Chapter 268

Chapter 268

Human emotions are not monochrome. Especially when directed at someone, they take on an even more diverse array of colors.  

We merely assign plausible names based on the predominant shade of those emotions.  

A warm-hued red or an orange glow—love. If it’s rough and fierce—anger. If it’s sticky and dark—hatred. If it’s so transparent that it appears blue—indifference. If it’s a boiling golden light—desire…….  

Each person’s cognitive perception of color may vary slightly, but it wouldn’t stray too far from this.  

What emotions do I, Luka, hold toward Kinuan? I’m not sure, but one thing is clear—the dominant shade isn’t even distinct.  

Doubt, mystery, attachment, hatred, expectation, anger…….  

Like paint poured into water and stirred, it’s chaotic. The mixed color of these emotions is predominantly black. At a glance, it seems as if only pitch-black hatred remains.  

But it isn’t a solid black. It’s hazy and murky like fog, and if you look closely, streaks of color intertwine like capillaries.  

‘That bastard.’  

This unsettling emotion, too, was something he planted in me. It feels as if thorny vines are constricting me.  

Creak.  

I raised the shock pistol, Ruina, and aimed at Kinuan in the distance.  

‘Ruina Probatio.’  

The name had increased, but its function and power remained unchanged. It was still the same weapon, like a twin.  

Vwoooong!  

The energy activity of the shock round was intensifying.  

Thud—Kaaang!  

As I pulled the trigger, a sharp gunshot raced through the air.  

Well, of course, it wasn’t going to hit.  

Kinuan swiftly leaped behind a rock, escaping the projectile’s trajectory. In the spot where he had stood, a bluish explosion unique to shock rounds erupted.  

‘Countless questions are filling my head.’  

Let’s assume that when he destroyed a motorcycle with a single pistol shot, it was the result of superhuman combat intuition and calculation. If I make every possible concession, that could fall within the domain of Akies Victima. It would require an extraordinary level of insight.  

But how did Kinuan arrive before me? How did he predict the movement path of a motorcycle, which was practically random?  

‘Akies Victima is not some supernatural ability that creates something from nothing.’  

The results of Akies Victima are always grounded in physical phenomena and rational thinking.  

‘Predicting my movement path is impossible. He would have to be trailing behind me. The idea that he was waiting ahead of me makes no sense.’  

This was complete randomness.  

‘How did Kinuan get ahead of me and lie in wait?’  

Think, Luka. If I don’t solve this mystery, I’ll be the one who gets taken down.  

Click!

I advanced while continuously firing shock rounds. With each suppressive shot, the rock Kinuan was hiding behind crumbled further. Debris scattered in all directions.  

Ting! Chiii!  

The coolant casings, still hot from the heat, clattered onto the ground.  

Kiiing!  

I drew the Firelight Saber with my left hand.  

‘If possible, I’ll cut off his limbs to subdue him.’  

Capturing him alive was the best outcome. But if necessary, I was prepared to kill. Letting him escape was worse than killing him.  

‘If Kinuan dies here… I can go into hiding for the next ten years.’  

As long as Kinuan was gone, the Empire or whatever else didn’t matter. I was confident I could disappear. If the politicians were right, chaos would soon descend upon Planet Novus, and no one would have time to care about me.  

Click! Thud—Ung!  

Ruina’s magazine ran empty. I swiftly swapped it out, steadying my breath and focusing.  

‘I’m the one applying pressure. Don’t let the Kinuan inside me weigh me down. Now’s the time to push forward.’  

I leaped forward in great strides, closing the distance rapidly. With each bound, I covered dozens of meters.  

Before I knew it, the rock chipped away by my shock rounds was right in front of me.  

I didn’t bother speaking to Kinuan. I had no intention of getting tangled in some pointless conversation and playing into his mental games.  

‘Wake up, damn brain. I’m sorry for overworking you, but this is the moment to unleash everything.’  

A sharp, burning sensation flared in my head like a lit fuse. My nervous system and blood vessels strained under the overload, my cranial pressure spiked, and a ringing filled my ears.  

‘I’m not asking for much. Just endure this moment.’  

I prepared to leap onto the rock. The plan was to engage in both gunfire and melee combat simultaneously.  

“Luka, just come out and talk for a moment….”  

Don’t listen. If I do, I’ll fall into his cunning rhetoric.  

With the sensation of an imminent explosion, I moved to vault over the rock. I already knew he was behind it.  

‘I confirmed it with auditory vision. I heard his voice. There’s no room for doubt.’  

Kinuan was beyond the rock.  

‘The moment we face each other, I’ll seal off all directions with shock rounds. The explosion’s instant will give me enough time to fight.’  

I’d also throw the Firelight Saber. The Mothblade would remain my trump card. The auto-tracking pistol was nothing more than a toy in this situation.  

‘Throw the Firelight Saber to block his path, then draw Crucis.’  

Two competing streams of thought clashed, refining and finalizing my plan.  

I intended to unleash every ounce of firepower and combat ability at my disposal. Everything I had honed over my life had to explode here.  

Never, under any circumstances, let my guard down.  

Kinuan had neutralized my motorcycle with a single handgun. He, too, was pushing the limits of Akies Victima.

Even before we faced each other, we were engaged in a battle of wits.  

As I vaulted onto the rock, I lost count of how many times my mind had run simulations.  

Creak, static, crackle.  

Strange noises echoed inside my head and in my ears. A sharp pain throbbed across the bridge of my nose, as if needles were stabbing into my skull.  

I wanted to stop thinking. Overloading my brain was excruciating. Blood was likely seeping from my eyes, nose, and mouth.  

Chhk!  

The noise-filled screen in my mind momentarily sharpened. One unresolved question consumed my thoughts.  

‘How did Kinuan get ahead of me?’  

If I couldn’t answer this, I would lose.  

That thought struck me. I had little time left. There was a limit to how much I could distort physical time through sheer mental processing. In the end, I was bound by the laws of physics.  

The world only *felt* slow—it wasn’t actually frozen.  

Pop!  

A blood vessel burst. My vision was being dyed red, as though a crimson curtain had fallen over my eyes.  

There’s a saying about life flashing before your eyes before death. I had already gone through that several times.  

‘I have to find traces and clues within my own life and experiences.’  

If I searched and found nothing, then I would lose here.  

Whooosh…  

I was soaring onto the rock. But I didn’t look below.  

‘I…’  

The Empire, Akbaran, the academy, the terrorists, Rick Kaiser…  

Each memory flickered like sparks across my mind.  

As I leaped, I adjusted my plan. At the last moment, I twisted my ankle mid-air to look behind me.  

The space behind my back wavered.  

‘Ha, ha… you cunning bastard.’  

Kinuan couldn’t afford to lose sight of me, so he had revealed his weapon first. It was a small clue, but I had caught it.  

There was a principle I had learned from Kinuan. He wouldn’t have lied when it came to Akies Victima.  

‘Akies Victima is not a miracle that creates something from nothing.’  

Kinuan wasn’t an omnipotent god who could perform miracles. He was still bound within human limitations.  

So how did someone *without* omnipotence manage to arrive *before* me, despite my erratic movement pattern?  

The answer was *transcendent mobility.* But there had been no aircraft, no high-mobility vehicle like mine.  

‘A supernatural ability.’  

That meant I had to consider either an Arcane Artifact or a Force ability.  

And among the Force-based mobility abilities I had seen, there was only one. One directly linked to Kinuan.  

‘Rick Kaiser’s teleportation.’

Kinuan’s close friend and a key executive of Nemesis—Rick Kaiser. He used a sphere-shaped Arcane Artifact as his trump card for teleportation.  

Did Kinuan still have that teleportation artifact? Even if he did, could he still use it? Could he wield it skillfully? Had he used it multiple times just to keep up with me, and yet still had more to spare?  

‘Of course, he could.’  

Because Kinuan was a monster.  

…But he was not a god.  

Monsters were beings that *could* be defeated.  

And so, having reached my conclusion, I swung the Firelight Saber as I turned to face him.  

Vwoooong!  

The space wavered. Pale blue-white particles flickered faintly.  

‘Cut through it.’  

The Firelight Saber, swung mid-turn, sliced through the particles.  

Yes, it was time to cast off the shadow of Kinuan that loomed over me. I would drag him down from a god to a mere human.  

A disciple must one day surpass their master. That was the natural order of the world.  

Vwooong!  

The blue-white particles solidified into a tangible form. The outline of Kinuan’s face and body began to emerge.  

Chiiiiik!  

The Firelight Saber had already embedded itself in Kinuan’s waist. It was a strike no one could evade.  

‘I predicted you.’  

This was probably the first time I had ever been ahead of him. And I hoped it would be the last. This was exhausting. I never wanted to go through this twice.  

Crunch!  

I completed my swing.  

Shraaah!  

The Firelight Saber sliced clean through Kinuan’s waist. The wound sizzled from the heat.  

His upper body was flung sideways, sent flying from the impact. Traces of the Arcane Artifact's use lingered—his pupils and body shed a faint trail of blue particles.  

Thud!  

My back slammed against the rock, my body jolting from the force. I steadied myself and aimed Ruina at Kinuan’s airborne form.  

‘Keep attacking. Don’t hesitate. Kill him here!’  

The option to capture him had vanished from my mind. What if I hesitated, trying to subdue him, only to get caught off guard or let him escape? I would regret it for the rest of my life!  

Whirr!  

Kinuan’s pupils flashed an icy blue mid-air. The fading particles around him suddenly coalesced, intensifying.  

His body vanished once more.  

‘Consecutive teleportation!’  

Kinuan wielded the teleportation artifact far more skillfully than Rick ever had. He had a deeper understanding of Arcane Civilization and its technologies than Rick did. He must have spent years studying it.  

I shut my eyes and focused on the sounds. The particles emitted a noise distorted by static. If I could hear it, I could measure the distance and pinpoint his location.  

Click!

I followed the sound that distorted the physical world and aimed Ruina. Thirty meters away, particles were gathering.  

"Blue surpasses…"  

Kinuan appeared, his lips moving. I pulled the trigger.  

Thwoong! Kwa—ang!  

An energy explosion erupted where Kinuan had been.  

But the blast didn’t stop him from speaking.  

"…the indigo, Luka."  

Finishing the phrase *Blue surpasses the indigo*, Kinuan was blasted further backward. Around him, a photon-coated energy shield flickered before dissipating.  

'Damn it!'  

I cursed inwardly.  

That bastard had wrapped himself in an energy barrier. It reacted to the shock round's explosion, absorbing the impact.  

Grit.  

My teeth clenched involuntarily.  

This was frustrating. If I had used a high-caliber live round instead, Kinuan would be dead. But because my primary weapon relied on energy-based firepower, he survived.  

Kiiing!  

I swiftly threw the Firelight Dagger, *Mothblade*. Like all weapons in the Firelight series, it melted through everything in its path.  

Ting, tick!  

Kinuan, still reduced to half a body, twisted slightly to shift the Mothblade’s trajectory with his remaining arm. His arm and hand bore scorch marks from the melting effect, but the wound wasn’t fatal.  

Thud!  

Kinuan, having blocked the Mothblade, crashed to the ground.  

'I have the advantage. The one in a desperate crisis here is Kinuan.'  

I planted my foot against the rock and prepared to leap, closing the distance in an instant. My legs surged with power, causing the ground to tremble.  

But I didn’t jump forward.  

No, to be precise—I *couldn’t*.  

‘The airflow just shifted. Something…’  

I instinctively lifted my head. The bright blue sky shimmered.  

"…I wasn’t the only one gambling today. Just as you trusted in my abilities, I trusted in you. That you would surpass me today."  

Kinuan rambled. But my eyes were locked onto the sky.  

The once-clear heavens seemed meaningless in the face of the dark, massive object plummeting down.  

Kuuuuuuung—!!  

A shadowy, armored cybernetic body crashed down between Kinuan and me.  

Despite falling from high altitude, it rose as if the impact had meant nothing.

At a glance, it looked like a Legion. But upon closer inspection, it was a different kind of armored cybernetic body.  

Its back was slightly hunched, and a bundle of cables connected its head to a metallic box that writhed grotesquely.  

*‘One-Man Army, Mushir al-Kashura.’*  

The legendary mercenary had returned.  

Srrrk.  

Kashura raised an arm draped in a cloak, shielding Kinuan as if protecting him.  

"A younger and more exceptional mind stands before me."  

Kinuan spoke as if presenting a prized commodity.  

"That’s certainly true. Our deal is complete, Kinuan."  

Kashura’s armored body began to tremble.  

Gooooooo!  

The increasing output sent vibrations through the ground, making dust and pebbles tremble.  

"This time, I won’t fail. Nor will I let you escape, Luka."  

From Kashura’s helmet, two pairs of optical lenses glowed menacingly. The cables connected to the metal box pulsed, emitting an unsettling squelching sound.

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