Chapter 46: A dance of fire(?) and ice(?)

Turning my head back at the sudden sound, I saw the man I had delivered the package to, wearing a mask and aiming a gun at me.

Why that man shot at me isn’t important.

What’s important right now is only the fact that this man tried to kill me.

‘How dare some outsider… try to separate me and Set?’

Ha… I really didn’t want to use this, but… that bastard’s actions crossed the line.

The moment that judgment was made, my course of action was decided.

To use all my strength to deliver judgment upon the one trying to destroy the happiness and reason for living I found in this world.

I decided to use another one of my trump cards here, a method to draw out 100 percent, or even more, of my physical abilities, created to prepare for unforeseen threats.

I make the natural mana gathered in my body run rampant.

Contrary to when I infused and spread mana into Kayn before, by intentionally manipulating it within my own body and activating the mana circulation, I accelerate blood circulation, promote metabolism, and gain instantaneous explosive power capable of making physical limits seem like ‘What’s that? Is it edible?’ for a short time.

A current of power momentarily spreads out from around my body, and the time around me stops.

No, more accurately, my perception of time has slowed down significantly.

In this space where even the bullet seems frozen, I lightly tilt my head to the right, dodging the incoming bullet.

The muzzle velocity of a typical pistol is 300m/s, and yet this is…

“Slow.”

There’s really no other way to express it.

Slow.

Everything around me feels like a slug.

After dodging the bullet, I looked at the man; his expression wasn’t visible, but I could feel his surprise even from here, sensing the flustered look behind the mask.

‘So, who told you to mess with a delivery person who was minding their own business?’

I gather strength in my feet to catch the culprit of this incident who still hasn’t properly grasped the situation.

Kicking off the ground with unimaginable leg strength, I arrive in front of that man at a speed that ignores physical limits, grab his neck, and slam him onto the ground.

It seems the ground I kicked off from turned into a crater, but that’s probably just my imagination.

The man, caught by me and slammed onto the ground, coughed dryly a few times, then suddenly clutched his face and started laughing, finding something amusing.

‘This situation is funny?’

‘After trying to commit an act that denies my entire life, you’re enjoying this situation?’

‘You shouldn’t have done that.’

‘I’ll make you beg for your life with all my heart and soul.’

‘And I’ll tell you firmly.’

‘No. Way.’

As if trying to escape this situation, the man took something out from his bosom and tried to throw it to the ground. I grabbed his arm and snatched the object he was holding.

Judging by its appearance and structure, it seems like a type of grenade where the contents fuse and detonate when the safety pin is removed.

‘You were chuckling, trusting a mere thing like this?’

‘As if I’d fall for such a toy…’

Click! Chiiii…

Hearing an unfamiliar sound from under my feet, I accelerated my thoughts again to assess the current situation.

A petal-like object clinging to my foot and starting to blink.

I don’t know its exact name, but I could sense instinctively that it was a trap.

Unable to waste time on such a device and let that guy escape, I immediately release mana beneath my feet.

The shackle on my ankle, which had activated due to the high-density mana released in a short period, suddenly stopped working and released me.

The man had taken out the cane he was leaning on earlier and was pointing it at me.

Now I see, that wasn’t just a cane either, but one of the means to disguise a long rifle.

‘But didn’t you see me dodge the bullet earlier?’

‘I told you, it’s slow.’

In that state, I soared vertically into the air, then kicked off the air this time, extending my claws.

If someone saw this, they might react with, ‘You can double jump too? Cheat lol.’, but since this is a fight between me and that guy, nobody can say anything.

I flew straight towards the man standing still, and my claws dug sharply into his neck… but there’s no blood?

Looking closely, what I pierced was merely a wooden doll resembling the man.

‘When did he switch it?’

‘No, more importantly, where is he now?’

Quickly looking around, I spotted the guy hiding among the crowd.

‘I’ll give you credit for escaping that far while I looked away for a moment, but it’s no use.’

‘I won’t kill you easily.’

Forcing my way through the crowd would risk endangering others, so I jumped onto the roof of a building.

Running across the rooftops, I kept track of where that guy was escaping to and followed him.

Like that, he pushed through the crowd and ran, eventually reaching a dead-end alley.

‘You made me go through all this trouble, did you?’

“Now, are you ready for repentance? I’ll make you regret ever messing with me.”

“Repentance is for sinners. I have committed no sin, so I couldn’t even if I wanted to. Ah! But I will offer an apology for one mistake I made. An apology for failing to recognize a gem like you. I never imagined someone of the conductor’s caliber would intrude upon the stage. Thanks to you, we danced a delightful pas de deux. Shall I offer an escort?”

“I vaguely realized it when you suddenly targeted me, but you are not sane. How many have you killed with thoughts like that?”

“Death is inevitable for everyone. But it doesn’t have to be gruesome, does it? What’s the problem with me beautifully decorating their deaths?”

This… yes.

This is characteristic of people who believe their thoughts are absolutely correct without a shred of doubt.

I was contemplating how to make this unprecedented random killer, who holds the disgusting mindset that he is the protagonist of this world and everything revolves around him, pay for his sins painfully.

“It was enjoyable to perform as an actor after a long time. But now it’s time to part. Let’s try a duet next time.”

“Where do you think you’re casually escaping to? I didn’t say I’d let you go…”

Clank. Crash!

Suddenly, a crack appeared exactly where the man was standing, and the ground split open.

The man went into the fissure, and then the crack instantly repaired itself.

‘So he wasn’t just a simple, unplanned random killer.’

I slightly raised my evaluation of him.

‘Still just a murderer, though.’

If I put my mind to it, I could break through this floor and chase him to the ends of hell, but doing so felt like it would attract even more attention than I already had, so I reluctantly decided to give up.

It seemed likely he had prepared plenty of traps too.

Taking a deep breath, I suppress the flow of mana that had run rampant in my body, returning it to its original state.

I didn’t say it, but this consumes quite a bit of stamina.

It feels like my lifespan is being shaved off.

I should scrap the plan to make more deliveries later and go home to rest properly.

My entire plan for today got messed up because of one lunatic.

Next time we meet, there will be no such thing as giving him a chance.

I’m persistent too, you know.

You picked the wrong opponent.