Adrian ran.
He ran as fast as his injured body would allow.
Branches whipped against his face as he tore through the forest, his breathing growing heavier with every step. His coat was already stained with blood, and every movement sent another sharp pulse of pain through his ribs.
But he didn't stop.
He couldn't.
Behind him came the sound of footsteps.
Not hurried.
Not panicked.
Steady.
Measured.
Relentless.
Ogun.
Adrian glanced over his shoulder.
The oni mask appeared between the trees.
Even from this distance, there was something terrifying about the man's composure.
Adrian had expected a wounded enemy to slow down.
Instead, Ogun was still chasing him.
Of course he is.
Adrian turned forward.
"Why couldn't you just stay in your library?"
He pushed himself harder.
His lungs burned.
His legs were beginning to feel numb.
The wound on his side had reopened, and warm blood soaked into his shirt.
He couldn't fight Ogun again.
Not yet.
He had already learned that the difference between them was too large.
Ogun wasn't simply better with a sword.
He was stronger.
Faster.
More experienced.
And his magical abilities made the situation even worse.
If Adrian tried to fight him directly again, he would lose.
There was no shame in admitting it.
I don't need to beat him.
Adrian ducked beneath a branch.
I only need to escape.
His danger intuition suddenly screamed.
Adrian threw himself to the side.
Whoosh!
A katana passed through the space where his head had been.
The blade struck a tree.
Adrian's eyes widened.
"You're kidding."
Ogun had thrown his sword.
The sorcerer calmly retrieved it.
Adrian stared at him for half a second.
Then he ran again.
The forest became thicker.
That should have helped.
At least, Adrian hoped it would.
But after several minutes, he realized something.
Ogun wasn't simply chasing him.
He was controlling the chase.
Every time Adrian changed direction, Ogun adjusted.
Every time Adrian tried to create distance, Ogun closed it.
Every time Adrian found a path that seemed useful, Ogun somehow anticipated it.
Adrian's expression became serious.
He's reading me.
His precognition activated.
The world seemed to slow.
Three possibilities appeared.
In the first, Adrian continued straight.
Ogun caught him within minutes.
In the second, Adrian climbed the rocky slope ahead.
Ogun intercepted him before he reached the top.
In the third—
Adrian turned sharply.
He entered a narrow path between two groups of trees.
Ogun followed.
The vision disappeared.
Adrian's eyes narrowed.
Not good.
He had learned something important during their previous fight.
His precognition didn't show the future.
It showed possible futures.
And every obvious future currently ended badly.
So he stopped looking for the obvious path.
Adrian suddenly changed direction.
He turned around and ran toward Ogun.
The sorcerer paused.
Adrian sprinted past him.
Then immediately changed direction again, heading toward another section of the forest.
Ogun followed.
Adrian smiled.
That's it.
He had managed to make Ogun choose the direction he wanted.
Now he just had to make use of it.
Several minutes later, Adrian reached a denser part of the forest.
The trees were taller here.
The ground was uneven.
Roots twisted across the earth, and thick vegetation blocked much of the moonlight.
Adrian finally slowed.
He turned around.
Ogun emerged from the darkness.
The katana rested in his hand.
Adrian reached inside his coat.
Several pieces of paper slipped between his fingers.
Ogun's attention immediately shifted.
The paper knives.
Adrian smiled.
"Let's try this again."
He flicked his wrist.
A paper blade shot toward Ogun.
Clang!
The katana deflected it.
Another.
Clang!
Another.
Clang!
Ogun advanced.
Adrian kept throwing.
Paper knife after paper knife flew through the darkness.
But Ogun was ready this time.
He understood the attack.
Every blade was intercepted.
Some were sliced apart.
Others were knocked aside.
None reached him.
Adrian stepped backward.
His mind raced.
He's completely focused on them.
Another paper knife flew.
Ogun deflected it before Adrian had even finished the movement.
Another.
Clang!
Ogun moved closer.
His confidence was growing.
He had already figured out Adrian's rhythm.
Paper knife.
Movement.
Paper knife.
Movement.
Predictable.
Adrian deliberately continued.
One blade.
Then another.
Then another.
Ogun kept deflecting them.
His attention remained fixed on Adrian's hands.
Exactly as Adrian wanted.
He reached into his coat.
Ogun's posture immediately changed.
The sorcerer prepared himself.
He expected another paper knife.
Adrian's fingers closed around something cold.
Something solid.
Something completely ordinary.
Mike's gun.
Adrian didn't draw it immediately.
Instead, he raised his other hand.
A paper knife appeared between his fingers.
Ogun focused on it.
Adrian threw it.
The paper blade flew directly toward him.
Ogun moved.
His katana intercepted it.
Clang!
At the exact same moment—
Adrian drew the gun.
Ogun's eyes widened.
For a fraction of a second, his entire attention remained on the paper knife.
He hadn't expected anything else.
Adrian fired.
BANG!
The gunshot shattered the silence.
Ogun's body jerked.
The bullet struck his leg.
Blood splattered across the ground.
The sorcerer's stance collapsed for an instant.
Adrian didn't hesitate.
He fired again.
Ogun reacted this time.
He twisted his body.
The second bullet missed.
Adrian was already running.
He didn't wait for another opportunity.
He didn't wait to see whether Ogun could stand.
He simply turned and disappeared into the forest.
Behind him, Ogun steadied himself.
His hand tightened around the katana.
The pain in his leg was sharp.
But it wasn't the pain that concerned him.
It was the method.
He had been watching the paper knives.
He had been watching the young man's hands.
He had been predicting the next attack.
And that was precisely why the gun had worked.
A simple weapon.
Used at exactly the right moment.
Ogun looked toward the darkness where his opponent had disappeared.
He had no name for him.
No identity.
No information.
Only what he had witnessed.
A mysterious man who could manipulate paper into blades.
Someone with an extraordinary instinct for danger.
Someone who appeared to possess some form of precognition.
And someone who had deliberately allowed Ogun to become accustomed to one attack before revealing another.
Ogun's eyes narrowed.
Interesting.
He took a step.
Pain shot through his injured leg.
He stopped.
The stranger had escaped.
For now.
Adrian continued running.
He didn't look back.
His heart hammered against his chest.
His body screamed at him to stop.
But he kept going.
One direction.
Then another.
Then another.
He crossed a shallow stream.
He climbed over a fallen tree.
Then he changed direction again.
His precognition flickered.
Three possibilities appeared.
In one, Ogun followed his trail.
In another, Adrian made a careless turn and was found.
In the third—
He disappeared into the darkness.
Adrian chose the third.
He wasn't certain it would work.
That was the point.
He no longer expected certainty from his ability.
He simply looked at the possibilities and chose the one he believed in.
Eventually, the footsteps behind him disappeared.
Adrian slowed.
He leaned against a tree.
His chest rose and fell violently.
For several seconds, he simply stood there.
Then he laughed quietly.
"That..."
He took a deep breath.
"...was way too close."
His hand moved beneath his coat.
The magical book was still there.
Adrian smiled.
At least he hadn't lost the reason he had nearly died.
He looked at the gun in his other hand.
Mike's gun.
The weapon had saved his life.
Not because it was powerful.
Not because it was magical.
But because Ogun hadn't expected it.
Adrian looked back toward the distant forest.
He could already imagine what Ogun would think.
The man would adapt.
Next time, he would be prepared for the gun.
Which meant Adrian would need something else.
His precognition activated once more.
For a brief moment, several futures flashed through his mind.
In some, Ogun found him.
In others, Adrian escaped.
In one—
The magical book was open before him.
Its pages contained knowledge that might finally give him an advantage against Selene.
The vision disappeared.
Adrian stared at the darkness.
A small smile appeared on his face.
"So that's why I came here."
He tucked the gun away.
Then secured the magical book beneath his coat.
He had lost the fight with Ogun.
He had been wounded.
He had been forced to run.
But he had learned something far more valuable than victory.
His precognition wasn't there to make him omniscient.
It couldn't tell him which future was real.
It couldn't guarantee survival.
It could only show him possibilities.
The choice was still his.
Adrian pushed himself away from the tree.
"Fine."
He started walking.
"Let's see what kind of future I can fool next."
And somewhere behind him, an injured oni watched the darkness where the mysterious stranger had vanished.
Neither of them knew when they would meet again.
But both understood one thing.
Their first battle had not been the end.
It had only been the beginning.