Ethan raised his blade without hesitation.
His Speed Tier kicked in, the world slowing to a crawl. The arrow drifted toward him as if trapped in thick air, its shaft spinning with a sharp, whistling grace, flames coiling around it like a living thing. He could see every detail—the heat rippling, the murderous intent packed into its tip.
Icancutthis.
He struck.
The blade flashed, clean and precise, yet something felt wrong.
There was no resistance. No impact.
The arrow passed straight through his sword as if the blade didn't exist at all, phasing through it in a blur of burning light. Before his mind could catch up, pain exploded across his chest.
The arrow struck true, tearing through his armor and piercing flesh, the force driving through him as if he were nothing more than air.
The dragon's flames descended a heartbeat later, roaring through the air like judgment itself. The impact of the arrow had already thrown Ethan off balance, his footing shattered, his body wide open, completely defenseless against the inferno pouring down from above.
Damn it… this is bad, he thought grimly.
But the flames never touched him.
A sudden chill swept through the air.
From behind him, Mia thrust her hands forward, her small fingers trembling as a brilliant blue light burst forth. Mana surged like a storm, crystallizing instantly into a colossal barrier of ice.
The shield expanded outward, massive and radiant, its surface glowing with runic frost as the dragon's fire crashed against it.
Flames hissed and screamed, devoured by the cold.
For someone her age, the spell was monstrous—far beyond what any normal girl should have been capable of casting.
"Where did you…?" Ethan muttered, stunned. "How could you wield that much mana?" He could already sense it, the sheer, terrifying quantity required to form a barrier like that. It was absurd.
"I was born this way…" Mia replied quietly, her voice firm despite the strain. Then her tone sharpened. "This isn't the time for questions. Move."
Ethan didn't hesitate again. He pushed himself upright, swung her onto his back, and in the next instant his body blurred. Mana surged through his limbs as his Speed Tier activated, the world stretching and slowing around him.
They took cover behind a shattered building, pressing themselves into the shadows. From there, all they could do was watch, dragons soaring above, spewing torrents of fire that reduced streets and towers to blazing ruins. The city screamed as it burned.
Ethan gritted his teeth, his breath coming out rough. He clenched the shaft of the arrow buried in his chest and, with a sharp pull, ripped it free, blood spilling as pain tore through him. He staggered but stayed standing, eyes cold as ever despite the wound.
He was just about to summon the system interface and trigger a heal when Mia suddenly reached out, pressing her hands against his chest.
She stepped in close—too close—until there was barely any space between them, her face right in front of his. For a split second, Ethan's mind went completely blank.
"W-what… what are you doing?" he stammered, panic slipping into his voice. He had never been this close to a girl before—neither in his past life nor in this one. Heat rushed to his face, his cheeks burning crimson beneath the mask as his thoughts fell into chaos.
"Stay down. Let me heal you," she said firmly, her fingers tightening through the torn and broken armor.
In an instant, a gentle surge of mana flowed from her hands, washing over his wound. The pain vanished as if it had never existed, flesh knitting together perfectly, leaving not even a scar behind.
"I… I'm fine now. Thank you," Ethan said, his voice calm, though his thoughts were anything but. As he stood there, fully healed, one question echoed loudly in his mind, just how powerful was she?
"Those arrows… they were magical," she said quietly. "The kind that move according to their owner's will."
"So you're saying they weren't fired physically," Ethan replied, his brows furrowing beneath the mask. "They were created entirely from magic?"
His thoughts snapped back to the advisor's death. There had been no windows in that room, no openings at all. Which meant the arrow hadn't entered from outside. It had passed straight through the wall itself.
So that's how it happened… Ethan realized. It all made sense now.
But the clarity lasted only a moment. His instincts screamed again, this wasn't over yet.
Another arrow came screaming toward them.
Ethan reacted on instinct, twisting aside at the very last heartbeat. The projectile tore through the air where he had been standing a moment earlier, too fast, far faster than it should have been.
"Give me your hands," Ethan said sharply to Mia. "I have an idea."
His eyes narrowed as understanding clicked into place. The arrow wasn't obeying the rules of the physical world. It slipped through walls, armor, even enchanted steel.
Which meant using magical weapons or armor against it… was completely useless.
"Then what are your options?" she asked sharply.
Ethan didn't answer at first. His head shook once, hard, as his thoughts raced—faster, tighter, each one colliding with the next while the threat of another arrow pressed down on his spine like a countdown.
Before she could say anything else, he grabbed her hand and ran.
They dashed into the nearest building, breaking the archer's line of sight in a blur of motion. Dust and heat followed them inside as they slipped into a small bungalow, ducking low and forcing themselves behind the thick kitchen wall.
They pressed into the shadows, breathing hard, waiting, knowing the next attack could come at any second.
"I have an idea… but I need you as a decoy," Ethan said, his crimson eyes locking with Mia's, dark and unreadable beneath the mask.
"Wait… what? Me? No way! I'm not dying for some stranger," she snapped, her voice sharp with disbelief.
Ethan sighed, his tone icy. "Fine. Have it your way." Without another word, his gaze slid away from her, and in a blink, he was gone, vanished like smoke in the wind.
The next arrow shot through the walls, speeding straight toward Mia's back. Before she could even react, Ethan's hands shot out, catching it effortlessly.
Her knees buckled, and she collapsed to the floor, trembling. Fear gripped her tighter than ever, she had come terrifyingly close to death. For the second time in moments, this boy had saved her life, and the realization left her heart pounding with disbelief.
"This was for protecting me from the dragon earlier," he said, his voice sharp and ruthless. "Now we owe each other nothing."
Mia scrunched her face at his cold words, then softened slightly and asked, her curiosity breaking through the tension, "How… how were you able to catch his arrows? I thought they could pass through anything."
"Not everything," Ethan replied calmly. "Do you remember when we were hiding behind that shattered building? When he fired, the arrow struck the ground, it didn't pass through it. That's when I saw it."
Mia's eyes sharpened. "Shadows," she said instinctively.
A faint, dangerous smile curved beneath Ethan's mask. "Exactly. Good.. you're catching on." He tightened his grip, crimson eyes burning with intent. "Now… let's take that bastard down."
"But how?" Mia pressed, worry flashing across her face. "We can't just reach him like that, and what about his second class? We don't even know what it is. He might be an archer, but he could be something far worse too."
"That's where my plan comes in," Ethan replied evenly. "Just follow me. I'll let my actions do the explaining."
Before Mia could protest, Ethan grabbed her hands and shot off in the opposite direction of the arrow's path, sprinting like the wind itself was at his back. Every deadly shaft the archer fired found its mark on Ethan's back instead of hers, each impact sending shockwaves through him but never faltering his pace.
The archer, furious and frustrated, gave chase across the rooftops, leaping from building to building with deadly precision, until finally, he caught up to them.
The archer raised his bow, nocking another arrow, eyes locked on Ethan's back as he aimed to strike.
"Now!" Ethan shouted, and in an instant, he tore off his mask. Shadows surged around him, twisting and condensing as he spun toward the incoming arrow. With a swift, fluid motion, his hand met the deadly shafts, and caught it effortlessly.
Before the archer could release another arrow, Mia's ice magic surged forward, encasing him in a thick frost, leaving only the top of his head visible.
In a blink, Ethan was behind him, shadows swirling from his Rage Mask, and with one precise strike, he sliced through both the ice and the archer himself.
Mia's eyes widened as realization hit her, so that was his plan. He had made them run, baiting the archer into lowering his defenses and chasing them. Then, using his Rage Mask, Ethan became one with the shadows, catching the arrow midair while Mia froze the archer a hundred meters away, giving Ethan the perfect opening to strike. He was a tactical genius.
Ethan lifted the hood of the fallen archer, and his eyes went wide in disbelief. He couldn't comprehend what lay beneath.
"What's wrong?" Mia asked, stepping closer, her voice laced with relief. "We won, right?"
But the moment she saw it, she froze, hand flying to her mouth. It wasn't a demon… not exactly. In fact, it didn't even have a face. Blank, smooth, and utterly wrong, it was as if life had been drained from it entirely, leaving behind only a hollow, soulless shell.