Glo roared, his body surging with reckless force as Ecstatic Overdrive triggered again. Pain converted to raw power. His speed and strength spiked, but it still wasn't enough. The cuts kept accumulating—none deep, none fatal, but relentless and constant enough to disrupt his momentum and leave his movements erratic.
Nubrus tried to reposition, to find an opening or create distance, but every path was intercepted. Every angle was closed. The storm of slashes continued, unbroken and unforgiving.
Null's chest burned. His mana was draining violently, and his vision, sharpened beyond human limits, began to blur under the strain. But he couldn't stop.
The first sequence ended, and before the air could even settle, he stepped forward again.
✦ Star Burst Stream ✦
Another violent surge of compressed mana erupted.
✦ 100-Hit Combo — Second Sequence ✦
The clearing shattered once more. Blades became streaks of light, weaving an endless, overlapping lines of steel. Glo snarled, his muscles screaming and his nerves on fire as he was pushed further past his limits.
CLANG. CLANG. CLANG.
Each block grew heavier, his deflections slowing by fractions of a second.
Nubrus adjusted, repeatedly triggering short bursts of Stillpoint Execution just to hold the line. But those defensive windows were shrinking. The assault simply didn't stop. One minute passed, then two. The clearing had become a cage of blades with no safe zone and no escape.
Glo's breathing turned ragged, his mad grin entirely wiped as his wide eyes strained to track the impossible rhythm. "What... the hell is this?!"
Nubrus's inner composure fractured. His thoughts were no longer clean; his tactical brain was being completely overloaded. This output, this consistency, this control... it's impossible.
Another sequence. Another hundred hits. Then another.
Null's body trembled, his mind burned as if it were being torn apart from the inside out. His mana was nearly gone, yet he dragged out every last remaining drop. Just a little more.
The final sequence surged—slower, but denser and more absolute.
Then, it ended. The blades stopped, the light vanished, and the storm collapsed into a sudden, dead quiet.
Null's swords slipped from his numb fingers. His body swayed before dropping hard, his knees hitting the dirt. "Hah..." An exhausted, ragged breath escaped him as his chest rose and fell unevenly. His vision flickered, blurring heavily at the edges.
Across from him, Glo stood—barely. His body was patterned with dozens of shallow cuts, blood seeping through his torn clothing and soaking his black cloak. His breathing was heavy and uncontrolled.
Nubrus stood a few paces behind, his posture upright but strained, his silver hair clinging to his pale face. Both assassins were alive, but they were only just holding themselves together, their bodies still rigidly tense as if expecting a next strike that never came.
Reality returned slowly, like waking from a trance. Glo blinked, his voice hoarse and unsteady. "What... was that...?"
Nubrus said nothing, but his eyes locked onto Null with cold recognition. The calm calculation was gone, replaced by the acute awareness of a dangerous threat.
Meanwhile, Null remained on his knees, his thoughts dragging heavily through the exhaustion. 'Damn it. Even after all that... not a single critical hit. Is my luck just that bad, or is the stat gap that high?'
'Hah. If only they were D-rank instead of C-rank, I would have landed multiple criticals minimum.' His head tilted downward, white hair falling over his eyes. 'Annoying.'
Despite pushing past his absolute limits, he hadn't been able to deal significant damage. Now, his mana was utterly depleted, his body was finished, and the two assassins were still standing.
...
Glo's head snapped up. Then, a raw, guttural roar tore out of his throat. "AAAAAAH!"
A violent, visible red aura began to seep from his skin like heat bleeding off scorched steel. Ecstatic Overdrive was still active, feeding on his wounds, his pain, and his humiliation. His erratic breathing turned animalistic as his gaze locked onto the kneeling boy.
"You... weakling..."
Without warning or buildup, Glo vanished. A crimson blur crossed the distance in a fraction of a second.
THUD.
His boot slammed into Null's torso with brutal, unrestrained force. The impact cracked the air, fracturing ribs and launching Null's body backward.
CRASH.
Null smashed into a thick tree trunk, the wood splitting audibly under the force as bark and leaves scattered. He bounced off the cracked wood and collapsed face-first into the dirt with a dull, heavy thud.
"Kgh...!"
A thick splash of blood burst from his mouth, staining his lips and the pale strands of his dark-white hair. For a brief second, his vision went completely white, then pitch black, before flickering unstably.
His body refused to respond. Inside his mind scape, he was under crushing mental strain—the severe side effect of using the Omniscient Link and synchronizing with a portion of its Omniscient Cognization. His thoughts overlapped, his sensations lagged, and his consciousness flickered rapidly, threatening to slip away entirely into oblivion.
Glo's voice barely registered. Null didn't care to listen anyway.
"A weakling like you—!" Glo's voice shook with fury as he stepped forward, his face twisted into a mask of pure disbelief. The red aura rippling off his skin practically radiated his unchecked rage. "A weakling like you managing to hurt me—who do you think you are?!"
His grin returned, but it was wrong. Too wide, too strained, and completely broken. He touched the numerous shallow cuts tracing his skin.
"I actually bled because of you..." He let out a short, unhinged laugh that quickly spiraled into a wild howl. "You're nothing! You should be weaker than me! And yet," his grin twisted, "you made me feel cornered. Me. Cornered."
Each word came out more distorted and unstable than the last. "Do you know how humiliating this is? It means you embarrassed me. And I really, really hate being embarrassed."
He took another slow, deliberate step forward. "I was supposed to carve you up slowly. I planned to kill you quickly... but now?" His grip tightened on his weapon until the veins in his arm bulged. "I'll make sure to torture you before killing you!"
Before he could lunge, a silent, controlled presence materialized beside him. Nubrus.
The silver-haired assassin didn't speak immediately. His eyes swept over Glo's bloody, erratic condition. Reaching into his cloak, Nubrus pulled out a vial, uncorked it, and took two measured, efficient sips.
Only then did he address his partner.
"Glo."
"What now?" Glo clicked his tongue, his breathing still heavy.
Nubrus ignored the irritation, his gaze shifting toward the forest path. "I will go deal with his teammates. That is if they haven't yet reached the main road."
"Yeah, whatever," Glo snapped.
"You will finish the target," Nubrus continued flatly, his voice sharpening. "Do not take unnecessary time. Be cautious. He might still have additional contingencies, so make sure to kill him quickly. Avoid indulging in prolonged torture."
Nubrus knew Glo wouldn't listen, but he stated the reality anyway. That final warning completely triggered Glo's temper.
"Tch—!" Glo's expression twisted as he jabbed a bloody finger toward Null's crumpled form against the shattered tree.
"You're seriously telling me that? This weak piece of shit actually made me bleed. He gave us trouble, left us with these injuries, and you want me to just kill him quickly?!"
His grin turned sharp and entirely unstable. "Impossible, I will torture him. Otherwise, I won't be content."
Nubrus watched him for a cold, silent moment, evaluating his volatile partner. Then, he simply turned away.
"Do as you wish. I have stated what is necessary," Nubrus said, completely unmoved. "If you fail to understand the risk even after this... then any unexpected outcome is your responsibility."
For a brief, subtle fraction of a second, Nubrus's gaze flicked back to Null. If it were up to him, he would have eliminated the target immediately to remove all uncertainty, as a true assassin should. But he knew Glo's violent, bruised ego wouldn't allow it.
"I will proceed." Nubrus's presence began to collapse. Within heartbeats, his Erased Presence took full effect, and he vanished into the woodland toward the main road to hunt the escaping team.
He left behind a blood-soaked clearing, a broken target struggling to stay conscious, and a grinning monster ready to strike.
-
Glo turned toward Null, his expression fixed in a cold, vicious stare.
"Now," he said, moving forward with slow, deliberate intent. "Where were we?"
Null was unable to respond, his consciousness blurred as he struggled to stay conscious. Glo, driven by an overwhelming urge for vengeance, raised his dagger and plunged it down.
A wet, sickening slice echoed.
The blade severed through flesh, clean and brutal. Null's right hand fell. Crimson sprayed outward. Painting the ground and Glo's face.
Glo inhaled sharply. Eyes widening in anticipation.
He grinned and listened. Waiting for that scream. That desperate cry of pain.
Yet nothing. Five seconds. Ten seconds. Only Heavy silence.
Glo's grin slowly faded. His brows furrowed as irritation crept in. Then sharp anger. "You—?"
His foot lashed out—
CRACK.
It slammed into Null's head, snapping it upward violently.
"Fuck—" His voice raged. "Why aren't you screaming, weakling?!"
Null's face tilted upward. A thin line of blood traced along his lips. His dark-white eyes were fully visible now yet entirely unstable.The light within them flickered. Fading and returning like a dying signal. Like a Consciousness—tethered precariously between the awareness and void.
Glo stared as confusion blanked his face.
"What the hell…" Irritation twisted his features once more, but then something uglier crept in. His gaze shrunk. A sudden jealousy coiled in his gut; despite his bloody, broken state, Null's unbelievably beautiful face hadn't diminished one bit.
"Damn you!!" Glo's expression turned dark and envious. "Tch—!"
His foot slammed down. Again. And again. CRACK. THUD. CRACK.
"Come on, bastard—!" He kicked. "Scream! Cry like the pathetic weakling you are!"
"Are you deaf?! SCREAM, DAMN IT!!"
His voice frayed, rising into a deranged pitch.
"Only when prey screams—" Kick. "In fear—" Kick. "In pain—" Kick. "In despair—" Kick. "That's when it feels good!" His grin stretched wide and mad. "THAT'S the greatest euphoria of torturing living creatures!!"
The intensity surged with every strike. Minutes ground in a flurry of relentless, cruel, and unrestrained blows. Yet, nothing changed. Neither a struggle nor a scream. Just a body taking the abuse, enduring it without a shred of response.
Slowly, Glo stopped. His eyes narrowed. Finally, he noticed the faint, dimming light in those dark-white eyes.
"I see…" He scoffed as the realization crept in. "No wonder. You actually lost consciousness. Tch. How much of a weakling can you be? Or is it because of whatever absurd attack you pulled off earlier?"
Silence hung briefly before he shrugged it off. "Whatever." He stepped back, his irritation bubbling over into manic laughter. "The reason doesn't matter. The important thing is—There's no point in torture if the prey doesn't scream. Or if it's already dead."
A crooked, cruel grin resurfaced. "So I'll do you a favor."
He pulled a small container of glowing, paste-type recovery potion from his storage and splashed it directly across Null's face. The substance seeped in, stabilizing the injuries just enough to anchor his slipping mind.
The flickering in Null's eyes stilled, the dimming stopped, and a shallow, genuine breath escaped his lips as his thoughts reconnected.
"Ah?" Null croaked, tilting his head with weak but deeply sardonic amusement. "You still haven't killed me? How much of a lowly, half-baked assassin can you be?"
Glo froze instantly, his eyes widening in pure, unfiltered shock as the words cut through his mania like ice water.
"You…" Glo's lips trembled, his expression twisting violently. "You weakling… Are you insane?! Instead of begging for your life, you want me to kill you that badly?!"
Null blinked once. Slow and unbothered.
"How am I insane?" he asked, his voice detached. "No matter how you look at it, you're the insane one here. A literal psychopath who indulges in brutal violence."
"You—!!" Glo's face contorted. "How dare you call me insane?!"
His leg lashed out with a heavy thud. Null's body shifted slightly from the blow, but he didn't flinch or even tense his muscles.
"Of course. An insane person doesn't have the brain capacity to admit they're insane. If you want proof…" A faint, almost imperceptible smirk touched his lips. "…ask 'them'."
Glo stiffened. "Them?" his eyes flickered alertly as he scanned around. But sensed nothing beyond their twisted confrontation. The forest was dead silent. "What the fuck are you talking about?"
Null's gaze didn't shift. "The beings beyond the fourth wall. Half-baked."
"Beings… beyond the fourth wall?" Glo's confusion deepened. "What the hell are you spouting?"
Null exhaled a soft breath. "No need to strain your brain, you'll never understand. This is a secret known only to a specific category… known as 'Beyond Entities'."
Glo completely snapped, his frustration boiling over. "Damn it! What the fuck—?!"
Enraged at being played, his leg lashed out blindly. With a deafening crash, the tree behind Null shattered into splinters under the sheer force, scattering wood fragments through the rising dust. Glo exhaled and brought his daggers together.
His wide, anticipating grin returned. "Doesn't matter," he took a step forward. "Now that you're awake… I can finally enjoy torturing you properly."