Reine didn't stall. Every second in this loop was a currency he couldn't afford to waste. He bypassed the familiar scenery of the forest, heading straight for the coordinates where he had first encountered the mage.
Until now, Reine had survived by keeping his mana internal—a constant, high-pressure flow through his veins and muscles. It was a closed circuit. But to defeat the Commander, he needed to understand how to break that circuit. He needed to learn how to let the mana out.
The Predator's Study
He tore through the treeline, his speed blurring the leaves into a green haze. He spotted the group almost instantly. The three swordsmen barely had time to register a shadow before Reine was upon them.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Three right hooks, each boosted by Pulse-Retraction Logic, connected with their faces. The retraction sucked the kinetic force inward, shattering their skulls instantly. They dropped like puppets with cut strings.
The mage stood paralyzed, eyes wide with horror as his guards vanished in a heartbeat. Reine didn't kill him immediately. He kept his distance, moving with calculated, cautious steps—not because he was afraid, but because he was a predator studying his prey.
Shaking, the mage began to conjure. Reine's eyes tracked every microscopic movement.
The mana didn't just stay in the palms.
It forced its way through the pores, bleeding out of the hands to fuse with the aether in the air.
The friction created the spark, and the spark became a fireball.
'So that's the bridge,' Reine thought. Once the analysis was complete, Reine closed the gap and finished the mage.
Reverse Psychology of Power
He moved on, searching for more "test subjects." He had seen the process, but the execution escaped him. He stared at his own palms. "How did he force it out?"
He spotted a squad of six soldiers patrolling a nearby clearing. Reine took a breath, concentrating. He tried to mimic the mage, pushing his mana toward his fingertips to conjure fire. Nothing happened. He stood there in the shadows, hands outstretched, feeling a surge of embarrassment as the air remained cold.
He leaned against a tree, his mind racing back to the Commander. The giant had turned his energy into a decoy. Reine knew he couldn't replicate the fireball yet, but a crazy, genius idea began to take root.
'If I can't push it out, I'll force my body to reject it.'
The Pulse-Strike had a flaw: if the mana flow was too concentrated in one area without being used, the body would naturally "leak" the excess to prevent internal damage. He decided to use that flaw as a weapon.
Reine focused, shunting half of his total mana flow into his legs, but he didn't move. He held it there. His nervous system began to spark under the pressure. Then, he saw it. Fine, misty trails of mana began to bleed through his skin, escaping his body.
Dragging Out the Giant
He stepped out of hiding. The six soldiers turned, but they were already dead—they just didn't know it. Using his new understanding of flow, Reine moved through them, a Right Hook-Left Hook combo echoing through the clearing until all six were down.
Now, he wanted the big prize. He searched for the Commander, but the forest was silent. He couldn't sense the giant's mana at all. It was as if the Commander had pulled his presence inward, hiding in the shadows.
Reine stood in the center of the clearing, his expression darkening. If the Commander wouldn't show himself, Reine would drag him out. He released his killing intent.
It wasn't a flare.it was a flood. The atmosphere turned a bruised, bloody red. At his hip, Aurelian began to twitch violently. Reine looked down at the hilt with pure annoyance.
'This useless sword,' he thought bitterly. 'I have to find a way to make this thing work for me.'
He grabbed Aurelian, but he didn't unsheathe it. He held the scabbard like a common stick, treating the legendary blade with total disrespect. The sword vibrated in his hand, trembling in anger.
Suddenly, the weight returned. The air grew cold. He felt it. The Commander's presence had finally flickered. He didn't rush. He walked slowly, every step feeling like a hammer blow against Reine's chest.
Reine launched. He funneled every ounce of his internal mana flow into a single strike. But as he entered a five-meter radius, the "Gravity" slammed into him. This was a crushing, 10x absolute weight.
Reine's knees hit the soil with a sickening thud. The commander stood there, hands at his sides, looking down with genuine amazement.
"You... who are you?"
Reine couldn't answer. The pressure was forcing the air out of his lungs. He wheezed out, "Who... are YOU? Why is a Commander... out here?"
Valha let out a short, sharp laugh. "I am Valha, Commander of the Paekl Vanguard Unit 7. I'll tell you. We are here to negotiate with a... rather important person from your side."
High Treason
The realization hit Reine like a physical blow. A negotiation? This was high treason. Valha leaned in, his face inches from Reine's.
"I sensed you and your friend long ago. I could have killed you both like worms. But then... your mana signature warped. It became refined. Dense. Who. Are. You?"
Reine looked straight into Valha's eyes. He didn't beg. Instead, a bloody, jagged smile stretched across his face. He gathered the last of his strength, lunged forward slightly, and spat directly into the Commander's face.
Valha's face went blank. Then, a vein in his forehead began to throb. "DIEE!"
The Final Shift
SNAP.
Reine was back on the tree branch. The adrenaline was still surging. He had a secret that could break the kingdom.
"Hey, u okay?" Argol asked. "You've been staring at that leaf for a minute."
Reine stood up, his gaze hard as flint. "Argol, we're leaving. Right now. We aren't going to the Kingdom yet."
"What?" Argol stumbled back. "What about the mission?"
Reine explained the new stakes. If they killed the soldiers now, the traitor would go into hiding. They would become targets for both the enemy and their own "allies."
"To find the rat, we have to let the deal happen," Reine muttered. "We have to follow the thread back to the capital."
Argol listened quietly, his mind spinning with the realization that the war wasn't just in the forest—it was in the very heart of their home.