Chapter 282
Are you…
In a room that had once been a pristine, almost blinding white, the aftermath of violence was impossible to ignore. The floor was littered with countless shards of shattered glass, each fragment catching the dim, flickering red light and throwing it in broken directions. Some pieces were clean, others stained with thin streaks of blood, like they had tried to hold onto the moment they were created.
Near the center of the room, there was a single, unmistakable patch of red—a darker, denser shade than the scattered droplets around it. It was smeared across the floor, forming an irregular shape that only grew clearer the longer one looked at it. And in the middle of that red stain, lying side by side were two figures.
Blaze and IAM.
Both were motionless, their chests rising and falling in shallow, uneven breaths. Their bodies were battered, marked with blood—some dried, some fresh.
They weren't unconscious enough to be peaceful, nor awake enough to move. They existed in that fragile in-between state where even the smallest movement could mean pain.
Above them, the monotone voice continued its endless loop, cold and uncaring, as though scolding the room rather than the two boys inside it.
"Death methods are not permitted during sparring sessions… Death methods are not permitted during sparring sessions…"
The alarm blared alongside it. Every time the red lights flashed, the shadows around the two bodies jumped and stretched along the walls.
Finally, it all came to a sudden stop.
The blaring red lights froze mid-pulse, the alarm cut off in an abrupt snap, and the mechanical voice died mid-sentence, leaving behind a silence so unnatural it felt like the room itself was holding its breath. The absence of noise was almost disorienting; after so much sound, the quiet pressed down.
For a long moment, neither Blaze nor IAM moved. They simply lay there, side by side, staring up at the ceiling as if it were some distant, unreachable sky. Their minds were foggy from exhaustion, nerves still twitching from the intensity of what had just happened. Time lost its shape—it could have been seconds or minutes, neither of them could tell.
At some point, there was a soft metallic click—quiet, but clear enough to cut through the haze. It came from the direction of the door, the kind of sound that meant it had been unlocked.
Neither of them turned their heads to look. They didn't have the strength, and even if they did, it felt easier to just keep staring upward.
A full minute passed before a voice finally broke the silence.
"Well… that was stupid…"
The words drifted across the room, it was dry and belonged to IAM. His tone wasn't angry, not even close—just tired, bewildered, and somehow resigned all at once, as though he couldn't quite believe this was how their spar had ended.
He was, of course, talking about Blaze's decision to try activating a death method. The very action that had led to alarms, mana drain and the two of them lying here like discarded mannequins.
Blaze also responded, "You tried to kill me…"
His voice came out slightly ridiculous—strained, hoarse, half-offended and half-breathless, as if even he wasn't sure how seriously to take his own words in their current state.
"So you tried to kill yourself?" IAM dryly chuckled—only for the sound to break immediately. A weak, painful wheeze squeezed out of his chest, the kind that made every rib feel like it was vibrating. The moment the laugh escaped him, he regretted it. His body clearly wasn't in the mood for humour.
"I would have been taking you with me," Blaze muttered, his tone was flat but stubborn, like he wasn't talking about attempted mutual destruction.
"Fair enough."
The words drifted out of IAM with a low exhale. Then silence settled again.
IAM was inwardly slightly annoyed at himself. When Blaze had slammed him against the mirror, he'd lost control—truly lost it. The killing intent had surged far harder than he'd anticipated, more instinct than choice, and in that moment he had come dangerously close to crossing a line he couldn't uncross. If the alarm hadn't blared at that exact second, snapping through his mind, Blaze might not have been lying beside him right now... Well... He would have... Just not breathing…
IAM pushed that thought away.
It wasn't something he could afford to unpack right now. He would deal with that later—he had to. Whatever had flared up inside him, whatever had almost taken over, he couldn't ignore it forever.
But first, there was a more immediate problem.One he felt pressing against him even now, dull and throbbing, refusing to be forgotten.
He thought for a moment before he finally came up with a solution.
His body hurt everywhere, his thoughts were hazy, but he forced himself to speak.
He first felt Blaze out."Blaze… I hope you can keep what happened today a secret… It would really help me out."
There was a pause—one of those long, quiet ones where even the faint buzzing of the lights seemed louder than the breathing beside him. Blaze didn't respond immediately. IAM could almost feel the gears in his head turning.
Finally he said, "If you say so… no one will hear about this."
"Including Ari…" IAM added at the end, almost gently, as if finishing the sentence for him.
However, the moment he said that, Blaze suddenly seemed to have been put on mute.
IAM cleared his throat slightly. "Including Ari… right?"
Blaze didn't respond. At first, it seemed like he hadn't heard, but IAM soon realised that wasn't the case.
IAM, with effort that made every rib complain, slowly turned his head to face him and saw Blaze had turned his entire body to the side, facing away from him. His back was stiff as if the very mention of Ari was forbidden.
IAM almost choked on his saliva. After a moment of internal shock, he realised he had no choice but to play a card he truly didn't want to. He had expected this kind of response from Blaze, but he had hoped, even slightly, that it might be different.
Ari gave him bad vibes—not evil, but more like the type who quietly collected information the same way a hunter collected traps. The kind that took advantage of weaknesses. IAM knew he had to handle this carefully.
He exhaled slowly and prepared himself.
Suddenly, the words "What was Raj like during his academy years?" echoed through the room.
For a few seconds, there was only silence. Blaze froze, his body tense, and then slowly turned to face IAM. Fire burned in his eyes as he asked, "What did you just say?"