
“You, you bastard!”
What followed happened in the blink of an eye.
*Whip!*
Ray’s legs coiled around Kedrick’s neck like a snake.
In just a few seconds, a flawless sequence of movements locked Kedrick’s arms and head between Ray’s legs.
His head was pinned to the ground.
Kedrick’s face turned bright red.
“What the hell is this trickery──!!”
A venomous tone that churned the stomach.
Red mana surged violently, fueled by his rage.
Kedrick thrashed with the most ferocious and wild movements Ray had ever seen.
“Let go! Let me go──!! Let go, you damn bastard──!!”
But it was futile.
Completely, utterly futile.
The position made it impossible for Kedrick to apply his strength properly.
The more he struggled, the tighter Ray’s legs constricted, sending sharp pain through his bones.
“Damn it──!!”
Kedrick couldn’t even lift his head properly because Ray’s legs kept pressing against the back of his neck.
“Give up and admit defeat. You can’t escape this on your own.”
“I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you for this!”
“If you keep moving, your bones will break.”
“I’ll tear you apart! I’ll rip you to pieces!”
Kedric seemed deaf to any reasoning.
He tried to reach out and snatch the ring, but his frantic movements made it impossible.
Ray maintained the joint lock, waiting for Kedrick’s strength to ebb away.
Then it happened.
“Aaaaah──!!!”
The red mana swelled once more.
Simultaneously, Kedrick’s strength surged.
Matching the intensified resistance, Ray also pushed his physical power to its limit.
*Crack! Crack!*
The sound of bones breaking echoed from Kedrick’s body.
This was the price of trying to forcibly break out of the joint lock.
*Snap! Crackle!*
‘The pain must be unimaginable.’
Though Kedrick exhaled heavily, he didn’t let out a single groan of pain.
*Snap! Crack! Crackle!*
The room held its breath.
Seconds turned into what felt like an eternity.
“Aaaaah──!!!”
With one final scream, Kedrick’s struggling ceased abruptly.
His body went limp like a puppet with its strings cut, collapsing completely to the floor as he panted heavily.
Between the ring and his heart, a thin, flickering red mana thread weakened and faded.
“…….”
Without a word, Ray pulled the ring off Kedrick’s finger.
The mana thread severed entirely, and what remained was rapidly absorbed back into Kedrick’s core.
*Swish.*
Ray released Kedrick from his legs and stood up.
The arena fell silent.
Instead of cheers, there were murmurs of confusion and astonishment.
“─Did Kedrick really lose?”
“─He can’t even get up. It’s over.”
“─So that hunter kid is the new boss of their gang now.”
A different kind of heat and excitement began to ripple through the air.
Ray glanced briefly at the referee, who hesitated awkwardly, unable to make a call.
…It didn’t matter if the signal wasn’t given immediately.
The outcome was already clear. Kedrick’s bones were shattered, leaving him completely immobile.
‘At the very least, he’ll need several weeks of rest before he can move again.’
Still, he could probably manage giving basic orders to his gang members.
*Tap. Tap. Tap.*
Ray walked forward, cutting through the heated atmosphere.
“Why… why me…!”
Passing by the fallen barrels, he snatched the bag of betting money from the trembling mediator.
“I’ll hold onto this until the duel is officially concluded. There might be people trying to pull tricks.”
Then a shout came from behind him.
“Don’t look at me! Don’t look at me like that! I didn’t lose the fight! I’m not weak!”
Turning his head, Ray saw Kedrick struggling to his feet, his legs shaking violently.
‘…He’s standing up in that condition?’
The red mana in Kedrick’s core shone brightly, like a final desperate flare before extinction.
Cheers and jeers erupted from the crowd.
“─You lost!”
“─I lost money because of you!”
“─Boo!”
“I’m not done yet! I’m not weak!”
Kedrick’s pitiful state drew a hail of cans and stones.
“Damn it──! Don’t look at me like that──!”
Then, chaos broke loose.
Kedrick dashed forward and kicked over a barrel.
*Bang──!*
He grabbed a burning log with his bare hands and hurled it at the crowd.
“Burn! Burn to death──!!”
The flaming wood arced through the air and landed in the spectator stands.
“─F-fire!”
“─Oh, crap!”
The stands, made of dry wooden crates, ignited in an instant.
*Fwoosh!*
The fire spread rapidly.
“─Run for it!”
“─Get out of here before you burn!”
*Crash!*
Amid the panic, the crates collapsed, and the flames consumed everything in their path.
Ray watched the fleeing children before turning his gaze back to the arena.
“Ahahaha──!!”
Kedrick, laughing madly, continued throwing burning debris everywhere.
Then, with the last of his red mana gone, he collapsed where he stood.
To save him or not.
Ray had to decide quickly.
‘…It’s better to leave alone.’
Even though he had a red crystal left, carrying Kedrick would limit his movements.
Attempting a rescue could cost both of their lives.
‘This is the right decision.’
Regrettable, but someone else could take care of managing the gang.
Securing the bag tightly to his body, Ray turned toward the factory exit.
*Tap─ Tap─*
Across the arena, on the opposite side.
Someone appeared.
Passing through the fallen barrels.
Walking with a limp.
Teeth clenched, drenched in sweat.
Heading straight for Kedrick in the center of the arena.
It was Philip.
—
