Kaelith fixed his eyes on his old friend standing before him, now his greatest enemy. "Do you truly believe you can kill me, Viper?" Though his voice came out as a whisper, it echoed off the cold walls of the room. "Do you really believe you're more skilled than me?"
Viper painted a mocking smile on his lips. "You are too soft, Kaelith. You haven't even trained properly in years; you are a complete disappointment. I, on the other hand, am Master Silas's most flawless disciple; I walk his path, executing his ruthless techniques. If you actually believe you can defeat me, go ahead, finish me off! But if you try to resist..." Viper's eyes narrowed dangerously. "...Your death will be more painful than you can ever imagine."
At that very moment, the metallic surface of the dagger gripped tightly in Viper's hand began to ripple. As the blade turned a sickly, bright green, drops of dark purple liquid seeping from its tip hissed and melted the stone as they hit the floor.
In the millisecond Kaelith's gaze drifted to those venomous drops, Viper lunged. Closing the distance between them in the blink of an eye, he slashed the poisoned dagger straight toward Kaelith's jugular. Using the last remnants of his reflexes, Kaelith swiftly bent his back backwards. As the dagger grazed his chin and cleaved the whistling air, Kaelith planted his hands on the ground and vaulted backward with consecutive backflips to put distance between them.
Viper began to chuckle as he watched his fleeing prey. "I told you not to resist me, Kaelith. Sorry, but I've just given up on the idea of killing you in a single strike."
The moment Kaelith sprang into the air, he concentrated his own life force between his palms. A sphere of dark, crimson blood bubbled and took shape between his hands, enveloping him like a hovering shield.
Come, Viper, come, Kaelith thought to himself. I know exactly how you are practically writhing with excitement to tear me apart right now.
But instead of attacking directly, Viper stood his ground. "Do you know why the animal Master Silas and I represent is the snake, Kaelith?"
Kaelith didn't answer, but the sickening energy ball, glowing between purple and pink gathering in Viper's left hand, was the answer itself. When Viper suddenly thrust his hand into the air, that dense energy erupted, and within seconds, every inch of the room was engulfed in a thick, throat-burning purple mist.
"Because our cold-bloodedness is unmatched, Kaelith!" Viper roared from within the mist.
Kaelith realized the only way to escape this poisonous gas filling his lungs was to take Viper down swiftly. Then I must take a risk! Manipulating the bubbling blood sphere in his palms, he morphed it into a crescent-shaped crimson blade sharp enough to sever the air, and dashed at top speed toward Viper's silhouette within the fog. Viper merely laughed. The moment Kaelith drew near, he swung his blood sword, cleaving Viper right down the middle. However, the severed body suddenly liquefied, blending into the surrounding purple mist and vanishing. It had been an illusion all along.
Viper's echoing voice came from every corner of the mist: "Ah, Kaelith, ah... You use such basic techniques. You need to push your creativity a little. Predicting what you'll do is so boring!"
Kaelith spun around, trying to locate the real Viper within that dense fog, but it was in vain. Finding an assassin who had dedicated years to mastering this technique within his own domain was impossible. Standing in the corner of the room, Viper's steward, Jukil, watched his master's victory with crossed arms, not even feeling the need to intervene in the battle.
"When we were kids, they always said you were more talented than me," Viper's voice came in waves through the mist. "I always envied you. You were the one who always got praised... 'A potential equal to Silas!' What a pity... Looking at your current pathetic state, destroying a 'potential' like you will give me indescribable pleasure. But just like a real snake, I'll wrap around you and break your bones before I swallow you."
Kaelith, can't you fight? I told you to get stronger. That familiar, cocky voice echoing in his mind stretched Kaelith's nerves even further.
As the seconds ticked by, the poison seeping through his skin mingled with his blood, blurring his vision. As the strength drained from his muscles, panic choked him like a noose tightening around his neck.
"What happened to that great talent?" Invisible slashes suddenly shooting out from the mist began to carve into Kaelith's arms and legs.
Kaelith tried to retaliate blindly, hurling blood spells one after another, but every attack beat against empty space. Damn it, he thought, swallowing the metallic taste of blood rising in his mouth. Am I really being hunted this easily?
"Think, Kaelith, think hard!" Viper's laughter filled the room. "I learned this technique from Master Silas, and I haven't even come close to his perfection yet. Despite that, you can't even touch me!"
While Kaelith's mind grew numb from the poison, his eyes drifted to the girl held hostage, lying unconscious in the corner. If I can't defeat him... At least let me save the girl from that Steward's hands.
Funneling all his strength into his legs, he suddenly launched himself at Jukil. The steward hadn't expected this sudden maneuver. He frantically tried to conjure a magical barrier in front of him, but Kaelith's momentum and his blood-reinforced fist shattered the barrier like glass. Without wasting a second, Kaelith reached for the ropes binding the girl's hands, and just as he cut them, the breath was knocked out of him by a terrifying pressure against his back.
Viper's flying kick sent Kaelith flying, slamming him into the stone wall.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk... Kaelith, you are supposed to be fighting me," Viper said, grabbing Kaelith by the collar before he could collapse and delivering a brutal punch to his face.
Even if I wanted to fight, you're hiding behind the fog, you don't even fight fair, Kaelith grumbled internally. Gritting his teeth, he suddenly straightened up, spun, and unleashed a kick aimed at Viper's jaw.
Viper blocked the strike effortlessly with his right arm and struck Kaelith's exposed chest with his left hand. As Kaelith tried to evade the blow, he realized a horrifying truth: the purpose of this attack wasn't to inflict physical damage, but to inject the poison directly into Kaelith's body.
"A-ha! Did you figure it out?" Viper shouted gleefully, burying his knee into Kaelith's stomach with all his might.
Kaelith collapsed to the ground as blood poured from his mouth. With a final, desperate effort, he shaped his blood into three distinct, razor-sharp scythes and hurled them to carve Viper to pieces. Yet, Viper merely smiled, transforming his body back into mist and gliding right through the lethal assaults.
Just as Kaelith was about to form a new spell, his body convulsed. Another wave of warm, poison-blackened blood spilled from his throat. The poison was now taking effect on a cellular level. Breathing felt like trying to swallow a throat full of crushed glass.
"What's the matter, Kaelith? We were just getting warmed up," Viper said, landing another merciless kick to the face of his fallen old friend. "Come on, get up, I want to play a little more. Entertain me!"
Kaelith's vision was fading. The blows he had taken, the poison, and excessive mana usage had brought his body to the brink of collapse. Still, in one last move, using his blood like a thin wire before Viper could notice, he cut the ropes binding the unconscious girl's feet. At least she can escape...
Viper continued to beat Kaelith mercilessly across his face, stomach, and ribs.
"Viper..." Kaelith coughed violently, spewing black blood with every hack. He whispered as he struggled to breathe. "Let her go... She is entirely innocent."
The twisted smile on Viper's face slowly faded, replaced by profound astonishment. "Innocent?" After a brief silence, he burst into a hysterical fit of laughter. "Hey, Jukil! Did you hear what I just heard?"
"Yes, Master Viper. You heard correctly," the Steward confirmed.
"Kaelith, where have you been spending your time these last few months? What is this conscience in the heart of a cold-blooded killer like you? You're throwing your own life away to protect worthless existences!"
Viper stormed furiously toward the girl lying on the floor, hoisted her up by the collar into the air. Kaelith wanted to say stop, but only bloody wheezes escaped his throat.
"I can't comprehend an elite talent like you, the greatest potential the dark guild has ever seen, caring about insects like this, Kaelith. This is what we were trained for! We do not question, we do not care! If a mission is given, we execute it. If you were going to have feelings, why did you even enter that academy?" Viper shook the girl savagely to wake her up.
When the girl pried her eyes open in a panic, she was met with Viper's face. "You're finally awake. Look at what I have to deal with because of a pathetic creature like you, one I could crush without lifting a finger..."
"Son of a bitch!" the girl screamed, suppressing her fear with her rage. "Do you have any idea what my family went through just so I could go to the academy?!"
The moment her sentence ended, Viper's heavy kick landed on her stomach. The girl collapsed to the ground, gasping for air. "Did anyone tell you to speak?!" Viper roared.
As the girl writhed in agony, she hissed through her bloody teeth, "Die, you bastard..." Viper had just raised his hand to deliver the killing blow when...
"VIPER, STOP!" Kaelith's cracked voice tore through the room. "I'm telling you... Kill me. Let her live."
Viper paused, then let out another ruthless laugh. The sight he saw when he turned toward Kaelith made even him freeze for a moment. Kaelith's brown hair was falling out in clumps under the poison's influence, his skin turning a sickly, rotting purple. He was no different from a walking corpse now.
Viper threw the girl to the floor and slowly walked toward Kaelith. He leaned down and gripped Kaelith's bruised neck tightly. "I'm sorry, my old friend. You're past the point of no return. Your pathetic weakness has dragged you to your own grave."
Viper's poisoned dagger carved a deep gash into Kaelith's neck. Blood didn't spurt; the venom had rotted even the blood.
As Kaelith's body slumped to the floor, his world rapidly turned black. Amidst that darkness, a familiar silhouette appeared.
Welcome, Kaelith. Looks like you're seeing someone you don't want to again?
Yes, Vision, Kaelith thought, his mental voice exhausted. I don't want to. Just let me die in peace.
No, no, no... You aren't dying, Kaelith. You're just on the brink of death right now. But if I hadn't gathered myself a bit, you would have completely faded away. Unfortunately, you're acting far below your capacity, far too weak. You aren't considering what you can truly do, and as a result, those around you are dying too.
I'M TRYING, OKAY?! I'M TRYING AS HARD AS I CAN! Kaelith screamed inside his mind.
Calm down, Kaelith. You just rest. The smug smile on Vision's face widened. Don't worry... I am you.
As Vision's silhouette dissipated in a bright light, Kaelith finally sank into the darkness and peace he so deeply desired, shutting down his consciousness entirely.
In the real world, as Viper held Kaelith's lifeless neck, he turned to the girl and spat in disgust. "Look at what you made me do. What a talent we lost because of a wretch like you. What would it have mattered if you hadn't stolen that book?"
The girl, however, was staring in sheer terror not at Viper, but at the corpse he held in his hands. The brown-haired boy, who had literally rotted to death mere seconds ago... was changing.
The girl's eyes widened in shock. The decaying purple skin was clearing at a miraculous speed, the deep gash closed instantly, and from where the boy's falling brown hair had been, brilliant, moonlight-white hair was sprouting. Within seconds, Kaelith's body had flawlessly regenerated, as if time had been rewound.
When Viper saw the pure terror on the girl's face, he was just turning his head to see what was happening, when right next to his left ear, he heard a voice—barely more than a whisper, yet authoritative enough to make mountains tremble:
"I'll give you one second. Move."