The tunnels stretched endlessly, twisting through the ruins of a place that wasn't supposed to exist. Hikaru ran without looking back, flicking a card between his fingers as he calculated their next move.
Aldric wasn't chasing them.
Not because he couldn't.
Because he didn't need to.
Budi exhaled sharply, still half-carrying Selene. "Where the hell are we even going?"
Selene gritted her teeth, her silver eyes dull from exhaustion. "Out."
Hikaru smirked. "I like that plan. Very direct."
Budi groaned. "I swear, if you start cracking jokes right now—"
A voice cut through the tunnel.
Not Aldric's.
Something older.
"Why do you run?"
Hikaru froze mid-step.
The walls around them twisted.
Not physically.
Like they were being rewritten.
Hikaru flicked a card into the air. [Skill Activated: ♠6 – The Mirage]
The moment the illusion took effect, the tunnel around them shifted. The air wavered, and for a split second, they were somewhere else.
Somewhere safe.
The presence hesitated.
Then—
Laughter.
"You play well, trickster. But you are playing the wrong game."
Hikaru clicked his tongue. "Yeah, well. It's the only game I know."
The distortion faded.
Hikaru grabbed Selene's uninjured arm, pulling her forward. "Come on. We don't have time for whatever that was."
Budi didn't argue. Not this time.
They ran.
The tunnels opened up.
Cold night air rushed in as they finally escaped the ruins, stepping onto a jagged cliffside overlooking the capital's lower districts. The city lights twinkled below, distant and indifferent to whatever had just happened beneath it.
Selene collapsed against a rock.
Her breathing was heavy, her silver eyes dimming. "We… need to keep moving."
Budi crossed his arms. "Yeah? And where exactly?"
Hikaru flicked a card into the air, watching it spin. "Somewhere Aldric won't find us."
Budi exhaled. "That doesn't exist."
A voice answered him.
"No. It doesn't."
They spun around instantly.
Aldric stood at the edge of the cliff, his greatsword resting against his shoulder. His crimson cape billowed slightly, his expression unreadable.
He had followed them.
Not with magic. Not with tricks.
Just with sheer inevitability.
Hikaru adjusted his glasses. "Okay. So, how mad are you right now? Like, mildly irritated or murderously enraged?"
Aldric didn't blink. "You have no idea what you almost released."
Hikaru smirked. "Oh, trust me. I have some idea."
Aldric exhaled. "Then you're more of a fool than I thought."
Budi shifted slightly, his muscles tense. "You really planning to fight us? Thought knights had rules."
Aldric met his gaze. "I have one rule."
He raised his blade.
"No threats to the kingdom remain standing."
Budi moved first.
No hesitation. No wasted motion.
His mask darkened, his stance shifting. The air around him sharpened, his body lowering like a predator about to strike.
Aldric was ready.
The knight stepped forward, swinging his greatsword in a wide, perfectly controlled arc.
Budi vanished.
Not teleportation. Not magic.
Just pure speed.
He reappeared inside Aldric's reach, twisting mid-air—his knee striking toward the knight's ribs.
For a split second, Hikaru thought it would land.
Then Aldric tilted his wrist.
The greatsword's hilt slammed into Budi's side.
A single strike.
Budi skidded back, coughing.
Aldric didn't move from his stance. "You are fast."
He raised his blade again.
"But you're fighting the wrong opponent."
Hikaru sighed, slipping a card into his palm. "Budi. Maybe don't fight the strongest knight in the kingdom?"
Budi wiped a trickle of blood from his lip. "Yeah. Too late."
Aldric moved.
Faster than a man his size should have been able to.
Hikaru flicked his card forward.
[Skill Activated: ♠K – Grand Bluff]
The entire battlefield flickered.
Aldric's attack hit nothing.
Hikaru was already gone.
Not physically.
Just redirected.
Aldric's steel-gray eyes flickered. "Illusions."
Hikaru grinned. "More than just illusions."
He snapped his fingers.
The ground beneath Aldric shifted.
A single misplaced step.
Not magic. Not a spell.
Just making someone believe they were standing somewhere else.
Aldric's foot landed on nothing.
For half a second, he lost balance.
Budi moved instantly.
A brutal spinning kick caught the knight in the side—not enough to wound him, but enough to push him back.
Aldric gritted his teeth.
Then exhaled.
And swung his sword once.
The air split apart.
Not from force.
From sheer precision.
Hikaru barely dodged in time as the space around him bent inward, severing the illusion entirely.
Aldric didn't hesitate.
He raised his sword—not to strike.
To end this.
Hikaru exhaled.
"Alright," he muttered. "Time for Plan C."
Budi groaned. "There was a Plan C?"
"Of course."
Hikaru flicked another card forward.
[Skill Activated: ♣A – Wild Draw]
The world shimmered.
For exactly one second, all odds collapsed.
The next move would be random.
Aldric stepped forward.
The cliff collapsed beneath him.
Not from Hikaru's trick.
Not from magic.
Just from sheer, stupid luck.
Aldric vanished into the darkness below.
Budi stared. "That worked?"
Hikaru grinned.
"I mean, statistically speaking, something had to go our way eventually."
Budi dragged a hand down his face. "I hate you."
Selene exhaled sharply, shaking her head. "He's not dead."
Hikaru nodded. "Yeah. He's too stubborn for that."
Budi tilted his head. "So what now?"
Hikaru smirked.
"We run."
They disappeared into the night.
Aldric's words still lingered in Hikaru's mind.
"You have no idea what you almost released."
But Hikaru did.
And for the first time, he wasn't sure if he wanted to know more.