Chapter 165: Payback
Ruvian did not come here under the illusion of safety. From the very beginning, he had understood the magnitude of the risk. His approach of coming to Ashway Bazaar was not a reckless venture born of arrogance.
No, he already prepared as much as he could — improving his strength, thinking about their limits, and judging how much danger their team could handle. Every variable he could perceive had been accounted for. Every foreseeable threat had been weighed and assigned its place within his expectations.
By reason alone, his planning should have sufficed.
But a plan, no matter how carefully crafted, is still born from what is known... and it is the unknown that so often decides the outcome. Small mistakes, hidden dangers, unknown factors — these things can slowly break even a good plan.
True judgment is not believing a plan will succeed, but recognizing the possibility that it may not.
Ruvian understood this very well.
Painfully well...
Because more than anything, he could not risk the lives of the people he brought with him.
Never ever again.
So before anything even started, he had already prepared one final option.
A last resort.
Ruvian drew in a slow breath, steadying the turbulence within him as he guided his mana into the relic. The moment his mana touched it, [The Mirror of Red Night] responded. Within that brief instant, he fixed his will upon a single target.
This was the true ability of the necklace.
Once it chose a target, that enemy would become weaker than the user. Their attack and defense would drop below his level, giving him a chance to fight even someone stronger than him.
Although it’s not enough to make victory effortless, it is still enough to tilt the scales where they once seemed impossible.
It was, in every sense of the word, a formidable relic.
But such power was never without its cost.
The effect would only last for seven minutes. After that, his body would become completely paralysed. He would not be able to move, unable to fight, unable to defend himself.
There would be no turning back after using it.
Because of that, he could not choose carelessly.
The relic could only mark one target.
So he had to think carefully — not just who he could fight, but which enemy he should take, so Irene and Silvena would have a better chance against the other.
For a brief moment, he looked at them, observing the fight with an absolute focus. Irene and Silvena were still fighting the two demons.
Then, that was enough.
Ruvian already made his choice.
Without hesitation, he put on the necklace.
*****
[Irene’s POV]
Irene’s vision never settled.
Her eyes moved again and again — left, right, then back again — tracking both demons at once, refusing to lose sight of even their smallest movement.
Claws came at her from two directions.
And she met both of them with her twin daggers.
The steel of her daggers rang against their hardened claws as she reinforced her body with [Body Enhancement] beyond what she would normally allow.
All because of the invisible force pressing down on her; the demon’s gravity magic.
It weighed on her like an unseen mountain, dragging at her every motion, slowing her reactions. Each step felt like sinking into the ground.
Still... she held.
But not always.
Because there were brief, dangerous moments when the pressure became too much — even for her.
In those instances, she had no choice but to use [Shadow Fold] to momentarily escape from that gravity spell. But she could not rely on it all the time. As every time she used it, the demons would shift their attention to Silvena.
And that... she could not allow.
No matter how heavy the pressure became, no matter how much her body protested, Irene forced herself to remain at the front.
To keep their focus locked on her.
Irene exchanged another attack.
’There is something wrong with them.’
Ever since the moment the demon consumed that strange fruit, their behavior had changed. They no longer fought with awareness. They only attacked whoever stood closest.
Her eyes sharpened as she deflected another strike, the thought forming clearly in her mind.
’Perhaps, that’s why that one demon went for Ruvian first...’
Because at that moment... he had been the closest.
’I hope he’s alright...’
The thought trembled through her mind — fragile, defiant, almost laughable against the suffocating weight of reality. Hope? In a moment like this? For surviving against that monstrous kick?
What a foolish thought.
Still, she tried to cling to it, to force herself into optimism, but even as she tried to grasp it, the truth loomed mercilessly over her. There was no conceivable outcome, where Ruvian could emerge unbroken after enduring a strike from someone two ranks above him.
She knew that.
Anyone in her position would know that.
And yet...
For the most fleeting sliver of time, she had seen it.
Ruvian had raised his guard just in time, blocking the monstrous kick enough to keep it from crushing the vulnerable stretch of his left side, where a clean hit could have shattered him outright.
Maybe... just maybe, he wasn’t dead.
Perhaps he had only fallen into unconsciousness, his body crushed beneath the aftermath but not entirely destroyed. And if he had a strong mind to endure the pain, he was probably conscious among the dust and rubble...
But that fragile possibility brought no comfort.
Because it changed nothing.
They were still reduced to two.
Irene’s world narrowed into survival.
Since the battle began, Irene had committed herself entirely to defense, choosing not to press forward but instead to hold her ground and buy time.
Her plan was simple yet demanding in execution.
She would endure until the demons’ transformation wore off, holding onto the belief that such sudden and overwhelming power could not possibly be sustained for long.
But how long did she have to endure?
And more importantly, could she even last until their transformation wore off?
The answer slipped further from her grasp with every passing second.
The crushing pressure bore down on her without mercy, dragging at her movements. And then, in that single, fatal lapse, her tempo faltered just enough.
’Tch.’
From above, a claw descended. It came ruthlessly, aimed to split her apart before she could even recover her guard.
Silvena, who saw that, her face became pale.
But before the claw could reach Irene, something else cut through the battlefield.
A shadow surged forward at terrifying speed, slipping past her like a streak of darkness. (+200PP)
Boom!
In the very next instant, the demon before her was no longer there. Its body was hurled violently to the side, sent crashing into the wall with a force that shook the air itself.
Irene’s eyes widened, her breath catching as she turned.
She knew that presence.
There was no mistaking it.
’...Ruvian?’
The dark-haired man was already there, his body caught mid-motion as his leg remained extended in the aftermath of the kick — suspended in the air for a while before gravity could reclaim it.
Blood ran down from his head, tracing along his temple and jaw.
He looked unsteady, wounded, but most of all...
...Evidently alive.
Then, with a very lively voice, he said:
"And that’s... a payback for breaking my arm."
──────── ✦ ────────
[Chapter 165: Payback]
Plot Points= 11,000
