His gaze moved around him, searching for that madman.His posture was ready to receive the offensive that was hiding around him.His senses were sharpened, analyzing the sounds of the leaves, of the wind moving through the trees.His eyes, filled with silver light, examined everything.
Until the shadow he cast behind him moved, disturbed.
A dagger rose from below toward his back.
Sensing the danger, he dodged the stealth attack.
But when he turned, there was nothing.
"Where did he come from…"
Growing more and more tense.
An enemy that seemed to disappear into nothing, only to reappear all of a sudden.
Then a wave of mana struck his side.
"From my right…"
The impact destabilized his balance, but he quickly returned to position.
"Only trees… no trace…"
Realizing he couldn't just react to the situation, he began launching random mana attacks.
Without a real plan.
Meanwhile, another dagger strike hit his left thigh.
"Argh—" he gritted his teeth.
A blue essence flowed over the new wound, slowing the bleeding.
"I'm a fixed target… I need to move…"
He started running, giving no reference points to the mad attacker.
"I need to understand his affinity if I want to beat him…"
At the same time, he leapt from one tree to another.
From time to time, spheres of mana or slashing attacks were thrown at him.
The shadows seemed to hide his opponent.
"Think… the color of his mana… it's a clue to his affinity…"
While dodging the continuous and varied attacks, he heard the sound of water flowing.
"A river…"
He moved toward it.
The bank he was on was darkened by dense vegetation, creating a shadowed environment.Sunlight was overpowered by the branches and leaves of the forest.
The opposite bank, instead, had thinner vegetation, allowing much more light.
Crossing to the other side with a leap, he positioned himself facing the bank he had just left.
"If he wants to reach me, he'll have to show himself" he thought.
After a few seconds, a red figure appeared as if from nowhere, a dagger in his left hand, stained with his blood, dripping to the ground.
"It's useless… ah ah ah."
Black eyes that reflected no light.
Yet he remained still, as if unwilling to move into the light.
"Why did he stop? It doesn't make sense… I'm completely exposed."
Seran thought, confused by the situation.
From his fingers, silver projectiles with crimson glimmers were released.
Their speed surprised the madman, hitting him in the leg.
"AhAHAagaggargrg—!" he shouted between laughter, before disappearing again into the darkness of the forest.
A voice was heard.
"I see you like to play."
Then silence.
"If I want to return to the city, I have to cross the river again, so I can't avoid this fight" the boy thought.
He remained still for a full minute.
"Think, think… why doesn't he cross the river? The only difference is the light…"
His eyes widened.
"Light… less darkness—no, absence of shadow."
And he understood his opponent's affinity.
"Shadow… he's able to use them to his advantage."
Now knowing the probable abilities of his enemy, and aware that he would never move into an unfavorable area, Seran understood that he had to "descend" into the darkness beyond the river.
But a realization formed in his mind.
"He won't stop… if I try to run, he'll keep attacking. The only way to stop him…"
His thoughts hesitated, uncertain about what he was about to admit to himself.
"I'll have to kill him."
This would be the first time he would take another man's life.
"He must have already killed others…"Trying to justify what he was about to do.
"This moment… it was bound to come sooner or later."
Almost resigning himself to the choice he was about to make.
Taking one last breath, ready for what awaited him, he jumped toward the dark bank of the river.
"Chrono Cognition."
He activated it the moment his boots touched the ground.
His attention now focused on all the shadows around him.
In a defensive posture, anchored to the ground, he silently began releasing mana into the environment.
"Useless. My technique is so refined you can't detect me with your mana" a voice appeared.
Seran did not respond.
The mana around him covered only a radius of five meters.
"Focused… one strike will be enough…"
A branch fell.
He turned toward it—but nothing.
Just a weak branch fallen from a tree.
But that distraction cost him.
A strike hit his left arm.
A new wound opened, and again, no trace of the enemy.
"Damn it… I got distracted like an idiot. Luckily he's enjoying hunting me, or he could have already killed me."
He waited.
His nerves tense, ready to react at any moment.
Then, to his left, a shadow moved unnaturally.
Like waves rippling across the sea.
First a blade, then an arm, and then a whole body lunged toward him.
A sadistic smile hidden beneath his bandana.
Eyes filled with excitement for the death he was about to cause.
And the closer he got to his target, the more that pleasure grew.
"You're mine!!!" he thought, delirious.
But when less than a meter remained between him and Seran—
His vision caught a silver-blue light.
His perception fell into confusion.
His body slowed, as if immersed in a dense liquid.
While a blade reflecting those silver glimmers, filled with light,
moved closer and closer to his chest.
The tip entered his side.
Slowly.
The pain he felt seemed to stretch endlessly in time.
"Wha…t… is… hap…pen…ing…"
His voice came out in broken, fragmented bursts.
What felt like ten minutes of pure agony—
In reality, for Seran, was only a single instant between thought and action.
Free to move in that time he now controlled.
"Time on Edge."
The time it took to activate—
and the fight was already over.
Dying, blood flowing from his chest and his mouth,
choking on it, he began to laugh.
"I recognize that look… I'm your first, aren't I…" the killer said with difficulty.
Recognizing the boy's inexperience with taking a human life.
"I'll live forever in your memories… ahahahah… I'll be immortal in your mind…"
And soon after, he went still.
A horrible smile on his face.
Red teeth.
Eyes wide open.