No one moved. Not even the wolves themselves, as they bowed humbly upon the sight of their king.
It was silent. Even the dust settled down as if it feared the wrath of the beast.
Was this really a sentient being with a B-rank skill? Isaac realized that the capability of Manafold Beasts was vastly underrated. As he peered into the eyes of the beast, he read not only the sentience, but the wisdom. Years of memories.
For how long did this beast live? For how long did this beast fight and emerge victorious?
This was no longer about the rank of a skill. The level of mana that was bubbling within the form of this gigantic, crimson wolf was beyond any amount Isaac has ever come across before.
Red Wolf was staring directly into his eyes. However, something was strange. The wrath was there, yes, but it didn't seem to be aimed at him. With a growl, it turned away, now facing two hitmen instead.
Isaac then breathed, having realized that his body has been holding it, unconsciously. He watched as Red Wolf stomped. The wolves howled synchronously. The noise was loud enough to force a light tremor unto the intact walls nearby.
Moro Raven's smile became strained. Chuckling, he cursed, "fuck." Although his words were in a whisper, Isaac overheard them, "damn those two kids… just how weak were they?"
Two kids. Isaac immediately deduced that Moro Raven was talking about Vane and Randal. If that was the case, the fact that Red Wolf was here meant that those two have been dealt with—whether injured to an extent that they couldn't fight, or potentially… death. His face darkened, for this denied him any possibility of a backup.
The Arsonist, although right next to Moro Raven, didn't seem to hear the whisper. Eyes looked unfocused, and quickened breathing indicated that the pain still affected him, and will continue to affect him in this harsh environment. Nevertheless, as the so-called professional hitman, he couldn't afford to reveal such a weakness of his—is what Isaac interpreted from the man's expression.
Still clasping his shoulder in pain, the Arsonist's eyes then gained their focus and hovered over the ferocious form of Red Wolf. Initially, a weak chuckle. The beast's growl intensified, but it didn't seem to affect him the way the shoulder wound did. "Red Wolf of Heliosphere. Rascal of this empty ruins… I heard that you are a couple thousand years old." He took one slow step forward, seemingly unafraid. "My day was going perfect, torturing a fine-looking girly just like any other day. Then, some useless boy with F-rank skill enters. Fine, that's fine as well. It's not like the result would change. Then, you decide to intervene as well… who do you think I am?" Then, another step. "I heard that you beasts have sentience. Today, I learned that such isn't the case. After all… who the hell would dare to fight someone whose skill is clearly superior than their own?"
The Arsonist, just as how he did before against Isaac, raised his arm. "Die." The huge volume of oil was fired toward Red Wolf the same way he previously blasted at Isaac and Camilla. His other hand, releasing its hold over his shoulder, was about to activate the function of the ring on its finger, to ignite the oil with a spark.
Then, something unexpected happened. Before the Arsonist's ring activated, Red Wolf was quicker. B-rank: [Raging Fire] activated at a scale that far exceeded what a B-rank skill was capable of. With an explosive force, the fire shot out from Red Wolf's gaped mouth and struck the wave of oil. The fire engulfed the oil and became the flame of destruction. Before the Arsonist could say or do anything, the flame swallowed him entirely.
Then, a scream. The serial killer thrashed his body—entirely set aflame—crazily but to no avail. The mix of a metallic odor and burned flesh reached Isaac as he watched the scenery of a human being cooked alive, in horror. The vile flame travelled wide and reached him as a heat that was so hot that just the slightest recognition was enough to dry him of any sweat off his skin.
Slowly, the Arsonist's form disintegrated. One of his hands came off its wrist, and from its disintegrated fingers, the ring fell and rolled, burned just as much, in front of Isaac. Instinctively, his eyes headed down on said ring.
There was a reason why Red Wolf was alive up until today, it seemed. Isaac has seen the skill under operation by Magnus, yet another wielder of B-rank: [Raging Fire]. It was nothing like what this beast just showcased. Even if he were to factor in an environmental advantage, by no means should it be possible to exert the output of this scale—enough to completely incinerate a human being into ashes—with [Raging Fire], unless its owner's mana exceeds a certain threshold.
This Manafold Beast wasn't just a sentient being. It was a monster whom they stood no chance of victory against. Such was the conclusion that Isaac internally reached as he leaned down and reached the burned ring with trembling fingers.
What now? However, that didn't mean he lost the grip over himself. The presence of Camilla was still there at his back. Frankly speaking, he had no idea what he was doing in this academy, but whatever it was for, it wasn't to die pointlessly.
The Arsonist was previously the biggest threat. Now, although he was gone, Red Wolf was the threat worse to deal with. Moro Raven. Isaac brought his eyes upon the form of Moro Raven, who blinked as he stared at the burning remnant of what used to be Jade the Arsonist. For whatever reason, Red Wolf is prioritizing that man over us. Thanks to Red Wolf's focus on the Arsonist previously and now, Moro Raven, he managed to recover some extent of stamina. However, it will drain very quickly, and the direness of the situation remained the same.
To be honest, Isaac saw no way out of this. Even if he were to somehow come out on top against both Moro Raven and Red Wolf, and somehow kill all the wolves that surrounded them, he likely won't have enough left in him to drag Camilla all the way back to Dodyon's inn. However, that didn't mean that he would give up.
One at a time, Isaac. Isaac watched as Red Wolf began to walk, slowly and menacingly, toward Moro Raven who was rubbing the blood clot on his rubbed eye as if frustrated.
"You are able to think. I heard that Manafold Beasts have the same extent of intelligence as humans, that that's the reason why they awaken skills." In this situation, Moro Raven grinned, and unlike the strained smile he showed before, it appeared genuine. Even with [The Prism], Moro Raven was someone whom Isaac couldn't properly analyze. He truly was a peculiar man. "Now, I wonder… if you have what they call compassion."
Red Wolf opened its mouth. It appeared that it was trying to blast [Raging Fire] for the second time, just as how it did against the Arsonist just before.
Moro was already moving by then. He was running, but running didn't take long. He stopped, right in front of the wolves that formed a circle around them to keep them trapped. Said wolves revealed their teeth threateningly against him, but he didn't care. Instead, raising his arms wide open, he laughed and yelled, "try me, Red Wolf! Let's see if you're apathic enough to burn the hoard of your pack just to kill me!"
Red Wolf paused. A pause meant hesitation. That brief moment of hesitation was exactly what Moro Raven needed to act.
Immediately, he revealed his blowpipe. Twisting his body, he shot three darts straight at nearest wolves—and by the time Red Wolf realized what happened, they've fallen. Isaac, based on the time it took for those wolves to be knocked out, assumed that a substance applied on those darts must be sedatives rather than the poison that the man previously used against him.
With three wolves fallen, Moro Raven now had a small opening to run toward. Red Wolf then acted, and a burst of fire rushed in from his back; it seemed to have decided that killing Moro to satiate its rage was a better outcome than the preservation of its pack. Unfortunately, as nearby wolves were engulfed by the fire and howled in horror, Moro was already running by then, at the speed just enough to outpace the approaching fire.
As he did so, his eyes looking sideways at where Isaac stood.
Those eyes held the awareness that Isaac could attack him, that he could be interrupted. However, those eyes, at the same time, seemed to be certain that Isaac won't attack him—because he knew Isaac had to preserve as much energy as possible.
The wolves away from the fire roared as they saw Moro Raven darting. However, they couldn't chase, because of, ironically, the fire that was right at his tail.
Moro Raven predicted all this. He assumed that the fact that Red Wolf carried a pack with it meant it was capable of not only being intelligent, but also capable of feeling emotions. Capable of being lonely—because the wolves would ultimately serve more so as nuisances than be helpful. Therefore, he predicted that Red Wolf would hesitate. Although it would eventually decide to sacrifice its own pack to destroy the intruder who shot the flare, it would first hesitate. Then, upon seeing his escape, Red Wolf would lose a grasp over its rationality. It would hastily use its skill on him, trying to burn him before he speeds out of its skill range. After, this skill would serve as a protection that prevents the chase of other wolves—and voila, the escape.
Moro Raven's calculation was spot-on. Isaac, grimacing as he read the hitman's rationale, decided not to spend mana to kill the man. As much as he hated to say it, his and Camilla's survival came first.
By the time the fire cleared, the hitman was gone. Unlike the infamous Arsonist whom the civilians shivered against, this nobody named Moro Raven escaped.
"…Hah," Isaac felt a chuckle of disbelief escape from his lips. Damn it. Red Wolf's eyes, more enraged than it already has been, were peering into his own.
The wolves closed in, clearly furious from the fact that they let a prey escape. They seemed to be vowing not to let Isaac and Camilla escape. There was no way out, and Camilla was still unresponsive.
Isaac checked the condition of his body. His breathing thankfully normalized, and the air around him has cooled down through [Condensation] to manage his temperature and prevent further loss of fluid. He would consider himself as having recovered by around twenty percent. However, twenty percent wasn't sufficient. As in, he couldn't afford to piggyback Camilla and brazenly make his way out through these wolves' watch, for he wasn't as fast and nimble as Moro Raven.
One by one. That meant that in the end, there was only one way out. Kill Red Wolf. Kill these wolves. Instill fear in them, enough that they won't chase us.
Red Wolf was walking slowly toward him. Its fiery breath was perceived as a low growl that reflected his furious it was. For a second, Isaac wondered the exact reason why the flare ignited this creature's fury, but quickly dismissed such thought.
By now, it is aware that I, unlike Moro Raven, cannot run. I cannot reposition myself to the proximity of those wolves, and therefore, its pack isn't in risk of getting caught by its skill for the second time. Based on this deduction, Isaac predicted that what will come next is the long-range discharge of [Raging Fire] from Red Wolf. [Condensation] is my bread and butter. Pressure and temperature are versatile tools at disposal. They are, by essence, not limited to water, but anything that is subjected to laws of physics. Yes, the true nature of [Condensation] a vector manipulation.
Fire, what exactly was it? Visible light and heat released by an exothermic chemical reaction. It is the glowing, super-heated mixture of reacting gases and plasma. Point was, it was a gas. It was, in theory, manipulatable by his [Condensation]. Then… He will wait for Red Wolf to blast its skill. Then, through cognition acceleration and the 'pressure' aspect of his skill, change the direction of the fire's propulsion right back at Red Wolf.
It was essentially a gamble, one that Isaac himself didn't know if he could do it or not—no, he thought, it will work. I must make it work.
Simultaneously, the gleam in the eyes of Isaac and Red Wolf shifted, as if both of them finished calculations of their own.
Red Wolf then leapt. Yes, instead of discharging its skill the way Isaac expected it to do, it roared as it leapt at him, closing in the distance at a rapid speed in an attempt to knock him down physically.
Why? Isaac's eyes slowly widened as his calculation turned out to be wrong. Instinctively, before Red Wolf's claw ripped through him, he accelerated his cognition. The world around him slowed down. Why did you decide to… doesn't matter. With a sharp expression that didn't match his rapidly beating heart, he began to operate his mana-thread within his Circuitry. Rapid acceleration, output that far exceeds the scope of a failure. The explosive amount of mana output was poured into his [Condensation], and from his forehead, the surface of his body that was the closest to Red Wolf that was just a few meters away, a waterdrop generated. Then, another. One by one, the waterdrop appeared and gathered. Condensed. Bubbled, and became an extremely dense, shimmering form of supercritical bullet.
His target was Red Wolf's left eye. Unlike the dense waterdrop that stopped at rupturing an eye, supercritical bullet would pierce through said eye then through the brain beyond—it will be an instant death.
Time resumed. Supercritical bullet fired.
Then, an explosion. Isaac, shielding his arms, was knocked off the ground and fell just next to Camilla. What? Gritting his teeth, he quickly stood back up.
Red Wolf wasn't hit by the supercritical bullet. At the last second, with an animalistic reflex, it used [Raging Fire] to propel its body rightward. From the dust, it emerged, still alive and ferocious.
Isaac's face darkened as he wiped his bleeding nose, his head ringing painfully. Now, he only had one stock of cognition acceleration remaining. In other words, given the reflex and intelligence of Red Wolf, he only had one more chance left to kill it.
Then, Red Wolf launched itself right again at Isaac, just as viciously as before. Its fangs were sharp, and its claws, upon reflecting the light of the sun, seemed to be ready to rip Isaac into shreds.
However, Isaac, this time around, didn't react. And at the last second, just before Red Wolf reached him, it suddenly retreated.
Yes, it was a feint, and Isaac knew it. No matter how good Red Wolf's acting was, it couldn't trick [The Prism].
It seemed that Red Wolf was trying to force Isaac to waste his stamina. One shot. It saw just how much one supercritical bullet took out of Isaac, and deduced that he only had one more left in him.
Although the true reason why Isaac could afford just one more supercritical bullet was because it required time of preparation and he only had one stock of cognition acceleration left, its deduction ended up being correct.
Red Wolf then launched again, before retreating for the second time without making a contact.
Isaac, although panting and sweating, didn't bet an eye. Dauntlessly, he glared back at the eyes of the gigantic beast, which roared before charging at him as if enraged. Then, backed off for the third time, yet another feint. However, for the third time, it invoked no response from Isaac.
Red Wolf's eyes narrowed. From them, Isaac read the mix of fury, frustration and intrigue.
"You…" Isaac then spoke, in the middle of his heavy breaths, "as ridiculous as it sounds… you know honor." Red Wolf paused at that. "The wolves are surrounding us. Should you give them an order, they will move and rip us apart. However, you aren't doing that. You are fighting me one-to-one, and whether it's out of your anger or not… it tells me that you value honor." Isaac paused to swallow his breath. Red Wolf didn't move but waited him to continue. After a moment of silence, he spoke, "so quit with your feints. Dragging this fight won't achieve anything—because it will result in my anti-climactic death, one that you don't want."
The Arsonist faced an abrupt death. Moro Raven ran away. Red Wolf was left with no other foe but Isaac to relieve its fury on. This was the reason why Isaac spoke as such.
Red Wolf was silent for a while. Then, it gaped its mouth open. Fire began to charge. It wasn't a sneak attack whatsoever, but the direct attack using its [Raging Fire] at the maximum output.
Isaac, ignoring his rapidly beating heart, forced a grin, "now that's more like it."
The potent fire—destructive enough for him to believe that this was A-rank: [Conflagration] that he was dealing with—blasted toward him. He had to squint his eyes just from the sheer heat and light that was on his way.
Not yet… The fire was still coming. However, Isaac was yet to accelerate his cognition. He needed the right timing. He needed to capture as much fire as possible within the range of his skill. Not yet… the specks of hair on his arms caught onto fire and was reduced to ashes. Isaac had no time to care about such a trivial thing. Now.
As the fire engulfed his vision, he finally accelerated his cognition. The unbelievable, suffocating heat was surrounding him, and his slowed-down lungs were already filled with hot air. Still, he acted.
[Condensation].
It was a task even more difficult than condensing air. Condensing the source gas of fire—very volatile and unstable—was a feat that required an unbelievable amount of mana, even more than that of supercritical bullet.
[Condensation].
The surrounding fire wavered. Slowly, within this slowed-down world, it began to gather around one point as Isaac directed the pressure toward a singularity.
[Condensation].
With bloodshot eyes, Isaac gathered the fire into a form of a sphere, so bright that all that he could see from it was a white light.
Pressure.
It was extremely unstable. Isaac knew that the moment the world returned to a normal speed, this sphere will immediately explode. He directed as much pressure as possible away from him, such that once the time resumes, it will be fired away from him, toward Red Wolf.
The mana thread continued to circulate at the unbelievable speed, and even though there was no contact with the vessel walls of his Circuitry, he felt dizziness pulsate throughout his brain along with the sharp pain that was making it very difficult to maintain this cognition acceleration. He felt as if he was going to pass out any time, but he couldn't afford to do so. Red Wolf finally used its skill on him just as he initially predicted, and his theory was working as intended. He couldn't stop here, for stopping meant death.
Thirty-second passed. Isaac, with an extreme degree of pain upon his head, was forced to release the cognition acceleration. The world returned to normal, and he immediately fell to the side, bleeding not only from his nose but also from his eyes and ears. He coughed blood as he placed his hand on the hot sand to support himself back up.
At the same time, the sphere bundling with light and plasma was blasted as a laser, straight at Red Wolf. The potent energy struck it directly at the chest and sent it flying back, crashing right on top of wolves that were surrounding the site.
With trembling arms and legs, Isaac stood back up. He coughed blood as he panted, and his face was pale from all the blood he has lost today. His condition was clearly far from normal, and if someone were to tip him over with a gentle push, he likely won't be able to get back up.
Therefore, Isaac sincerely hoped that he managed to kill Red Wolf with this blow.
However, from the dust, the gigantic shadow moved. Red Wolf then walked out of it, notably injured from the severe burn at its chest area, but still alive.
Silence. No wolf produced a sound as Red Wolf slowly walked, limping. In contrast to its condition, its eyes were very much alive, still capable of fighting.
Isaac found himself chuckling—before he involuntarily vomited blood. Wiping it, he continued chuckling. What now? He's done the best that he could do, and was unable to subvert the situation. Looking up, he couldn't help but curse, damn it…
Red Wolf opened its mouth, as if about to use [Raging Fire] again. It knew that Isaac put everything into his last attack, that he now had no energy left to continue. It chose to use its skill rather than to attack him physically because it was wounded as well.
Another fire was discharged without hesitation from the beast, right in the path of Isaac and Camilla behind him.
There was no cognition acceleration left in him. Without it, he didn't have an enough time to condense the fire.
Is this it?
His heart was still beating rapidly. All the other noises but his heart beat was muffled. It was as if… it didn't give up yet.
Then, one memory surfaced.
Back then, when Seran Crane exploded the entire underground facility, how did he survive?
Ice. Isaac remember seeing ice that suddenly appeared and reduced the blow.
Ice. It was the solid phase of water. Freezes at zero-degree Celsius. Cold… and if thick enough, is sufficient at defending.
All that was available to him in this arid environment was the ambient vapour—generated by his own sweat. It was water in the form of a gas, quiet far away from being solid.
Deposition.
It was something that he has been trying to achieve for the past two months, but with no success. The fact that he always ends up condensing first before freezing water gave quite a delay in creating ice.
However, at this last second, in front of the fire that would cost him his and Camilla's life at any second, something clicked in him.
Pressure and temperature.
Deposition was, in the end, nothing more than the more extreme version of condensation. Apply more pressure. Decrease temperature by the greater extent. If the force reached a certain threshold, the liquid phase would be skipped, and hence, deposition.
Just as how it did before, Isaac's body moved out of instinct. The vapour shifted into ice within an instant. It was thin, and therefore, upon fire contacting it, it melted and evaporated back into vapour right away. However, just when it evaporated, Isaac converted into ice for the second time. Then, sublimation back into gas. Deposition back into solid. Isaac, without a use of cognition acceleration, operated [Condensation] at an unbelievable speed to prevent the potent fire from reaching them.
It was ridiculous. It was something that no one would've thought that [Condensation] could do. Even Red Wolf seemed flabbergasted by such a scene, as the fire was eventually extinguished, having managed to burn nothing but ice. Isaac fell to a knee and panted, his entire body smoking from the heat and trembling. Clearly, he was at his limit.
Isaac then raised his head, gritting his teeth. His bloodshot eyes met Red Wolf's own, still unyielding, still filled with the desire to live.
Then, the eyes gave, turning hollow as Isaac fell with a thud, unable to maintain his consciousness any longer.
The world went black.