C321 - Invisible
Cora had seen Khan's emotionless face, and she also remembered it well. Istrone's events couldn't just disappear from her mind, especially since her love for him was born during those days.
Time had passed since those events. Cora had the chance to learn far more about Khan, and her love for him had only deepened with every new detail that she noticed.
Cora adored his intense stares, naughty words, and careful touches. She felt protected and loved beyond reason in his arms. She believed that she liked everything about Khan, but that changed after he kicked the source of the mysterious voice.
A silent, chilling killing intent had filled Khan's face. That expression was different from the aloof and detached behavior on Istrone. It was a dark feeling that made Cora freeze.
Cora felt scared. She didn't know that Khan could make such faces. That was a part of him that Cora had never had the chance to witness up close. Still, she felt unmistakable warmth and love among that darkness and coldness.
Khan's touch had changed after hearing that mysterious voice. His playful and teasing hands had transformed into a firm grasp meant to keep Cora safe. He was holding her waist and shielding her with his body as he tried to understand what was happening.
'Was I too distracted?' Khan wondered as he inspected the empty area pierced by his raised leg. 'No, that's impossible.'
Khan's senses weren't a switch that he could turn off. They were deeper than his sight or hearing. His mind lived among the waves of mana, so no amount of booze or excitement could make him ignore a change in that energy.
His senses' range had also increased after training hard. Khan had become able to perform the [Blood Vortex]. He had gone far beyond human standards, and he had even proven himself to be better than the specialists' tools.
Khan wasn't in his peak condition, and he had been quite horny too. However, he had lived on Nitis. He had done far more in far worse states there. His senses couldn't be faulty, meaning that the explanation behind that strange event had to be somewhere else.
'Is this due to a spell?' Khan wondered among the silence.
That guess had obvious issues. Khan would have felt the activation of a spell unless the mysterious man cast it outside his range. However, that figure couldn't possibly know that the event featured someone with Khan's perception.
Khan even eliminated the possibility that the mysterious expert was hiding his presence. He would have sensed a void in the environment in that case. Instead, everything felt and appeared perfectly normal, as if that voice had never existed in the first place.
"Are you scared?" The male voice suddenly resounded from the opposite side, and Khan didn't hesitate to kick toward its source.
The attack failed again. Khan knew that he had kicked the exact source of the voice, but he didn't feel anything, and the scene showed no reactions.
"It's normal to be scared in front of the power of darkness," The mysterious man said from a spot behind Khan.
Khan launched another kick while keeping Cora in his embrace. He had left the wall now, but he didn't dare to let her go.
"You must be soldiers from the city," The voice resounded from a spot outside Khan's range after the kick failed. "The soldiers in the barracks would have already run at this point. Your reactions are also incredible. You must be an elite."
"And who would you be?" Khan asked while adjusting his grasp on Cora.
"I'm an interested party," The male voice resounded from the previous spot. "I must admit that I didn't initially recognize you as soldiers. Your act was really good. Luckily, I always make sure to overhear everyone's conversations before deciding whether to reveal my presence."
Khan's expression grew colder. The event around the fire had been loud and messy. The mysterious man would have needed to be right next to Amber and the others to hear their conversations, meaning that he had approached them multiple times already.
'Is darkness his element?' Khan wondered. 'Can he hide his presence to this extent due to a spell? No, it's not hiding. He is probably blending with the environment in ways that even my senses can't perceive.'
"Do you always act like this?" Khan eventually decided to resort to baits. "Do you cast your cloaking spell before reaching each party? That must be exhausting."
"I'm used to living among shadows," The mysterious man replied, and Khan confirmed that he had yet to move.
'He didn't deny it,' Khan coldly exclaimed in his mind as his thoughts went wild.
Khan's understanding of the ways of mana allowed him to come up with a decent hypothesis. He would have sensed the presence of someone with mana during the party, so the mysterious man probably was the cautious type. He activated his spell before reaching the squares, which explained why Khan had failed to sense his arrival.
Still, the nature of the spell remained unclear. Khan knew that mana could achieve extraordinary things, but there were limits to that power, especially for someone in the Slums.
'Is he invisible?' Khan wondered. 'That would make him at least a second-level warrior.'
The mysterious man had dodged Khan's kicks, so he was fast enough to react to those attacks. The Lightning-demon style was among the fastest martial arts in the army's archives, so it was unlikely that the figure could have access to something similar. His ability to avoid the blows came from his sheer reflexes and physical strength.
Khan didn't feel scared after that realization. His guess could be wrong, but he didn't have solutions for the other options. Instead, if his opponent was an invisible second-level warrior, he had a chance to win.
"Why didn't you attack us or leave after realizing that we come from the city?" Khan asked. "Are you interested in what we have to say?"
"Oh, I only wanted to see if you were bold enough to get at it here," The man casually responded. "I'm a bit disappointed. The women from the city aren't as shameless as I heard."
Cora didn't blush. She obviously didn't like that someone had seen her private moment with Khan, but the situation didn't allow her to consider those feelings. Danger had appeared, so Cora had to be ready. She had already prepared her mana while she waited for Khan to drop her.
"So, you aren't from the city," Khan commented.
"I might have revealed too much," The man coldly chuckled. "The sole fact that you are here means that someone from the Slums has done the same. I should pay them a visit one of these nights."
The killing intent in that statement was impossible to miss. Having an invisible opponent was scary, especially after learning that he had spent part of the party overhearing conversations right next to each group.
"Your business must have something to do with what happened in Dewwick," The man continued. "I have no interest in talking about that. I feel merciful today, so I'll let you leave."
"What if we didn't want to leave?" Khan asked.
"Are you sure you want to threaten me?" The killing intent in the man's voice returned. "I can follow you to your habitation, and you wouldn't even notice it. I can cut your girlfriend's throat while she sleeps in your arms. I can laugh right next to you while you fall into despair."
The threat inevitably affected Cora, but she wasn't to blame. The danger posed by an invisible assassin was too great. Her body tensed up as the desire to run away filled her mind.
Khan saw the situation differently. His experience and knowledge allowed him to find flaws in those threats. Ordinary soldiers had limited mana capacity, and a spell that could hide someone's presence to that extent had to be quite expensive.
It was already deep in the night. Khan could guess that the mysterious man had inspected different parties before reaching that square. He had most likely activated that cloaking spell multiple times already, which would put him close to his limit.
Of course, that guess worked only if Khan had understood the man's power correctly. A third-level warrior might have limits beyond his comprehension, but the conversation had revealed subtle hints that added value to his idea.
The threats were probably real, and it would even make sense for the mysterious man to let Khan's group go. The death of soldiers from the city right after Dewwick's matters would only force the Global Army's hand.
Nevertheless, the opposite situation was also reasonable. The mysterious man might be at his limit, and Khan wanted to test that possibility. The mission would go back to the starting point if he wasted that chance.
"Go back to the others," Khan whispered as he relaxed his grasp on Cora's waist.
"I can fight," Cora complained as her feet touched the ground.
"I know you can," Khan stated without moving his eyes from the previous source of the male voice, "But I can't let him turn you into a burden. I'm the only one fast enough to deal with an invisible threat."
Khan's choice of words had been perfect. He didn't blame Cora's prowess but the situation, which made his orders easier to accept. Cora was scared, but she was ready to give her everything to help Khan. Yet, he was better on his own now.
"Don't get hurt," Cora whispered before hurrying back to the party.
Khan waited a second before raising his hand and unleashing the Wave spell toward the previous source of the voice. Red-purple light filled the isolated corner and destroyed everything it touched. The ground and the walls at his sides shattered instantly, and the small structures they supported soon crumbled.
Cora saw the spell and heard the ruckus it created, but she didn't ignore Khan's orders. The commotion attracted the attention of those at the party, but they didn't care if a few houses crumbled. That was a common occurrence in the Slums.
Amber and Grant didn't give the matter much thought either. They remained in their act to avoid revealing their identity, and their position made it hard for Cora to reach them right away. She had a crowd to cross to warn them.
Khan didn't blink at all while the Wave spell unleashed its power. He didn't divert his gaze even when the fall of the metal tiles at his sides generated a few clouds of dust. His attention remained on the previous source of the man's voice as he searched for clues.
"You are still there, right?" Khan asked before adding a lie. "The dust moved oddly."
"No, it didn't," The man spoke from a different position. "Why did you unleash something so dangerous here?"
"I only wanted to prevent you from going after my girlfriend," Khan revealed. "You tried, didn't you? Your breath was a bit ragged."
The last statement wasn't a lie. The dust and mana carried by the Wave spell didn't meet any obstruction, but the man's voice had changed tone. The attack had probably taken him by surprise.
"Do you desire me to kill you so despe-?" The mysterious man asked, but Khan suddenly shot toward the source of the voice and released a kick, interrupting the question.
"You aren't untouchable," Khan exclaimed as he drew the knife from his underwear. "You must also be quite tired. Come on, run away and deactivate your spell. I will sense it."
That was a partial lie. Khan didn't know if the man had enough mana to keep the cloaking spell active until he left his range. Still, Khan couldn't do much more in that situation. He could only throw another bait and hope that the expert took it.
The man didn't speak anymore, but Khan had guessed as much. He calmly waited while holding his knife firmly. He was ready to react to any change in his surroundings.
Nothing happened for a few seconds, but pain suddenly filled Khan's mind. A warm sensation spread on his cheek and forced him to take a step back. The injury didn't expand anymore, but he still found a long cut on that spot.
'I can react to this,' Khan thought as he prepared himself for the next attack.
A few silent seconds went by again before a painful sensation spread on Khan's right shoulder. He didn't immediately react and let the injury dig deeply into his skin before crouching to sweep his surroundings with a rotating kick.
The attack didn't cause any reaction, but Khan still stomped on a few spots around him. He didn't know if the man's spell prevented him from experiencing sensations when interacting with that mysterious figure. That possibility felt unlikely, but Khan didn't want to take anything lightly.
The silence returned, but Khan didn't feel anxious. He had basically confirmed that the man wasn't too strong. His reactions were good, but his attacks were slow. Khan even started to believe that the expert didn't know any martial art.
Then, pain spread from a spot on Khan's left side, but he spun on himself as fast as he could. A red-purple membrane covered the knife as he waved it during the rotation, and a suppressed cry resounded during his attack.
Khan quickly turned toward the source of the cry, and his eyes immediately converged on a bloody item on the ground.. Two dirty fingers had appeared out of nowhere.
To be continued