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The Main Laws of the World.

A vague term that referred to the principles that bound this realm together. To the layman, it was meaningless. To the magically gifted, it was necessary.

The reason why I hadn't yet disclosed the details of this concept this far into the book, was solely an issue of public safety.

Unlike the breathing techniques, magic is unsurprisingly destructive and until it can properly be regulated, I will refrain from describing its intricacies.

However, I will say this: in the old world, there existed a similar set of rules.

The Laws of Thermodynamics. Not as dramatic a name as its Velatyan counterpart.

In essence, though, it entailed that the total energy in this world is constant. You could never create new particles nor destroy existing ones. You could only convert this finite energy source into other forms.

With magic, this basically meant you could never create something from nothing.

You needed to visualize and shift all the molecules at your disposal into a new specific structure—a meticulous process that took a heavy toll on one's mental capacity.

We can think of it as the concept of mana I suppose... though, it's more of the brainpower that was being used up.

Thus... in sooth, the magic in this world wasn't actually "magic". It was more of a catalyst for scientific reactions. Not particularly exciting-sounding, I know.

According to Lia, what controlled this catalyst was the person's mind. Perception was very well reality to those who knew how to bend it.

As such, only a small percentage of the population was capable of wielding magic. Even then, it was typically limited to a few if not one type of spell.

It was purely by ridiculous serendipity I chanced upon the one exception to this rule.

That or the hand of an old idiot upstairs.

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With that in mind, I should be able to illustrate the importance of the sight that stood before us.

BOOM!

Levitating above the headland was a figure donning the same feathered overcoat as the man before. He was undoubtedly another member of the Bloody Talons.

He had slicked-back cardinal red hair and a stubble to boot. His sunken green eyes confirmed my suspicions that he was indeed, a pure-bred Merulean.

In spite of his scruffy appearance, he had a professional air about him.

And in his hand was...

「Is that... a gun?!」

「Zozo! Ssshhh..!」

It was a blunderbuss to be exact. An antediluvian short-barreled shotgun straight out of a pirate movie. I could barely hold in my voice from witnessing it in action.

I knew this wasn't your standard medieval fantasy world.

Fwoop! Shtunk! Fwoop! Shtunk! Fwoop! Shtunk!

Barraging him with arrows was none other than Asthos, who made full use of his arsenal of crossbows and ballistette and dashed around the heavily-armed contract killer.

His speed rivaled Rysef's—he was like a haze.

Backing him up was Lia, who demonstrated the true power of her chalk magic by delineating life-size drawings of Asthos on the ground and bringing them to life.

These animated illustrations ran alongside the original, serving as decoys. Lia's masterful use of colored chalk was so precise, even I couldn't tell them apart.

Their strengths played off each other perfectly, and I could tell they've been doing these coordinated attacks for a long time. Together, these Sentinel captains were virtually invincible.

I then turned back to the assassin. He did well to dodge Asthos' hail of bolts. But with the added smokescreen? This battle was over.

A mere shotgun couldn't have possibly overcome this.

「Ah... where's Rysef by the way?」

「Over there Zozo. He's been motionless from the start...」

「Seriously..? What in God's name is he doing?」

The Ashen Thief silently watched the battle unfold with his arms crossed. There was no indication of him joining the fight.

Suddenly though, the contract killer loudly addressed the stationary District Master. His voice was gruffer than a Billy goat and his accent was discernibly English.

「Oi Ashen Thief! Don't play games with me! I've come here for you and you alone! Get over here and face me, candy-ass!」

Rysef had his eyes riveted on the man, but said nary a word.

His quietness was interrupted by the chalk clones of Asthos. They circled in towards the contract killer and simultaneously prepared to pounce.

To overwhelm the opponent wasn't a bad idea, but with the man's weapon type it was certainly risky.

Shotguns are known for their bullet spread, making close-quarters combat highly undesirable.

Nonetheless, with Asthos' arm strength, one blow should've been enough to knock the contract killer out of the sky.

It was a gamble though... and I wasn't a high-risk high-reward kind of guy.

Fwoop! Fwoop! Fwoop! Fwoop!

Then, the hunter... or should I say hunters, jumped up in the air and wound up their punches. At this point, I was unsure which was the real Asthos.

All I hoped for was that the real one wouldn't get caught in the bullet spread.

BAM!

Asthos's wallop generated a shockwave that nearly ripped the trees around us from the ground.

The thief girl was well-nigh blown away by the wind force, prompting me to grab her by the collar.

This power... and this is the guy that keeps losing to Rysef in arm wrestling?!

Lia also struggled to stabilize her footing.

As the gale dispersed though, we were met with a staggering scene.

「Z-Zozo..!」

「You're kidding me...」

The two of us looked on in awe.

Asthos' fist had made contact, but not with the assassin. Instead, his meathooks had firmly planted themselves in the bore of the blunderbuss. A well-timed block.

The hunter's fingers were literally staring down the barrel of a gun.

「Don't get in my way, pillock.」

BOOM!

We flinched and closed our eyes as the weapon went off. It wasn't every day you got blinded by the muzzle flash of a gun.

I then slowly opened my eyes and noticed I was covered in some sort of viscous liquid. I turned to Melyn whose entire body had frozen.

Looking down at my hands, I realized just what had happened.

To my left, hanging off the bush, was a severed arm, bloody and mutilated. It jetted a stream of sanguine onto me that was scarcely visible on my black leather outfit.

Briskly, I crawled over to the thief girl who was on the brink of tears and covered her mouth.

「Mel... don't make a sound... If he finds out we're here, we're dead.」

I once again peered through the bushes to catch the aftermath.

「AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGHHHH!!!!!」

「Asthos!」

Needless to say, Asthos plummeted back to the earth and thrashed around in agony. His arm was blown clean off by the blunderbuss. No amount of muscle could've prevented the outcome.

Lia raced over to him as the contract killer reloaded. Wisps of smoke rose from the man's gun barrel.

「Listen, Ashen Thief! I've been waiting years for this contract! Your mates over here are hardly a worthy substitute for you—!」

BAM!

A second impact.

In a flash, Rysef appeared beside the hitman. His blow was promptly blocked by the blunderbuss again.

「Finally decided to come over huh?!」

「Ya can't exactly fight back with an unloaded gun!」

VWOOSH!

Using the stored-up momentum, Rysef launched the man into the skies and charged up his special move.

「CITY..!!! 」

All the raw energy in his vicinity quickly converged in his clenched hand.

The air, the grass, and even parts of himself. These scattered particles channeled into him with a single destination in mind.

The amount of processing power this took was... beyond description. It required calculation speeds akin to a supercomputer. I was surprised his mind could stay intact after such a hefty spell.

I couldn't imagine mathematically converting that many atoms into power on the spot.

「BUUUSTER!!!」

BOOOOOM!!!

And Rysef transformed this pent-up energy into compressed air, which he then blasted towards the still-soaring contract killer.

The gale's concussive force broke the sound barrier thousands of times over. It could eviscerate anyone in its path.

Given its wide range, it was safe to say, the feathered bastard wouldn't come out of this unscathed.

But, I've jinxed it haven't I..?

Without a moment to spare, the assassin swiftly aimed his shotgun at the incoming gust and fired.

BOOM!

But no bullet remained in the chamber—he had no time to reload.

I sat there wondering what he was planning.

Then, it came to me.

「Mel... that gun of his..」

「W-what about it Zozo..?」

「It's...」

BWISH!!!

Out of the wide bore of the blunderbuss came an unrelenting whirlwind.

The contract killer's blunderbuss didn't fire bullets. It was specially built to propel blasts of air.

The opposing gales might somehow equaled that of the Ashen Thief's special move.

Thus, the blast was canceled out.

And the powerful winds did clash with one another, the resulting shockwave way more destructive than the last.

Lia made haste and retreated leeward with the gravely injured Asthos. All the while, the burning village buildings nearby were instantaneously demolished by the pressure.

The forest we hid in was also not immune to devastation. Melyn and I held on for dear life as the trees and shrubbery around us fell over and flung away.

The thief girl had cleverly plunged her cudgel into the soil and used her ina magic to firmly root it to the ground.

With that piece of wood as our sole anchor point, I latched onto her like glue and waited for the violent gale to die down.

Even with all that's going on, she still has her wits about her. That's good...

As the wind settled, I rolled off the weary thief girl and gandered at the fallout.

A wasteland, with Rysef and the contract killer at its center. It was significantly more barren than the churchyard we fought Seyna in.

Dirt and loam replaced the greenery that had colored the headland. And a third of the woods behind us were effectively deforested. It was as though a hurricane had hit the area.

Well, that wasn't too far from the truth.

「Cor blimey! Now that was close! The dossier on you didn't embellish a thing. You truly are a monster!」

「D-dossier eh?」

The assassin had Rysef at gunpoint. In just a few seconds he'd managed to flip a hopeless situation into a favorable one.

Evidently, he was a hell of a lot more dangerous than the man before, leading me to wholeheartedly believe he was the group's boss.

And the dossier he mentioned... There was no doubt in my mind as to whom their client was.

「The Church sent ya then?」

Rysef took the words right out of my mouth.

「Congrats mate! You figured it out! As expected of a Nephilim—!」

BAM!

The Ashen Thief attempted to jab the hired gun, and again, his attempt was parried by the side of his blunderbuss.

Nephilim..? Why does that sound so familiar..?

「You're quite amusing, Ashen Thief! Changing the color of your hair and eyes won't change the fact that you're descended from a race built on sin!」

「Watch yer tongue... button man...」

「Ah... the name's Tyton. Let's forgo any formalities, shall we?」

BOOM!

Tyton again shot a whirlwind that blasted him into the air. From there he stayed suspended in mid-air and stared down at Rysef.

「Where did ya learn o' me heritage? Speak.」

「Oooh frightening! Are you gonna use that racial ability of yours? See far into the future? Witness my demise from the comfort of the present?」

「How much do ya know?!」

The atmosphere reverberated with the Ashen Thief's question.

I feared the answer would change the way we saw Rysef. Even so, Melyn and I couldn't move. As if turned to stone, we lay there and eavesdropped on their exchange.

「I know more than enough, Ashen Thief. I know more than enough.」

BAM!

Rysef leaped in the air and landed another blow to the contract killer. This time, he blocked with his bare hand. It left not even a scratch on the man's palm.

「The Nephilim. An interesting creature aren't they? A race of giants born from the unholy union between human and angel. How unsightly..!」

BAM! BAM! BAM!

The Ashen Thief continuously punched Tyton. His strikes were either skillfully evaded or parried by the assassin.

「I've heard the spell to make yourself human-sized puts a considerable amount of strain on your body! How could you have put up with that for so many years?! Doesn't it cause you excruciating pain to squeeze yourself in a tiny form while moving around like a jester?!」

Wait... so all this time... Rysef was in pain..? Is that why he'd drown himself in alcohol most nights..?

Rysef's flurry of rage-filled attacks again grounded the feather-covered Merulean. It was like watching a cockroach pummel an ant.

What followed were more taunts from the contract killer. Melyn and I gradually learned more about our master from his incessant gibes.

「I can understand you being ashamed of your heritage, Ashen Thief! Your people are the farthest thing from God! And you know what's funny?!」

「Ya talk too much, asshole!」

Rysef reached for the blunderbuss in Tyton's hand and tried wrestling it out of his clutches.

The two were locked in an intense stalemate and the pace of the confrontation escalated with every new utterance denoting to these Nephilim.

Then, the assassin said it.

「You've lost your special prescience, haven't you?!」

The Ashen Thief flinched but didn't answer.

「What happened? Did years of denying your bloodline finally catch up with you? Is this Vel's way of punishing you? Maybe you got too cocky and thought you had everything under control?! District Master, Ashen Thief, Caring Teacher, Charismatic Bloke, Successor to Lakua—how many characters were you confident in upholding, Nephilim?!」

Rysef leaned back and slammed his forehead against Tyton's.

「Ya really know how t' push me buttons!」

「You're only eggy because it's the truth, Ashen Thief! Now, why not use that anger of yours and give me a real match?」

Snap!

I shifted my attention to my side and saw that the thief girl had gotten up. She'd unwittingly stepped on a twig as she stepped forth.

Both men became aware of our positions and swiveled towards us.

「Mel..? Lorenzo..?」

Rysef was alarmed, while Tyton held his blunderbuss up and chuckled.

「Hah! How perfect! Your apprentices were here this whole time. Guess they'd overheard our little talk.」

「What are you two doing here? Where's Klon?」

I pinched my thigh and averted my gaze at his inquiry. The man he'd entrusted us to wasn't returning anytime soon.

「R-Rysef... What he said about you... is it true..? Did you really know this was all going to happen?」

The thief girl struggled to accept Tyton's words. Truth be told, I was also hesitant in giving credence to his whole story.

Yet, some part of me was convinced. As though I had known all along that Rysef was this... "Nephilim"

It did provide an explanation for most of the mystery surrounding Rysef. His unfounded confidence wouldn't have made any sense otherwise.

「Green hair and crimson eyes... Oho..? The Beafrouxian noble? Your dossier is also quite interesting, Melyn. Or should I say... scion of the Lotierre family?」

「L-Lot... ierre...」

He even knows about Melyn's past...

I bolted up and confronted the hitman. Every part of my body was screaming not to, but with the thief girl on the verge of breaking down, I couldn't just stay idly by.

I begrudgingly joined Melyn and raised my voice.

「H-hey dickhead, maybe drop the firearm and fight mano-a-mano for once?」

My snide remark quickly caught his attention.

「Ah... the elusive second apprentice. You were responsible for the sinkhole that ravaged part of the slums two years ago...」

「If you're here to kill us, why not get it over with? Why dally the job by spouting incomprehensible drivel? You're not a very efficient killer are you?」

He slightly grimaced at my comment, yet upheld that fake smile of his.

「You seem to know a lot about efficient killers...」

He approached me with a glint in his grin—a wretched expression that made my hair stand on end.

BAM!

Another one of Rysef's blows, single-handedly deflected, literally. He used no more than one arm to block his lightning-fast punch.

「Tsk, tsk, tsk... you won't get me that easily, Ashen Thief.」

He cocked his gun and aimed it at me and Melyn. A wry grin directed at Rysef lined his thin lips.

「Let's see which is faster, shall we? You or a whirlwind bullet? If you fail to stop it, both of your adorable apprentices get blown to smithereens. How confident are you in your speed... eh Ashen Thief..?」

「If ya so much as harm a hair on their heads...」

Like a deer in headlights, all I could do was stand stock-still. Out of the corner of my eye, I witnessed the thief girl do the same.

She was either frozen from the same fear I was experiencing or unable to cope with the resurfacing trauma.

No matter the case, seeing her in such a state was enough to spring me into action.

「Mel get behind me!」

I rushed in front of Melyn and spread my arms. If I was going to die anyway, I at least wanted her to be safe.

Shit... I can't see this ending up any other way... I'm through...

「Don't move you wankers!」

BOOM!

My short life flashed before my eyes as an invisible yet palpable force ripped its way through the smoke-polluted air.

Ysolva's handkerchief, which I still clenched in my hand, served as my sole comfort during this harrowing second.

Seeing her again was the last promise I was ever going to break...

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