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"You're Hexia Tilan, right?" He spat out the cigarette butt, twisted it under his foot with a friction so intense it made one's heart tremble, and the steel floor even bore some scratches.
The girl retreated a step, looking at the black-haired youth in front of her, her magic power rapidly circulating within, reaching out along her body.
Dragon Sequence 4・Unknown (Rating: Rare Radiant Gold Level)
In Hexia's vision, the magic power of the Dragon Sequence around the black-haired youth appeared almost tangible, issuing threads as if to ignite the air itself, imposing a suffocating heat.
"I am Hexia Tilan." The girl struggled to calm herself, quickly thinking of ways to deal with the situation.
Running away wasn't an option, Hexia had once been told so by someone familiar, but unfortunately, she had never managed to do so until after a brush with death, which gave her just a bit of resolution and courage.
"Oh, quite honest, admitting it just like that."
The black-haired youth raised his head, his dark fringe parting to reveal intimidating golden eyes that cast a wave of oppression and fear through the cramped space.
The handbag fell to the ground, the originally white bag slowly soaked by the puddles on the floor, staining it a layer of grey-black.
Hexia turned her head and started running, the familiar corridors and corners shaking in her field of vision as she quickly thought of the nearest station of the Autonomous Units tasked with riot control.
The closest one was on the upper floor to the north, near a small supermarket, next to which was an unmanned police booth housing the Autonomous Units.
But then, a ferocious punch from behind interrupted her thoughts.
She was flung into the air like a rag doll, crashing into the corridor's wall, wracked with agonizing pain as if her body was falling apart.
In the world-upending pain, she slid down the wall and rolled on the floor twice before coming to a stop, her body covered in abrasions and bruises.
"Huh, that's it?"
The black-haired youth pocketed his hands, stepping towards her, looking at the girl in agony on the ground.
"Such fragility." After saying so, he kicked out once more, and Hexia was sent flying again, tracing a long parabola in the air, rolling over the steel floor seven or eight times before stopping.
Her arms and wrists were full of cuts and blood, and her knees had scraped off a layer of skin, the dark red blood moistening the girl's thighs.
"Boring."
The black-haired youth approached again and then stepped on the girl's left hand, eliciting a miserable scream that even included the sound of bones breaking.
Over ten seconds later, he lifted his foot, looking down at the girl on the ground sweating coldly, convulsing and struggling, a hint of contempt and irritation flickered in his eyes.
Such a boring creature, how could master have fallen to such a person...
He took out his personal terminal, turned away, and walked over to the steel railings nearby, ready to make an emergency call to have someone drag the girl away.
The sobs and cries behind him continued, Hexia covered her bleeding forehead with one hand, slowly struggling to her feet, knees and body in severe pain causing her legs to tremble, nearly collapsing, while her vision was blurred by tears and blood, only able to discern the silhouette of the person opposite her.
No more running away, Hexia, you no longer have family, no haven to turn to, nor will there be anyone to love and comfort you wholeheartedly...
Her calf muscles gave way, and she collapsed onto the floor again, her palm supporting her on the ground and leaving the trace of fine sand, tiny grains of sand and iron filings embedding into the flesh, blurring her formerly fair skin.
Hearing the thud, the black-haired youth turned his head, watching the girl struggling on the ground to stand up.
Hexia's fingers tensed, pressing against the cold floor, she mustered her strength to stand unsteadily, her grey hair had at some point turned completely black, her face smeared with dust and blood, lifted to reveal those pale blue eyes.
"Interesting." The black-haired youth put down his phone and hastened towards her, then swung out a punch.
Golden dragon scales materialized on his robust arm, and the pressure of the ensuing punch was solid; watching the fist in her vision seemingly slow motion, a special symbol appeared in Hexia's pale blue eyes.
The once overwhelming flame-like strike suddenly cooled in the blink of an eye, the stiff arm and fist diverted by Hexia, striking the wall behind her and leaving a deep crater, the enormous vibration and noise echoing through the corridor.
However, the searing magic power of the Dragon Sequence circled back, relentlessly scouring the cold stiffness out of the youth's arm, helping him recover quickly.
By this time, Hexia had run several hundred meters away, after a brief period of self-healing, she had regained the ability to move, albeit still in a disheveled state.
"You can't escape, naive girl." The black-haired youth growled and charged again, his eyes now devoid of prior contempt and irritation, replaced with a hint of excitement, and the energy emanating from him more intense than ever, burning fiercely; it wasn't until then that he became serious.
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In the following minute, the two raced through the corridors, the distance between them shrinking ever closer. Hexia clattered up the stairwell, arriving at an elevator shaft. She couldn't take the elevator as usual; the other wouldn't give her the leisure and opportunity. Her only choice was to make use of this ancient infrastructure to move between floors.
She remembered the last time she was here, when she was very young.
There was no light inside the elevator shaft, and the ground was covered with plenty of dust and rust, but fortunately, there were no obstructions, allowing Hexia to move quickly.
After activating her Transcendent Profession Talent, she didn't need vision to see in the darkness. She could avoid various obstacles, an advantage she had over the dark-haired youth. Otherwise, she couldn't keep up with the speed of this Transcendent from the Dragon Sequence.
As she moved dozens of meters upward, another sound echoed in the shaft; Hexia knew the dark-haired youth had arrived, and she sped up once again.
The frantic running caused an adrenaline rush, easing the severe pain in her body, but she was unsure how long she could maintain such a state.
Faster, just a bit faster, her palms brushed against the rough, flaking railing as Hexia ran, her full focus on the task, the sound from behind growing distant.
Just when she thought she could escape to safety, that there might be a glimmer of hope, a loud noise came from the shaft, followed by a dark silhouette flying through the mid-air of the corridor, then grabbing the railing and flipping into the shaft.
"You can't escape," the gold dragon eyes in the dark were terrifying, resembling the grim reaper.
Hexia slowly backed away, the mysterious symbols in her blue eyes surfacing once again.
"The same trick again?"
The other made a sudden move, leaping and kicking off the wall, flashing past Hexia's view before slamming down with his foot, sending Hexia crashing through the old railing and flinging her out.
Without the protection of the railing, the girl fell into the darkness below, quickly becoming invisible.
Looking into the deep elevator shaft, the dark-haired youth also ceased his actions, regretting that his last move might have been too swift.
Don't die so easily...
Then he too jumped down.
...
Chilled water infiltrated Hexia's body, forcefully pulling her back to consciousness. In pitch darkness, she felt herself continuously sinking into the deep, stagnant water.
All light and sound faded away, her limbs began twitching numbly, only able to despairingly sense her ongoing descent.
Water filled her lungs, the sharp pain made her struggle in agony, but no sound could escape her lips, and her ears were filled with the murky sound of water.
Hexia couldn't swim and was unable to under these circumstances, a cold chill creeping up from the bottom of her heart and spreading through her limbs.
Death was drawing near...
Consciousness blurred amidst sharp pain, fear, and futile struggling, her limbs flailing helplessly unable to grasp anything solid, just the murky frigid water flow.
Whimper... cough cough... intense coughing impulses came from her chest and lungs, but the despair was that there was no way to alleviate it.
At last, her struggles weakened, her limbs stopped flailing, her taut body slowly relaxed, and then gradually sank down.
Blue eyes stared blankly into the darkness above, gradually losing their luster...
It's all over, Hexia...
The darkness spread further, finally shrouding everything, Hexia could no longer see anything, just the cold water sounds by her ears.
Knowing she was about to die, she calmed, no longer holding any hope or prayers.
Such is life, she supposed...
She slowly closed her eyes, the only light in the darkness, a pale blue dot, also flickered and dispersed.
...
Temisia didn't know what feelings she had when she entered this pitch-black night. If only it hadn't been so painful and regretful.
I truly envy my sister; she's always been so calm.
If I can survive, I want to be like her, not running from anything, not lying to myself anymore, facing everything with honesty.