Chapter 16

Whoosh!

The air rippled and Lanches vanished.

“Gack!”

“Urgh!”

One sound was like someone being choked, the other a groan.

Following the sounds, I turned to see Lanches clutching Yuria’s nape while my arrow had pierced his arm.

‘Spatial jump…!’

It seems I failed to prevent Lanches from activating his Gift after all.

But the arrow that reached him by a hair’s breadth traveled through space with him and successfully lodged in his upper arm.

With the searing pain of the arrow impaling his bicep, Lanches shook his arm, and Yuria tumbled across the dirt.

It was pure luck. If the arrow had been even slightly delayed, what would have rolled on the ground would’ve been a corpse with a broken neck.

“Lanches!!”

Ping!

Squish!

I fired arrows in rapid succession as I charged toward Lanches.

Ting!

Thunk!

Despite my arrows striking with the force of hammers, Lanches, though staggering, managed to shatter each one.

As he broke arrows fired at point-blank range, his eyes flashed like blades.

A sleek dagger gleamed in his hand.

The moment I saw it, I abruptly stopped running at full speed and promptly dropped into a slide tackle.

Dirt flew and sand stung my cheeks.

His dagger, aimed at my torso, sliced through my floating white hair as it passed. My trademark white hair was cut strand by strand, scattering in the air.

Lanches and I crossed paths. The momentum carrying us in opposite directions should have created a brief moment to catch my breath and check on Yuria’s condition… but Lanches couldn’t wait even that long and activated his Gift again.

Fortunately, I managed to notice the signs this time too.

Gray currents were sucked into his body, then woven into patterns more quickly than before, bursting outward. Those patterns pointed to…

‘The back of my head!’

I immediately rolled sideways.

Whoosh!

Stab!

The air rippled where I had been, and Lanches emerged from thin air, plunging his dagger downward.

My chest went cold.

Spatial jumping was truly a terrifying Gift. While it lacked the raw destructive power of Teacher Sena’s “Explosion,” it had the element of surprise.

Ignoring distance, direction of force, and previous posture, he could traverse space at any moment to target an opponent’s blind spot—a formidable advantage.

Had I not been able to see the signs of his Gift activating, I would never have survived.

Lanches’ eyes widened. His expression showed disbelief that I had anticipated his spatial jump.

“How?”

“I can see everything!”

Taking advantage of his surprise, I sprang to my feet. I swung my dagger at him and delivered a kick. After dodging around a bit, he finally took one of my kicks and tumbled backward.

“Ugh!”

A Mana User’s body was indeed sturdy, but I was also part Mana User myself. My attacks were effective. I landed a solid kick to his solar plexus. As he rolled away, I pursued.

‘This is my chance!’

Or so I thought…

‘…Or not?’

Unfortunately, gray patterns erupted again from the body of the man who had fallen backward.

Damn spatial jumping.

The moment I saw it, I dodged sideways, but… this time he was faster. Whether he was adapting to the drug or not, his Gift activation was becoming increasingly rapid.

Slash!

A chilling sensation passed through my side.

With no time to feel pain, I frantically rolled across the ground.

The blade he wielded flashed wickedly, grazing my arms, legs, and shoulders.

Where the blade passed, it felt cold at first, then hot, and finally dripping wet.

“A Mana User using his Gift against a regular person? What kind of coward are you!”

“You psycho. Who poisoned who first?”

“Cry me a river about some poison, loser!”

I tried to conceal my struggles with childish taunts.

All the while, Lanches continued his relentless attacks, and I barely managed to push him away with my foot.

This was getting increasingly difficult.

Blood soaked my arms, legs, sides, and back—I was drenched in it. Being covered in blood was one thing, but my fingertips and toes were growing numb, and my movements were slowing. As I slowed down, new wounds multiplied.

As if the situation wasn’t dire enough, Lanches was liberally using his Gift to press me further.

Why was he rushing? It seemed he wanted to finish our fight quickly, before Teacher Sena could arrive in response to the signal flare.

Well, he had been drugged and had holes in his hamstring and upper arm… Lanches was in terrible condition.

If he was struggling against me, facing Teacher Sena would mean certain death.

He knew this.

And that’s why I was suffering.

Thud!

Finally, I took a direct hit to my stomach.

“Guhak!”

I flew backward with the sound of air being forced out, blood sparkling in the air.

Crash!

I don’t know how many times I rolled. I must have broken several market stalls too, but I couldn’t feel anything. All I knew was that I needed to get up. I had to rise quickly and keep Lanches at bay. Death felt as close as a knife at my throat.

But… my legs gave out and I couldn’t stand. I just floundered in the dust.

‘Damn it… I’m finished.’

Lanches approached.

He looks down at me. I look up at him.

I should get up but couldn’t, so I desperately rolled across the ground. Like an ant frantically struggling to survive, I crawled around.

‘I can’t die like this!’

Thud! Crack!

“Ugh! Argh!”

I somehow managed to dodge or deflect his dagger thrusts, but I couldn’t avoid his punches and kicks.

The drug effects must have been wearing off, because Lanches’ kicks now hurt twice as much as before.

After taking several blows, I felt like flesh was tearing and bones were breaking. My mouth felt gritty, either from blood or sand.

“Die.”

Crack! Stars exploded before my eyes. My cheek went numb. I no longer had strength to even talk back.

“Die, you white-haired brat.”

Clang!

I barely managed to deflect the incoming dagger.

I didn’t block it completely—it grazed my forearm.

“Just! Die already!”

Stab! He kicked the wound where the knife had cut. The searing pain made my hair stand on end.

“Ugh…”

I groaned and crawled along the ground.

“Die! You worthless… worthless!!”

Crack! Stab!

I tried to avoid the knife, but I must have been stabbed a few more times somewhere.

But I didn’t die. Somehow, I evaded fatal wounds while stubbornly hanging on.

Lanches’ face twisted into something demonic. The perpetually smirking expression was long gone.

Covered in dirt, he was desperately trying to kill me as I refused to die.

“Ugh… heh. Look at yourself. Suits you perfectly… you and me, we’re both trash now, heh heh.”

Oh, I thought I had no strength left to talk back, but apparently I was wrong.

“Would you shut up and die already! You lizard-tail freak!”

Agitated by my taunts, Lanches summoned his remaining strength and charged more aggressively.

I pathetically rolled across the ground. I couldn’t even tell if I was rolling myself or if he was the one rolling me.

Dust and blood everywhere. White hair torn and scattered.

Through my swimming vision, I searched for Yuria.

“Damn it…”

Had she reached her physical limit? From what I could see, she was also taking a beating from Lanches’ crew. I couldn’t expect help from her.

And then, completely out of nowhere, I remembered something from when I was younger than ten. Had I been beaten like this before…? Then I realized.

‘Ah, is this the life flashing before my eyes thing?’

Hmph.

It made me smile.

“You’re laughing? You find this funny?”

Lanches, rushing at me in agitation, looked truly hideous. That somehow improved my mood.

Mustering my strength, I taunted him once more.

“Lanches!”

“Shut up!”

“You know what?”

“I said shut up!”

“You’re going to die by my hand? That’s how it’s going to be. I already decided that a while ago.”

“This crazy bastard still running his mouth… huh?”

Lanches, charging forward confidently, suddenly froze. He stopped in his tracks.

“You… how did you…?”

He stared at me like I was a ghost.

I no longer rolled on the ground. I sprang up elastically and stood face to face with Lanches.

Slowly, I clenched and unclenched my fists, bent my knees to test them, checking my body’s condition.

My body was in tatters… yet somehow I felt stronger than before.

‘Is this… the power of a Mana User?’

With this kind of strength, it seemed impossible to lose even if I tried.

I fixed my gaze on Lanches, my eyes glowing.

“Now then… shall we begin round two?”