??Kenneth glanced back at the house, his heart pounding. Lust and her accomplice hadn’t stirred yet, but he knew time was running out. Shifting Lucy on his back, he approached the invisible wall and began feeling along its surface, searching for any weakness.

  His fingers brushed against a spot where the barrier’s flow stuttered—a faint irregularity. This could be our way out, he thought, hope flickering to life.

  But he quickly realized brute strength alone wouldn’t break the barrier, especially in his child form. He’d need to disrupt it with a sharp, focused burst of pnevma.

  Kneeling, Kenneth steadied Lucy against the fence and pressed his hands firmly against the weak spot. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath, summoning every ounce of focus he could muster.

  Slowly, he concentrated his pnevma into a single point, willing it to cut through the barrier’s defenses.

  The surface began to ripple, the flow of the barrier wavering under his efforts. Just as he felt the first sign of progress, a voice rang out behind him, cold and laced with malice.

  “I won’t let you escape.”

  Kenneth froze, dread knotting in his stomach. Slowly, he turned to find Lust standing just a few paces away, her eyes glowing with cruel amusement as she stepped closer.

  “For someone your age to control pnevma so precisely,” Lust said, her voice smooth and mocking, “you must come from quite an impressive family. How… interesting.”

  Kenneth’s body shifted instinctively, placing himself between Lust and Lucy. His heart hammered in his chest, but he forced his voice to remain steady. “I won’t let you take Lucy.”

  Lust’s smile widened, her eyes gleaming with cruel amusement. “You’re a brave little thing, aren’t you?” she murmured.

  With a swift motion, she seized him by the hair, yanking him to his feet. Pain shot through Kenneth’s scalp, but he bit back a cry, glaring at her despite the searing ache.

  “Don’t worry,” she said, her voice mockingly sweet as her fingers gripped his hair tighter. “I’ll take you both. But I’m especially curious… how will your pnevma taste?”

  Her hand moved to his forehead, and in an instant, a crushing force bore down on him, as though something vital was being ripped from his very core. His vision blurred as a sharp, relentless pain surged through his skull, making his knees buckle beneath him.

  “Ahh,” Lust murmured, her tone dripping with satisfaction. “Your pnevma… it’s exquisite. Even richer than the girl from Luminel. What a prize.”

  Kenneth felt his strength slipping away, darkness tugging at the edges of his mind. His weakened form left him powerless, unable to summon the fire that lay dormant within him. If only I could summon the fire… he thought, the ache of desperation tightening his chest.

  But then, from somewhere deep within him, he felt it—a familiar warmth, faint at first but growing stronger, stirring like a flame waiting to be unleashed. The comforting heat built steadily, igniting a strength he thought he’d lost.

  Lust paused, her expression shifting as she sensed the change. A surge of power radiated from Kenneth, and in the next instant, fire erupted around him in untamed, fierce waves.

  Her eyes widened for a split second, shock flickering across her face. “Fireon’s magic…” she breathed, equal parts fascination and anger. The flames, long believed extinguished, roared back to life.

  The heat intensified, scorching the air around them, and Lust stumbled back, her hands blistering as she recoiled. For the first time, her smug composure faltered.

  Kenneth staggered to his feet, his breaths labored but steady. The fire coursed through him, raw and untamed—a force finally unleashed.

  Lust’s lips curled into a snarl, her initial fascination giving way to frustration. “You’re from Fireon,” she hissed, her voice laced with a mix of rage and disbelief. “The fire… how is it possible?”

  The flames crackled and danced around Kenneth, illuminating his determined gaze. But as he stood his ground, shadows began to writhe around Lust, dark tendrils pulsing with a sinister energy. The temperature dropped sharply, the oppressive power of her aura swallowing the light and filling the air with an icy chill.

  “Do you think that little fire of yours can stand against me?” Lust sneered, her smile twisting into something cruel and deadly. “I’ve devoured the pnevma of Wizards far stronger than you. I’ve stood in the very heart of the Nether Clan.”

  Her tone turned mocking, dripping with amusement. “But you… such bravery for a mere child. I’m starting to like you,” she purred, tilting her head. “Let’s see how much you can endure before I consume every last spark of that pnevma of yours.”

  With a flick of her wrist, the shadows around her surged forward, twisting into lethal spears that shot toward Kenneth with terrifying precision.

  Kenneth raised his arms, and his flames roared to life, intercepting the oncoming tendrils in brilliant bursts of light and heat. He gritted his teeth, sweat beading on his forehead as he held steady against the overwhelming force of her magic.

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  But Lust advanced, her movements fluid and calculated, the shadows weaving around her like a living cloak. Kenneth thrust his hands forward, sending a wave of fire hurtling toward her, but Lust melted into the darkness, dodging with effortless grace.

  “Is that all you’ve got?” she taunted, her voice ringing with mockery. Above her, the shadows spiraled, twisting into a jagged crown that pulsed with dark energy. As she raised her hand, the air thickened, vibrating with a hypnotic power that pressed against Kenneth’s mind.

  “Kneel,” Lust commanded, her voice echoing with magical compulsion.

  Kenneth staggered under the weight of the spell, the force pressing down on him like an invisible hand crushing his very will. His knees buckled, his flames flickering as his body fought against the command.

  “Good,” Lust murmured, her smile widening as she stepped closer. Her dark aura coiled around him, shadows slithering like serpents and binding him in place. Her hand extended toward him, fingers curling like claws, radiating malevolent intent.

  Kenneth’s vision blurred as the darkness closed in around him. Pain surged through his body, his flames sputtering as his pnevma slipped from his grasp, drained by her relentless hold.

  “Such rich pnevma,” Lust murmured, satisfaction gleaming in her eyes as she leaned closer. “Fireon’s power… wasted on someone like you.”

  Kenneth clenched his fists, struggling against her grip, but his strength was failing. The flames inside him dimmed, their warmth fading as the shadows grew tighter around his body.

  The last of his strength ebbed away, and the darkness consumed him entirely. His body went limp, and his flames flickered out as he slipped into unconsciousness.

  Lust’s twisted smile was the last thing he saw before everything faded to black.

  ＊＊＊

  Lust smirked as she leaned over the unconscious child, finally able to drain his pnevma without resistance. But as she continued to siphon his pnevma, a strange sensation caught her attention. She hesitated, glancing at the boy—his fingers twitched, then wrapped firmly around her wrist.

  Her eyes widened as he looked up at her, his gaze sharper and far more focused than before. There was something unsettling about it, a maturity and intensity that didn’t belong to a child. She pulled back instinctively, unnerved by the shift in his demeanor.

  “What is this kid?” she muttered, shaken.

  Glancing at her hand, she realized it was trembling.

  “Ah, I was supposed to be asleep, but you keep pestering this kid,” came a calm, collected voice from the boy—a voice that carried an authority and strength that sent a chill down her spine.

  Lust paused, taken aback by the sudden shift in his demeanor.

  His focus shifted to the barrier she had created, as though she were no more than an afterthought.

  She watched, frozen, as he placed his small hand to the barrier. The barrier was no ordinary spell; this was a high-level dark magic designed to isolate them completely from the outside world. Not even Anterthon’s elite guards could break it.

  But the moment his hand touched the barrier, it began to crack, spreading like a web of shattered glass until it dissolved entirely.

  “Impossible…” she whispered, barely able to comprehend what she was seeing.

  The boy turned to face her, his expression calm and unbothered. “Reinforcements will be here soon,” he said, his tone almost casual. “But before that…”

  The falling fragments of the shattered barrier suddenly froze midair, their pointed edges turning toward her like a swarm of jagged, lethal shards. Lust’s eyes widened in shock.

  How is he controlling it? She barely had time to throw up a protective shield as the shards shot toward her with deadly precision. Her barrier flickered as the shards pierced through, their sharp edges cutting into her. Each wound seared with an unnatural intensity, and for the first time in years, true panic surged within her.

  Desperate, she lashed out with a shadow tendril, aiming to immobilize him, but the boy raised his left hand, releasing a brilliant burst of light magic that shattered her tendril like smoke in the wind.

  She staggered back, stunned. Light magic? This child wields light magic too?

  The boy’s gaze darkened. “Consider this a punishment for waking me before my time,” he said, his voice low and dangerous.

  A blue flame appeared in his hand, controlled and intense. With a swift motion, he sent it toward her, the flame piercing directly into her core.

  Agonizing heat erupted inside her, spreading from the center of her being. She felt her insides igniting, her magic unraveling under the relentless flame. She screamed, her voice echoing in the enclosed space, the sound laced with fear and pain.

  But just as he was about to unleash a final strike, a masked figure appeared at her side. In an instant, the figure conjured a wave of dark magic, intercepting the boy’s attack and forcing him to step back.

  Calmly, the boy raised a magic barrier, deflecting the incoming energy without breaking his composure.

  Seizing the opportunity, the masked figure pulled Lust to her feet, dragging her away as she groaned weakly. Before Kenneth could react, they vanished into the shadows, leaving behind an eerie stillness in the air.

  Kenneth stood there, his small form silhouetted by the faint glow of dissipating magic. His chest heaved, the adrenaline finally draining from his body. For a moment, he remained still, his expression unreadable as he surveyed the empty battlefield.

  Then he sighed, his shoulders slumping as fatigue washed over him. Stretching his arms, he muttered, “Finally… time to sleep,” as if the entire ordeal had been no more than a passing inconvenience.

  Just as he was about to collapse, a voice rang out from the shadows, tinged with disbelief.

  “Kenneth… how were you able to use light magic?”

  Kenneth turned sharply, his eyes narrowing before recognizing the figure stepping forward. It was Lucian.

  Lucian had arrived moments earlier, using a teleportation spell drawn by the faint magical signature he’d traced to Lucy. He had stayed back, watching the chaos unfold, realizing that intervening might have only made matters worse. Now, as the dust settled, he couldn’t contain his questions any longer.

  “Light magic,” he repeated, his voice lower but no less incredulous as he searched Kenneth’s face for answers. “That wasn’t fire. What did I just see?”

  Kenneth blinked at him, swaying slightly. A lazy smile tugged at the corners of his lips. “Why?” he said, his tone casual and teasing despite his evident exhaustion. “Because I can?”

  Lucian frowned, but before he could press further, Kenneth yawned deeply, his small frame trembling with weariness. “No time for questions… I really need to sleep…”

  His legs buckled beneath him, and he crumpled to the ground. Lucian darted forward, catching him just before he hit the floor.

  “Kenneth!” Lucian knelt, cradling him, his mind racing with questions. His heart pounded as he stared at the unconscious boy in his arms.

  Light magic. Fire magic. Lucian’s gaze darted to the faint scorch marks and lingering traces of magic in the air. Who is Kenneth really?