With a calm smile, as though bidding them farewell before they were even born, the old man observed the scene. Farid noticed that enigmatic smile, but it was already too late—the hand had moved faster than the eye.
A wide, radiant blue gate opened directly in front of Farid, strange and luminous. His pupils widened at the reflection of its light before it swallowed him for a brief moment, only to hurl him out of another gate directly behind Rin. The two bodies collided solidly, the shock rippling outward like circles in still water, crashing into Reem and Eugene alike.
"Oooh… what just happened?" Rin clutched the back of his head, his eyelids pressed shut against the throbbing pain in his temples, Farid beside him suffering the same ache.
"Hahaha… you boys are clever, but experience and patience are what you lack." A confident, victorious smile spread across the old man's face; he now understood all their abilities. "That black-haired boy with crescent-shaped pupils opens spatial gates from the shadows within a limited range. The boy with the yellow, sun-like pupils controls a grayish-white mist. The blond-haired one manipulates fire—or something akin to it. And that veiled girl possesses the ability to multiply the weight of objects."
Eugene's gaze shifted toward Reem, concern forming question marks in his eyes. "What do we do now? He controls chains and metals—and he has spatial gates too!"
Reem whispered, cold sweat dampening her brow, her hand trembling like a branch in the wind, "The problem isn't what we do… the problem is: what if he has another hidden ability?"
Farid rose to his feet, the impact still weighing down his movements. "No… impossible. Every cultivator uses only eleven potions, and he's at the third rank. It's impossible for him to use more than three potions. How did I overlook something so simple?"
Rin stood as well, trying to gather the threads of a plan within the maze of his scattered thoughts. "The only solution… is to distract him while one of us escapes to get help."
But Eugene looked at the old man standing there, waiting for their attack, and anger flared within him. In the old man's mocking gaze, they were nothing more than fleeting amusement—clowns upon a careless stage. The veins on the backs of his hands stood out, his eyes blazing as he said, "Impossible. Five chains, spatial gates, control over metals, and we're all injured. That means he didn't just have companions surrounding the area—he alone was enough to be an entire army!"
Cold sweat streamed down Rin's forehead, his heart pounding the drums of fear. "That means… we're going to die!"
Farid placed his hand on Rin's head with his usual smile, one like a ray of dawn in a pitch-black night. "Always think positively. And if we die… we won't feel any pain. So don't be afraid of that part."
Rin's tension eased slightly. In the end, he wasn't alone, and Farid's words carried a balm of truth. Silence filled the place. The sun was on the verge of rising, cold air brushing their skin with a chill that clashed with the heat of the situation. Ruin and dust in every corner. Everyone searched for a solution, while the old man waited steadily, his arrogant, mocking smile unchanged.
"Ah… it seems your tricks are over, and my time is being wasted if this continues. So…" He activated his ability once more, the chains rising like serpents awakening from slumber. "Stand still, and you'll receive a quick death."
At that moment, they all took their stances.
Swish… swish… swish…
The chains shot forward again, and they resumed their desperate attempts to evade them. But this time, the chains were faster and longer.
Boom… boom… boom…
Two chains lunged at Reem. She flipped forward and bent backward, swaying like reeds in the wind as she dodged each strike. One chain nearly struck her head, had she not lowered it swiftly. It tore her veil and broke the golden hair clip Melissa had given her. Her short orange hair scattered, some strands cut.
One chain pursued Rin; his injured foot hindered him since his previous fall. Yet he entered and exited gates like a shadow avoiding arrows.
As for Farid, he launched fireballs and leapt into the air. The first ball struck a chain but did nothing. The second caused slight redness. The third left redness that lingered for a few seconds.
The old man observed the scene. The first thought that crossed his mind: First-type multiplication imprint… I forgot he's a second-rank cultivator after all.
But he quickly turned his head when he heard a soft whispering sound.
Poof!
Mist slammed into his face like a golden opportunity.
Reem picked up pieces of her torn veil from the ground and stopped running, planting her feet firmly like roots in the earth. A yellow light extended from her hand toward the cloth fragments. At the same moment, Rin's eyes met hers. He gauged the distance between her and the old man while dodging the chains with a sideways leap. He planted his feet on an iron pole he collided with and used his shadow ability to open two gates—one by Reem and the other by Eugene.
Farid launched a fireball twice as large, sending it hurtling toward the old man, prompting a chain to strike it. That was exactly what Farid wanted. He smiled. In the next instant, the fireball split into five smaller ones, drawing the remaining chains toward them, confusing the old man and exposing his defense.
Reem's cloth, its weight multiplied, shot through the gate and emerged directly before the old man's face, striking him and breaking his nose.
The old man opened his right eye almost fully, smoke and mist clouding his vision. But he glimpsed a shadow—golden eyes glowing only steps away. He opened both eyes fully to see Eugene directly before him, ready to deliver a punch—no, a torrent of rapid consecutive blows.
Thud… thud… thud…
The old man's blood sprayed.
At the last moment, however, he seized Eugene's hand with his right hand. A chain shot out from among the others, aiming for the immobilized Eugene. All of this happened within mere seconds.
Eugene waved his free hand, eyes shut, summoning mist that swirled around him in a vortex. He did not understand why he did it. Mist was gaseous, intangible—how could it stop an iron chain? But he was tense, and it came as an instinctive reaction.
He heard a harsh metallic screech as the chain's trajectory suddenly shifted.
He opened his eyes in shock. From the corner of his vision, he saw the chain reverse direction at high speed, heading once more toward Farid, who conjured another fireball. Eugene almost smiled—the chain had not killed him.
But this time, the old man was determined to kill Eugene and would not waste the opportunity again. He raised his left hand, and a cluster of metal pillars moved and shot toward him at high speed.
Once again, Rin opened a gate. It was unstable; part of Eugene's body passed through while the rest was on the verge of crossing. His lower half transferred completely, the upper half nearly done, the iron pillars dangerously close.
A shudder spread through his body with a faint electric charge as an iron pillar struck his ribcage.
Eugene's eyes widened. A severe headache struck him. His breathing grew loud. He placed his hand over the impact point, now completely numb, blood escaping from his mouth. He fell to the ground near Rin—but he did not scream.
If I scream now, how will I continue in this world?
Pride and dignity blended with strength and resilience—that was Eugene's true mettle.
"Eugene, are you okay?" Fear gripped Rin, as well as Reem and Farid. Yet they maintained their composure—any mistake meant death.
Reem's heart pounded rapidly, her hands trembling. She was no hero nor battle expert—she was, in the end, just a girl not yet sixteen.
Unlike her, Farid maintained both outward and inward calm. He had dealt with criminals in training and field missions before. He rushed toward them, evading chains, leaping and moving with speed and agility.
Slash—
New wounds marked Farid as he dodged, but he reached Rin and Eugene, as well as Reem, whose chains had been diverted by him.
They stood close together, dust from fallen pillars spreading through the air like gray mist.
"Well… it seems we're really going to die." Eugene spoke in his usual sarcasm, blood dripping from his mouth.
"Even injured, you're still sarcastic!" Reem's gaze carried fear, sorrow, and frustration all at once.
Farid looked at Rin. "Can you open another gate?"
"Yes, one last gate only… then my energy will be depleted."
"And then we die… hehe," Eugene added.
"Ow!"
Reem kicked him in the stomach. It wasn't very strong.
"Wait… why?!"
Veins appeared on her forehead. "So you learn to shut your mouth, okay?!"
Farid turned to them. "And you two—can you use your abilities again?"
"I haven't used much of mine, so yes," Reem replied. "I can use it for a while."
"Yes… I think I can," Eugene said, holding his injury. "Why? What's in your mind?"
"Listen…"
Farid whispered under the old man's gaze. Despite everything, the old man remained arrogant, convinced their energy was spent and their wounds meant death within minutes.
Eugene stood once more.
The old man was startled but remained in place, waiting to see what they would do this time.
Rin took a deep breath, as did Eugene.
Rin dashed forward with Farid behind him. He would consume much of his strength; if he wanted to open another gate, he needed to get closer.
The old man raised the chains, ready to strike.
Farid halted abruptly, gathering an enormous fireball of intense heat.
The old man's eyes widened. Farid opened a blue gate; he assumed it was meant as an attack or perhaps a feint.
Rin stopped as well and opened more than seven small gates two meters from the old man's gate.
This caused the spatial fields of Rin's gates to overlap with the old man's, connecting and merging into a single wormhole.
So spatial gates have their own dimensional field… When two gates of the same level approach, they connect. And it seems the blond-haired one informed him of this.
He clenched his teeth and launched the chains.
But Farid released the fireball, drawing all the chains toward it. Then it split into more than seven smaller balls, evading the chains and heading toward the gates.
The old man raised an eyebrow, amused and puzzled. "Fire is derived from light, and darkness is its opposite."
Poof! Eugene surged from Rin's side despite his injury. When he stood before Rin and behind Farid, he prepared to strike.
The old man's astonishment deepened before realization dawned. "Ha… are they truly going to do what I'm thinking?"
Eugene unleashed all his mist power, gathering it around Farid's fireballs—specifically four of the seven. The mist wrapped around them, forming a semi-dense shroud. Because Rin's gates were weak and covered by mist, the fireballs passed through without vanishing. Due to the merged gate fields, they emerged directly before the old man's face.
BOOOOM!
Three fireballs exploded before him, the mist blinding him momentarily. The blast sent him flying backward, part of his clothes burning.
"Damn you, you brats!"
Before he could regain balance and attack again, he glanced toward them.
He heard rapid movement behind him.
"Wait… weren't there four of them? Where's the girl?!"
He turned sharply.
Reem stood behind him, gripping a rope once used for shop banners.
He remembered her ability—to increase the weight of objects according to her remaining wind energy—and that she had barely used it.
She did not waste the chance.
She increased the rope's weight with all the energy she had left—a substantial amount. It reached seventy kilograms.
The moment it struck his hardened back, a thunderous crack rang out, followed by sickening snaps. The edges of his vertebrae shattered and scattered, the echo of his spine breaking ringing in his ears.
Aaaagh!
The old man fell to the ground. Eugene collapsed as well due to his injury.
Smiles spread across their faces.
"Yessss!" Rin jumped in joy, but upon landing, his ankle twisted again.
"Aah!"
"Ah… you idiot! Did you forget you're injured?" Farid said, eyes never leaving the old man.
Suddenly, an immense pressure of energy descended from above.
They forgot all their pain.
Farid looked upward. That aura was familiar.
Reflected in his eyes was the image of a man flying above them, a scarf drifting to the right in the wind. His hands rested on his hips; his body was somewhat massive.
The first rays of the rising sun shone upon him, revealing his features.
Farid spoke, happiness and disbelief mixed in his voice:
"It's… Iron!"
End of Chapter.