Chapter 274
Ka ka ka (3)
Yesterday...
IAM sat on the edge of the bed while the others filled him in on what he had missed during his brief coma. Their voices overlapped as they rapidly fired information towards his ears like a machine gun.
As the conversation went on, he finally noticed something that made him stiffen slightly. He was wearing his usual vest and shorts—the same ones he'd had on before he lost consciousness. For a moment, a faint wave of embarrassment washed over him. He wasn't exactly indecent, but being outside like this, dressed in indoor clothes, still felt strangely exposing.
Yohan noticed the way IAM glanced down at himself and smiled gently, a little awkward but sincere. "As we were leaving, just in case, I brought along your phone," he said, fishing it out of his pocket and holding it out.
IAM reached for it, but before he could say anything, Yohan added with a more hesitant look, "And… uh, I know you usually carry this around with you, so I decided to bring it too. Sorry if that was rude…" His voice trailed off, and his eyes flicked away, uncertain if he'd overstepped.
...
Yohan! What a reliable friend. Not only had he brought IAM's phone along, but he had also brought KASSARA.
In such a sudden and chaotic situation, the fact that Yohan had the presence of mind to grab it was almost unbelievable. Thanks to that small but crucial act, IAM now had it in his hand—and with it, he had just fired at Blaze.
In the instant Blaze realized IAM had a gun, his mind processed the information faster than his body could move.
He understood it completely—he was in the air, exposed, and IAM was on the ground with a clear line of sight. There was nowhere to hide.
The sound tore through the air.
BANG!
His instincts kicked in—his muscles tightened, his body jerking to the side just enough to shift the path of death. The bullet struck high, smashing through the flesh near the base of his neck and tearing across to the point of his shoulder.
The impact spun him midair like a ragdoll. A hot burst of pain exploded through his upper body, it was sharp and deep, followed by a warm trickle spreading fast under his skin.
When he hit the ground, the force rattled through his bones; his right arm went half-numb, twitching uncontrollably.
He clutched at the wound, fingers brushing over the torn, slick edge of flesh where the bullet had punched through. A shudder ran through his frame as blood seeped through his grip, dripping down to stain the floor.
But even through the pain—his lips curled.
"Ke… ka ka…"
He was laughing.
His laughter echoed throughout the entire room, bouncing off the white walls until it felt like the sound was coming from everywhere at once.
IAM frowned slightly, his expression unreadable, before glancing down at KASSARA with a contemplative look.
Blaze's voice broke through, it was loud and furious."You fucking madman! You actually tried to kill me! You're even more insane than me! Do you not have any sort of sportsmanship? Bringing a gun to a little spar!"
His anger seemed to ignite the air itself. Heat rippled off his body as faint waves distorting the space around him.
His muscles clenched and his veins bulged.
Then, before IAM's eyes, Blaze's wound began to close. The shredded flesh twitched and pulled together at an agonizing pace as steam hissed faintly from the raw edges.
As someone who was part of the Student Council, it was almost a guarantee that Blaze was far from ordinary. Especially as an ascender, it was no surprise that he had a healing method at his disposal.
The bleeding eventually stopped, the crimson flow drying around the edges of the wound. Yet despite that, the injury itself didn't improve much. His skin hardened slightly around the torn area, sealing just enough—but the damage ran too deep for his ability to completely mend it. Even though the bullet had gone clean through, leaving both an entrance and exit wound, it left behind a wide, gaping hole that refused to close.
The sight was gruesome as the charred scent of singed skin filled the air. but Blaze stood tall regardless, his eyes burning hotter than the pain that coursed through him.
When he saw IAM ignoring him and still staring at the gun, a raw, hot indignation flared in Blaze's bloodied chest. The sound of it came out jagged and full: "You fucking dick! Are you going to act like you can't hear me? I swear that as long as I breathe I'm going to beat that ugly face of yours into a pulp—your own mother won't be able to recognise you!" He spat the words like venom, each syllable driven by pain and fury.
IAM didn't answer. He remained lost in thought, his eyes fixed on KASSARA as if it were a puzzle.
The room hummed with tension; Blaze's voice ricocheted off the bare walls and fell away, but IAM's mind wasn't here. He had chosen to use KASSARA not to murder but to incapacitate—force Blaze out of the fight and keep the secret of his level safe. It had been a calculated decision, meant to end the immediate threat without escalating the situation into something irreversible.
He had planned the shot to surprise Blaze, to remove the advantage. That was all. Killing had never entered his plan.
He had no thought of killing him; after all, there were far more disadvantages than positives, and he would rather not stir the ire of someone like Ari and be potentially kicked out of the academy.
For IAM, the trade-off wasn't worth it.
But when it was time to shoot, IAM's body seemed to act on its own, ignoring the plan he had set. In that instant, a surge of killing intent coursed through him, filling every nerve and muscle with a unyielding potency.
He had intended to aim for Blaze's leg, yet in the flash of the moment, his body betrayed that intent, the gun's barrel snapping upward toward the neck before he could intervene. By the time IAM even realized what had happened, the shot had already landed.
He could feel the murderous intent pulsing through his veins, leaving him acutely aware of himself.