Chapter 69 Weak (3)

69 Weak (3)

Looking at the pair of callous dark pupils staring down at him, Lance recognized ruthlessness that disregarded everything in Elias' eyes.

He didn't know why, but he felt it was familiar. Those merciless, indifferent eyes that would strike fear even in the demons themselves.

It was as though he had seen such eyes before...

'Ah.'

Then, he remembered.

It was like the eyes of his father.

If there was anything he feared in the world, it was his father's eyes—a pair of emotionless pupils that hid a merciless and unforgiving nature.

And when looked upon, those eyes would turn into a sharp gaze that pierced through the soul, as though looking through his... entirety.

Those were the eyes of the devil itself.

Lance froze while sweat slowly poured behind his back. Like back when he was kid, he felt a strange and unsettling sensation slowly erupt within him.

It was a sensation that he had already forgotten ever since he swore to become strong, and now it appeared to come back at the worst possible moment.

He knew this feeling all too well.

One that left his mind in apprehension, a sensation that shook his very spirit, and caused his shining, golden eyes to widen in nervousness.

It was—fear.

As seconds passed by like eternity, the unforgiving black pupils continued to stare at him, as though haunting him.

Lance's eyes widened, a trace of fear and rage appearing on his eyes as his body shook. His eyes were no longer seeing Elias, but a different man.

'I'll... kill y...'

Then, he turned unconscious.

***

"Good grief,"

Elias muttered under his breath as he tightly clenched Lance's face. He raised his hand and looked at his palm, slightly sweating.

Then, he turned his gaze to the unconscious Lance.

"...That was dangerous. I went a bit too far. He almost went berserk,"

While he was holding on to Lance, he saw the man suddenly shake from fear, and his eyes hue of gold, darkened as though infected with dark ink.

Without hesitation, Elias immediately knocked Lance unconscious.

He recognized what was happening the moment Lance's eyes darkened like a bottomless abyss. In the Ranker community, there was a legend spread around.

The legend was not about any particular person or place. It was about a certain phenomenon that could occur to rankers and grant them incomparable strength.

However, in exchange, those who experienced such a phenomenon would turn into ruthless demons without a sense of reality.

Although it was a legend, it was a true phenomenon.

It rarely occurred, and most of the rankers who experienced such a phenomenon died after it happened to them.

The phenomenon was called—Mana Frenzy.

A legendary phenomenon triggered by the extreme, negative emotions of the person. It would forcefully awaken the dormant power within and raise the person's strength to several degrees.

Along with the power, it would cause the person to lose all reasoning and rationale, and turn mad with the sole purpose of destroying and killing.

It's unknown how such a phenomenon came to be, but people guessed that it occurs to rankers since mana and emotions come from the same source: the spirit.

Mana comes from the spirit of being, and emotions also come from the spirit.

Because of their relationship, the sudden influx of negative emotion causes the spirit to release all the dormant, hidden mana within the person's body.

It would then cause the person's strength to soar into unprecedented heights that were beyond their control, thus turning them into berserk creatures.

They would stay in that state until their mana becomes fully exhausted.

But of course, this type of terrifying phenomenon was not possible for just anyone to trigger. It only happened to people with strong spirits.

Furthermore, people who experienced Mana Frenzy were usually hunted and killed by the United Government Alliance in fear of them turning into calamities.

"Tsk, this bastard pretends to be cold and distant but can't even manage his emotions right... I hate people like you the most."

Looking at Lance's unconscious body, Elias snickered before reaching out to the man's pockets and grabbing the fragments hidden inside.

Without even looking at them, he put them in his own pocket casually.

He turned around and looked at his group.

Ragna and Hajin were stunned, speechless. They were in awe of the speed and ability he displayed. They couldn't sense his attacks at all.

Lance, who was someone they would struggle with, was effortlessly defeated by Elias like their levels were so far beyond each other.

The both of them couldn't help but be in deep thought while gazing at Elias silently. They originally thought the difference between them and Elias was small, but this made them think otherwise...

Of course, if Elias knew what they were thinking about, he would applaud them for it. In truth, Lance was defeated because the man was careless.

Nothing more, nothing less.

A single act of carelessness was enough to decide a battle.

Elias turned his attention to the last person in his group.

There was Celestia who was nonchalant and had a calm smile on her face as always, as though nothing could ever faze her.

But... Celestia's attention was not focused on him at all, instead, she was staring at the dark-haired man that accompanied Lance from earlier.

Yoru was on the corner while looking at them silently with a nervous expression.

Elias stared at Yoru quietly. Thinking of something, he raised his hand, causing the latter to grow more nervous and afraid. But after a while, he didn't do anything.

Instead, he smiled and simply waved his hand.

"Take care of yourselves. Tell Schultz if he wants revenge, he should visit me at the academy. I'm afraid, if we meet again in this examination, I won't hold back anymore."

After saying that, Elias walked away, and Ragna and the others followed with slightly interested expressions.

While walking, Elias and Celestia glanced at each other discreetly.

Only after Elias and the gang were far away was Yoru able to calm down and sigh in relief. He looked at Lance as his eyes flashed a strange expression.

***

After a while, Lance woke up and was greeted by the eternal sunlight.

Under the sky, he vacantly stared at space emptily. The events of what happened before he fell unconscious flashed through his mind.

At that moment, Yoru walked to him.

"Lance, you're awake! We lost all of our fragments. I suggest we go back to the borders of the dimension to gather more allies to increase our efficiency!"

However, Lance didn't reply. He continued feeling lost, staring at the ever-expanding sunlight with emptiness.

"Lance?"

Yoru called out, confused. But Lance ignored him and thought of Elias — he sighed and muttered under his breath.

"... I lost."

Examination is finally ending soon!

Deathilim_609