The man stared at the location Modret had disappeared in, and his eyes widened in realization. 'This little kid who hasn't undergone the awakening ceremony is already an awakened?'
At this moment, he knew he had to kill Modret tonight without a doubt!
'When did it happen? When did he awaken? I have to alert the others!' The man had this thought, then immediately paused. 'No! This is something unprecedented. If I can kill him alone, the rewards and benefits I'll obtain from the organization will be substantial!'
Grinning evilly, he increased his speed drastically and quickly caught up with Modret. The enhancement brought by mana to someone in the middle phase of the galaxy realm wasn't something mere abilities could make up for.
Sensing the rustling of wind behind him, Modret widened his eyes and tried to increase his speed once more. However, it was all to no avail. Seeing that he was trapped, a fierce light surfaced in Modret's eyes and he stopped running.
He turned to stare at the blue-masked man with a solemn look.
The man underneath the mask grinned, seeing Modret cornered. "Before I kill you, tell me, brat, when did you awaken?"
Modret's expression didn't change in the slightest. Without hesitation, black flames wrapped around him, causing him to look like a shadowy, blurred entity.
'I can only use this for roughly ten minutes. After that, I'll run out…' Modret knew that the higher the grade of an ability, the more the consumption of mana. Sometimes, having a high-grade ability might not always be the best decision.
However, Modret had no choice. If he could survive the ordeal for the next ten minutes before Axel got reinforcements, it would definitely be worth it!
Modret didn't hesitate and immediately rushed at the blue-masked man. Only by being close to him and actively engaging him in battle could he have a slim chance of delaying the inevitable.
The masked man noticed that Modret was stalling for time. However, he was unbothered, staring at Modret as though he were studying an animal.
'It's the same black flames from before. What kind of ability is it? What grade of ability is it? How's it so terrifying? Could it be S-grade just like his mother?' It was difficult to tell the exact grade of one's ability without knowing it completely, so the blue-masked man could only make random guesses.
He dodged to the side as Modret's hand, clad in flames, brushed past him, bringing about a searing heat. Just when he thought it was over, a sharp rustle of the wind resounded, and a wind blade from nowhere erupted, slashing at his neck.
BANG!
Controlling the black strands, he dragged his body forward like a puppeteer and managed to successfully dodge the sneak attack.
'Another ability?' The thought briefly flashed through his mind, but he immediately shook his head. It was extremely rare for one to possess two abilities or more, so he didn't even dwell on the fact that Modret could possibly possess more than one.
'It must have been another means of him using those black flames!' Because Modret had deliberately coated the wind blade in black flames, the blue-masked man was unable to tell the truth about Modret's numerous abilities.
Modret felt his danger sense trigger and, without hesitation, twisted his body—still clad in black flames—to the side.
BANG!
A sharp sword struck the space his head had previously been. The blue-masked man then retracted his hand, using his puppet strings to control his body's movements.
'We're evenly matched!' Since the moment they had started fighting until now, Modret realized they were almost evenly matched.
With his numerous abilities, he was at the same level as someone at the mid-stage of the galaxy realm. It was truly something baffling.
'However, due to his strange puppet-like movements, I'm unable to land a hit on him.' Modret frowned at the thought as his body, cloaked in flames, retreated rapidly after being struck by the blue-masked man's sword.
It had pierced through his gut, causing a deep gash to appear. However, the wound was rapidly closing up due to Modret's healing ability—the C-grade blood cloak and C-grade healing.
With both of those abilities, Modret didn't have to worry about getting injured.
The blue-masked man also frowned slightly. 'How is this brat so strong? Even if he awakened ten years ago, he shouldn't be this strong!! Could he be an innate awakened?' His heart skipped a beat at the thought, but he immediately shook his head, disagreeing with himself completely.
It was probably his mind playing tricks on him. No way an innate awakened would be actively confronting him right now!
After shaking such thoughts off his mind vehemently, he struck toward Modret again, returning his rapt attention to the battle between them.
The battle raged on with neither of them gaining the upper hand. As time passed, Modret was growing increasingly nervous. However, although the blue-masked man's eyes were becoming more solemn, his face held no hint of panic.
It was as though he could already feel victory within his grasp. 'If he doesn't have any more trump cards, this battle should end within a few minutes.' He understood Modret's state perfectly.
'In fact, it's a surprise he's lasted this long. To think he's actually cultivated to the cosmos realm—and such a high level at that!' He had completely grasped Modret's strength.
His hand moved like a ghost and immediately his sword pierced through Modret's arm, still clad in black flames. Although Modret groaned for a brief instant, he continued fighting fiercely as though nothing had happened.
'How ingenious! Or should I call it ruthlessness? Using his fire ability to sear and burn away the wound. This youth is truly tenacious!' He couldn't tell that Modret possessed a few healing abilities, so he could only come to incorrect conclusions on the matter.
However, just the thought alone made him shiver slightly. 'He must be killed! So young and already ruthless to himself—if he's left to grow some more, he'll definitely be a terror to the organization!'
The two of them continued fighting for three more minutes when finally the flames on Modret's body flickered slightly. He collapsed to one knee, blood dripping from his mouth as he stared at the blue-masked man.
'My mana has run out!' Modret's heart tightened at the thought. He gazed weakly at the masked man, who seemed calm as though he had expected it. The blue-masked man was gradually approaching with a sword in hand.
He stared at Modret for a moment, then shook his head. His cold, nonchalant voice resounded in Modret's ears, "You fought well for someone so young."
As he finished speaking, he plunged his blade toward Modret's heart. Modret prayed silently for something to happen—perhaps his bloodline would activate at this moment, just as it had when he was a baby. However, nothing happened.
His life flickered before his eyes, memories surging to the surface as his lifeforce slowly slipped away.
After more than fifteen years in this strange world, just as the gods had predicted, Modret was unable to save them. Modret had succumbed to fate.
Modret had died.