For a while now, there have been several successive earthquakes. I hope everything is fine and that Shin will make it through.
Manu and Haru were in Céline's office on the second floor. An exceptionally clean office, as if it had never been used—very minimalist, to say the least. And finally, the most important detail: behind what appeared to be a photo of Céline in her youth, hanging on the wall, was hidden a small safe.
"Is this going to take much longer?"Haru asked as I analyzed the seal that served as the lock to the safe.
Céline truly deserved her position. Her art of deduction used a language far more complex and powerful than mine; however, it was nothing insurmountable—especially when it came to my specialty: runic language and the arts of deduction.
"No. I need five short minutes to decipher this seal."
To counter the techniques of the arts of deduction without activating them, one must also be a master of deduction—and above all, understand the runic language used by the other person, in order to counter it with that same language or deduce their intentions. But here, I didn't have much choice: I had to understand Céline's runic language and disarm it to open this damn safe.
"We should hurry. Shin probably needs help in his current condition,"said the overprotective mom. After all, it was her child's life, so it was understandable.
"Yeah, I'll try to speed things up. We should help Shin, just to be safe."
A sudden pressure flooded the room. Manu looked down to see a massive hole in the middle of his chest.
"Ah!!!"
The shrill scream of Haru's high-pitched voice snapped Manu out of the illusion he had just fallen into. Alarmed, he checked his chest—and thankfully, everything was fine.
Haru was also checking her head, as if she had just been pierced through it. Terror had invaded our minds… but what had just happened?
"What the hell was that?"I finally said out loud, trying to calm myself.
"That was killing intent…"Haru murmured to herself.
"Huh? A what?"I asked, not really understanding what was going on.
"You probably can't sense it because you use an art of deduction, but killing intent is the manifestation of a person's will. A pure, unwavering will to kill someone."
"A pure, unwavering will… to kill someone…"
Those words strangely made me think of someone, but something felt off.
"What does that have to do with our situation? I mean, we just experienced illusions, and killing intent shouldn't be able to do that."
"This killing intent is so strong that it left an imprint on reality. It can create illusions that affect our minds, and I even think it's infused with ether to enhance its impact,"she said, scratching her head in confusion—while I, on the other hand, understood.
Shin had probably advanced in his plan involving the perpetual cycle, and all of this was his doing—along with that of his twisted mind. And if that wasn't the case… we were screwed.
"I'm speeding things up. Don't let anyone interrupt me."
I really hope it's not the second option—but you can never be too careful.
Even if it's incomplete, I more or less have the foundations of my own martial art, based on Boost and my irrational desire for blood and murder.
"Hahaha! You're improving even in the middle of a fight? That's bold."Grid shouted, standing in front of me with an outraged and slightly worried look. I could even see a bead of sweat running down his cheek.
He lunged at me once again, executing the Mountain King. This time, unlike the others, I saw it coming clearly and dodged by shifting slightly to his right flank, then countered with a straight jab to the nose, sending him staggering back.
"You little bastard!"he roared in fury. But before he could catch his breath, I was already chaining jabs, forcing him farther and farther back without giving him a chance to respond.
This idea really wasn't bad after all: basing my art on my killing intent rather than my will. Now it was much more stable. Even though I had lost Boost's *5 enhancement, I had gained more overall: at present, with this new art alone, I had a global enhancement of *2.5 to my physical abilities, and the consumption was reduced by 2.5. This time, the only condition was that as long as my killing intent wasn't shaken, I could use it.
"Bastard!"The little punk put a great distance between us after breaking free from my flurry of jabs.
"What's wrong, Grid? Scared?"I taunted him, knowing full well that my ether-infused killing intent was preventing him from fighting properly because of the illusions.
"You think you're funny, huh?"he said, pulling a syringe from his pocket, filled with some strange yellowish liquid. The moment he injected the dubious substance, I understood what it was: Grid had just injected himself with a high-grade stimulant.
His ether suddenly became more imposing and ferocious as his confidence surged. His little "boost" had probably granted him immunity to pain, meaning the illusions would no longer work. Fortunately, I believed my dark crimson ether had much more to offer.
"Ready for the last dance, asshole?"I asked Grid, taking my stance.
"If it's to put an end to your life, I'm your man."
The silence in the room was unbearable for both of us. Our gazes pierced one another, searching for the slightest opening, heightening the tension.
I was the first to move. I closed the distance in record time and drove my knee straight into his nose.
This new martial art allowed me to use the full extent of my enhancement, unlike before. I felt light and powerful—but against someone who no longer felt pain, it was useless.
He grabbed me by the neck and slammed me to the ground with a sharp, powerful motion. Fortunately, I redirected the force of his attack, wrapping my legs around him to choke him and hurl him toward a pillar.
Barely had he crashed into the pillar when he closed the distance between us again. A powerful jab met him on his approach, which he returned immediately. This time, the blows came in rapid succession. He landed a high kick that I blocked with my injured arm, before I struck him with another jab to the chin, stunning him for a moment.
I followed up with another jab, which he anticipated and was about to block with his right arm—but it was only a feint. I seized the moment when his legs were unguarded to deliver a low kick to the back of his knees, throwing him off balance. That was the moment: I repositioned myself and unleashed my best right hook into the opening in his defense.
Focusing all my strength and ether into that final strike, I delivered my most powerful hook, slamming him into the ground and knocking him out due to the accumulation of his injuries.
Out of breath, exhausted, and on the brink of death, I was satisfied with my victory. So what if you can't feel pain? All it takes is rattling whatever you use as a brain to knock you out.
Happy with my victory, I heard footsteps behind me. To my great relief, it was my allies, who had successfully completed their missions as well. All that remained was to regroup with our last ally.