Sloth stared at Arthur’s face and he could only clench his teeth in frustration. The boy’s expression was contorted with anger and immense bloodlust. It didn’t take a genius to realize that he wasn’t going to back down nor agree to that offer even if Sloth begged for it.
‘It seems… I underestimated how… reckless he is…’ Sloth exhaled a small breath as he tried to calm down from all the pain he was feeling.
“Sigh, it seems… I have to put an end to this the bloody way.” Pulling his hand away from the injury. ‘Though, even if he is boasting like that… He is in no better shape than I am.’
Staring at the boy, he could see the blood seeping out his injuries as they were speaking. After sustaining all those hits to his body, he was barely able to keep standing even though his health was at a very low and critical state.
But, Arthur’s adrenaline and anger made him forget about that pain completely. He didn’t care if he even died as long as the man in front of him dies too.
At the same time, as the two were standing there, they noticed something odd. A weird grey mist started filling the entire room out of nowhere.
‘Hm?’ Arthur shifted his gaze to the left. ‘Mis- *Sniff* Wait… This is not a mist… It’s smoke!’
Looking at the door, he saw the grey smoke leaking in through the crevices as it filled the entire room. The fire was approaching their current position very rapidly and Arthur had completely forgotten about that.
Outside, the entire building was slowly catching on fire as the guards struggled to kill it. It was as if the water they were pouring on it refused to do anything. The red flames ate everything in its path, leaving nothing but ashes.
The panic reached a whole new level as even the workers and guards started running out of the place, unable to stop the fire.
Crowds gathered around the area as the city guards arrived at the scene and tried to take control of the entire situation. But, as they watched the building burn and burn, they realized that… they were far too late.
“Sir, what we should do?! The building will collapse soon!” A fireman approached his supervisor as he held into his hat. “We can’t even enter the building, sir!”
“…” The man frowned even deeper. “Make sure nobody approaches the area around the building. Close it all up and call the Royal Mercenary here!”
“Yes, sir!”
The man then ran away and left his superior alone, watching the destruction. “This will be huge news… for a long while.” He muttered as he held on to his hat.
He knew how truly massive the Red Pearl was and the fact one of their buildings faced such an accident will leave everlasting marks on their company.
‘Whoever is the cause of this incident… They won’t be let off easily.’
***
Inside, Arthur looked around him as he realized that the situation was only getting worse and worse.
‘I need to get out of here before this entire place falls on my head.’
Then, he looked down at Sloth, who seemed as worried as he was about the entire building collapsing.
‘I will finish this off and leave.’ Clenching his fist around the sword, he was about to dash toward Sloth to end his life. However, what the man did next took Arthur by surprise.
Out of nowhere, he turned around and dashed toward the door at top speed. Opening the door, he ran out as fast as he could.
“What?… Hey, wait!!” Arthur clenched his teeth as he chased after the man in a hurry. He didn’t expect him to run away like a coward out of nowhere.
“Where is all that bravado you put up?! Stop and face me like a man!” Arthur yelled as he ran through the corridor. The smoke filled his vision and entered into his lungs, making him cough audibly.
He couldn’t see the fire yet which meant that it still didn’t reach that floor yet.
Sloth looked over his shoulder at Arthur but still continued running as if his life depended on it. His injury was only getting worse and worse and the time he had left was too tight. So, in a split second, he decided to swallow his pride and run away.
He hated it, very much, but he knew that if he continued fighting Arthur, he was going to die. That fear destroyed any ego he had left.
‘I need to get out, now. He won’t be able to chase me if I leave the building.’ He thought to himself as he took a turn and saw a large window at the end of the corridor. However, flames had already reached this section of the building and was slowly closing the path on Sloth.
‘I can exit from there!’ He mused as he dashed forward.
Arthur followed after him, using every point of agility he had. He had increased his agility by 10 points a few moments ago to accommodate for the sudden shift in his battle style so he was able to keep up with Sloth and even slowly close the distance.
Even when he saw the fire burning on his left and right, he still ran as fast as he could. “I won’t let you escape coward!”
All the mana in his body channeled through his veins and muscles, giving him an additional boost. He put everything in his legs as his eyes poked holes into Sloth’s back.
‘I can get him! Come on!’
The ceiling above Arthur was starting to crack and burn from the intense heat and the floor beneath him was shaking from the lack of strong foundations. Arthur knew that the moment Sloth reaches that window, he will disappear and he won’t be able to catch him.
The two rushed through the corridor, racing against time and against one another. One with the intention to save his life and the other with the intention of ending a life.
Eventually, Sloth reached the window as he leaped forward without hesitation, smashing through the glass. Then, he immediately activated his teleportation ability, ready to transport himself to the ground.
However, at the very last second, he felt an arm grab into the back of his clothes. Looking over his shoulder, he saw Arthur.
“I got you!” Arthur grumbled as he leaped through the window at the same time as the two started free-falling.
“Get off me!” Sloth yelled as he tried to punch Arthur, only for the latter to dodge the attack and return the punch, straight to Sloth’s jaw. Then, he followed that with three successive punches. The two wrestled mid-air, exchanging punches and grabs. Arthur was dead set on ending the man’s life so he didn’t even care they were falling to the ground from the highest floor.
‘Dammit! We’re about to fall to our death!’ Sloth clenched his teeth as he quickly activated his ability. He didn’t have time to choose the exact position he wanted to teleport to which made the ability activate a random location.
Arthur felt his vision suddenly shift as the entire scenery changed again. They were now inside the building again.
A//N: Don’t forget to give the book some golden tickets for good luck! :3