"What in the world is he talking about?" The thought flashed through my mind.
Not dwelling on it, I decided to ask him directly.
"Excuse me, sir. But what do you mean, they would have died anyway?"
"Kid. You are aware of how catastrophic the Calamities can be, aren't you?"
"Actually, the three Calamities that occurred were only the beginning. You see, Earth isn't the only planet that suffered them."
"Since you said the last Calamity was forty years ago, that means the time for the fourth is approaching. And I'm certain it will be extremely difficult for humanity to survive it. The other races are in the same boat. But they are an order of magnitude stronger than humans; surviving the fourth Calamity shouldn't be a problem for them."
"That's precisely why I say ordinary people won't make it. They can only rely on dumb luck. The same goes for Awakened with weak talents."
"However, as for you, your talent is quite... intriguing. But if you don't apply yourself, you'll die just like your family did."
"How do you know about my talent, sir?"
"It's not as hard as you think. Upon becoming a Transcendent, one's perception of the world reaches another level, allowing them to sense the souls of others. Of course, under normal circumstances it's impossible, but you're not exactly hiding the runes on your soul."
"Enough questions, kid. Tell me, where are we right now?"
"The city of Manuwell, sir. We're currently in the south-central district, on the roof of a pharmaceutical company, if I'm not mistaken."
"Good. Who is the strongest in this city at the moment?"
"I believe that would be Blazing Flash. She's a Transcendent Hero. She's also considered the strongest human alive right now."
"Hmm… What do you think… or rather, what would you do if she came here?"
"Hope that she saves me."
"I doubt you'd survive a battle between two Transcendents."
"I think so too, but... if she won, I could come to terms with that."
"What? Don't tell me you've grown to hate me that much already. We've only just met."
"Yes. I have. But I've already been through things I never thought I'd experience in my entire life. You're a complete psycho. Even if I die, I'll be hoping you get what's coming to you."
"Ahahah! Kid, I did tell you not to lie to me, but now you're crossing a line. For that, I'll punish you. I won't kill you, just… take you down a notch."
Snap.
In that instant, everything shattered.
Something inside me crunched. Not a bone. Not a muscle. It was the mana. I felt the currents flowing through my body—faint, barely alive—suddenly flare into existence. They twitched, coiled into tangled knots, began twisting upon themselves.
It was as if the blood in my veins had decided to reverse course. As if someone had grabbed my insides and started slowly turning them inside out.
"AAAAARGH, FUUUUCK… WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING?! WHAT DID YOU DO?!"
"Shhh, quiet now," his voice was calm. "I haven't even started."
He flicked his wrist—and I felt the mana inside me deform, as if micro-fractures were spreading through my internal channels. My core, the layer enveloping my soul, shuddered. And then…
A torrent of distortion surged inward. It wasn't just stirring the mana. It was reversing its flow, warping its structure, contorting its density. Like taking every individual impulse, every vein of energy, and wringing it backwards. Against its nature. Against the natural order.
I felt something cold brush against my soul. Not my body. My soul. Warping it, grating against it, scraping it raw, as if trying to erase it.
I didn't scream. I roared.
"AAAAAAAGHH!!!"
My body convulsed violently, yet it remained intact. He skillfully avoided physical damage. It was all happening inside. Clean. Masterful. Agonizing.
"Stop, you bastard!.."
"Enough!.."
"Please... enough..."
"Argh... I'm begging you! Stop this!.."
My thoughts were collapsing like a house of cards. I was forgetting who I was. Where I was. What was even happening. Only one spike of pain remained in my mind: it hurts. hurts. hurts.
"Ahahaha, that's more like it, kid," his voice was pure mockery. "But this is only the beginning. Endure it. Don't be a weakling."
I couldn't stay silent. I couldn't fight it. I was breaking.
After that, everything became a blur. I didn't know how much time had passed. Seconds, maybe. Or hours. He continued. Twisting my mana. Compressing my core. Crushing. Releasing. Again. And again.
Somewhere between the waves of agony, I blacked out. Or maybe I just thought I did.
It was like hell. Only worse. Because even hell is something external. But this... was inside me. It was me. And I was rotting alive.
***
"Have you given up already?" His voice pulled me back to reality. "Well, I suppose this is enough for your first lesson. Now you won't even dare to think ill of me."
The full moon, like a giant lantern, bathed the building's rooftop in cold, silvery light. Its rays etched two stark silhouettes against the concrete. The first—a tall figure in matte-black manacles that chimed with every faintest movement. The second—a body sprawled in a pool of blood, arms twisted at unnatural angles, fingers clenched in a final spasm, eyes clouded and glassy, frozen in silent horror. The air hummed with a silence as heavy as a thunderhead.
The woman in white armor slammed onto the skyscraper's roof like a meteor. The impact of her landing cracked the concrete in a web of fissures. The space around her shimmered, distorting the outlines of antennas and vents as if reality were a thin film about to tear. Her sword, sheathed in white radiance, plunged into the concrete, and lightning arced from the blade, scorching the metal.
The man in manacles didn't turn. He simply stood. His black chains chimed in the wind, his eyes glowing with a silver sheen. A wide smile spread across his face.
"Listen here," her voice rang out like a verdict. "Put on a mana-suppressor, or die. And I hope you choose the latter."
He laughed.
"Sweetheart, you're so naive..." He snapped his fingers, and the chains rose like serpents. "How could I deprive myself of the pleasure of breaking you?"
She moved first.
Her sword cleaved the air, leaving a trail of light in its wake.
Pinned to the ground, I saw only a blinding streak—as if someone had drawn a line of chalk across a blackboard. But the man had already vanished. His manacles clattered somewhere to the left, and in the next instant, a chain stabbed into the concrete where the woman had just stood.
Blade met chain. Sparks cascaded like rain, burning pits into the concrete.
I squeezed my eyes shut—the light was searing. They darted across the roof like phantoms. White flashes of the sword, dark surges of mana from the chains—everything blurred together. The sounds were deafening. Concrete slabs erupted upwards, shattered by the impacts, and the wind howled, carrying debris into the abyss.
"Boring technique!" Black energy exploded in a shockwave. "Show me something... sharper!"
The woman shot skyward, her armor blazing. Her sword extended into a beam of light that pierced the clouds.
"DIE!"
The blow crashed down. The man crossed his arms—his manacles weaving into a shield. The collision tore a crater into the rooftop.
The shockwave caught me like a splinter. The concrete beneath me vanished. I was falling, the wind screaming in my ears, and in my last glimpse upwards, I saw the skyscraper's roof... split in two.
Two figures, light and darkness, still clashed at the epicenter, but they were already swallowed by a cloud of dust.
I'm going to die. I'm going to die right now...
Something soft wrapped around my waist. The fall jerked to a sudden stop. A black cloak flashed before my eyes, billowing like a wing.
"Lucky for you I was nearby," the voice sounded calm, almost bored. "Rest now. We'll handle the rest."
That was the last thing I remembered.
***
I awoke in a hospital. I immediately tried to sit up, but a sharp headache nailed me back to the bed.
What a shitty feeling…
What had happened felt like a dream. But my hands, wrapped in bandages and covered in magical burns, proved otherwise. Even the memory of him breaking and reassembling my mana was enough to send a phantom pain shooting through me.
But I'm alive. That's the main thing. Those people must have sorted everything out. Damn, did they even manage it?
The hospital room door opened. A nurse entered with a gentle smile.
"You're awake. How are you feeling?"
"How long have I been here?" I asked.
"Just twelve hours. An Awakened doctor will be here soon to heal your hands."
She gestured to my arms. Beneath the bandages, I could see the faint, angry blue patterns—the lingering marks of a foreign mana.
"You should rest, but…" she hesitated, "the Heroes wish to see you."
"Heroes?" I barely held back a curse. "What do those bas–... What do they want?"
"I'm afraid I don't know," the nurse said quickly, exiting the room.
Two people entered without knocking. A woman with hair white as polished alabaster and cold blue eyes. Behind her, a man in a black cloak, with stubble on his cheeks and a dull gaze. His greasy hair and bags under his eyes screamed of apathy, but the mana swirling around him was a thick, palpable fog. Transcendent rank.
"I am Blazing Flash," the woman introduced herself. "This is Shadow Blade."
The man gave a silent nod.
I looked at them with a blank face. But inside, my feelings were a tangled mess. On one hand, they'd saved me. On the other, they were also responsible for that family's death. Their screams were burned into my mind. I could never forgive them for not even trying to prevent it.
Seriously, from the first alarm, it took about ten minutes, and I never saw anyone come to investigate the anomaly. No guilds, no heroes. No one, except that one Enlightened Hero who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
I made a decision. If what that bastard said was true, a new Calamity would strike within five years. I needed to get stronger. Strong enough to survive, strong enough to protect my parents. And if I lived through that, my next target would be that bastard in the manacles. He would pay for everything.
Right. I still hadn't answered them.
"Uh… sorry. I'm not quite myself yet. What can I do for you?"
"We need information on the individual from the anomaly," Flash began. "Tell us everything: how he moved, how he spoke…"
"Did you get him?" I interrupted.
Her expression darkened slightly.
"No. He escaped. We need any information you have. What he did, how he moved, how he behaved. Try to describe…"
I cut her off. I wasn't afraid of the wrath of humanity's strongest hero anymore. I didn't give a damn about things like that.
"I refuse," I said, turning to look out the window. "I won't say a word. Not to you."
Shadow Blade stepped forward. His voice was a gravelly rasp.
"Kid, you don't understand. If he gets away, if he goes to ground where we can't reach him…"
"Go to hell!" The words burst out of me. "Where were you when the anomaly opened? Why didn't anyone stop him? Why didn't you respond to the alarm?!"
Silence. Blazing Flash clenched the edge of her coat.
"We… made a mistake."
"A mistake?" I spat. "Because of your mistake, a child turned to dust!"
"Kid, do you have any idea what's happening here?" Shadow Blade stepped closer, his fingers curling into fists. "If he gets too far, we lose him. Any scrap of intel is vital. We don't have time for this!"
"I understand, but…" I raised my hand sharply, cutting him off. "Go to hell! Where were you when the anomaly opened?! Why didn't anyone stop him?! Why didn't you respond to the alarm?!" My voice rose to a shout. "Don't dump your guilt on some teenager. You fucked up, not me!"
"Kid, I…" Shadow Blade started, but Flash raised her hand sharply, stopping him.
"Enough!" Her voice cracked like a whip. "Let's go. We'll file an official request. We'll get the information without his help."
"That hero," she said quietly, "the one who was killed… He was the girl's father."
What? So he destroyed the entire family… I mentally swallowed the lump in my throat.
"Wait!" I called out as they reached the door. "Tell me everything you know about him. And I'll do the same."
Shadow Blade snorted.
"Kid, who the hell do you think you are?"
"Stop," Flash raised her hand again. "I find these terms acceptable. But why do you want it?"
I looked her straight in the eye.
"The more I know about him, the better my chances of running if I ever see him again."
The corners of her lips twitched, almost imperceptibly, before settling back into a neutral line.
We exchanged information. She told me about his abilities. I told her what I'd seen. I left out the torture.
***
Not far from the hospital where Lyric lay, the man in the black cloak lit a cigarette. The tip glowed to life on its own as he brought it to his lips. He took a drag and exhaled a plume of smoke, his eyes fixed on the hospital building.
It was Shadow Blade.
He glanced at Blazing Flash standing beside him and spoke.
"You know… That kid's not quite right. Or rather, he's… unusual."
"What do you mean?" she asked, tilting her head.
"His soul. I don't make a habit of scanning every soul I meet, but when we walked into that room—I felt its presence. Strongly."
"You felt it?" Her eyebrows arched. "Are you sure?"
He nodded and took another drag.
"Usually, an Awakened or even an Enlightened soul doesn't have that kind of… weight. But his did. And also… the runes. I know a fair bit about runic script, due to certain circumstances. But I couldn't parse what was written on his. I only recognized the meaning of one of the runes… and that was enough. His talent is soul-related."
"Hmm…" She thought for a second, then smirked. "That's a lot of words, coming from you. I'm starting to get jealous."
He remained silent, flicking ash from his cigarette.
She looked back at the hospital window.
"I find him interesting too. He said he wanted the information to run away if he meets him again… But he was lying. And also…"
She smiled slightly, clasped her hands behind her back, and stretched.
"I never thought I'd be scolded by a teenager one day."
"We'll see him again. For now, we have work to do."
Turning to him, she asked the real question.
"And what about the man in the manacles? Can you take him?"
He stubbed his cigarette out on a trash can, taking one last look at the sky.
"Killing him is within my power. Capturing him alive… that's a different conversation. But they're paying. I'll do what I can."
He tossed the butt into the bin and turned to leave.
"Let's go."
"Mhm," she responded, casting one final glance toward the hospital.