Chapter 54:

Minutes before Cort saw Rine; seconds after Rine last saw Roe.

A hazy redness covered every sharp edge of Rine’s world; it was known to most as rage but to him, it was rapidly becoming his all. The sight of Roe’s limp body falling powerlessly to the ground only further entrenched him within the mire of hate, self-loathing, and anger roiling within him.

“Why....” He muttered, his body violently smashing against the ground. “Why is it always me?”

…………………………………………

Calvin endured the sickening sensation of piercing flesh as he plunged his sword deeper into his opponent's body.

The pierced man uttered a final hollow laugh before falling to his death.

Now staggering, Calvin turned toward his team as his eyes searched for either of the two magicians. Finally finding the injured Roe, he began to make his way toward him but stopped halfway.

‘Is it getting hotter?’ He asked himself in disbelief.

Suddenly, an explosion shook the battlefield and Calvin’s attention was ripped toward a distance where the pathetic figure of a wind magician was being blown away, his body already charred beyond recognition. But Calvin didn’t need to know what it looked like to realize it was the magician who hurt Roe.

“Rine…” He mumbled.

But that was only the beginning.

The body heavily crashed onto the battlefield, leaving a decent-sized crater, and just as the dust began to settle, the second fireball struck. Earth shook once more and plumes of flame rose from the crater, giving it the appearance of a volcano.

“W-what’s that?”

“What’s going on?”

“Who’s doing that?” Most of the fighting adventurers in the vicinity stopped what they were doing and looked toward the spectacle with startled expressions.

When the third fireball struck, the burning body was already gone, perhaps already rendered to mere ashes. The fourth did not change things too much, but by now, nearly everyone close by had stopped what they were doing and were looking over.

The fifth, the sixth, the seventh. The attacks never stopped.

But Calvin did not care for any of this, his eyes were focused on something else. Over in the distance, he could see Rine, or at least what he thought was Rine.

The young-looking figure was hard to observe in detail as it was obscured with a layer of fierce flames. Rine was being burned alive and soon enough he began to emit white smoke as his clothes were being burned away.

But despite his wretched appearance no one dared to approach. This was thanks, in large part, to the constantly gathering Origin that gave off ungodly heat.

“AAgghhhh!!!” Screamed the fire-clad figure. His voice, filled with madness and grief, was eerily high-pitched yet all the more feral and wild; hearing it was sure to send shivers straight down your spine.

…………………………………………

“Hahaha! That’s interesting. Why is he so low-ranked? He should be over with the big boys” Borris said while clapping his hands, clearly amused. His smile widened as Rine uttered another guttural scream.

Clint leisurely nodded his head before lazily saying “Lack of participation.”

Borris's smile remained, yet his eyes were cold. “Mind if I test him?”

“Sure, knock yourself out,” Clint sent him his own meaningful smile.

Borris laughed as he began to cast a spell.

…………………………………………

“High-Commander has ordered us to interfere,” A robotic voice stated to the people behind her. Her name was Erika, a magician working as a fire palace soldier.

“Vanguard one, advance to target’s location. Vanguard two, remain in current position and help the defenders maintain the tent. Defenders, as is.”

““Yes sir!"" The adventurers barked back as a group of them split off and advanced toward Rine’s location.

…………………………………………

“The wine here is great,” A beautiful woman dressed in a showy azure dress smiled as she turned to her equally breath-taking friend.

Lucy rolled her eyes at Rain’s remarks and retorted “Don’t over-drink, we’re so close to go-time.”

“I know, I know~” Rain downed the glass before scanning the room they were in with her eyes.

The room was extravagant, to say the least. A soft and luscious white fur rug covered the marble floor; strewn about the room were various tables all accented with gold and precious gems. The glass ceiling allowed natural sunlight to fill the room, highlighting the various guests’ hair and eyes; shame that for most of them, their faces were covered with a mask.

Soon, sundown would approach, and Rain couldn’t even dare to guess how beautiful that would be.

This was the Faraday merchants’ bi-annual auction. A prestigious event where only the elite of Elemente had the right to participate and the guests this time around were no exceptions. Various big-wigs from all around Elemente were gathered.

Thankfully the custom of wearing a mask was rather common so Rain was not at risk of being recognized.

She lowered her Fox-like mask as the waiter came back to their table and poured her a new drink. She winked at him and he offered her a polite smile.

Lucy scoffed at the sight and Rain laughed before scooting over to her.

Now close to each other, Rain whispered. “What’s wrong? Jealous?”

The question only furthered the disdain in Lucy’s eyes. She huffed before facing away from her friend.

“Now now, Lucy. No need to be so petty; you know that you’re the only one for me~”

“Stop messing around, the next item to be announced should be the map; ready your talismans.”

“Of course, I guess the same can’t be said about you,” Rain sighed playfully, ignoring what Lucy had said. “We’re going to see your boy-toy soon. Are you excited?” But contrary to her teasing tone, her eyes were a bit sad.

“Rain,” Lucy said seriously.

“W-what?” Rain stuttered back, worried that she may have crossed a line. A girl’s first love was a touchy subject after all.

“Behind you, to your left; at the entrance.”

“What’s over the-” She snapped her mouth shut as she saw an armored man appear at the door. He was dressed in blue armor that had overlapping pieces, resembling fish scales. It looked both strong and flexible.

“The water palace!” Rain hurriedly lowered her head, hoping to evade the man’s eyes. Thankfully the venue was rather packed, so it seemed like he would take a while before noticing her.

“They found us too quickly. You sure, they don’t have a tracking spell on us?” Lucy asked back as she nervously fiddled with the mask on her face.

“I’m sure! I used two high-leveled spell-eye talismans, Lucy!”

“Ok, ok! Let me think,” Lucy closed her eyes and furrowed her brows.

Rain watched this with a slight panic as she silently placed a hand over her storage ring.

After a few minutes, Lucy opened her eyes.

“What?” Rain asked nervously.

“We have no choice….” Lucy sighed as she tied her hair. “Let’s muddle things up a bit,”

…………………………………………

Another member of the fire palace’s army was being blown back, fire reducing his clothes and flesh to ash.

But despite their comrade's death, the other adventurers did not stop their advance as they willfully approached the raging storm that was Rine.

Their eyes blazing with both passion and greed, the adventurers fighting under the fire palace’s command gave hearty laughs even as they burned to death. To them, fire of all kinds was a long-time friend.

Rine stopped himself from throwing another attack as he was forced to dodge to the side. From out of the flames that covered him, a ghastly face appeared. A warrior with particularly thick skin smiled as he swung the blade at Rine’s head. The latter dodged by a narrow margin but that was enough; wildly roaring, he smashed the warrior’s face in with the bundle of flames he had been holding on to.

The scene repeated itself over and over again only with different warriors and magicians. Wind blades scratched Rine’s skin and swords pierced him more than once but he kept going. Soon, blood coated the land he stood upon but even that was being vaporized by his heat.

“Stop,” Yet the perpetrator, the red-haired boy who turned into a monster, was not proud.

Every warrior that died by his hands got to see his face, particularly the tears rolling down it before turning to steam.

…………………………………………

Rine desperately tried to stop himself yet he could do nothing; now a prisoner to his own body, he could do nothing but watch as his own hands mercilessly took the lives of people left and right. All the while, the locket around his neck swung wildly, smacking against his chest.

How many had he killed?

“Enough!” He roared as he gathered his will for a final attempt. Amazingly his hand actually hesitated and, while that did allow for a warrior to inflict a deep gash on his chest, he was ecstatic. Finally, he could regain control and then he could….

He could….

(Do what?) Rine was startled by a sudden voice. Oddly enough, it did not come from all around him but rather from within.

(What exactly do you plan to do? Weakling.)

The warrior that had injured him was blown back by a fireball Rine’s body conjured in mere seconds.

(No, don’t answer that, I will. You’re gonna stand around like a headless chicken unsure of what to do, unsure of who to rely on. Then, just as your mind grows weary from the exhaustion of being a coward and you once again realize how weak and pitiful you really are, you’ll come to me.)

“W-who are you?”

(I’m you.)

Suddenly Rine’s consciousness seared with burning pain and he felt as if a hand had grabbed a hold of his brain.

(Come. Let’s talk.)

Back to the battlefield, a sword was deeply plunged into Rine’s chest.

“Die! Die! Die!” A warrior yelled as she laughed maniacally. Out of all those who attempted, it was her who slew the brat. She lifted her badge up victoriously as she waited for the points to arrive. But as minutes passed without her value rising, she began to curse.

“Why isn’t it working? Is it broken?” She violently pushed Rine’s body away, intending to knock what she thought was a corpse to the ground where it belonged.

But to her surprise, the boy remained standing, even with the sword piercing his heart.

“What the fuck are you?” She asked in annoyance but stopped once she saw his face.

Eyes filled with insanity and a toothy grin that looked out of place in any battlefield; the sight of it filled her with instinctual fear.

She flinched as the boy suddenly lifted his hand to the air. But soon she would come to regret her hesitation as within mere seconds a ball of flames materialized above the boy’s palm. Seconds later the ball grew to the size of a horse, then a carriage, then a house.

“Oh, Maria!” The warrior muttered as her body disintegrated from the spell’s mere presence.

…………………………………………

“We have to help Rine!” Amelia said with a pale complexion as she watched his rampage.

“Cort?” Noticing the lack of response she turned to her side but found that the latter was nowhere to be seen.

Just as she was about to look around for him, she heard her team leader yell. “Defenders, switch to support and follow the vanguard units; High-commander has ordered an all-out assault.”

…………………………………………

Cort zoomed through the battlefield dodging errant spells and arrows. His specter-like presence left all those who caught a glimpse of him confused.

However, contrary to expectations, Cort was not heading toward Rine, rather his destination was odder.

‘I can’t help him,’ He thought to himself as he regarded the comically large fireball Rine was supporting with ease. Despite its humorous appearance, Cort did not dare to underestimate it as he was sure that simply touching it would put him out of the game. Going over there right now would only complicate matters further as his strength was too lacking at the moment. At best he would be able to take the pressure off Rine for a bit, but that would be all.

Knowing he had to find a way to get stronger quickly, he recalled old man Carson’s advice; heeding it, he made way to the high rankers section of the war where virtually every magician had already formed their core and every warrior unlocked their Aura.

Amid this chaotic section of the battlefield, he noticed a certain brawl between a blue-haired beauty and a fire palace soldier.

“Bingo,” Cort said with a smile.