#028. When Flames Meet Flames (2)
Sticky sweat dripped down his entire body.
Hot breaths escaped from his lips.
Thwack! Thud! Thud thud!
He exchanged relentless blows with Cedric.
Punches and kicks sliced through the air, landing sharply on each other's guards.
Whoaaa!
That bastard isn't even hurt!
Sweat. Heat. Cheers.
And again, sweat. Heat. Cheers.
What's with the fire in those drums? Is it real?
Fuck! This is insane! This isn't a joke! If you back off, you might catch fire!
Damn! Cedric really came prepared!
Drums surrounded the arena.
Crimson flames roared above them.
The arena looked nothing like usual—it was an environment brimming with danger.
But the kids in the audience didn't care about any of that.
Kill him! Beat him to death!
Cedric! You have no idea how much money I bet on you!
Aren't they both insane? They're fighting like beasts!
It might have been different under normal circumstances.
Some might have left, fearing the danger.
But not now.
The scorching heat radiating from the flames.
The enormous sum of money at stake in the duel.
And the two boys fighting at a level beyond comprehension right before their eyes.
All these factors combined were enough to numb the rationality of the not-yet-fully-grown boys.
The air at the scene grew hotter and hotter.
The cheers and shouts grew louder and louder, eventually merging into a single chant:
Kill him! Kill him!
Kill him! Kill him!
Kill him! Kill him!
Every voice cried out for one thing:
the death of an outsider from beyond the sector.
It was a moment that could only be described as madness.
"……."
But the protagonist remained unfazed.
He kept his eyes on his opponent, who had momentarily stepped back, focusing solely on the fight.
"Dieeeee──!"
Cedric let out a scream as if in a fit and lunged forward.
In the blink of an eye, he closed the distance, using one foot as a pivot to spin his body like a top.
Whoosh──!
'A spinning back kick.'
His foot flew toward his opponent's face.
The momentum was fierce and menacing.
His posture wasn't perfect,
but the explosive strength and agility granted by the red mana from his ring made up for it.
Should he block and counter?
If he used red mana to harden his skin, he could significantly reduce the impact of the blow.
But that would consume a large amount of mana proportional to the absorbed shock.
In an instant, he made his decision and ducked deeply.
Whoosh──!
His opponent's foot narrowly missed his head, sending gray hair flying through the air.
His lowered line of sight revealed Cedric's other foot standing like a pillar ahead of him.
Vroom──!
The red mana flowing through his body concentrated momentarily in his ankles and soles of his feet.
Bang!
He kicked off the ground,
sliding forward to wrap his arms around Cedric's thigh.
The red mana gathered in his soles surged through his blood vessels, racing throughout his body—
arms, legs, thighs, shoulders—
his muscles expanding explosively in an instant.
He didn't stop charging,
pushing forward relentlessly.
'Take him down.'
Cedric's monstrous strength was beyond imagination.
To match it head-on would likely require exhausting all of his red mana.
That wasn't an option.
He needed to conserve strength for what came after the duel.
Fortunately, there was a way to subdue him with relatively little effort.
「If possible, it's best to fight using weapons. But that's not always an option. There will always be situations where you have to fight bare-handed.」
Niles had taught him various fighting techniques,
including all kinds of joint locks.
「In bare-handed combat, size usually matters. But against joint locks, it's meaningless. They are powerful weapons that can overcome physical differences.」
He was familiar with joint locks.
He had perfected them through countless trials on training dummies in Sector 50.
All he needed was one successful attempt.
That would be enough to chain down Cedric's limbs as if they were shackled.
Restricting his movements would make it much easier to take the ring.
The pressure applied caused Cedric's body to gradually tilt backward.
'Good. Just like this─.'
Then he felt weight on his shoulders.
Pressure was applied to both his left and right shoulders.
He instantly realized:
Cedric had regained his balance and was trying to climb onto his back.
Dangerous.
He quickly changed tactics.
Dropping the arm wrapped around Cedric's thigh,
he grabbed Cedric's ankles with both hands.
Snap!
With Cedric still on his back,
he straightened up,
rotating halfway around before hurling Cedric with all his strength.
Whoosh──!
Cedric flew through the air,
colliding with a drum.
Crash!
The impact was so strong that the drum toppled over,
spilling burning debris onto the ground.
—Did you see that? Did you see it?
—Did he break any bones?
—How can someone so small be that strong? Is that even possible?
The cheers grew louder,
echoing through the abandoned factory.
Cedric lay motionless,
apparently quite injured.
Just then,
—Is Cedric going to lose?
Cedric twitched.
Pushing himself up with trembling hands,
he glared at Ray with eyes full of hatred.
With a roar fueled by malice,
he charged again.
"You bastard!!!!"
Ray dodged Cedric's punches while calmly assessing his condition.
'His pupils are losing focus.'
In contrast,
his movements were becoming increasingly wild and ferocious.
It must have been due to the growing stream of red mana as the fight dragged on.
Skreeeech──!
He seemed to have lost all reason,
as if controlled by the ring.
The endlessly pulsating stream of red mana resembled a massive blood vessel.
He needed to end this quickly.
The longer it dragged on,
the more disadvantageous it would likely become for him.
"Dieeee──!!"
Whoosh─!
Cedric's fist,
originally aimed at Ray's face,
changed direction mid-air and flew toward Ray's abdomen.
Ray made a decision and concentrated red mana in his abdomen.
Thud──!
With a dull thud,
Cedric's fist sank into Ray's abdomen.
The destructive force was so great that even magic couldn't fully absorb it.
Ray's brow furrowed slightly.
But it was fine.
This would give him a clear opportunity.
Cedric's lips curled into a grin.
A momentary emotional disturbance delayed retracting his fist.
A slight delay.
A slight hesitation.
That was enough.
Ray seized the opening.
Snap!
Ray grabbed Cedric's arm and pulled it down.
Bending forward,
he put all his weight into it.
"What…!"
Cedric tried to break free with brute force as before but reacted too late.
Like being sucked into quicksand,
the upper bodies of both boys lurched forward.
Thud!
Ray and Cedric fell to the ground simultaneously.
"You… you bastard!"
What happened next took only an instant.
Swish!
Ray wrapped both legs around Cedric's neck like a snake.
In just seconds,
the sequence of movements connected perfectly,
and Cedric found both arms and head tangled between Ray's legs.
His head slammed into the ground.
Cedric's face turned bright red.
"What kind of trickery is thisssss——!!!"
A venomous rage filled the air.
Raging alongside anger was surging red mana.
Cedric struggled wildly, more savage than ever before.
"Let go! Let gooo——!! Let me gooo——!! You bastardtttt——!!"
It was no use.
Not at all.
His position made it impossible to exert proper strength.
Struggling only tightened his opponent's legs, causing excruciating pain in his joints.
"Fuuuuck——!"
Due to the constant pressure from Ray's leg pressing down on his neck,
Cedric couldn't even lift his head properly.
"Give up and admit defeat. You won't escape this alone."
"I'll kill you! I swear I'll kill you!"
"Keep moving and your bones will break."
"I'll tear you apart limb by limb!"
It seemed nothing reached his ears anymore.
Reaching out to take the ring proved difficult due to his struggling.
Ray maintained the joint lock, waiting until Cedric's strength drained away.
That moment.
"Uwaaaaaa——!!!"
Red mana expanded once again.
At the same time,
Cedric's strength increased.
In response to the intensified struggle,
Ray also maximized his muscle power throughout his body.
Crunch! Crunch!
Sounds of bones cracking began to echo throughout various parts of Cedric's body.
Forcing his way out of the joint lock came at a cost.
Crunch! Crunch crunch!
'The pain must be unimaginable.'
Though breathing heavily,
Cedric didn't let a single groan escape his lips.
Crunch crunch crunch crunch...
Everyone held their breath.
Several dozen seconds passed.
"Uwaaaaaa——!!!"
With a final scream,
Cedric's struggles abruptly ceased.
His body slumped lifelessly like a puppet with its strings cut,
completely collapsing to the floor as he gasped for exhausted breaths.
Between the ring and his heart,
a faint, fading line of red mana was visible.
"……."
Without a word,
Ray removed the ring from Cedric's finger.
As soon as he did,
the mana's connection was completely severed,
and the remnants of the red mana were hurriedly absorbed back into Cedric's vessel.
Swish...
Ray released his legs and stood up quietly.
The surroundings fell silent.
Instead of cheers,
murmurs of confusion and embarrassment filled the air.
—Did Cedric really lose?
—He can't get up. It's over.
—Then the hunter becomes the new leader of their gang.
A different kind of excitement and heat began to permeate the atmosphere.
Ray's gaze shifted briefly.
The referee holding a stick looked around, unsure what to do...
Well, it didn't matter whether the bell rang immediately.
The outcome was already decided,
and Cedric was in no state to move with his shattered bones.
'He'll need at least a few weeks of rest before moving again.'
Still, it wouldn't hinder managing the gang.
He could still give basic instructions to the members.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Ray pushed through the scorching air and moved forward.
"Why, why me...!"
Passing the fallen drums,
he snatched the bag containing the bets from the frightened bookkeeper.
"I'll hold onto this until the duel is officially over. There might be some who try to pull tricks."
Just then, a shout came from behind.
"Don't look at me! Don't look at me! I didn't lose the fight! I'm not weak!"
Turning around,
he saw Cedric standing on trembling legs,
his eyes burning with hatred.
'...He got up in that state?'
The red mana in Cedric's vessel glowed brightly,
a final act of desperation before fading away completely.
Boos and jeers poured forth.
—You lost!
—Because of you, I lost money!
—Boooo!
"It's not over yet! I'm not weak!"
Cans and stones began to be thrown at Cedric's ugly figure.
"Fuuuuck——! Don't look at me like thaaaat——!"
The sudden turn of events occurred in that moment.
Kicking over a drum,
Cedric began picking up burning debris with his bare hands and hurling it toward the children in the audience.
"Dieeeeee——!!"
The debris flew through the air and landed in the seating area.
—Fi—Fire!
—Ah! Fuck!
The seating area consisted of dozens of dry wooden boxes.
Fwoosh!
Flames spread rapidly, engulfing the entire seating area.
—Ru—Run!
—Move! Fuck! Get down now!
Crash!
Amid the chaos, the boxes collapsed.
The flames devouring the seating area began spreading uncontrollably to the surroundings.
Fwoosh!
To nearby furniture cleared to prepare the arena.
Fwooosh!
To oil barrels collected to start fires.
Fwoooosh!
To long wooden planks leaned against the factory walls for repairs.
—Run! We can't contain this!
—Get out now if you don't want to burn alive!
Those who initially tried to extinguish the flames soon realized it was futile and began rushing toward the exit.
Amidst choking smoke and flames.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Frantic footsteps and terrified screams echoed endlessly.
Ray's gaze shifted from the fleeing children back to the arena.
"Hahahahaha──!!"
Laughing maniacally as if amused by something,
Cedric threw burning debris everywhere.
Eventually, he collapsed exhausted as the red mana disappeared completely.
To save or not to save.
He had to make a quick decision.
'...Better to leave alone.'
Though he still had usable red mana left,
carrying Cedric would restrict his movements.
He might end up risking his own life instead of saving the other.
'This is the right choice.'
Though regrettable,
managing the group could be entrusted to another child.
Holding the bag tightly,
Ray turned toward the factory exit.
Just then.
Tap— Tap—
On the opposite side of the arena,
someone appeared.
Passing through the fallen drums.
Limping steps.
Gritting his teeth,
sweating profusely.
Moving steadily toward Cedric at the center.
It was Philip.
