Lyon's POV
My boots slammed against the stone as I tore through the tunnel, breath steady despite the burn in my lungs.
…Damn. That worked way better than I expected.
A sharp grin tugged at my lips as the cave echoed with distant shouts, explosions, and the unmistakable sound of panic.
For once, luck was actually on my side.
—
Flashback.
I moved slowly through the storage area, every step careful, every breath controlled.
The piles of weapons and supplies stretched across the cavern, as I made sure to place some very familiar objects near them.
Lacrimas.
Who the hell stores volatile magical explosives so close together?
One by one, I'd pulled them out—small, medium, unstable-looking ones—and quietly spread them throughout the room. Behind crates. Inside shattered boxes. Right next to the really expensive-looking merchandise.
When I was done, I stepped back, pulled out the magic pistol, and fired.
The first lacrima detonated.
Then the second.
Then the third.
The chain reaction swallowed the entire storage area in fire and force, the blast knocking me back even as panic and screams filled the cave.
—
Present.
I skidded around a corner, nearly slamming into two wizards rushing toward the chaos.
Their eyes widened.
"THERE—!"
I didn't let him finish.
I shot the pistol twice.
Both men dropped before their spells even formed.
I kept moving.
Another wizard leapt from a side passage, magic flaring in his palm. I ducked under the blast, closed the distance, and drove the sword clean across his torso. He collapsed with a choking gasp as I sprinted past.
I can feel it, I realized, adrenaline buzzing through my veins. Their intent.
Not magic sensing.
Not En.
Just their pressure. Direction. And that split-second shift right before they act.
A grin spread across my face.
...This feels amazing.
Spells flew toward me—fire, wind, crude blasts of magic—but I was already moving, already anticipating. Dodging where I shouldn't have known to dodge. Striking where I shouldn't have seen openings.
Every step felt sharper.
Clearer.
I burst into the central junction, the massive cavern opening up ahead.
There—!
The exit tunnel.
I sprinted for it—
Then my instincts screamed.
Behind—!
I twisted hard to the side.
A split second later, a purple blast tore through the space where I'd just been. It slammed into the cave wall and detonated, toxic energy exploding outward in a violent wave.
Stone melted.
Poisonous fumes hissed into the air, eating away at the rock like acid.
I coughed, staggering back as my eyes burned.
Shit…
I turned my head slowly.
He was there.
Walking out of the smoke like the explosion meant nothing.
The boss.
His magic pressure rolled over the cavern like a physical weight, the ground trembling beneath my feet. The air felt thick—heavy—each breath harder than the last.
And for the first time since I'd seen him…
He wasn't calm.
His expression was twisted with genuine, unrestrained anger.
Eyes locked on me.
I swallowed, tightening my grip on the sword.
…So much for sneaking out quietly.
—
Third Person POV
Silence stretched between them, thick and oppressive, broken only by the low groan of the cave straining under the weight of magic.
Then the boss laughed.
It was restrained—tight with fury.
"In all my years," he said slowly, his voice trembling with barely contained rage, "I have never met someone so ungrateful."
He took a step forward, magic seething around his body like a living thing.
"After everything you did… after all the trouble you caused… I was still willing to show you mercy." His eyes burned as they locked onto Lyon. "I was going to let you live. Let you work. Let you serve as a test subject."
His composure snapped.
"And this—" he roared, magic erupting violently from his body, "—is how you repay me?! By ruining everything I've built!"
The cave shook.
Cracks tore through the stone walls, chunks of rock crashing down as Lyon grit his teeth, his body screaming under the sheer pressure radiating from the man.
Too much…! Lyon thought, bracing himself.
His instincts flared again.
Dodge—!
"Toxic Serpent!" the boss bellowed.
A writhing, venomous construct shot toward Lyon at terrifying speed. Lyon threw himself aside, the attack ripping through the air where his head had been a heartbeat earlier.
So fast—!
The thick fumes clogging the cavern burned his lungs as he gasped for breath, vision blurring for a split second.
Lyon raised the magic pistol and fired.
The boss twisted aside effortlessly, the shots missing by inches as he surged forward, closing the distance in an instant.
"Do you have any idea how long this operation took?!" he shouted, striking Lyon mid-rant. "The connections I would've made?! The profit I was going to earn?!"
Lyon barely got his guard up.
A punch slammed into his ribs—another grazed his shoulder—poison magic searing through his body, even through partial blocks.
"And now it's all gone!" the boss snarled, landing another brutal blow.
Lyon staggered back, coughing, muscles burning as he struggled to keep up. He swung his sword in a desperate attempt to counter.
"DIE!" the boss roared.
The boss met it head-on.
The blade cracked.
Then—
Shattered.
The toxic-filled punch followed through.
Lyon was sent flying, his body crashing through a section of the cave wall with a deafening impact. Stone exploded outward as he disappeared into the darkness beyond.
For a moment… silence.
Then the boss raised his hand, palm glowing with concentrated poison.
"Toxic Wave."
A massive surge of venomous energy erupted forward, flooding the collapsed section of the cave. The attack swallowed the area completely, melting rock, flooding the space with lethal fumes.
The boss stared coldly at the destruction.
Then—
He froze.
The temperature dropped.
Frost began creeping outward from the area where the attack landed, ice forming rapidly across melted stone and poisoned ground.
"…What?"
From within the frozen haze, a figure emerged.
Lyon stepped forward slowly.
Blood stained his clothes. His breathing was heavy. His body trembled from exhaustion.
But he was smiling.
A tired—yet confident—smile.
The boss's eyes widened slightly as he noticed Lyon's wrists.
The suppression cuffs were gone.
Lyon's magic pressure flared violently, ice erupting behind him and freezing the surrounding cavern in a jagged wave.
The boss snarled, releasing his own magic in response.
The two pressures collided.
The cave screamed.
Cracks spread everywhere as the ceiling began to collapse, debris raining down around them.
Ice and poison clashed in the air, the battlefield tearing itself apart.
The final confrontation had begun.