After a moment, Ron stepped onto the edge of the cliff. Breathing heavily, he looked down below, trying to find Rohan's whereabouts.
On his back, dozens of cuts could be clearly seen. Even with his Azure level body, the accumulated punishment had taken great toll on him. As even his armor of shadow had slowly faded.
Ron never imagined a seventeen year old mage could push him this far.
What troubled him more was that the boy had been utterly talentless only days ago. How could he have gained such strength so quickly? A magical item, perhaps? But even the most powerful artifacts required a strong soul. Rohan would need an Azure soul essence to wield such armor and unleash that kind of lightning strike. Yet Ron was certain the boy possessed only a Blue soul essence.
By the Law of Witchcraft and Wizardry, none of this should have been possible.
After minutes passed and yet he still unable to find Rohan's body, Ron decided to go. He planned to report to the Elder of the shadow cult about Rohan.
But moments after he turned, the cliff beneath him was completely destroyed by five consecutive lightning strikes.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
As Ron's body plunged downward along with the massive debris of the cliff, he momentarily lost his balance.
At that moment, he was expecting an attack. But surprisingly, he didn't receive any, even after he landed on the shore below.
In order to avoid the falling debris, Ron moved closer to the sea. And at that moment, just as he had expected, Rohan emerged from the water.
Ron once again prepared himself for an incoming attack. But then he saw Rohan suddenly go low, crouching before grabbing onto something—Ron's leg!
Using all his might, Rohan lifted Ron off the shore and threw him into the vast sea.
At that moment, Ron was confused. What was the point of throwing him into the sea? He had more than enough spells to allow him to walk on the surface of the water.
Instead of plunging beneath the water, Ron's body bounced off of the surface of the sea as he had cast a spell that allows him to stay above water.
But at that moment, another five gash wounds appeared on his back as he gasped due to the accumulated pain.
Dragon Law!
Anyone who cast a spell shall be punished!
By the time Ron raised his gaze, Rohan was nowhere to be seen. A moment later, still feeling confused about what Rohan had tried to do, two arms suddenly grabbed both of his legs, pulling him underwater.
Due to the spell he had cast, Ron was able to resist being pulled down. However, the resistance only lasted for a second as the pulling power was ridiculously strong.
With a splash, Rohan pulled Ron beneath the dark seawater.
Of course, Ron did not remain idle. Dozens of long pitch black spikes protruded from all over Ron's body.
Some of them were able to cut Rohan, but most of them completely missed their target as Rohan moved swiftly underwater despite the heavy pressure and his heavy armor.
After he successfully survived Ron's spell, Rohan continued to pull him deeper beneath the sea.
And eventually, moments later, the sea went silent.
A few minutes later, still wearing his armor, Rohan dragged Ron's unconscious body to the surface.
Of course, he knew Ron was not dead. His teacher was merely exhausted due to the accumulated damage and the amount of spells he had cast. When Ron woke up, the Armor of Asgard would no longer be available to use. In that scenario, Rohan would have no means to fight him for another round.
Therefore, he had two options. Kill Ron, or make him unable to fight any longer.
Each option came with its own disadvantages. Killing Ron would mean Rohan would gain no information at all, which would defeat the purpose of returning to the building.
As for the second option, he was not sure how to do it. But after a short moment of consideration, Rohan decided to go with the second option.
Using his fingers, he crushed both of Ron's eyes. Not stopping there, though with hesitation, he also crushed all of Ron's limbs.
Not long after the Armor of Asgard faded, Ron finally regained consciousness.
The moment awareness returned, so did the pain.
A broken scream tore from his throat as agony surged through his limbs, up into his head, into the hollow darkness where his eyes had been.
"MY EYES! WHAT DID YOU DO, ROHAN?!"
Rohan gave no answer. Still gripping Ron by the neck with one hand, he forced him under the water. Held him there. Counted the seconds in silence. Then pulled him back up just long enough for air.
Ron gasped, choked, and screamed again.
Rohan pushed him down once more.
Up. A breath. A scream. Down again.
He repeated it without a word, without haste, without hesitation.
Again and again.
Until, eventually, Ron stopped making a sound.
When his head broke the surface this time, there was no more scream.
And at that moment, Rohan finally spoke. "Tell me everything, and I might spare your life."
Without any hesitation, Ron began to tell everything.
About how he was secretly a member of the shadow cult.
About how Rivia Academy had been controlled by the shadow cult for years.
About how the academy sacrificed several students every year to please the Shadow God.
About how he was sent there by the elder of the Shadow Cult to investigate.
Not stopping at that, Rohan also asked if there were any more buildings similar to the one where Rohan had been imprisoned before, the place where they sacrificed the students.
With some hesitation, Ron spoke about five more different buildings and their locations.
When questioned about influential shadow cult members within the City of Light, Ron admitted he only knew one. His name was Gherman, a military officer of the kingdom.
Rohan then asked about his appearance, and after hearing the details, he finally realized that this Gherman was the same man who had tried to interrogate him the other day.
After Ron told everything he knew, Rohan simply drowned him, dragging him down to the bottom of the sea.
When he was certain Ron was dead, he swam back to the surface. And moments when he was floating above the water, Rohan began to reflect.
'Am I always this cruel? Since when did I become so… cold?'
'Is it because of survival? Doing whatever it takes to live?'
'Or perhaps…'
He didn't finish the thought. Instead, he began swimming toward the shore.
But suddenly, his vision blurred.
'Ah… right. There's a hole in my shoulder… and my thigh…'
After that realization, his consciousness slowly faded.