The Price of Recklessness

A crooked black line abruptly appeared on Titan’s armor. Immediately after, the Bloodkin’s upper body, like ceramic pushed off a counter, fell straight backward, blood gushing from the wound and instantly staining the ground crimson.

Sight Unseen, indeed, lived up to Liu Yu’s designation as an unparalleled, ultimate assassination technique, silently severing Titan at the waist once more.

However, even such a grievous injury, one that would leave a human on the brink of death, could be instantly restored by Titan using the Gem, provided he reacted quickly enough. Thus, immediately after unleashing Sight Unseen, Liu Yu, with premeditated intent, charged forward.

“Heh.”

With a punch, she pierced through his upper torso; with a sword, she plunged it into his lower leg. The girl then issued a command to Shadow.

[Devour him for me!]

A surging tide of coalesced blackness, like an ceaseless torrent, swallowed Titan almost entirely in the blink of an eye.

Death loomed; his life hung by a thread.

–The little beast fights without honor! This is the third damn time!!

Titan finally realized he had been hit *again*. He wanted to smack his head in frustration, to chastise his own carelessness, but found only half an arm remained, dangling uselessly. The black deluge had already surged past his chest, advancing towards his head.

“Give me… recover…”

With his life hanging precariously, the power of Fallen God’s Blood finally surged forth in response to his desperate thoughts, transforming into an indestructible wall that blocked the encroaching torrent, halting Shadow’s spread. This allowed him to glare at the dishonorable little beast, his body a broken mess of half-limbs.

‘Tsk… So close, yet so far.’

Liu Yu grumbled softly. She had indeed seized that opportunity perfectly; if Titan’s reaction had been even a fraction slower, Shadow would have consumed him completely before he could even register it.

Alas, there are no ‘ifs’ in this world. A loss is a loss.

“Is this the hospitality of The Supervisory Bureau? I daresay even mountain bandits and brigands have better manners than you!”

Titan roared, still suspended mid-air in the posture of being impaled through the chest. The surging Shadow and the crimson glow were locked in a fierce, unyielding battle, centered around his body.

‘Oh.’

Liu Yu responded dismissively, her gaze curiously scrutinizing Titan. Based on her previous combat experience, if a single strike failed to kill a Bloodkin, they would have long since used spatial movement to escape. Why was he standing there, utterly still and bewildered?

“Why aren’t you running?” Liu Yu asked, puzzled.

“…”

‘Is it that I don’t want to run?’

‘It’s that I *can’t* run!’

Humans cannot imagine what they have never seen, and the same held true for Titan, an ‘outsider.’

While he could create devices for spatial jumps using past knowledge, his own lack of understanding of spatial concepts prevented him from imagining how to perform a spatial jump without such a device.

And now he had lost an arm, rendering any device useless even if he could create one.

In short, he was stuck.

‘If I survive this, I will definitely dedicate myself to studying…’

“What is your accomplice doing?”

The overly tedious stalemate between Shadow and the Gem caused the girl to shift her gaze. She boredly surveyed her surroundings, finally settling her eyes on the Dragonkin not far away.

From the start of the battle until now, even witnessing Titan’s defeat, he had remained rooted to the spot, like an outsider. This prompted Liu Yu to subtly heighten her vigilance.

“…….” Titan remained silent, fully engrossed in his battle with Shadow.

“Right, your schemes are certainly not something you’d tell me. So… I suppose I’ll have to ‘inquire’ myself.”

No sooner had she spoken than Liu Yu pushed her fractured body forward, resolutely advancing towards the Dragonkin. Each step she took seemed to bear a thousand tons of weight, leaving a deep imprint.

‘Just a little more… just a little more…’

Chongyun anxiously monitored the Demonic Machine’s progress. His teammate’s defeat had far exceeded his expectations; the battle, which he had thought would last at least ten minutes, had devolved into a complete loss due to Titan’s carelessness.

Now, the only hope was for the Demonic Machine’s loading sequence to complete before the girl reached him.

“Therefore, ‘Do something, Comrade Titan! Stall for a little longer, just a little longer, and everything will be different!'”

Perhaps his grievances reached Titan’s ears, for the crimson glow, previously locked in a stalemate, suddenly erupted, instantly overwhelming the black torrent and forcing it into a corner, thus breaking the evenly matched situation.

Affected by this surge, Liu Yu’s steps visibly slowed.

‘Useless trash.’

Liu Yu cursed inwardly. She had only diverted a tiny fraction of her power to walk, yet Shadow, like soldiers without their general, was beaten back, abandoning its armor and fleeing. This dismal performance immediately infuriated the girl, making her curse it as trash.

Unwilling to let go of this slippery fish she had finally caught, Liu Yu had no choice but to halt her advance, return the diverted Shadow, and command it to swiftly eliminate the red light.

Soon, the black deluge surged further upwards, and the scales of victory began to tip towards Shadow.

But this was far too slow. The monster opposite her was clearly charging some ultimate move. While the girl had full confidence in Shadow’s defensive capabilities, there was always a chance of the unexpected. Allowing him to ‘cast’ his spell unchallenged might unleash some annoying, unique technique.

‘Hmm…’

The girl fell into brief contemplation. To stop the Dragonkin, she would have to relinquish her suppression of Titan. Conversely, suppressing Titan meant watching the Dragonkin charge up his power unchecked.

In a sense, this was a trolley problem, a choice between two evils…

However, she wouldn’t need to ponder the issue for long. While she and Titan were locked in their struggle, Chongyun finally achieved his objective.

Suddenly, the massive evil dragon melted away like ice and snow, revealing a human figure within.

‘Eh, isn’t that the blue-haired brat’s guardian? I think his name was… Chongyun, right…?’

Upon unexpectedly encountering an acquaintance, Liu Yu’s heart tightened. Far from feeling the joy of meeting an old friend in a foreign land, she was instead filled with intense vigilance and indignation.

‘Damn it, I knew that little brat was trouble. Once this matter is resolved, I’ll personally send her to prison.’

Aier, far away, naturally could not know of the malicious thoughts directed her way. But Chongyun, who was close at hand, made a move that utterly surprised Liu Yu.

He walked over.

He walked over, completely defenseless.

‘Is this guy trying to die?’

Even in his evil dragon form, though weak, he could at least stall for a second or two. In human form… he was probably only slightly thicker than paper?

Internally scoffing at the man’s foolishness, Liu Yu secretly enhanced herself. If she was fast enough, she could kill Chongyun and then return to deal with Titan.

While Shadow possessed an instinct not to harm humans, the priority of this instinct was lower than Liu Yu’s own will. If she was determined to kill Chongyun, Shadow could only obediently comply.

‘A little closer…’

‘A little closer…’

One step… two steps… three steps…

‘That’s enough!’

In that instant, a bolt of lightning flashed across the sky.

The deep grey-haired girl, wielding her demonic sword, appeared before Chongyun. Without even giving him time to register his astonishment, she thrust forward without hesitation.

“Splat!”

Blood splattered!