The silence shattered.
Confusion flashed across his face.
Why did my activation fail?.
Lian used the Disruption Rune right before Kair activated his runes and Kair is facing the backlash right now.
Nox and Sunny moved the moment they saw it.
This was the first thing Lian worked on after transmigrating—not for this specific occasion, but to secure an advantage in a world that blindly over relied on runes.
He already made signal jammers in his previous world. The underlying theory wasn't much different. Ether, at its core, was just another form of energy—and according to physics, energy no matter the form have wave-like properties. If it had a frequency, it could be interfered with. If it could be interfered with, it could be neutralised.
All it took was generating a phased signal that overlapped and cancelled out the ether frequency range.
Simple in concept. Brutal in execution.
Without the previous Lian's genius-level engineering knowledge layered atop his own criminal mindset—one trained to find flaws and exploit vulnerabilities the interference rune would never have been completed in just a few days.
Sunny attacked first. A faint green arc formed around his hand as his rune activated smoothly. A wind blade shot toward Kair—but even through the pain, Kair evaded it.
Sunny fired several more. Kair dodged them with sheer athleticism, teeth clenched, movements rough but effective.
Nox came in from Kair's blind spot, thrusting a spear-shaped rune construct to catch him off guard.
Kair still noticed.
He caught the spear mid-air.
That was probably the dumbest move he'd made in his entire life.
Electricity surged through the weapon and discharge hit Kair point-blank.
"Oh," Nox thought, staring at the yellow symbol glowing on his palm.
"So that's what yellow means."
Lian signaled them urgently—he was running out of ether.
They intensified their attacks.
Kair learned from his mistake and kept dodging, refusing to touch anything again. He tried activating a different rune.
It failed.
Another backlash tore through him.
The fight dragged on for five minutes.
Lian was barely holding on. The Disruption Rune consumed ether at a terrifying rate, and only by keeping its range extremely small had he managed to last this long.
Then it happened.
On the third attempt, Kair's rune activated successfully.
Ice surged over his body, forming partial armor around his vital areas.
And another sequence-two flame sword ignited in his hand, a blade made entirely of fire.
Kair turned slowly toward Lian.
His instincts were screaming.
Despite being the weakest, that bastard was the most dangerous one here.
And whatever had been making his runes fail—it must be him.
Lin Ling activated the strongest defensive rune he had.
A towering water wall surged up just in time, barely stopping Kair's flaming sword. Steam exploded outward as fire and water clashed.
Sunny and Nox followed immediately, activating their strongest runes now that Lian had stopped using the Disruption Rune. Without its suppression, Kair's power was terrifying—but even then, the three of them managed to land small hits here and there.
Nothing decisive.
Kair kept glancing at Lian.
Lian was sitting calmly at the edge of the courtyard, absorbing ether from a crystal in his hand.
Kair understood instantly.
He had to end this fast—before Lian activated that insane rune again.
The fight dragged on for another five minutes.
Kair was exhausted, sweat dripping down his face, breath heavy.
Sunny and Nox were worse—barely standing, supported only by Lin Ling's weakening water wall.
Then Lian stood up.
"I'll take it from here."
The three pulled back instantly, deactivating their runes. Distance opened between them and Kair.
Kair's heart sank.
He knew exactly what was coming.
He deactivated his runes.
But instead of activating the Disruption Rune—
Lian fired a lightning arrow.
It crossed the distance almost instantly and struck Kair square in the chest.
Pain exploded through him.
Kair felt stupid. Furious. He'd fallen for the oldest trick in the book.
Rage overtook reason.
He charged.
The flaming sword swung toward Lian—
—and vanished mid-air.
Backlash slammed into Kair again.
He staggered, panting heavily.
Fine. No runes.
Kair rushed forward and punched Lian—
electricity detonated on contact.
The impact sent Lian crashing to the ground, pain tearing through him as Kair nearly blacked out, barely forcing himself to stay upright.
He attacked again, but this time his punch slammed into the water wall instead. Cracks rippled outward as Lian, teeth clenched, dragged himself back to his feet.
One punch.
Then another.
The ripples multiplied, spreading rapidly until—
The water wall shattered. Damaging the rune in the process.
Lin Ling collapsed to the ground, completely exhausted.
"You better compensate for that," he muttered before passing out.
Kair was still standing.
When someone advanced from sequence one to sequence two, their body undergoes a qualitative change—greater ether capacity, enhanced strength, sharper reflexes.
And yet—
Lian stood before him, eyes filled with pity and mockery.
Kair was furious.
Helpless.
And Lian knew it.
This wasn't enough. His pride wasn't fully crushed yet.
"This," Lian said calmly, "is what happens when you refuse me."
He stepped closer.
"I'll ask again. Behave properly this time, and I might let you off."
Something snapped.
"I'm sequence two!" Kair thought to himself.
"Top five in the entire academy! I rule Class D! How can I become a lackey for some trash who never even left initial stage?! How do you expect me to live with that humiliation?!"
He charged with what little strength he had left.
Lian ducked.
His fist smashed into Kair's face.
Another punch. A kick. Then another.
Kair was too slow now—exhaustion weighing down every movement. He couldn't dodge. Couldn't block.
After a minute, he collapsed.
Lian stepped forward and pressed his foot against Kair's throat, cutting off his breath.
"I'm pretty sure you've changed your mind," Lian said quietly.
Kair finally gave up.
"…Okay," he gasped.
"I agree."
Lian stepped back, helped him to his feet, and handed him a cold drink as if nothing had happened.
Then, casually—almost absent-mindlessly—Lian pulled out a small handheld camera and proceeds to show the recording of him getting brutally violated and getting choked to death, his face is under Lian's shoes.
Kair's hand tightened around the can.
Crack.
He wanted to smash the camera. Tear it apart. Erase it.
But he didn't move.
Someone like Lian wouldn't keep a single copy and will use it as leverage to blackmail him. Destroying the camera wouldn't erase anything. It would only confirm how badly he'd already lost.
Yet Lian didn't threaten him.
Instead, he turned the device off and slid it away.
Then he began explaining the plan.
Kair listened in silence.
Lian understood something fundamental: fear alone made people resist, scheme, and betray. Mercy alone made them complacent.
To make someone cooperate willingly—to make them believe it was their own choice—you needed both.
To force obedience, you use fear.
To secure loyalty, you offer reward.
But to make someone believe the choice was theirs— You place them between both, then step back.
No orders. No threats. Just inevitability.
Kair knew what would happen if he refused.
He also knew what he would gain if he stood with them.
That was the moment he truly lost.
Not when he was beaten.
Not when he was humiliated.
But when cooperation became the smartest option.
Lian watched his silence and smiled faintly.
With Lian's squad, victory was easy. Points were guaranteed. Ranking would rise. Power would follow.
If he refused now, he wouldn't just lose points—he'd lose his reputation and everything he build.
Fear pushed him forward.
Greed pulled him in.
Between those two emotions, resistance collapsed naturally.
That night, while the academy lights went out one by one, Lian lay on his bed staring at the ceiling.
The stars outside the window looked distant—indifferent.
He knew he had crossed a line today. A risk bit large for someone weak as him.
And each day, he would be forced to take bigger and bigger risks—
But the world didn't care about caution.
It crushed the careful and rewarded the desperate.
From now on, he would be walking on a wire stretched over an abyss.
And the abyss wouldn't even remember his name if he fell.