Revenge pact

The boy's expression having confirmed his speculation, Quin felt a sense of twisted pride develop within him.

Buoyed by renewed determination, the knight surged forward with an astonishing burst of speed, that seemed inconceivable for someone fatigued.

Rather than approaching Adonis, the knight jolted towards the alley behind him; from which Adonis had come.

WHOOSH

A realization dawned upon Adonis, his eyes widening as he grasped Quin's intent.

He swiftly launched into pursuit, but his strides lacked the remarkable swiftness of the knight's.

Quin's rapid sprint was punctuated by intermittent glances over his shoulder, monitoring the proximity of the persistent boy in his wake.

At their initial exchange, Adonis had been within a reasonable range, encouraging Quin to kick his pace up a notch.

The second time he looked back, the boy was a bit further so he smiled arrogantly as he continued to up his speed.

The final time he looked back, he could no longer see the boy indicating he had left him in the dust; after all the boy was much slower than the knight and lacked the same level of endurance.

Entering the narrow alley leading to a dead end, Quin deliberately eased his pace, using the opportunity to regain his breath.

Progressing further into the dimly lit passage, he heard a coarse, crunching sound that resonated through the silence.

Intrigued by the strange sound, he lowered his gaze to his feet, where he noticed a sight that provoked a sinister smile.

Scattered across the ground were sizeable glass shards bearing luminous residues- evidence of two shattered magic potion vials.

The evidence substantiated his suspicions; this alley had served as the boy's resting point...

More importantly, it was where he hid Naomi.

Quin continued to advance towards the dead end, a palpable excitement coursing through his whole body.

Against the unyielding backdrop of a four-meter stone wall, Naomi sat- a figure both cold and trembling in fear. Her tears had subsided, and though a shiver coursed through her form, a semblance of regained composure was evident.

She impatiently awaited Adonis' return, the anticipation evident in her eyes.

"Adonis?" The girl called out as she saw the distant figure approach her, but when he was close enough she finally realized who it was she screamed in fear.

"GET AWAY!" A piercing scream escaped Naomi's lips, a potent mixture of loathing and repulsion. Her eyes bore a stark expression of intense animosity and disgust as they locked onto the knight before her.

"Naomi? It's me?" In a sinister undertone tinged with malevolence, Quin's voice slithered forth as he steadily closed the distance toward the trembling girl.

{Kukukuku...}

"You heard her..." Perched atop a tall wall that marked the end of the confined alley, Adonis' voice carried an air of authority and coldness as he addressed the scene below.

Balancing atop the wall, Adonis held a triumvirate of corked vials, each containing an iridescent fluid – one green, another vibrant pink, and the last a gentle blue.

Swift and determined, he uncorked them in rapid succession, imbibing the luminous concoctions with haste.

GULP

GULP

GULP

A subdued burp followed his hasty consumption, and without hesitation, he discarded the emptied vials, casting them to the ground before the unflinching knight below.

SHATTER

Unperturbed by the vials' destruction, the knight maintained his unwavering gaze on the child positioned high above the wall.

"No matter how many times you recover, I'll still defeat you." A derisive scoff mingled with a chuckle as Quin's amusement surfaced in response to the unsettlingly composed demeanour of the boy.

In his right hand, Adonis held nought but an empty expanse. Yet, his palm remained oddly open, his fingers contorted into an unusual arrangement, each bending in disparate directions.

"I suggest you don't move at all..."

With deliberate purpose, Adonis's voice rang out as he began to coil his fingers inward, the motion halting just before his digits could form a complete clench.

In a sudden, piercing zip, a metallic resonance filled the atmosphere as the wires he wielded sliced through the air, their swift movement accompanied by a faint brushing sound as they grazed against one another.

"I'm sure you're quite familiar with reinforced steel wire... Perfect for traps and capture, at the highest level being capable of completely butchering a magic knight."

To the discerning eye, a closer inspection would unveil a hidden marvel.

Intertwined between Adonis's fingers lay an imperceptible strand of steel, nearly invisible except when viewed from a particular angle, revealing its presence to the astute observer.

"That's true, but... Lower-grade steel wire is useless against knights. You expect me to believe you were able to afford high-grade reinforced wire." The knight chuckled mockingly.

"Go ahead, move. Test the grade yourself." Adonis's voice resounded once more, laced with an eerie calmness.

With a subtle adjustment of his thumb's position, a minuscule shift that held immense consequence, the hidden wire responded. It pressed into the knight's flesh with a purpose, incising a shallow, stinging cut upon contact.

"Tch!" Quin grunted as a shallow wound presented itself on his left thigh.

"So Quin...What're you going to do?"

"..." Quin kept silent for a few moments, he was speechless, defeated, outsmarted... by a commoner, a child.

"I concede... I give up on Naomi, I'll leave her alone."

{Don't take his word for it, kill him now.}

"And how can I trust you?" Adonis asked as he ignored the deity, but his tone was strange.

"I swear on my family name. I Quin Rupert promise." The knight's retort reverberated with a bitter edge, his gaze dropping to the ground below. The truth remained evident in his demeanour—he harboured a deep-seated dread of the looming spectre of death.

{That doesn't mean shit!}

"Very well then, you can go," Adonis said nonchalantly as he opened his palm widely, releasing all the tension in the wires. Wasting no time he summoned all the wires back into his spatial ring.

"Huh?" The Novice Knight was flabbergasted.

{You never learn...} Eos sighed.

After making sure he was free from the possibility of death the knight stretched his limbs around and glared at the boy.

"You should've killed me when you had the chance." Quin declared as he leapt into the air towards the boy who sat on the wall leisurely.

Naomi made a strange noise as she saw the knight cover the 15m between the two in a matter of moments.

Adonis merely sighed as he watched the knight approach him.

"Mama was right..."

As the knight closed in on Adonis, swift and determined, he unleashed an immediate assault. His right hand, aglow with a powerful aura, swiped with alarming velocity toward the youth's countenance.

"Sometimes just you have to beat the lesson into people..."

Just before he received the full force of the enhanced attack, Adonis simply disappeared from the knight's sight.

In a sudden reversal, Adonis swiftly retaliated, driving his knee forcefully into the side of Quin's face.

BAM

The impact sent the knight hurtling backwards, his body careening several meters until he collided with one of the nearby walls.

"Huh?" Quin who had just been blitzed looked up confusedly at the boy who approached him, staff in hand.

'I-I don't understand.'

"You know Quin... Mama taught me how to appropriately deal with a bully. The lesson was, ignore their taunts, defend yourself, and protect others..." Adonis' tone was cold, uncaring, and most importantly...

Ruthless.

Using his black staff, Adonis swung it at the knight's face hitting him in the jaw, causing it to crack on impact.

WACK

The knight went flying as soon as he was assaulted, face-planting on the cold stone floor.

THUD

Before he was allowed to look back at his opponent he was greeted by a kick to the jaw which forced him to land on his back.

"Mama always said, never hurt anyone who didn't hurt you first. And even then only do what's necessary." Adonis' canines grew longer and longer the more he spoke, and the air around him became colder.

DEMMMM

"Argh!" Quin screamed as he tried to get off his back to face the kid, but instead, he was met with absolute resistance; he was hit by a thrust of the child's staff right in the middle of his forehead.

THUD

"And Mama's lessons always worked...By the time I was six, no bully dared to pick on Lutz and me." Adonis's words echoed with an uncanny intensity as his transformation unfolded.

His nails, elongating into unnatural points, bore an eerie semblance of claws.

Simultaneously, his once-ordinary hair darkened considerably, nearing an almost-black hue, marking his metamorphosis into a more formidable presence.

DEMMM

This time, however, Quin managed to get up much quicker... although his movements were sluggish, sloppy, and uncoordinated.

Before the knight could realize it, the boy was in front of him and a similar scene occurred.

Adonis once again used his staff to assault the knight, this time he hit him much harder.

WACK

Employing his staff, Adonis hit the back of Quin's thigh; forcing him to his knees.

"AH!!"

"But you Quin... You're different from other bullies." Adonis said as he raised the staff once more and delivered another concussing blow to the knight's cranium.

WACK

"No matter how much I stood up to you, you never stopped." With a surge of calculated force, Adonis brought his staff down, the impact striking the guard's hand with potent accuracy as he lay defenceless on the ground.

"You even promised to leave Naomi, but seconds later you showed your true colours."

'Not that I expected you to change.' Adonis sighed.

Adonis raised his foot above his head as he looked at the knight grimly.

"I realized something Quin..." Using a fraction of his strength, Adonis stomped on the knight's head causing blood to gush from all the holes in his face.

SMASH

Quin was no longer responsive, but he was still alive; Adonis made sure of it.

He summoned a vial with green liquid labelled "Healing potion- applied" and poured it on the knight's head.

As the knight's wounds quickly healed, Adonis used his hand to grip Quin's hair to lift him to eye level.

"You Quin Rupert...Are not a bully."