POV: Rudeus Greyrat
We were on a mountain—a mountain far from the capital.
From up here we could see almost everything, but we had to hunt our food and sleep in the cold of the cave... actually, Sylphy and I ward the cave with magic... but that's not the point!
What squalid conditions to leave your group in! Irresponsible leader!
The location of our leader, Larax, was unknown to the group.
We stayed in the capital for a while, but then, just a few days ago, Larax suddenly told us to leave the city and head for the mountain.
Ever since we arrived, I questioned Larax about why we had to be so far from the capital, but he just replied without taking it seriously:
"Glass Cannon! You haven't even encountered him yet—what do you want to argue? You don't understand! He'll know everything as soon as you look at him! And it will be impossible to catch him in this ambush if he knows about us! Once we try to kill that guy, we can't let him get away alive on the first attempt!"
Even so, I remained skeptical.
Larax even forbade us from getting close to the capital after Rygar's group, our target, entered the city.
Only he went there, insisting that if we t him directly, he would discern our intentions with just one glance—thanks to his sharp instincts.
But how could anyone do that? After all, no matter how good an instinct is, it's rely the body's reaction to danger—it can't see the future, can it?
Yet Larax was the leader, and he wouldn't let question him any further.
After all, I only had two jobs: use my magic and devise strategies.
Everyone in the group—except Larax—was gathered at the top of the mountain.
A blazing bonfire illuminated Mortan, Hector, Vidette, Igreed, and Sylphy, who were laughing and chatting about various things. Sigh.
Weren't they even a little nervous? How could they act so normally in the face of what was to co? Even my adorable Sylphy?
I looked into the distance again. A vast mountainous landscape stretched out below us, covered by a sea of clouds.
My eyes rested on the stone helt I'd fashioned with earth magic.
The visor obscured my eyes from onlookers, and with the leather armor I wore, I could easily be mistaken for a gno or a dwarf when I donned it.
As I touched the helt, I rembered my journey here.
On the way, I had decided to follow Hitogami's advice, and indeed, I randomly encountered a blue-haired man at the port of Begaritt—and he was exactly the one we were looking for.
He knew quite a bit about our target: he was aware of his skills and the supernatural instincts that allowed him to evade every ambush.
It seed that a friend of that blue-haired guy—a fellow with a monkey-like face—had once traveled with our target.
Rygar Adoldia.
He was incredible, skilled in absolutely everything he did, and possessed an exceptional ferocity.
His organization was currently in conflict with Milis, but I didn't know why until we reached the Kingdom of the Dragon King.
It was there that Larax discovered an attack on a noble house—where Rygar had invaded alone and massacred the entire household, including several innocents. This only added credibility to Hitogami's words that he was a ruthless and cruel murderer.
Not that I had much choice, of course. Larax had already decided to kill him; apparently, the paynt was sothing he said "could not be bought—not even with all the gold in the world."
From what I understood of the story, Larax had been hired before to kill Rygar's ntor, Verdia Solarion, and even Rygar himself, but he had refused at the ti because Rygar was just a child.
According to him, anyone under ten was still considered a child, and he never hard anyone below that age. That didn't make sense to , but it seed to be one of his personal rules.
Rygar's group seed to have gained two new mbers recently, one of them was a small child, but we didn't know who they were for now.
"Glass Cannon! Stop staring at the horizon looking for answers!"
Mortan's boisterous voice yanked from my thoughts. The red-skinned demon, over two ters tall, laughed while holding a jug of drink.
I turned and retorted, "It's better than drinking before it becos your last day alive!"
Mortan laughed even louder, slapping Hector hard, who was also laughing. The others didn't seem as worried as I was—but sothing told we should be.
Yet everyone here had imnse trust in Larax, sothing he had never given any reason to doubt.
At that mont, a man with dark skin, long curly hair, and a scimitar strapped at his waist leaped down the mountain with superhuman strength, landing near the group.
His smile was wide and provocative.
"The minister has made his move!" he announced, with a dangerous gleam in his eyes.
It was Larax.
Silence fell over the group for a mont. Then Mortan laughed, "Finally."
Everyone else was tense, but no one showed fear—only readiness for the imminent battle. Vidette, the demon mage, crossed her arms and addressed Larax directly, her expression skeptical.
"Are you sure that this minister won't succeed in his assassination attempt?" she asked, her voice full of distrust.
"If he succeeds, we'd theoretically fail our mission and waste our ti coming here, since we wouldn't get any paynt from Milis..."
Larax threw his head back and laughed heartily.
"Hahaha! How can a target I took such care of be killed by them?"
His voice brimd with incredulity.
Hector, the oldest and most experienced of us, turned to Larax, his gaze piercing.
"Why are you so sure?" he asked, leaning forward slightly.
Larax stared deeply at Hector, his single visible eye shining in the half-light.
"You haven't seen him in person..."
He paused, a wild smile crossing his face, his tone tinged with anticipation.
"I only caught a glimpse of him from kiloters away—and he noticed ."
He paused again.
"I don't know if anything in the world can catch him by surprise. But that minister still wants to fool him with nothing but his silver tongue! Hahahah! Good luck to him."
Sylphy, who had been silent until then, leaned forward, her expression showing more curiosity than worry.
"Why is the Kingdom of the Dragon King trying to kill him in the first place?"
The girl's voice was serious, yet more curious than accusatory.
Larax spoke disinterestedly while cleaning his ear with his finger and brushing off the dirt.
"Milis also contacted the Kingdom of the Dragon King and offered many benefits if they ambushed Rygar when he appeared. Of course, King Leonard declined, since he planned to make Rygar an ally—but then Milis secretly reached out to his brother, Livandrei Kingdragon, and the Pri Minister... and they were tempted by the benefits."
Vidette sighed, running her hand through her dark hair.
"I hope everything works out..." she murmured. Her gaze fell on , Rudeus, who seed lost in my own thoughts.
"I hope your 'false positive' strategy works."
I forced a sowhat bitter smile. " too..."
I stared into the bonfire for a mont, watching the flas dance as if trying to say sothing.
The plan was risky and heavily depended on the target acting as we intended—but it made sense.
When I learned of Rygar's troubleso ability to sense danger—and because of that, never having been ambushed—I imdiately began devising a way to circumvent it.
The "false positive" was a tactic used by criminals and military forces on Earth to mislead police investigations or enemy armies.
A situation was engineered in which the enemy believed they had discovered the location and objective of their opponent, when in reality, it was all manipulation.
Each party would go further than the other; so would sacrifice an entire troop to make the distraction even more convincing, or pay people to take the bla and get arrested in their place.
Many would even create a new objective that made sense for that troop, and the troop would truly believe they were on an important mission.
But in truth, they were the false positive—designed so the enemy thought they already knew everything about our intentions.
Yet the true strategy remained hidden.
When Hector heard about this tactic, he quickly suggested that we use the Minister and the King's brother as our "false positive," to give Rygar the impression that the enemies were truly dangerous.
That way, even if his instincts warned him, he would still be caught in the trap.
"Well, it's great that the Pri Minister assud that role—I don't think anyone else could have deceived him so well. He was really intent on and confident about either killing or capturing Rygar..."
Hector shrugged, a cheeky smile appearing on his face. "Actually, from what I heard when I spoke with the Minister, that guy was almost certain of success..."
In exchange for selling all the information they had on Rygar to the Minister, he agreed that if his plan failed, he would flee the capital by a specific route—of course, he had already planned to escape if his sche went awry.
But the fact was, he was extrely confident; he seed to place all his trust in a certain sealing item.
Rygar was not known for being lenient, and the Pri Minister knew that failure would an nothing short of death for him.
Yet he still negotiated that he would flee along the designated route, but if Rygar didn't pursue him, the deal would be off and he'd simply run off to another kingdom and continue his life.
The strategy assud that, given Rygar's personality, he would strive to tie up loose ends.
If the Pri Minister tried to escape, Rygar would chase him.
In that mont, he would sense the danger... yet deem it relatively "normal." That's when the Storm of Tyranny would co into play.
Then Larax pulled off his eye patch, revealing his Eye of Clairvoyance.
The bonfire's light reflected off his iris, which shone with a supernatural hue.
The vision unfolding before him was for his eyes alone, but the firm opening of his jaw indicated that sothing was happening.
"Stand ready..." Larax said with a smile laden with authority. His eyes glowed intensely.
"Glass Cannon..." he addressed directly.
"This will be the strongest spell you have ever cast in your life."
A chill ran down my spine. My heart began to pound, but I did not hesitate. I grabbed my staff and readied myself. This was no ti for doubts. I was determined.
Larax gazed at the horizon, his eyes half-closed as the cold mountain breeze whipped against his face.
Everyone was at the ready, and the heavy silence filled the air.
I could feel sweat trickling down my neck, my breathing quickening as I asked:
"Are you sure he can't sense our presence here?"
Larax laughed—a low sound full of amusent.
"I don't think so..."
Before I could ask another question, Larax widened his eyes and grinned wildly. "He's there! HAHAHAHA!"
He pointed with his chin to a distant spot.
"The minister and his subordinate are running towards the mountains, and Rygar has just appeared and is chasing them!"
The excitent in Larax's voice was palpable. He spun on his heels and clapped hard on the shoulder.
"Co on, Glass Cannon! Now you're going to be like those snipers you always talk about! Start charging!"
The rest of the group stepped back a little, keeping their distance. I took a deep breath, steadying my breathing to maintain concentration. Gripping my staff—the Scaled King of the Desert of Fire—I raised it.
I closed one eye and aid at the horizon. Larax was using his Eye of Clairvoyance, watching carefully where Rygar moved.
"A little more to the left..." Larax guided. "A bit higher... There! Stop there!"
I felt a surge of nervousness. My target wasn't just anyone. He was the Red Wolf—the Flaming Beast.
I needed to gather more mana than ever if I was to hurt him. Even if I couldn't kill him in one shot, Larax and Mortan would imdiately set off to finish the job.
I began channeling my mana, drawing every drop of power from within. A fireball erged at the tip of my staff, growing rapidly—first orange, then yellow, then blue.
The seething energy compressed tighter and tighter. Finally, the fire turned into an extrely light purple, almost whitish, pulsating with overwhelming intensity.
Larax, who was watching Rygar from afar—seeing him finally defeat Hasjulian, the Red Death, with a Fire Explosion—noticed that Rygar still remained alert to his surroundings.
He could tell the young, feral one was scanning frantically for the threat that surrounded him.
Then Larax laughed, "Mortan! With ! HAHAHAHA!"
And with that, he leapt down the mountain, his steps so swift and fierce they resembled those of a beast on the hunt.
The red demon, Mortan, laughed excitedly and followed, brandishing his enormous cleavers.
My heart pounded as my hands sweated around the staff's handle.
I knew this would be the strongest spell I had ever conjured.
I felt the weight of the decision on my shoulders, but I did not hesitate.
I adjusted my aim, felt my mana flow reach its peak, and then I unleashed it.
-------
POV: Rygar Adoldia
I was dreaming.
I was floating in the sky, my arms outstretched, feeling the gentle wind caress my skin.
I looked around, awestruck by the vastness above the clouds, as if I were completely weightless.
The sun was setting in the distance, painting the sky in golden and orange hues that seed to lt softly over the clouds.
I felt that everything was under my control—the winds, the direction, the very sense of freedom. As if the sky were my ho, my sanctuary, my domain.
But then, control slipped from my hands.
A sudden, strange tightness gripped my chest. The pain erged like a hot blade, cutting deeply and freezing ti for an instant.
I gasped, trying to breathe, but the air seed to escape from my lungs.
The pain only grew, as if my body were being torn from the inside out. Suddenly, I began to fall.
My vision distorted, and I was hurled downward in a free fall. The cutting wind on my face beca a whirlwind.
I tried to react—reaching for my swords—but my hands trembled, as if my very arms no longer obeyed my commands.
I attempted to conjure magic, but the words ca out as re whispers, distorted, as if I were lost in a reality where nothing functioned anymore.
My feet no longer touched the ground, and the world around spun in spirals, faster and faster.
Just when the earth seed poised to catch , a sudden clarity struck: "Is this a dream?" And then, the world turned upside down.
It felt as if the sea were in the sky, and the sky in the sea. I plunged into the ocean, yet I didn't feel the water invading my lungs—as if being in the water were perfectly natural. I looked down and saw nothing but a black abyss, as if the ocean's depths were endless.
The silence was profound, and the waters were dark and calm. There was no haste, no fear—only an unsettling sensation that sothing was watching .
I looked down again and, at an unimaginable distance, saw two gigantic eyes, red as blood, fixed on . They were at the bottom of the abyss—still, unmoving.
No body could be seen in the darkness, only those piercing eyes, as if they were drawing into that dark void.
I stood motionless, those eyes never leaving , my vision beginning to spin as if reality were lting around .
It was a dream, wasn't it? But the eyes... those red eyes...
Suddenly, like an explosion of light in my mind, mories began to scatter—vague and fragnted.
I saw myself as a small child, running joyfully through a clearing in the Great Forest. I rembered the feel of the soil under my hands, the moist scent of wet earth, the wind slicing through my hair as I chased a rabbit.
I saw myself leaping from stone to stone, hunting with agility, feeling my heart pounding fiercely in my small, wild form. The mories of hunting during the rainy season, swimming in turbulent rivers, catching fish with my bare hands—all felt real, yet so distant.
And then, everything changed again. I found myself before a dark cell—a stone cell—in a cave that seed endless.
Broken chains lay scattered on the ground, bearing deep marks of imnse force. Inside the cell, a figure was enveloped in a wild aura—a primal glow, as if a beast were slumbering there.
A predatory energy radiated from that prison.
I looked, felt the weight of its presence, but couldn't move—sothing held back, as if I were trapped in the very essence of the dream.
With great effort, I extended my hand toward the cell, touching the cold stone.
The mont my fingers made contact, the cell burst open with a roar, and the figure within was revealed.
A ferocious smile appeared as the sound of a mighty roar echoed, reverberating through the void.
The creature expanded impossibly, growing to unimaginable proportions—like a shadow ford of pure silvery energy, a wolf silhouette that engulfed my entire field of vision.
Before I could react, the shadow lunged at , swallowing in a single bite.
---
I woke up.
When I, Rygar, opened my single intact golden eye, the whole dream seed illusory, and all I could see was the sky—thick with billowing smoke.
Air rushed into my lungs, and the feeling of being trapped in a dream vanished, as if I'd been ripped out of it by sothing.
But what ca next was even stranger.
I was lying down, my body pressed against the hot ground, as if I had fallen from an imnse height.
The heat enveloped .
The earth around was broken and cracked, and a sense of devastation hung in the air.
I looked up, trying to understand what was happening, and saw sothing that left speechless: I was at the bottom of a huge crater.
The sky above roiled with smoke and fire, as if the world had been struck by a colossal explosion.
The impact seed to have shaken the very earth, and the crater around was a deep, vast scar on the landscape.
I felt the scorching heat on my skin, yet my senses were numb—I could barely feel my own body.
I tried to move, only to discover that my flesh was a ss of charred, wounded fragnts, though I felt nothing.
I scanned my surroundings for any point of reference, but all I saw was the vastness of destruction, as if I were at the center of a cataclysm.
The crater seed endless, an open fissure in the heart of the earth, and I was just a tiny dot amid it all.
Then, suddenly, the mories of recent events hit with full force—a surge of urgency, accompanied by the excruciating pain and burning sensation that coursed through my entire being.
And I began healing as fast as I could.
I was in an extrely dire situation.
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