The moment they suddenly disappeared out of her peripheral vision, Illya knew something was up.
The mana that lingered in the air never escaped her line of perception.
'A [Zone.]'
A [Zone] had been activated.
Immediately, Illya sent a message to Brandon, her employer.
[Something happened. They disappeared all of sudden. I'll get to the bottom of this.]
Illya walked ahead thereafter, umbrella in hand.
Indeed, there was something wrong.
The moment she traversed the road, she felt like she phased through a thick amount of mana.
Looking around, civilians seemed oblivious. After all, not everyone could perceive mana as well as her.
For that, they needed to cross the threshold of a tier five mana core. But there were exceptions of individuals who were born with hypersensitivity to mana.
Just like Belle.
Illya got work, her eyes lit up a clear—blue color.
Her eyes scanned the area, tracing the faint ripples of mana that pulsed invisibly in the air. She could feel the edges of the [Zone].
All zones worked the same.
They were designed to keep ordinary eyes blind and prevent interference. But Illya had dealt with enough of these to know how they worked.
"Hoo...."
Taking a deep breath, she twirled her umbrella once, the motion sending a faint shimmer of mana into the air around her.
The ripples responded, warping slightly at her touch.
'An entry point.... it has to have one.'
She moved cautiously, feeling for any weak spots in the zone's structure.
Zones, after all, were like any mana related skill—powerful but not perfect.
They required an anchor point, a small fracture in the mana where it was the thinnest.
There.
Illya's eyes narrowed as she found it—a small flicker near the edge of a lamppost, almost imperceptible.
Without hesitation, she focused her own mana, directing it into a needle-thin thread that slipped into the weak point.
The air shimmered, and for a moment, everything blurred.
Swoosh~
And along with it, Illya's figure phased like water.
No, she was turning into water itself, her body propelling along with the droplets.
She saw them, facing off against a boy.
Their attention suddenly turned towards the sudden downpour that came along with her, and Illya crashed down along with the water.
Boom—!
The ground quaked beneath them as rain hammered down.
The rain seemed to part for her, bending to her will.
Illya walked forward, heels clicking.
He copied the move, but his whirlpool faltered, unable to match Illya's relentless barrage of attacks.
Illya's attack struck him, sending him crashing once more.
"Greed is in you too," the boy gasped, forcing himself to stand. "It's in everyone. You may control water, but you can't control your desire. It'll consume you—like it does everyone."
Illya didn't respond, her expression cold as she shot another wave of sharp water blades toward him.
The boy tried to summon a defense.
But Illya was faster. The blades cut through his mana, slicing across his arm.
He grunted in pain, blood seeping from the wound.
"Do you feel it?" he asked, a strained laugh escaping his lips. "That pull? The hunger for more? That's greed."
Illya phased through another one of his desperate attacks, reappearing in front of him.
"Yap, yap, yap."
She mocked, her voice ice-cold.
She raised her hand, summoning a massive wall of water. It crashed down on the boy, pinning him to the ground.
He gasped, struggling beneath the weight of her attack.
"Greed.... always wins."
Illya stepped forward, water swirling around her.
"Where do you even get these dialogues?"
She clenched her fist, and the water around the boy solidified, locking him in place.
In one swift motion, she released a torrent of water that engulfed him, the force of the attack cut through his body like paper.
Crack—!
The air suddenly cracked and shattered, and a sudden downpour drenched everyone.
Illya stepped forward, water still swirling around her as the boy lay motionless, his body seemingly cut apart by the force of her final attack.
Amelia, panting heavily, pushed herself up from the ground, eyes wide as she stared at Illya in disbelief.
The others lay scattered. Their bodies battered, blood trickling down their forms, all of them silent as they processed what had just happened.
"Damn...."
Reinhard commented, helping himself up.
Amelia winced as her hand pressed to her side, glancing up at Illya.
"How did you get here?"
Illya simply shrugged her shoulders, maintaining a flawless calm demeanor.
"Coincidence."
Helping Amelia up, all of a sudden, before anyone could react, a low voice echoed across the battlefield.
"Greed never dies. It only waits."
Their heads snapped toward the source of the voice.
The boy stood not far away, his figure barely visible through the curtain of rain.
They glanced to the side where his body once lay. But it was nowhere to be seen.
"You think you've won? But Greed... Greed is eternal."
He gave them one last eerie smile, his form flickering, before disappearing into thin air.
"...."