The attacker's molten hand remained raised high above Zekai's unconscious body.
One strike. That was all it would take to end the young man's life.
Then—
The fine dust drifting lazily through the shattered section of the wall suddenly froze mid-air.
Tiny fragments of concrete hung motionless in the air.
The black smoke stopped swirling.
Even the flickering magma flames seemed to lose their rhythm.
...
Step.
A single, measured footstep echoed cleanly across the ruined interrogation room.
Step.
Another.
Step.
Each calm footfall carried an inexplicable weight that suffocated the atmosphere.
The masked attacker slowly around.
"..."
His pupils narrowed.
A lone silhouette emerged from the curtain of dust. His hands were tucked deep inside the pockets of a long black coat.
He walked through the devastation as though none of it concerned him.
The orange glow from the magma reflected across his emotionless face.
The attacker felt a strange chill crawl up his spine.
"...You."
The suspended dust finally settled to the floor all at once.
"Aldric... Marune."
Aldric's icy gaze swept across the room.
Sebastian collapsed against the wall.
Zekai motionless. Blood staining the floor beneath him.
His eyes lingered for half a second. His expression changed ever so slightly.
"So... it finally happened."
His gaze shifted again.
Iris. Barely breathing. Covered in blood.
His eyes stopped on the blood beneath her. Just for half a second too long.
Silence descended upon the ruined chamber. Aldric let out a soft, tired sigh.
"...Mmm."
He walked calmly toward an overturned, scorched metal chair. Dragging it across the floor with a loud screech, he positioned it in the center of the room.
Then, he sat down.
One leg crossed casually over the other. An exhausted, long sigh escaped his lips.
"Ah... Today's been terrible."
He raised a hand and rubbed the bridge of his nose with two fingers.
"I really can't afford to lose anyone else on my shift."
His cold, unblinking eyes settled firmly on the masked attacker.
"So. Surrender."
The attacker's eyebrow twitched violently beneath his mask.
"...Still another arrogant idiot trying to save him?"
His magma erupted violently.
"You people talk too much!"
Without another word of warning, he thrust both of his molten palms directly toward Zekai's exposed head.
"Magma Flame!"
BOOOOM!!
A torrent of white-hot magma shot toward the unconscious young man.
Yet—the fire stopped.
It didn't explode against a visible barrier. It wasn't blocked by an armored shield.
It simply... stopped moving.
The inferno held perfectly still, less than a single meter away from Zekai's face.
The attacker blinked, his jaw dropping.
"...What?" He pushed harder, forcing more Grave Energy into his hands. Veins bulged violently across his forearms.
The white-hot magma absolutely refused to move another inch forward.
"What the hell is this?!"
He looked around the room frantically, scanning for the source. Nothing. There was no glowing barrier. There were no physical chains. There was no visible Grave Art carved into the masonry.
His breathing quickened.
"What... is holding it?"
Across the room... Aldric hadn't moved an inch from his chair. He wasn't even bothering to look at the attack.
The attacker growled, his teeth grinding as he tried forcing the flames forward through sheer willpower. Nothing happened.
Suddenly—
BANG!
An invisible impact slammed into his arm.
GHK!
His body flew sideways, crashing violently through a cracked section of the wall. Chunks of heavy masonry rained down around his form. He quickly pushed himself back up to his feet, coughing.
"..."
His eyes remained fixed on Aldric's sitting posture.
'He never moved his hands...'
'He didn't even draw a weapon... Then what the hell just hit me...?'
A cold bead of sweat rolled beneath his dark mask. For the very first time since the infiltration began... uncertainty entered his mind.
"...You arrogant bastard," the attacker roared, his pride shattered.
His remaining Grave Energy exploded throughout the room in a massive shockwave.
"MAGMA FLAME!!"
An even larger inferno erupted.
The entire interrogation room transformed into a sea of blazing white-orange fire.
The flames rushed toward Aldric from every direction.
Aldric remained seated, expressionless.
He didn't even bother looking at the closing walls of fire.
The inferno reached him—
—and shattered.
Like waves crashing against an invisible cliff.
The roaring flames instantly dispersed into harmless, dying sparks before fading into absolute nothingness.
Silence reclaimed the room. The attacker's breathing became ragged and uneven.
"...Impossible..."
He clenched both fists tightly. The magma condensed, slowly taking the shape of a massive molten sword.
"If raw fire won't kill you..." the attacker hissed, his eyes wild.
"I'll cut your entire body apart!"
He swung the massive blade. A gigantic arc of blazing, compressed magma sliced through the room.
Then another.
Another.
Another.
Each slash was powerful enough to cleave reinforced steel. Each one disappeared against that unseen wall.
Not a single attack reached Aldric.
Not one.
"...Fight me like a man!" the attacker screamed, his voice cracking with desperation.
Aldric finally spoke, his voice cutting through the heat. "...Finished?"
"..."
The single, calm word hit harder than any physical attack. Veins bulged dangerously beneath the attacker's mask.
"You..."
"You mentioned your grandfather earlier," Aldric's voice remained perfectly calm, his posture relaxed.
"Who exactly is he?"
The attacker suddenly smiled beneath the cloth. A twisted, fanatical smile.
"So... someone in the Bureau finally asks the right question." His hysterical laughter echoed through the ruined room.
"He saw the False Dawn."
"And he saw..."
His eyes burned with intense religious fanaticism.
"...the exact day your precious little monster destroys everything."
He pointed the molten sword at Zekai's body.
"He should've been slaughtered before he ever awakened his grave energy!'
"I'll kill you first!"
He lunged forward with everything he had left.
The enormous molten sword pierced straight toward Aldric's exposed chest.
Only then...
Aldric stood up from his chair. calmly.
He raised both of his hands. He didn't move to grab the hot metal.
He wasn't even touching it.
CLANG!!
The molten blade never reached Aldric.
The sword stopped between his palms.
There was nearly thirty centimeters of empty space between his hands and the molten blade.
Something invisible held it completely still.
The attacker's eyes widened beneath his mask until they nearly burst from their sockets.
"...How..." His voice shook with genuine terror.
"...How the hell are you doing this?!"
Aldric answered him with absolute silence.
Then—
THUD.
Aldric's boot struck the attacker's abdomen with blinding speed. There was no explosion of energy. There was no flashy technique.
The attacker simply launched backward like a cannonball.
CRAAASH!!
He smashed violently through another thick concrete wall before collapsing heavily onto the floor of the outer corridor. Dark blood spilled rapidly from beneath his mask.
Yet, despite the critical damage, he began to laugh hysterically.
"You think blocking me changes a single thing about today? You think your precious Headquarters is safe? We already successfully infiltrated every single section!"
Aldric slowly began walking through the shattered wall toward his broken form.
"Hm? That's it?"
The attacker's grin widened behind the blood-stained mask.
"You still don't understand."
Aldric stopped.
"From the moment I stepped into this building..."
"...it was already over."
The attacker laughed louder, coughing up more blood.
"What a joke."
At that exact microsecond—
Bzzzt...
Harsh static burst loudly from the military-grade communication device secured in the attacker's ear.
"...Little Boss..."
The communicator crackled violently, the signal degrading. Gunfire echoed in the background, followed by panicked, heavy breathing.
"...We're being pushed back..."
The masked attacker's smile remained fixed.
"You idiots... hold your positions."
Another massive explosion shook the audio transmission.
Then—
"Negative!" a terrified voice shouted over the chaotic noise.
"The Order has broken through the eastern sector!"
The sound of crashing metal echoed. Someone screamed in agony before the feed cut.
"The Barrier Division restored the Headquarters seal! Every escape route has been closed!"
The attacker's smile finally vanished. He frowned.
"...What did you say?"
Another frantic voice seized the communicator channel.
"This is Squad Nine! The Order came out of nowhere!"
"We can't stop them!"
A deafening impact interrupted the transmission. The distinct sound of heavy bodies hitting the floor echoed one after another over the frequency.
"No—! The Containment Division has reached the underground corridors! They're sealing every layer!"
"Our Grave Arts don't work inside their suppression fields! We can't break through the perimeter!"
The attacker clenched his jaw so hard his teeth threatened to shatter.
"...Impossible."
Another frantic report burst through the static.
"The Medical Division already evacuated the injured!"
"The Intelligence Division identified every infiltrator!"
"Our disguises have all been exposed!" Someone screamed in pure terror.
"They knew exactly where we were!"
Heavy automatic gunfire erupted, then suddenly ceased. A calm, steady voice answered from the opposite end of the line.
"BSA First Order speaking."
"Hostile squad twenty-one secured."
Another professional voice followed immediately on the encryption layer.
"Third Order. Hostile squad thirty-four captured."
A third clean transmission.
"Containment Division."
"Underground sectors cleared."
Another.
"Barrier Division."
"Dimensional Lock restored."
"No unauthorized spatial movement detected."
Silence.
Only static remained.
Then one final broken voice reached the communicator.
"...Little Boss..."
Gunfire. Heavy breathing.
"...there are too many of them..."
A wet cough.
"We thought this place was just a government office..."
A distant explosion.
"...it's a fortress."
Another explosion.
The communicator fell silent.
Connection Lost.
...
✦ End of Chapter 34 — The Man Who Never Drew His Weapon ✦