Chapter 27: Rainy Night Pursuit

Chapter 27: Chapter 27: Rainy Night Pursuit

"Lilia."

At the sound of that name, the smile on Griffin’s face instantly froze.

His shame quickly curdled into rage. "You complained to her?"

"Just because you don’t have a brain doesn’t mean she lacks one, too," Caius said. "Other than you, no one in Class A would do something so childish."

Griffin scoffed. "Don’t lump me in with you hypocrites."

Everyone clearly harbored hostility toward that commoner. Just because Griffin was the only one to wear his malice openly didn’t make him the sole villain.

As far as he was concerned, Caius wasn’t much better.

If Caius truly was the paragon of virtue he claimed to be, he wouldn’t have just stood by and watched Victor get beaten up earlier.

However, if it wasn’t Caius who snitched...

Griffin’s expression darkened. "That guy is still in contact with Lilia?"

He wondered if it was true, even after he had warned the commoner more than once.

Caius didn’t bother answering the question. "Lilia told me to tell you to stay away from that commoner from now on."

Hearing that, Griffin almost laughed out of pure fury.

He was now certain that Victor had blabbed to Lilia—perhaps even pathetically begging for her help.

At the thought, the flames of his anger roared higher.

Nobles already placed the utmost importance on dignity. Not to mention losing face in front of the person he liked... Was there anything more humiliating in the world?

Caius cast a glance at Griffin, his eyes sweeping over the other boy’s livid complexion.

He didn’t say anything more. The message had been delivered. He couldn’t be bothered to interact with Griffin any longer, so he turned and left.

Griffin clenched his fists and spoke to the lackeys behind him. "Reach out to those hired thugs again. Tell them... I’m very satisfied with their results, but my only regret is that they went too easy on him.

"This time, I’m willing to offer a higher price," he added, a vicious glint flashing in his eyes. "A price high enough to make someone disappear."

Later that night, torrential rain poured from the heavens.

Heavy dark clouds pressed down on the horizon, swallowing the last faint glimmer of light. Though it was only evening, the world was as pitch-black as the dead of night.

Victor stood beneath the awning of a shop, watching the empty carriage station a short distance away.

In such atrocious weather, it was unlikely that another carriage would come by. He either had to walk back in the pouring rain or find a nearby inn to settle in for the night.

This was the famous Noble district near Lien Academy. He had a little money on him, but probably not enough to cover the cost of a room.

After weighing his options for a moment, Victor plunged into the rain.

This area was far from the West District; even by carriage, the trip would take an hour. If he didn’t want to get home at midnight, he had to take a shortcut.

Fortunately, he was fairly familiar with the vicinity.

He ducked into a narrow alley. Veiled by the heavy sheets of rain, the already dim passage was completely pitch-black.

SPLASH, SPLASH...

The rapid, dense sound of footsteps splashing through puddles drowned out all other noise. Victor kept his eyes entirely focused on the path ahead, terrified of losing his footing and falling.

Just as he was about to exit the alleyway, a streak of silver light suddenly flashed before his eyes.

Victor froze in his tracks.

His reflexes were incredibly fast, but his attacker was an absolute pro—the strike was swift, precise, and ruthless.

With a muffled thud, the sharp blade pierced flesh.

Victor stumbled backward. Blood immediately gushed from the wound at his waist, trailing down his soaked clothes to splatter at his feet and meld with the rainwater.

"Not bad, genius," a familiar voice echoed from the darkness. "No wonder the boss’s price gets higher every day."

Even with a sneak attack, he hadn’t managed to finish the boy off in a single strike. If this had been a few days ago, there was no way Victor could have reacted so quickly.

The teenager’s rate of growth was terrifyingly fast. No wonder the employer was in such a rush to have him killed.

Hearing that voice, Victor instantly understood everything.

Boot heels stepped through the rain, emitting a series of sticky, squelching sounds.

As he watched several silhouettes step out from the shadows, Victor lowered his gaze, concealing whatever little emotion he displayed.

"Leave your last words, little genius."

The leader gripped the bloodstained dagger. Washed by the rain, the snow-white blade gleamed with a cold light once more. "I’m not exactly a Demon. Since I’m taking your life, the least I can do is let you leave something behind."

Victor remained silent.

"No last words? Or are you trying to figure out how to escape?" the leader laughed. "Don’t waste your breath. To kill you, we even—"

Before he could finish, he suddenly cursed. "Fuck, Water Magic!"

Up in the air, the parallel sheets of falling rain abruptly coalesced, twisting into thick ropes of water that tightly bound the group of thugs.

This was the most fundamental Water Element Magic. Its lethal power was limited, but it was more than enough to restrain a few ordinary people.

Victor didn’t stick around, nor did he entertain any thought of fighting back to eliminate them for good. He bolted out of the alley without a second’s hesitation.

"After him! We can’t let him get away!"

Five against one, and it had been a sneak attack—if they failed now, it would be an absolute disgrace!

The leader quickly broke free from his watery restraints and led his subordinates in hot pursuit.

Visibility was truly abysmal in the rainy night.

While it concealed the attackers’ movements, it simultaneously washed away any traces of Victor’s escape. Footsteps, sounds, and scents—all were nearly impossible to track.

Victor dashed through the labyrinthine alleys. Massive blood loss was causing his body temperature to plummet, sending waves of dizziness crashing over his brain.

"No..." he thought. "I can’t fall here."

Griffin wanted him dead. Aside from hiring killers, who knew what other backup plans he might have prepared?

"I have to find a safe place..."

Just as the thought crossed his mind, his foot caught on nothing while passing through a narrow alley.

Losing his balance so suddenly while sprinting at high speed resulted in only one outcome.

Victor slammed violently into the ground.

Gasping for air, he used his uninjured arm to prop himself up against the pavement, barely managing to roll over.

His legs ached.

His feet throbbed.

His entire body was screaming in pain.

In his field of vision, the rain plummeted from the sky, mercilessly battering him. Even though Victor had always been calm and resilient, a wave of despair couldn’t help but wash over him at this moment.

"Hurry up!"

"There aren’t many places to run around here, and the kid is injured. He couldn’t have gone far!"

"Boss! I think I just heard something over there!"

Victor was instantly on high alert.

He forced himself to sit up. Under the immediate threat of death, his fleeting pessimism about the future was completely tossed out the window.

Griffin had been right about one thing.

He was a lowly commoner, as cheap and expendable as weeds. But commoners like him had one redeeming quality—they stubbornly clung to life.

Otherwise, he never would have survived this long.

Since he couldn’t run away...

Victor stared intently at the alley entrance, a glint of lethal intent flashing in his eyes.

The footsteps drew closer and closer.

Victor held his breath, letting the freezing rain swallow him whole as he melted into the cold, gloomy surroundings.

Through the dim light, several figures entered his line of sight.

Completely oblivious, they advanced, searching the pitch-black depths of the alley for the teenager.

Just as one of the men passed by him, Victor suddenly lunged. He snatched the knife from the man’s grip and, without a shred of hesitation, plunged it straight into his chest.

"Hey! Doran? What’s wrong?" shouted a thug from the back, noticing that his companion had suddenly stopped moving.

Using the corpse as a shield, the deadly gleam in Victor’s eyes was on full display.

"Did you find some—"

Before the man could even finish his sentence, he let out a sudden, muffled grunt and slumped limply to the ground.

Victor, who had just been preparing to make his next move, froze.

Right after that came the second, then the third...

Finally, the terrified voice of the leader echoed from the alley entrance. "Who are you... Wait, there’s someone backing us, you can’t—"

Everything abruptly ceased.

"He’s about to die, yet he still has so much to say..." Victor thought.

In silence, he shoved the corpse aside and looked up toward the front.

He stared at the pitch-black silhouette that had suddenly appeared.