Chapter 342: Brainwashed [5]
Enhancement.
The supernatural ability known as Omnipotence—an existence that transcended ranks—answered her call and settled deep within her body.
My creaking muscles surged with borrowed vitality. Pain dulled, exhaustion evaporated, and my limits shattered as if they had never existed.
"Rin...!"
"Be careful...!"
Ryan and Leo moved at the same time, their voices cutting through the chaos as they rushed in front of me.
Lena’s fist came down first.
Black energy coiled around her arm like smoke given form, roaring as it tore through the air. Ryan barely raised his shield in time. The impact rang out like metal struck by a hammer. The ground beneath his boots cracked, and he was forced back several steps, teeth clenched.
"Damn it—!" Ryan hissed.
Lena didn’t even pause.
Her body twisted midair, and her heel lashed out toward Leo. There was no stance, no proper form. No technique.
Just raw, overwhelming force.
Leo crossed his blade to block, but the black energy exploded on contact. He slid backward, boots carving lines into the dirt.
"Rin!" Leo shouted. "This isn’t normal!"
I know.
Don’t be ridiculous.
This wasn’t Lena’s way of fighting.
She was precise. Efficient. She lectured us about footwork and balance. She criticized wasted movement.
This—
This was madness wrapped in power.
My head felt too hot, like something was boiling behind my eyes. My thoughts wouldn’t line up properly. I couldn’t calm down.
And that scared me more than the black energy.
—The Saint’s Oath is reacting...!
—Calm down...! You’re going too far...!
The relics’ voices overlapped in my mind, faint but urgent.
"Not now," I muttered under my breath.
I didn’t want to listen.
Not when Lena looked like that.
"Rin!" Ryan called out, struggling to hold his ground. "We can’t keep blocking this forever!"
Leo darted in again, trying to flank her. "She’s not even using her usual forms! It’s like she forgot everything!"
No.
Not forgot.
Something was replacing it.
"Lan."
The blunt knife without a blade materialized in my hand, its familiar weight settling into my palm. Cold. Steady.
Unlike my pulse.
Ryan and Leo tried to reposition toward me, but before they could, two figures dropped between us.
Masked.
Silent.
"Who are you?!" Ryan demanded, charging without hesitation.
His sword clashed against one of theirs. Sparks flew. Though Ryan forced them back, the masked man didn’t falter.
Leo stepped in to assist, but the second stranger intercepted him smoothly.
"Who are you?!" Leo snapped. "How did you even find this place?! Why are you interfering?!"
The masked man tilted his head slightly, as if amused.
Aha.
So they’d finally made their move.
I had expected them to wait longer.
But if they’d already secured the relic...
Then my prediction was right.
And that meant—
I shifted my gaze toward the other masked figure standing before Leo.
I had a rough idea who was under that mask.
"Simple," one of them said lightly. "Nice and clean. One for each of us."
Ryan’s expression darkened. "You think this is a game?"
The masked man shrugged. "Isn’t it?"
Leo glanced toward me, frustration evident. "Rin, get back. We’ll handle them."
Of course they would say that.
Of course they’d try to protect me.
Normally, even I wouldn’t believe I could beat Lena like this.
But I wasn’t fighting Lena.
Not really.
The person in front of me—
The one wrapped in that suffocating black energy—
Was something broken.
And I refused to accept that as her.
Lena turned toward me slowly, black smoke curling around her shoulders. Her eyes—
They weren’t right.
"Rin..." she murmured, her voice distorted, like two tones layered over each other. "Why are you... standing there?"
My chest tightened.
Ryan shouted from behind me, "Don’t approach her alone!"
Leo added, "Rin, wait! Something’s wrong—!"
"I know," I said quietly.
I took a step forward.
The black energy flared violently in response, crackling along the ground between us.
"I’ll save you soon, Professor."
Lena’s lips twitched. "Save... me?"
The ground shattered beneath her feet as she lunged.
I moved at the same time.
Lan met her fist—not to block, but to cut through the black energy itself.
The impact sent shockwaves outward. My arms trembled, but I didn’t step back.
"You’re not my enemy," I said through clenched teeth.
The relics screamed in my mind again.
—Your oath—!
—If you lose control—!
"I said not now!"
A pulse of light burst from Lan, slicing through the writhing darkness around her arm. For a split second, I saw it—
Lena’s real expression.
Pained.
Confused.
"Rin...?" she whispered faintly.
Then the black energy surged again, swallowing her.
Behind me, steel rang against steel as Ryan and Leo fought to break past the masked intruders.
"Rin!" Ryan shouted. "End this fast!"
Leo gritted his teeth. "We’ll clear the way—just focus on her!"
One for each of us, huh?
Fine.
I tightened my grip on Lan.
----
Lena didn’t want to fight.
If she could have moved even a single finger on her own, she would have dropped to her knees and begged them to run.
But her will no longer mattered.
Her body no longer belonged to her.
Something else was wearing her like a shell.
Inside the suffocating darkness of her own mind, she could still see. Still feel. Still think.
And in front of her—
A small, beast-like black figure flickered unsteadily.
It was barely more than a shadow with shape. Fragile. Unstable. Like a flame about to be snuffed out by a breeze.
It was angry.
No—enraged.
It trembled as it charged toward her.
Foolish child.
You can’t win.
Even trapped within herself, Lena understood the difference in power. If she pressed down just a little harder—if she let the black energy surge—
He wouldn’t survive.
Not against this body.
Not against this strength.
—Annoying, isn’t it?
The voice slithered through her consciousness, amused and cold.
It was the thing inside her.
The thing that had wrapped itself around her bones and poured poison into her veins.
Its presence was thick, heavy—like tar filling her lungs.
Lena wanted to scream.
She didn’t want to hurt him.
He was small.
Weak.
He shouldn’t even be here.
Her body stepped forward.
No.
Not her body.
Its body.
Her arm lifted, black energy coiling around her fist. The power gathered with terrifying ease, compressing the air around it.
—It’ll be easier if you break it.
The voice sounded almost bored.
Break it.
Like it was nothing more than an object.
Like the trembling, flickering being in front of her wasn’t alive.
Her consciousness thrashed against the invisible restraints binding her.
No.
Stop.
Her arm moved.
The fist descended.
Desperately, Lena tried to twist her own limb. Tried to disrupt the motion.
Her shoulder jerked unnaturally. The clean, perfect straight punch she had practiced for years warped mid-strike. The angle faltered. Her balance shifted.
It was no longer a proper punch.
But it didn’t matter.
Even broken, even distorted—
It still carried enough power to crush him.
’Please run.’
She screamed it inside her head.
Dodge.
Get away from me.
Her throat strained. She tried to force her mouth open.
Nothing.
Her lips didn’t move.
Her voice didn’t come.
The small, black child in front of her didn’t dodge.
He just stood there.
Flickering.
Staring at her.
And for a split second—
Lena wondered if he was looking past the monster wearing her body...
And seeing her instead.
