Chapter 16: Illegal Alien (14)
Kael opened his hand, revealing several small pieces of metal resting in his palm.
They were the ACUs that had been embedded inside Pale's subordinates just moments ago.
She said his men were Tier 4…
He inspected the chips one by one.
Six Tier 4 ACUs. That should be enough.
He could definitely feel the difference compared to the Tier 1 ACUs he had used on the subordinates earlier.
The amount of residual mana, the refinement quality, and the density of the internal circuits were vastly superior.
What he needed right now was an ignition source—a catalyst to jumpstart his dormant mana circuit.
Everything would be decided in the split second those circuits re-ignited.
Keeping his hand low and out of sight, Kael wedged an ACU between his fingers.
Pale burst into laughter.
"Not sure how you managed to do that, but you've certainly got a knack for little tricks."
When Kael did not answer, his opponent took a slow step forward.
"It's almost like you're using real magic. If we were in the Upper Level, I might have landed you a job in the circus. A real shame."
Kael paid little mind to the mockery.
Then, without a sound, Pale vanished.
"!"
The distance between them closed in an instant.
Blue mana exploded through Pale's legs, waist, and shoulders as body enhancement and neural acceleration engaged simultaneously.
Moving so fast that the puddles beneath him shattered in a delayed splash, he drove a violent fist straight toward Kael's face.
"You should listen carefully when an adult is speaking."
Pale bared his teeth.
"Brat."
Kael twisted his body, barely dodging the blow.
The fist grazed his cheek, tearing skin and leaving a sharp, burning sting.
He was lucky to escape with only a graze.
The wall where the strike landed shattered instantly, sending concrete debris flying in all directions.
Kael rolled to the side to regain distance, but Pale pressed the assault without missing a beat.
Every strike was fast and precise with no wasted motion.
His Tier 6 rank was clearly no empty boast.
As expected.
He needed to make a decision, fast.
It's hard to keep up with a Tier 6 without using body enhancement.
The mages in this world far exceeded the physical specs of those from his former world.
All of this was thanks to the cyberware plastered over their bodies.
When combined with magic, those augmented frames yielded physical capabilities far beyond normal human limits.
It feels like I'm fighting a demon, not a human.
Kael gauged his opponent's skills as they clashed.
Pale pressed forward, taking another step to close the gap.
"You're quite good at dodging, at least."
"Is that a compliment?"
"Not a bad line for your last words."
Blue mana coiled around Pale's fingertips like thin threads.
A close-range suppression formula.
Seeing it, Kael raised his hand instead of retreating.
"Trying to surrender now?"
As he raised his hand, the Tier 4 ACU wedged between his fingers caught Pale's eye.
The man stared, unable to make heads or tails of what Kael was doing.
"That's…"
Kael threw the provocation right back.
"An adult?"
He pressed down on the ACU with his fingertips.
"You're the one acting like a brat."
Snap.
A crack formed on the ACU's outer casing.
At that moment, the refined mana trapped inside burst outward in a violent surge and scattered.
And with that, Kael's dried-up mana circuits flared to life.
* * *
Pale furrowed his brow at the sight.
The meaning behind the gesture eluded him at first.
To any mage in this world, an ACU was both weapon and core—shattering one deliberately was unthinkable.
He's unpredictable.
Before Pale could process the thought, Kael's lips moved.
Fortificatio Corporis [Body Enhancement]
For a brief moment, he could feel mana radiating from inside Kael's body.
Pale froze.
He had been certain the boy possessed no magic, yet his target had vanished.
No.
He simply could not keep up with his opponent's speed.
"!"
Before Pale could even register the shift, Kael was already inches away.
Defensive formulas flared to life—skin reinforcement already active, shock absorption reacting just in time.
But Kael's fist moved faster, catching him dead center.
Pale's vision flipped as his nose shattered under the raw kinetic force.
Even with his defense active, the force wasn't fully dissipated.
He rocketed backward across the room, smashing hard into the opposite wall before slumping down.
Pale blacked out for a split second.
"…"
When he opened his eyes again, he was kneeling on the cracked concrete floor.
Trembling, he slowly raised a hand to touch his face.
Crimson liquid coated his fingers.
Blood flooded his mouth, hot and metallic.
Never in his life had he tasted his own blood.
Pale froze in dazed disbelief.
"…"
He couldn't comprehend what had just happened.
Magic? Without an ACU?
On top of that, that bastard was fighting barehanded with zero cyberware.
Is the bastard really matching a Tier 6's speed with an unaugmented body? No… he's even faster.
Looking past the shattered wall, Pale caught sight of Kael's silhouette standing among the dust and debris.
His teeth ground together at the sight of that nonchalant posture.
No.
He corrected his thoughts.
I let my guard down. That's all.
He had written the kid off as an ACU-less half-wit, dismissing him as a punk with nothing more than cheap tricks.
That single misjudgment was why he was on his knees.
The moment he accepted his mistake, the shock faded, replaced by cold, tactical calculation.
The opponent could at least produce an output equivalent to his own tier.
He had no cyberware or ACU, yet he could use magic.
Pale had no idea how it was possible, but that didn't matter right now.
I have to go all out.
Vwoom.
Radiating skin-searing heat, his ACU began calculating a formula.
As Pale disengaged the ACU's limiter by one stage, his pupils turned crimson.
The Red-Eye Phenomenon.
It was a side effect that occurred when highly concentrated mana pressurized the nervous system and bloodstream—typically manifesting during high-tier magic or temporary ACU overload.
The backlash would be severe, but this was no time to care about consequences.
As scorching heat flared against his flesh, he looked down at the glowing red circuit lines surfacing on the back of his hand.
The ACU displayed warning messages across his field of vision.
[Output limit exceeded.]
[Neural strain increased.]
[Recommended Overclock Duration: 18 seconds.]
"You're pretty good."
Pale muttered, seething rage lacing his voice.
"It's my fault for letting my guard down."
Kael still offered no answer.
Pale wiped the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand and steadied his breathing.
"From now on, I'm going all out."
Overclock—a method that forcibly boosted formula processing speed.
Unlike simply increasing mana output, overclocking momentarily elevated the synchronization rate between the user's brain and the ACU.
Reaction time, formula deployment, and mana flow transition speed all accelerated to their limits.
It also carried heavy risks, but Pale accepted them without hesitation.
The youth standing before him was no longer a half-wit.
At least for this moment, he had to consider him an equal.
Pale dropped into a low stance, crimson eyes locked onto his target.
At the same time, Kael pulled out a second ACU and crushed it between his fingers.
Fortificatio Corporis [Body Enhancement]
Kael kicked off the ground, closing the distance in the blink of an eye.
Pale gritted his teeth.
He's fast. Even after I broke past my limits!
Kael dug right into his guard.
Pale extended his left hand, aiming to slice the boy's neck with blue mana threads, but Kael tilted his head, dodging the lethal strands with effortless precision.
In the same motion, the edge of his open hand struck Pale's elbow joint.
Though the defensive formula absorbed the blow, the underlying circuits sparked and stalled under the shock.
"Ugh!"
Pale swung his arm in a desperate counter, but Kael deflected the trajectory with an elbow and stepped deep into his flank.
Boom!
The collision shook the hallway walls.
Neither man yielded ground, but the sheer absurdity of the exchange was already fraying Pale's nerves.
How does this make any sense?
Exhaling roughly, Pale forced his output even higher.
"Haa… hah…"
Liquid fire seemed to surge directly beneath his skin.
[Overclock duration expiring soon.]
[Neural strain increased.]
Red warning text flashed at the periphery of his vision, but he ignored it completely.
He had to pour everything into this single exchange.
And yet, second by second, this mysterious opponent began pulling ahead again.
Where the hell did a monster like this come from? A human with no detectable ACU, zero cyberware, and no registry data can't possibly fight on par with me!
He reached the only logical conclusion.
His opponent was a secret operative from a rival MegaCorp, or a dark-site test subject whose records had been wiped clean.
Either way, he was no ordinary denizen of the Lower Level.
Pale deflected Kael's fist and stepped backward to create space.
"You bastard…"
His red eyes glared with furious suspicion.
"What's your affiliation?"
Kael paused, meeting his gaze.
"Affiliation?"
"Don't play dumb!"
Pale rasped, his voice raw and ragged.
"That combat proficiency… it's not something a street punk rolling around the Lower Level could ever have. Which MegaCorp sent you? Aegis? Volt Line? Or—"
"Let's just say…"
Kael cut him off, dusting off the shattered metal fragments of the broken ACU.
"…I'm the master of some Magic Tower."
Get the latest chapter and best reading experience at www.novatls.com
Comments