Akira stood amidst the carnage, his vengeance smoldering into cold ashes that swirled in the breeze.
The front of his chest heaved, the white lightning dissipating from his aura, leaving only a faint shimmer.
For the first time since the fight began, he felt the adrenaline start to ebb, chilled by the cold realization of what he had done.
His gaze sweeps over the chaos , faces frozen in fear, anger, and disbelief.
"I did it," Akira muttered, his voice low and cold, fists clenched at his sides.
"Now, I need their entire organization to fall by my hands."
For one instant, a thrill of triumph dances upon his heart it was a sad and short victory.
His eyes move to the ruin and then to the frantic crowd.
"But this...what a mess a goddamned mess."
He scratches the back of his neck, his frustration bubbling just beneath his cooling exterior.
"I should've picked someplace quieter...someplace I wouldn't be seen."
"Now I've got myself really in trouble all will be gunning for me."
His jaw clenches as realization dawns on how grave the situation has become.
"They'll say I'm a danger a monster a criminal."
"And they aren't in fault there...i should've controlled myself damn"
His thoughts are interrupted by sudden movement.
He turns sharply to see a young couple standing frozen, their faces pale and stricken with terror.
The couple stumbles backward, panic etched on their faces, before turning to flee. They weave through the debris and scattering bystanders, desperately trying to escape the man who had just reduced an superhuman to ashes.
For a brief moment, Akira watches them, a flicker of guilt passing through him.
"They are right to run after what happened, he thought bitterly.
"Everyone should've"
"I brought this chaos here. I—"
The thought shatters when the couple slams into something invisible in mid-sprint.
Their bodies rebound violently, hitting the ground with a sickening thud.
Gasps ripple through the onlookers as the pair lies motionless, unconscious but alive.
Akira's eyes narrow
"What the hell?"
He mutters, stepping closer.
He extends his senses, the fine-tuned awareness of mana that has become second nature to him.
Sparks of energy dance faintly in the air, subtle but unmistakable.
"A barrier...Here?"
He casts his gaze around the area, scanning for anything-or anyone-that might have activated it. The faint ripples in the air have now formed an invisible dome, trapping him and the remaining spectators like flies caught in a web.
His fists tighten, and his body stiffens with renewed tension.
"What is this...this isn't just any trap."
"Whoever set this barrier up at this size… they're strong...really strong."
His mind runs with the calculation of possibilities
Nightfall? Reinforcements? Someone else?
The tension builds as Akira goes forward one step, trying the limit of the barrier.
His fingers brush against the faint shimmer of mana, there he finds resistance of an unyielding wall—formidable and unnervingly strong.
Before he can ponder further, a sound slices through the eerie silence, sharp and unexpected.
"Khekhehkehe…"
It is low and guttural-one of those really, really chilling laughs.
The sound reverberates inside the invisible barrier, unseen, but unmistakably close.
Akira's body tenses up, his senses on high alert.
His eyes swing around the enclosure, scanning each nook, each shadow.
"Show yourself,"
He growls coldly and commandingly.
The only answer to his comand was that same odious, bone-chilling laughter, now echoing endlessly within the confining dome of mana.
The maniacal laughter still clings in the air.
Behind the screen, a figure emerges disheveled, weak, and yet impossible to faze.
Akira's eyes narrow in incredulity.
"It's You...the homeless man."
"The one who had handed me the demonic black pill.
The one Akira thought he'd never see again.
The homeless man leans his head back, his smile broadening almost in a relish of Akira's shock.
"What a monstrous lad"
"I knew you held quite a bit of malice, boy,"
Every word with amusement.
"But never did I expect you to let it explode like this...in the middle of Seoul's streets."
"Incredible, truly...I dare say I never thought you'd cross such a line."
Akira's fists clench and his body is tensed like a spring ready to strike at any moment.
"Who the hell are you?"
The man dismissively waves his hand, his smile never faltering.
"Shhh…don't waste your breath with meaningless questions."
"I'm here to help you."
"Help me?"
Akira's voice is loaded with incredulity.
"How?"
"You think what you've done is troublesome, don't you?"
"Lost yourself in your fury you acted without thought… and now you're trapped."
"At this weak level, you're in no position to face those who'll come to capture or kill you."
Akira's glare hardens and his white eyes glow faintly.
"I don't need anyone's help"
"Don't stick your nose in my business."
The man laughs, the low, mocking sound.
"Ah, such arrogance."
"I won't meddle with your things."
"But I said I would help you this time, and I mean it."
"Why?" - Akira replied
"Because I want to see how far you go."
"How much chaos you're capable of creating...and I want to see how far you can go before you break."
Akira snorts, voice cutting.
"Look around...everyone here saw what I did."
"How I destroyed him."
"They'll talk they have recorded it to i guess."
"What do you expect me to do-convince them to keep quiet?"
The man's grin stretches wider, eyes shining with something dark and impenetrable.
"Kheheh… it's the second time you've underestimated me, boy."
Without warning, he raises a hand and snaps his fingers.
An earsplitting silence falls over the area.
The faint shimmer of the barrier flares briefly, then collapses inward.
Akira watches in stunned disbelief as, one by one, the people within the enclosure-the bystanders, the fleeing couple, every single witness-disintegrate.
Their bodies vanish into nothingness, no blood, no remains, not even the clothes on their backs. It's as if they had never existed.
Akira's eyes widen in shock, the sight making him quiver to his bones.
The boy never witnessed such thing before.
"WHAT?!"
His voice thunders across the square now empty of people.
He is breathing harder as his mind races to understand what just transpired.
He whips around on the man, his entire body shaking with pure, unbridled anger.
"What the hell did you do, you bastard?!"
Akira screams at him, an edge of horror underlining his raw anger.
The homeless man only smiles, unruffled, as if the massacre he just committed was something trifling.
Akira's anger flashes in the instance as he charges at the man, his white aura burning furiously bright, lightning crackling around him like a storm let loose.
"You bastard!"
But the man doesn't flinch.
With a single, effortless movement, he raises his hand and catches Akira's punch as if swatting away a breeze.
He could feel it immediately his muscles seize up, his limbs refuse to obey.
Any strength completely useless against whatever skill this was.
"What the hell?"
Akira growls. His body strains against the unseen force, but it's useless.
The homeless man smiles, a calm yet chilling expression, as he tilts his head.
"Calm down, boy."
"No need for theatrics."
Akira's eyes blaze as he clenches his teeth in unrelenting fury.
"How could you do this?!"
He growls, his voice shaking with rage.
"You killed thousands of innocent people!"
He releases Akira's fist, letting him slump to the ground, unable even to move.
He crouches to meet Akira's eyes, widening his smile.
"And you think you're so different from me?"
Akira's body quivers as his anger gets hotter.
"What?" Akira spits, his voice sharp.
"I only kill those who deserve to die!"
The man's chuckle is dark, the amusement palpable.
"And I kill everyone I want to die."
"Stop me if you can...but we both know you can't."
Akira strains against the invisible force, growing even more frustrated.
"You insane fucker!"
The man dismissively waves his hand and stands up.
"Perhaps."
"But you'll thank me for this later."
"I said I'd help you, didn't I...so watch i haven't finished"
Akira watches, helpless, as the man looks around them at the destruction-broken buildings, debris scattered across the streets, ash that once was a human crowd.
The man claps his hands together his grin does not falter.
"Now, watch closely, brat"
He extends his hands outward, and an unnatural glow emanates from his body-the air around him vibrates with an energy Akira has never felt before, an overwhelming pressure that screams of something far beyond ordinary mana.
Ruined buildings start to rebuild themselves, piece by piece. Shards of glass rise from the ground, fitting seamlessly into window frames.
Crumbled walls rise and rebuild as if time was running in reverse.
In less than a minute, the street is perfectly restored, clean and untainted, as if Akira's fight never occurred.
The view leaves Akira speechless.
His lips part, but no words can come out.
The utter impossibility of what he is seeing roots him to silence.
The homeless man turns back to Akira, job done.
"There,"
He says nonchalantly.
"You're good to go."
"The buildings are restored, the streets are clean, and the people… well, they'll be blamed on a monster attack or a sudden dungeon break."
"No one will connect this to you."
Akira's paralysis fades, and he scrambles to his feet, voice sharp.
"How...how is this possible?"
"What the hell did you do?"
He leans in a little closer, his voice dropping to barely above a whisper.
"Arcane Mana."
Akira stops, frozen, as he says words that mean nothing yet sound terribly ominous.
The man steps back, still grinning.
"The rarest kind of mana...with it, I bend reality itself."
"That's why things you think impossible?"
"For me, they're just… a whim."