#049. Where Malice Gathers (6)
—
“What…?”
Realization of the situation came slowly, yet with an undeniable certainty.
The man’s previously twisted face began to smooth out, transitioning through an expressionless state, only to darken with intense ecstasy.
“Hahahahahaha!”
The man’s maniacal laughter reverberated throughout the abandoned factory.
Finally, it all made sense.
He could now grasp the entirety of the situation.
The surrounding fireballs trembled violently, their flickering light casting and erasing the sinister grin that played across the man’s face repeatedly.
Abruptly, the laughter stopped.
“You… you’re the Assassin, aren’t you? Now I understand. All of this was a trap you laid to eliminate me.”
The man’s vessel brimmed with violent rage and murderous intent.
“Since when? When did you start toying with me?”
Ray chose not to answer.
“Was it from the day I approached Kedrick? Or was it that day in the basement, when we fought? Tell me!”
Trying to engage in conversation with a man who was already half out of his mind was meaningless.
“Answer meeeeeee──!!!”
Moreover, the man, caught in his own delusions, was only intensifying his own fury.
“Is your plan to stay silent to the very end? Hah! Fine by me. It works out even better. After all, a fellow mage makes for a far superior resource than those useless brats!”
The red mana pooling beneath the man’s feet swelled violently.
Bang!
In an instant, the man’s figure vanished from where he stood, reappearing directly in front of Ray.
“Die!”
A blade gleaming with lethal intent descended towards Ray’s head.
Having already gathered his mana, Ray twisted his body swiftly.
The blade grazed his shoulder before embedding itself into the tiled floor.
*Shiiiiiik—!* *Crash!*
“Assassin! Do you notice ?”
The tiles split cleanly in two.
As the man adjusted his stance, a slight opening appeared, and Ray immediately sprinted towards the center of the factory.
The boy’s vision wavered violently.
His gaze fixated on the numerous fireballs illuminating the area.
He needed to extinguish them.
This was his opportunity.
Unlike the man, who had regular vision, Ray could track his opponent’s position even in total darkness.
“When I was in the organization, I became several times stronger than I was back then!”
The man’s roar, more beastly than human, echoed from behind.
The sound of hurried footsteps grew louder, rapidly closing the distance between them.
The man’s labored breathing grew so close that Ray could hear it vividly in his ears.
‘This matchup doesn’t favor me.’
Ray recalled the earlier moment when his spinning kick had landed on the man’s abdomen.
Even though his strength had been maximized, it felt like he was striking solid steel rather than flesh.
Bladed weapons or physical attacks wouldn’t work.
The man had already demonstrated the ability to envelop his body in flames, so fire-based attacks were likely ineffective as well.
In short, all of Ray’s primary combat techniques were rendered useless against this opponent.
‘Ultimately, relying on the magic circle as planned is the best option.’
*Wooooong—!*
Ray began to draw mana from the surrounding air, gathering it around the fireballs to prepare for casting.
Multicolored mana spiraled and converged at a single point, coalescing into a unified hue.
The result was a vibrant, almost blinding shade of blue.
The blue mana transformed into spheres of water, which consumed each fireball one by one.
Darkness fell over the factory.
What happened next was almost simultaneous.
*Swoooosh!*
The sound of water dripping onto the floor after extinguishing the fireballs.
“Dieeeeeeeee──!!”
The man’s voice, steeped in malice, erupted.
Sensing the sharp killing intent behind him, Ray instinctively threw himself to the right.
*Whoosh!*
Once again, the attack narrowly missed its mark.
Rolling several times to break his fall, Ray quickly got back on his feet, his eyes locking onto the man’s position a few meters ahead.
With all light extinguished, Ray could now see only a human-shaped mass of crimson mana.
“You little rat! Is running away all you plan to do?”
The man swung his arm, scattering crimson mana from his hand into the air.
The dispersed mana materialized as small flames, illuminating the surroundings.
“There you are!”
The man’s wild eyes gleamed under the flickering firelight.
*Tap!*
Both of them moved at the same time.
As the man swung his blade horizontally, Ray ducked low, feeling the blade graze his back as he countered by slashing at the man’s ankle with his knife.
Had this been an ordinary opponent, they would have collapsed, clutching their bleeding ankle.
But the man was different.
*Clang!*
The knife failed to leave even a scratch, bouncing harmlessly off his metallic skin.
‘As expected, physical attacks are useless.’
Two attempts were enough confirmation.
Wasting energy and mana on ineffective attacks was pointless. Ray resolved to focus solely on defense.
*Clang! Clang! Clang!*
The man’s blade clashed repeatedly with Ray’s knife, sparks flying with each impact.
The sharp metallic sounds and hurried footsteps echoed through the dim factory.
“Die—!! Die—!! Dieeeee──!!”
The man’s venomous shouts rang incessantly in Ray’s ears.
*Clang! Clang! Clang!*
Ray could feel his knife starting to give under the strain. Cracks were forming.
In hindsight, it was a miracle the knife had lasted this long.
Compared to the man’s high-quality blade, his was a discarded, rusted weapon salvaged from a pile of scrap.
‘Could it be… that he’s using metal reinforcement on objects as well as his body?’
The thought crossed Ray’s mind.
*Snap!*
Finally, the knife broke under the relentless assault, and a smile spread across the man’s face.
“Hah! This is the end! Die!”
The blade came crashing down.
Aimed straight at his head, the poor angle made it clear that even if he dodged, Ray would still be injured.
In that split second, Ray made his decision.
*Wooooong—!*
Manipulating his mana, he conjured gray mana and cast a spell.
*Crack! Crack!*
Fragments of stone coalesced mid-air, rapidly forming into the shape of a knife.
He extracted the metal element from the crimson mana around him and layered it onto the stone knife.
‘With this…’
He could now fully parry the man’s attacks.
Unlike before, when he had been forced to conserve the knife’s durability, he could now strike with full force.
*Claaang—!*
The man’s descending blade clashed with the new knife and was deflected.
“What…?!”
Surprise flashed across the man’s face.
The impact forced the man’s arm to swing wide, leaving him momentarily open.
Ray seized the opportunity to dash past him, closing in on the remaining fireballs.
As before, he gathered mana and cast his spell.
*Wooooong—!*
The resulting water sphere engulfed the flames, plunging the area back into darkness.
“You bastard! What tricks are you playing now?!”
The man reignited the flames, resuming his pursuit, while Ray continued evading and extinguishing the rekindled fireballs.
The intense battle continued, with the same sequence repeating over and over.
“Assassin──! How long do you plan to keep running──!”
The man’s vision remained obstructed.
Every attack was evaded as the enemy slipped through.
His frustration grew to a fever pitch.
What filled him now was unrelenting rage.
Responding to his emotions, the red mana of his circle surged through his veins at an abnormal speed, spiraling out of control.
*Pop!*
The blood vessels in his eyes began bursting one by one, and the whites of his eyes turned increasingly red, as though paint was being poured into them.
This transformation endowed him with overwhelming destructive and violent energy.
*Clang! Clang! Cla-clang!*
Ray’s circle-bound mana rapidly depleted as it parried the man’s attacks.
The intense movement and the heat of the flames had already drenched Ray in sweat.
However, Ray was not the only one achieving a state of heightened awakening during this battle.
*Clang!*
The intensity of the fight.
*Cla-clang!*
The excitement brought forth by instinct.
*Clang!*
And the boiling exhilaration.
*Tap-tap! Clang!*
These elements awakened the predator instincts lying dormant beneath the boy’s exterior without restraint.
This was a different kind of thrill and pleasure, far removed from the scuffles with street kids.
His movements grew faster, matching the man’s attacks more precisely, and his reactions to the flames became equally swift.
Before long, the man could no longer ignite his flames.
Every time he tried to release his red mana, Ray’s blue mana would already be there, waiting to intercept.
“Urrghhhh──!!”
The man let out a furious roar.
From a distance, Ray watched the vessel of the man’s emotions.
Rage. Annoyance. Frustration. Murderous intent.
All manner of negative emotions swirled together, forming a grotesque shape.
“What are you doing? Are we playing hide-and-seek now? Didn’t you come here to take my life? Assassin! Answer me! What is your game?”
Ray did not respond.
Silence descended upon the abandoned factory.
The only sounds were the man’s ragged breathing and—
*Tick.*
The ticking of the clock on the boy’s wrist.
The man’s bloodshot eyes darted toward the source of the sound, and he hurled his curved blade in that direction.
*Whizz─!*
“Are you there!”
Ray conjured a small light.
Simultaneously checking the time, he removed the watch and threw it toward the blade.
*Clang─!*
The watch shattered into pieces, deflecting the blade’s trajectory.
Amid the loud noise, Ray repositioned himself in a safer location.
The man chuckled bitterly.
“Khhaha. I see now. You intend to die here with me, don’t you? You must have analyzed the magic circle thoroughly. Isn’t that right? Hm?”
Ray remained silent.
“An Assassin must master both combat skills and theoretical knowledge to be appointed. Surely you’ve figured out what kind of magic circle this is and when it will activate.”
Keeping his eyes on the man, Ray recalled the time displayed on the watch earlier.
*2:22:32 PM.*
Since entering the abandoned factory, he had been mentally keeping track of time.
And the time he measured matched the clock’s time precisely.
It was a precaution for unforeseen circumstances.
In a situation like this, where the watch was destroyed during combat, he had to rely on his internal sense of time.
Accurately keeping track of time in the midst of a fierce battle was generally impossible.
But Ray was different.
The inability to feel emotions also meant maintaining composure in any extreme situation.
In other words, he could evenly divide his focus without losing stability.
*2:22:41 PM.*
42 seconds. 43 seconds. 44 seconds.
Ray continued counting.
Less than five minutes remained before the magic circle activated.
The man’s voice echoed again.
“When we met in the basement, you must have realized the difference in our strength. You concluded a direct confrontation was futile. So, you planned to use the magic circle to ensure both of our deaths. All to complete your mission.”
The man continued speaking to himself, convinced that Ray’s silence validated his assumptions.
“But that’s a pipe dream. I’ll be the only one to leave this place alive. You’ll be the one to become nourishment for the Red Blood Stone.”
Suddenly, flames erupted from the man’s body.
The fire spread across his limbs, engulfing him entirely in an instant.
“This should put an end to your little tricks. Extinguish it, if you can. If you dare.”
Flames followed his every breath.
Far more intense than in the basement, the roaring fire tore through the darkness, illuminating the surroundings more brightly than before.
*Ignition.*
Ray realized this was when the real fight began.
He channeled mana into his legs, preparing to move at any moment, his entire body tensed like a coiled spring.
*Hoooouuuh.*
The man inhaled deeply.
At that moment, an image flashed through Ray’s mind.
Ray kicked off the ground.
He pivoted, running in the direction farthest from the man, feeling immense heat against his back.
*KWOOM───!*
A long stream of fire, shaped like a serpent, spewed from the man’s mouth.
The fiery serpent, with eyes gleaming fiercely, opened its maw wide and gave chase.
The distance closed rapidly, the searing heat on his back nearing the point of scorching his flesh.
Ray’s pain tolerance was high.
But if this continued, he would be consumed by the flames, leaving nothing behind.
He once considered experimenting with the idea:
*What if I, too, enveloped my body in flames?*
If he mimicked the man’s technique, would he gain immunity to fire-based attacks?
Having observed how mana flowed within his own body, replicating the man’s magic wasn’t inherently difficult.
However, Veronica had once said:
*”Magic that covers the body in flames? Yeah, I know of it. The official term is *Ignition*. I learned it from Grandfather. The principle is to ignite flames over a thick protective barrier. The key elements are fire, maintenance, amplification, and blocking heat…”*
She compared it to wearing a fireproof suit soaked in oil and then setting it ablaze.
*”Even with the same fire-based magic, the outcome depends on how much mana you pour into it.”*
She warned that similar elemental magics don’t cancel each other out or provide immunity.
In some cases, one might devour the other, amplifying its power.
Thus, using fire magic now could backfire.
The man’s flames might consume Ray’s and grow even stronger.
*Tap! Tap!*
Ray zigzagged to evade the fire, keenly aware of the importance of knowledge.
If he hadn’t understood the dynamics of elemental magic, he might have responded by igniting his own body like the man.
The consequences would have been disastrous.
*Everything is going according to plan.*
Thanks to his prior knowledge, Ray had already devised another method to extinguish the man’s flames.
The man, focused on controlling the fire, was now stationary.
Ray assessed the situation and made his decision.
He abruptly changed course and began sprinting toward the man at the center of the abandoned factory.
