The masked man loomed over Sarios, jagged dagger in hand, his voice low and dripping with mockery.
"Hm hm... now," he chuckled darkly, tilting his head, "say your prayers, little hero."
His tone was calm—too calm—as if what came next was already decided.
Sarios gritted his teeth, eyes half-lidded, bleeding and beaten... but still holding his sword.
Stella's voice pierced the battlefield like a bell in a funeral.
She ran. Tears streaming. Her holy staff glowing in her grip, light magic gathering at the tip.
"Please—move!! I'll cast Divine Bind—!"
In a blink—literally a blur of motion—the masked man vanished from Sarios' front and reappeared in front of Stella with terrifying precision.
His fist slammed into her gut.
Stella's eyes widened. Her breath left her in a stunned gasp. The staff slipped from her fingers, clattering uselessly on the stone.
Sarios' eyes blew wide.
But it was too late—she was out cold, her body thrown aside like a broken doll.
The masked man casually stepped over her, as if stepping over a rock on the road. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ n͟o͟v͟e͟l͟f͟i͟r͟e͟.net
He raised one hand to his chin again and tapped it thoughtfully, dagger still spinning in the other.
"Now, where was I...?" he mused aloud, slowly turning back toward the hero.
His voice dropped, sharp and sadistic:
"Ah, yes. I was just about to skin you alive."
And just like that, he was back in front of Sarios.
The hero, still kneeling, looked up in a mix of pain and fury.
His grip tightened on his sword—
But his body wouldn't respond fast enough.
Not to that level of speed.
The masked man didn't blink away this time.
He strolled forward—slowly, confidently—like death itself approaching with deliberate steps.
"I think..." he said, voice laced with cruelty, "this time, I'll cut off your head and hang it in my bedroom... as a trophy."
His jagged dagger gleamed in his left hand, dragging lightly in the air, leaving faint scorch marks where it scraped like a dimensional slice.
Sarios, bloodied and breathing hard, tried to rise—but his knee buckled.
His sword trembled in his grip.
Stella lay motionless behind him.
And the masked man kept walking.
The shout split the air like a thundercrack.
From the far side of the plaza, a commanding voice echoed—
The ground beneath the masked man shook violently.
With a burst of stone and magic, three massive golems erupted from the cobblestones—hulking, ten feet tall, stone arms glowing with raw energy, red eyes blazing like furnace embers.
One golem launched forward with a blur, its rocky fist soaring toward the masked man.
In a blur of motion, he leapt upward, narrowly dodging the strike, flipping midair like a cat.
But the second golem lunged in from the side.
It swung its thick arm in a sideways arc—
The masked man twisted mid-flip and narrowly backflipped over it, his cloak fluttering in the wind.
The third golem—already airborne—came crashing down, both fists clenching together, slamming down like a meteor.
The ground shattered beneath it—stone exploding outward, a massive crater erupting where the masked man landed.
For a split second—dust filled the air.
Then, with a grin, the masked man emerged from the dust cloud.
His dagger-arm braced against the golem's massive fists—cracks spiderwebbed beneath his boots as he skidded back, just barely holding the force.
"Haah... not bad." He tilted his head, licking blood from the side of his lip.
"For a low-tier summoning spell."
Far off, behind a broken archway, Dila stood—panting.
Her clothes were damp with sweat, her wand trembling in her hand. Her breath came in ragged bursts. Her body screamed from the strain.
The buff potion she had made worked—but it had side effects. Her magic circuits felt overloaded. Every cast was like pushing through iron.
She narrowed her eyes, clutching her wand tighter.
"That's right..." she whispered.
"Come at me, monster."
☆ ■•••• Mana Sync In Progress... ☆
Nari's voice echoed sharply in Dila's mind, urgent and clinical.
☆ Mana Level: 200 / 200 → Temporary Boost: 1000 / 1000
Health Level: 1000 / 1000 → Temporary Boost: 2000 / 2000
Warning: Body under extreme strain.
Power boost is draining stamina at an accelerated rate.
Current mana: 500 / 1000
Alert: High-cost spell usage detected — Class C Summon x3 deployed. ☆
Dila stumbled slightly, grabbing at her right side with a hiss of pain.
Her wand glowed faintly, still humming with power.
Her left eye squinted shut, sweat running down her cheek as she forced herself to stay upright.
"I know..." she muttered through clenched teeth.
"I know, Nari... but I have to."
Behind the golems, the masked man cracked his neck with a lazy smile, black miasma still writhing around his body like serpents.
☆ Buff Duration Remaining: 3 Minutes
Warning: Once expired, all stats revert. Mana fatigue will trigger. ☆
Dila's thoughts raced.
Three minutes. That's all I have.
If I don't finish this now...
And then... they'll die.
She gritted her teeth, voice sharp inside her mind.
"Nari, start preparing the sequence for Bloomflare Chain. I'll channel it through the golems. If I time it right..."
☆ Affirmative. Target-lock will take 10 seconds. Preparing arcane bind routes. ☆
The masked man took a step forward, casually spinning one of his jagged daggers again, laughing under his breath.
"Still standing? Even after that trick spell? Heh... I'll give you this, elf girl—at least you've got guts."
Dila raised her wand, eyes flashing with determination as her golems took new positions—triangular, surrounding him.
"And you're going to choke on them."
The cracked-mask man strode slowly through the dust, his jagged daggers twirling lazily at his sides.
His voice echoed across the broken street, casual, almost amused.
"Let me get a closer look..."
"I want to see the little rat who thinks she can defy me."
His gaze locked onto Dila—still far in the distance, still breathing heavily, wand trembling in her grip.
No, he walked like a predator in no hurry, savoring the fear in the air.
One of the golems stepped forward to block his path—its red eyes glowing, both arms raised in a guard stance.
The masked man didn't even blink.
"Tch... out of my way."
He stepped in—and then suddenly roared, slamming his right fist straight into the golem's chest.
The impact exploded like a thunderclap. Stone cracked and debris flew.
But instead of shattering—
—a golden ring of light shimmered across the golem's body.
A Cascade Barrier had triggered—Dila's secondary enchantment flashing like a pulse across its stone skin.
A ripple of energy danced across the surface, absorbing the blow with a sudden hiss of kinetic shock absorption.
The golem skidded back, stone feet dragging across the earth, but it didn't fall.
The masked man paused, narrowing his eyes.
He looked at his fist—uninjured, of course—but clearly surprised.
Dila's breath caught as she forced herself upright.
"He felt that," she whispered.
Nari's voice rang beside her mind again, sharp with urgency.
☆ Cascade Barrier integrity at 62%. Golem unit stabilized. Excellent defensive response, Master! ☆
The other two golems shifted, arms rotating as they tightened the triangle formation, circling the man again.
And still, Dila was panting, her wand glowing, her lips dry.
"That was one punch," she muttered, a shiver crawling down her spine.
"One punch and he almost broke through... If that barrier failed..."
She clenched her teeth.
No room for fear now.
Not when the next move could decide everything.