Chapter 91 - The Shadow of the A Emperor

  Threads were u me. The woman was furious, and iher hand, she jured increasingly powerful gusts of wind. I ran and spun in the air, using the wind's power to boost my agility, dodgitacks with precision.

  "FUG BASTARD!" she screamed in rage as the tips of her threads struck the ground and exploded with the force of the wind.

  I dodged through the sea of threads, but suddenly, spikes of earth were fired in my dire.

  The earth mage.

  My reflexes kicked in, and with a quick spin, I used the wind to propel myself away from the deadly spikes. The terrain around me was being increasingly treacherous, with threads and spikes ing at me from all sides.

  The earth mage and the Lady of the Threads were coordinating their attacks, trying to er me.

  I evaded the spikes, running as the threads shed out at me. I quickly grabbed the corpse of the fire mage and used it as a shield while advang with the sword I had taken from the dead mage. I closed in on the earth mage and hurled the corpse at him.

  "Fuck you! You're dead, kid!" he shouted, raising a stone barrier to protect himself from the impact.

  Isabelle swooped down from the ceiling, ung herself at me.

  I swiftly sheathed my sword.

  "I'm going to kill you!" she screamed, furious.

  "Thunder Cloak!" I activated my spell, sending sparks c through my body, increasing my speed. Using the wind's momentum, I charged toward her.

  When her dagger came at me, I deflected it with my elbow and then jumped, striking her with my knee.

  "AH!" she cried out, but I kept hold of her arm and, in mid-air, spun and hurled her away.

  'Boom!' She crashed violently against a wall.

  Below me, the earth mage appeared with his axe. I cpped my hands, geing a wind explosion with the power of thunder's roar, sending him crashing hard to the ground.

  He hit the floor, and I leaped down, grabbing my sword with determination.

  'Bam!' The wind reinforced the bde as I struck the ground, but he mao dodge at the st sed.

  "I'll kill you! I'll kill you!" he ranted madly, sending spiked balls flying at me. I ran toward him, dodging the deadliest ones and batting away those I could.

  Using the power of thunder, I let the energy course through my body, increasing my speed. I surprised the mage by closing in with a sudden burst of momentum.

  "What!?" he shouted, bewildered.

  The mage raised his axe, and our ons cshed. I diverted my bde downward, trying to pin his axe to the ground, but he quickly spun to the other side and bsted the earth with one hand.

  I made a swift movement, kig up dust into the air, using the wind to disperse it, and dodged his strike.

  I pulled bad unched myself into the air.

  The earth mage pointed his hand at me, and from the ground, numerous spikes shot up in my dire.

  "This is the Thunder Impulse!" Using the ceiling as a foothold, I propelled myself at full speed, geing a wind explosion from my feet. I twisted in the air, spinning my body 360 degrees, transf into a tornado as I closed in on him.

  'Ssh!' I passed by him, sshing with my bde, which detonated in a mix of wind and thunder.

  "FUUUUUCK!" he screamed.

  In front of me, an arm fell, severed from the body.

  Blood began to gush, and he clutched the wound, screaming in agony.

  Desperate, the mage covered the gaping hole where his arm had been with stone, grasping his axe with difficulty.

  "Where's the man who was shouting that he'd kill me?" I asked, my voice dripping with pt.

  Enraged, he started running toward me.

  "AHHHHHH!" he screamed, as several stone ns grew around me, ung spikes in all dires.

  I leaped into the air to dodge, and he approached, f a rge stone arm in pce of his severed one, ready to strike.

  I halted in mid-air, standing on the wind, and revealed my hand, glowing blue.

  "This is the pinnacle of sound explosion power!"

  "BOOM!" A massive wind explosion, mixed with a deafening soued as I geed trated thunder within my fist.

  The wind bst was enormous, and what remained of the windows and wooden doors were all shattered. This was the power of the Thunder and Wind bination. The earth mage was sent flying, crashing to the ground, caught in the explosion.

  He hit the bottom of the crater, and the floor colpsed, sending him plummeting to a lower level of the mansion.

  I followed the earth mage through the hole, tugging on one of the wires still attached to the unscious Isabelle.

  "Wake up! I didn’t tell you to sleep!" I yanked on the wires, electrog them, and tossed her into the hole.

  Now, both of them were lying on the floor below, while I stood at the top of the hole, staring down at them.

  Isabelle:

  "Damn it!" I struggled to my feet, feeling like several parts of my body were broken. Blood trickled from my nose, and the pain was intense. I go the side and saaul wasn't in much better shape. He had lost an arm, and his body was covered in wounds. He was breathing heavily, spitting blood with each breath.

  Looking around, I realized we had fallen into the dungeohe boy stood at the top, illuminated by the moonlight streaming through the shattered ceiling of the mansion.

  "WHAT IS THIS!?" His voice echoed off the walls, causing them to tremble.

  What’s happening to me!?

  My hands, the ones I used to trol the metal wires, began to tremble, refusing to obey.

  Paul struggled to his feet. The boy jumped down, nding on our level.

  "What is this pce?" he asked, clearly irritated.

  "Shut up, you piece of shit!" I shouted, trying tain trol.

  "ANSWER ME!" he demanded, and Paul colpsed to the ground as if the force of his voice had knocked him over.

  The boy's voice sent shivers down my spine, and a strange pressure filled the air, almost f me to give in and colpse.

  "This is round," I said, ughing, trying to maintain my posure.

  There were bodies of girls and other victims, all bearing signs of torture. They were tied to the pilrs around us. The boy looked at me with those dark, pierg eyes.

  "What... what is this!?" I asked, feeling my body freeze up. He began walking through the area, turning his ba us.

  "We have to kill him..." I murmured to Paul, feeling the desperation rise.

  The boy ignored us, moving toward the victims, them in silence.

  "You haven't realized it, Isabelle..." Paul said weakly.

  "Realized what?"

  "Sihe fight started... none of us have nded a si on him... he's pletely unscathed," Paul replied, and I repyed the entire fight in my mind.

  Impossible!

  I stared at the boy in disbelief.

  He doesn’t have a single scratch!

  The boy tio ignore us.

  "Silence!" he ordered, and I obeyed automatically, not uanding how.

  He turo face us, his expression growing even darker.

  "You've mao piss me off!" Every step he took sent lightning crag from his body, striking the walls and causing the entire pce to shake. The ceiling began to colpse, and debris rained down around us.

  With difficulty, I got to my feet, and Paul did the same. The boy lowered the bck mask that covered half of his face.

  "There’s no reason to wear this anymore. You won’t live," he said.

  I let out a disbelieving ugh.

  "The damn brat who spent the day ing shit? Hahaha," I started ughing, uo believe the situation.

  He stepped forward.

  "The shit I ed will be more useful to nature than what will happen to your corpse," he said, walking toward me.

  Paul moved to attack him, but the boy snapped his fingers.

  'ZAP!' A bolt of lightning shot toaul, sending him flying back. The boy drew his sword and walked slowly toaul.

  He passed by me, moving leisurely, but I couldn’t react, even with him giving me his back.

  "Your time has e," he said, staring doaul, who was barely managing to stand.

  My partner was severely burned, nearly unreizable, charred by the lightning. The boy plunged his sword into Paul.

  "I pierced your lung. You’ll suffocate and die soon... I want you to think of every life you took while the pain of your charred body es you and drowning in your own blood kills you," the boy said, twisting the sword and slig Paul's face.

  "I’ve also blinded you. I want you to die in plete darkness," he added, turning his gaze to me.

  He began walking toward me. My body couldn’t respond, and I could see the sparks running through his body, growing in iy.

  "Y-you... you," I tried to say, but I fell backward.

  I started crawling away from him, but he kept walking, never speeding up his pace.

  "You really are a superior noble, aren’t you?" I asked in desperation. "You must be! Just like you said this afternoon."

  He kept ign me, drawing closer. I was on the ground, looking up at that stern face, which already seemed to have passed judgment.

  "I surrender!" I screamed. "By the w of the kingdom, a criminal of my level, if they surrender, be judged and ned. You imprison me and use me as an example," I pleaded, my voice trembling with fear.

  The silence hung heavy as he stared at me.

  "You’re the ruler. You do that. You imprison me," I tinued, desperately trying to find a way out.

  "You’ve made a small mistake... I’m not a ruler..."

  He grabbed me by the throat.

  "I’m a DICTATOR!"