Igor wiped the blood from his nose and spat out the blood that filled his mouth. Even with his body reinforced by Aura, he hadn’t come out unscathed from Lucius’s attacks.

  He’s strong.

  His attacks were far too strong for someone who couldn’t use Aura.

  Not enough to seriously injure me, but still a major nuisance.

  The greater threat was the maid, who could deal fatal damage to him, but with the boy’s support, getting rid of her had become far more difficult.

  I need to get rid of him quickly.

  Igor examined his injuries. The most serious one was, without a doubt, the cut on his right arm, which was now practically useless. Fortunately, the artery hadn’t been hit, but it was still bleeding heavily.

  A reckless decision.

  He shook his head.

  No. This is all the brat’s fault. If he hadn’t interfered at that moment, I would’ve already killed the maid.

  Ugh, whatever.

  There was no point wasting time thinking about it. What mattered now was ending this quickly.

  Let’s go.

  Increasing his Aura output, Igor charged toward Mira. At the same instant, Lucius ran along the corner of the room before changing direction and advancing toward him from the right—his injured flank.

  Clever brat.

  Igor smiled. Clenching his fist, he threw a punch at Mira, who quickly lowered her body before springing to the side, attempting to slash him with a sweeping strike of her dagger.

  His fist slammed into the wall with a thunderous crash, scattering debris in both directions. Simultaneously, Mira’s dagger grazed his left flank while Lucius’s kick struck his right.

  “Hmph!”

  Pulling his fist back, Igor swung it toward Mira, the motion sending a burst of dust straight at the maid. Reversing the movement, he tried to grab Lucius, but the boy had used the impact of his own kick to propel himself beyond Igor’s reach.

  Good. Very good.

  Turning toward Lucius, Igor charged at him, attacking with a diagonal sweeping strike of his arm. It was a blow powerful enough to shatter every bone in the boy’s body, but—

  Lucius not only avoided the attack by arching his body backward, he also used the momentum of the movement to raise his leg and deliver a kick that struck Igor squarely in the chin.

  “Kh—!”

  Igor clenched his teeth, his neck bending slightly backward.

  Again… That isn’t the kind of strength a non–Aura user should have. And his movements...

  Pulling his body forward again, Igor tried to crush Lucius’s head with a downward punch, but the boy quickly crouched and rolled aside, letting Igor’s fist sink into the floor with a crash.

  “Young master!”

  To Igor’s irritation, without giving him even a moment to breathe, the maid was already charging toward him, her dagger pointed directly at his back.

  “Tsc!”

  Bending his body backward, he deflected her blade with his arm, earning a cut on his forearm in the process.

  “Annoying.”

  “Kuh—!”

  But the maid had been too reckless, allowing Igor to strike her flank with a powerful kick. She softened the impact by blocking with her leg, but her body was still sent flying into one of the office’s bookshelves, which shattered on impact.

  “Akh…!”

  Almost at the same time, Igor was struck behind the leg by a kick from Lucius. The damage was insignificant, but it was strong enough to throw him off balance—and when a second kick followed immediately after, Igor’s body crashed to the ground with a heavy thud.

  A third kick followed. In a display of remarkable flexibility, Lucius lifted his leg high above his head and brought it down with all his strength onto Igor’s knee.

  “Agh—!”

  This time, he felt it. His eyes flew wide open, teeth clenched, as he twisted his body on the ground toward Lucius and lashed out with his other leg.

  Damn brat!

  Once again, Lucius narrowly escaped the attack, making the mercenary grind his teeth in frustration. It was the first time in his life he had struggled so much to crush someone so much weaker than himself.

  At least Lucius’s retreat gave him enough time to stand back up. The downside was that the maid used the time Lucius had bought to recover, already resuming a combat stance.

  Damn it, that blow hurt…

  Igor clenched his teeth. His knee burned as if it were on fire.

  This won’t work. I considered the maid the biggest threat, but it seems I’ll have to reconsider.

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  Mira’s breathing was ragged, and the vision in her right eye was beginning to blur.

  This is bad. At this rate…

  She would lose consciousness. The wound on her chest, though not very deep, was bleeding profusely—so much so that her uniform was completely soaked in blood. To make matters worse, the mercenary’s blows had severely damaged her internal organs, making it difficult even to breathe.

  I was far too reckless.

  When she discovered where Lucius was, she had rushed straight here without even bothering to alert the guards. If she had thought things through, none of this would have happened.

  No. This was my arrogance.

  She believed that, even in her condition, she was strong enough to handle the situation alone. She never imagined she would face such a formidable opponent.

  If it weren’t for the young master, I would’ve died several times already.

  She still hadn’t recovered from the shock of that realization. The feat Lucius had demonstrated far exceeded her expectations—especially his ability to exploit any opening his opponent revealed.

  He didn’t hesitate. He didn’t rush. He didn’t make mistakes. Every movement carried maximum efficiency. He didn’t seem like a mere sixteen-year-old boy, but rather a seasoned warrior who had survived countless battlefields.

  And they still dare say he has no talent?

  Mira felt like spitting in the face of everyone who insulted, belittled, and mocked him. They were nothing but a bunch of blind idiots.

  “Mira.”

  “S-yes?”

  “Don’t lose focus,” Lucius said coldly.

  “R-right.”

  Mira slapped her own cheek. This wasn’t the time to think about such things. Now, they had to deal with the opponent in front of them.

  “Let’s end this!” Igor shouted as he charged at her.

  Yes. That’s right.

  Mira raised her dagger. As long as he focused on her, there would be no problem.

  The mercenary’s fist came crashing toward her face.

  He’s slower.

  She threw her body forward, dodging the blow while scratching the underside of Igor’s arm.

  Not enough.

  She clicked her tongue. The cut was too shallow.

  Worse still, her dodge left her in a precarious position, and the next thing she saw was the mercenary’s knee coming straight at her.

  I can’t dodge this.

  Raising her free arm in front of her body, she took the blow head-on, feeling her bones creak from the impact as she was thrown backward.

  At that same instant, Lucius’s kick struck the knee of Igor’s leg that was still on the ground—the same one he had hit earlier.

  Igor’s expression twisted as he quickly spun around in an attempt to grab Lucius, but the boy had already retreated beyond his reach.

  “This time I’ll kill you!”

  This is bad!

  Mira’s face went pale. This time, Igor kept charging at Lucius while attacking. It seemed he was enraged enough to finish Lucius once and for all.

  I can’t…

  Ignoring the pain in her body, Mira rushed toward the two of them. Lucius was dodging every attack Igor threw at him, but if even one landed—

  She ran with everything she had toward the mercenary, and the moment she reached him, a chill ran down her spine.

  The mercenary’s blow, which seemed aimed at Lucius, completed a full rotation and came straight at her.

  “Got you!”

  I—

  Igor’s gaze was completely cold, devoid of any trace of the rage from moments earlier.

  Powerless, Mira watched as the mercenary’s fist sank into her torso, blood spilling from her mouth as her feet left the ground.

  Stupid girl.

  Lucius watched as Mira’s body was sent flying through the air. With a heavy thud, she landed motionless on the floor.

  He didn’t try to attack Igor—his instincts told him that if he moved at that moment, the entire fight would end, and not in his favor.

  “Now it’s just the two of us,” Igor said, turning his attention to him.

  “So it seems.”

  Can I win?

  Now that Mira was out of the fight, he would have to face the mercenary alone. Igor was heavily injured, while Lucius himself was relatively unharmed. But could a healthy prey truly hunt a wounded predator?

  I guess we’re about to find out.

  Lucius smiled.

  “Heh, eccentric brat.”

  Igor clenched his fists, a savage grin on his face.

  There was no signal or warning. Taking the initiative, Lucius covered the distance between them in a fraction of a second.

  Igor reacted quickly and tried to grab Lucius with his arm, but the boy easily avoided it by sidestepping, completing his advance with a punch to Igor’s ribs.

  Not enough.

  Without stopping, Lucius slipped behind Igor and landed a kick to the area between his ribs and arm, using the momentum to propel himself away from the mercenary.

  “That tickled,” the mercenary said with a crooked smile.

  “I imagine it did.”

  Lucius attacked again. Igor’s Aura absorbed most of the damage he took—but not all of it. So Lucius’s strategy was simple: keep attacking until enough damage accumulated.

  It would be more efficient if I focused on his joints.

  As shown before, even with Aura, sensitive areas like those suffered the most damage.

  But that strategy became unviable the moment Mira was taken out of combat. Without her to distract the mercenary, Lucius couldn’t focus on those areas—at least not without taking a major risk.

  Fortunately, the damage I dealt earlier was enough to reduce his mobility.

  That was clear from the mercenary’s passive stance. Instead of attacking, he waited for Lucius to come to him before striking.

  And with his right arm disabled…

  Lucius had greater mobility and was naturally faster, but a single successful grab from the mercenary would end the fight. If Mira hadn’t disabled his right arm earlier, Lucius’s chances of victory would be practically zero.

  But that isn’t the case now.

  Lucius’s fist struck Igor’s face. It didn’t even feel like he was hitting another human—the sensation was like punching a solid block of stone.

  Anyone else would have had their face crushed by that blow, but the mercenary didn’t even blink, thrusting his arm forward in an attempt to grab him.

  Lucius struck Igor’s forearm with the palm of his hand. It did nothing to alter the attack’s trajectory—on the contrary, Lucius’s own body was pushed backward. But that was exactly what he wanted, using the momentum to reach Igor’s right flank and land one, two, three blows to his ribs.

  “Agh—!”

  The mercenary let out a grunt—not of pain, but frustration—swinging his useless arm toward Lucius.

  “Kuh—!”

  It could hardly be called a real attack. Igor merely flailed his limp arm in that direction, without strength or speed. But when it struck Lucius’s flank, it felt as if he’d been hit by a steel sledgehammer.

  Not enough.

  Frowning, Lucius kicked Igor’s calf before retreating.

  “Hahaha, you felt that, didn’t you?” the mercenary spat with a crazed grin.

  “Very well.”

  Ignoring the pain in his flank, Lucius advanced.

  Attack, attack, dodge, attack again, dodge again, ignore the pain, attack again.

  Lucius and Igor engaged in an exchange of blows that would confuse any observer. For every ten attacks Lucius landed, Igor barely managed one that grazed Lucius’s clothes. But while Lucius’s blows left no visible effect on the mercenary’s body, Igor’s strikes left cuts and bruises all over Lucius.

  Not enough. Not enough.

  But no matter how injured his body became, Lucius never stopped. Attack, attack, dodge, attack again, ignore the pain, attack, attack, dodge again, attack again.

  While trapped in a situation where death’s hands were constantly reaching for him, Lucius’s mind reached a new state of clarity, a new feeling filling his heart.

  In that state, he continued the exchange of blows for a stretch of time that felt both endlessly long and impossibly short. Until—

  Lucius’s fist struck Igor’s chin.

  “Got you” Igor’s hand grabbed Lucius’s arm.

  Is this it?

  The two stared at each other for a moment.

  “Very good, boy.”

  Igor released Lucius’s arm as he collapsed unconscious to the floor.

  Breathing deeply, Lucius mounted Igor’s body and raised his fist.

  One blow.

  Three blows.

  Ten blows.

  It’s different.

  Lucius noticed it immediately. The sensation transmitted through his fists was far weaker than before.

  Having already lost consciousness, Igor could no longer use his Aura to protect himself.

  Lucius kept punching until the hard resistance his fists met was replaced by a soft, sticky sensation.

  When he finally stopped, the mercenary’s face was no longer recognizable—but Lucius could still see him clearly.

  “Thank you.”