(Arin's POV)
The Third Floor Library always possessed the scent of a polite and ancient death.
Unlike the lower floors, which were noisy with the whispers of teenage romance or the panic of students chasing assignment deadlines, this floor felt silent and desolate. The air here smelled of decaying paper, dried ink, and the dust of history that had settled for hundreds of years. Bookshelves made of black Mahogany wood towered high up to the dark ceiling, creating narrow corridors resembling the labyrinth of an ancient tomb.
I sat alone in a secluded corner, reading under the glow of a magic lamp starting to dim as it ran out of mana energy.
In front of me lay open a thick book with a severely peeling leather cover. Its title was faded by time, yet still legible: Geological Report and Ancient Mine Structure: The Hollow Deep.
"Sector Nine..." I muttered softly, my index finger tracing the topographical map drawn by hand with faded ink.
My eyes moved fast, scanning every available detail. Cave structure, depth, rock type, and most importantly, the air circulation inside.
My suspicion and the information Tom brought were finally confirmed. Sector 9 was a crystal mine abandoned thirty years ago. The reason was clearly written in the footnote on page 204: 'Natural methane gas accumulation and the collapse of main ventilation caused the death of twenty miners due to asphyxia.'
Asphyxia meant death by suffocation due to lack of oxygen.
Vesper did not need to bother bringing poison gas from outside. He only needed to close a few remaining artificial ventilation holes, and nature would do the rest of the dirty work. The Dungeon itself was an airtight coffin ready to swallow victims.
"A perfect plan," I whispered with a cold tone.
If he wanted to play with air, then I would give him an unexpected storm. I had already prepared my backup 'lungs'. Those explosive oxygen capsules would be the ace card turning the tables at a critical moment.
I closed the thick book slowly.
Thud.
The sound echoed softly in the library's silence, sending up thin dust around it.
Time to go home. The day after tomorrow was execution day. I needed enough rest to ensure my Piston Heart was in prime condition.
I returned the book to its shelf, slipping it between two thick war history grimoires. The sound of leather book friction rang loud in my sensitive ears.
My footsteps clashed with the marble floor as I walked toward the exit. These bookshelf corridors were narrow and high, creating long shadows that seemed to stalk my every movement.
I turned at the corner of the 'Political History' shelf section.
And that was where my steps stopped dead.
My heart, usually beating steadily thanks to rigorous control training, suddenly jolted hard.
THUMP!
A painful beat slammed against my chest. Hard, sharp, and full of danger warnings.
Muscles throughout my body tensed reflexively. The hair on the back of my neck stood up, standing straight as if charged with static electricity. This sensation... I knew it very well.
It felt cold and bone-piercing. Exactly like when I stood in the middle of the dark swamp, moments before the Shadow Blade swung his Falcata at my neck.
At the end of that narrow aisle, leaning casually against a wooden bookshelf, stood a familiar young man.
He was not wearing a stiff academy uniform. His body was wrapped in a relaxed maroon silk robe, the grand color of the Delphine Family. His blonde hair fell softly on his forehead, framing a face perfectly sculpted like a Greek god statue.
In his hand, a thin book was open. He read it casually, as if this forbidden library were his comfortable private living room.
Elian Delphine.
He did not look at me. Or at least, he pretended not to see me.
My legs wanted to retreat to find another way, but my logic held them back. Retreating meant fear. And in front of a wild beast, showing fear was an open invitation to be eaten.
I forced myself to step forward. One step. Two steps.
The sound of my footsteps was heard clearly breaking the silence. Yet Elian did not move a muscle. He turned the page of his book with a slow and elegant finger movement.
Swish.
The sound of paper friction was soft.
When the distance between us was only three meters, he finally closed the book. Very slowly.
Clap.
The sound was like the sound of a neck being snapped in the middle of this silence.
Elian turned his head slowly.
A pair of blood-red eyes looked straight into mine. There was no burning anger there. No fiery hatred like usually shown by Karl Benzzi.
There was only hollow calmness. And a smile.
A thin, polite smile that did not reach his eyes. The smile of a small child who had just found an interesting insect to dissect alive.
"Good evening, Arin," he greeted warmly. His voice was smooth, melodious, yet possessed a magnetic power that made my stomach churn instantly. "Working overtime again tonight?"
I swallowed hard, trying to wet my throat which suddenly went dry.
"Good evening, Young Master Elian," I answered, ensuring my voice was flat and controlled. "Just looking for light reading before sleep."
"Light reading?" Elian glanced at the shelf behind me, where books on mining geology and natural disasters were kept. "Your sense of humor is interesting too. Most people read fairy tales to sleep soundly, not reports of tragic miner deaths."
My blood rushed. He knew what book I read. Since when had he been standing there?
Elian straightened his body, pushing off the shelf. He stepped closer to me. His movement was fluid, soundless, like smoke moving in the air.
He stopped right in front of me, blocking the exit completely. Our distance was so close I could smell his perfume, a distinct scent of sandalwood and something metallic like blood.
Suddenly, Elian tilted his head slightly. His nose sniffed the air gently.
"Hmm..." he hummed long. His smile widened slightly.
"A very unique smell," he commented softly. "There is the scent of sulfur... potassium chlorate... and a hint of strong breathweed extract?"
My heart seemed to stop beating for a moment.
That was the chemical residue from the Oxygen Capsule experiment in my laboratory yesterday. I had bathed three times to remove it, but this bastard's nose was as sharp as a bloodhound's.
"You are not assembling fireworks for your graduation party later, are you?" he asked with an amused tone.
"Just a failed alchemy experiment, Sir," I evaded quickly, trying to stay calm even though cold sweat began to seep down my back. "I was trying to make new fertilizer for plants."
"Fertilizer," repeated Elian, as if tasting the word on his tongue. "Fertilizer that is explosive and binds oxygen. Interesting. Very... creative for a farmer like you."
He knew.
He knew I was preparing a counter for their gas strategy.
But instead of getting angry or calling security, Elian actually chuckled. A laugh that sounded sincere yet terrifying in my ears.
"You know, Arin..." Elian stepped even closer, leaning down slightly until his face was level with mine. His voice lowered into an intimate conspiratorial whisper. "I love science experiments. Especially those involving smart lab rats."
His eyes flashed red in the dimness of the aisle.
"But be careful with your pet," he whispered warningly. "Rats that eat cheese from two different hands... usually die of overeating. Or get caught in the middle of a double trap."
My body went stiff instantly.
Tom.
Elian was talking about Tom. He knew Tom was a double agent giving me information and betraying them.
Why? Why did he let it happen? Why didn't he kill Tom or arrest me right now?
Elian took a step back, enjoying the expression on my face which tensed stiffly. He seemed able to read every panic I tried to hide behind my flat face.
"You are surprised?" he asked lightly. "You think your little game with Tom is invisible to me? You think Karl is that stupid?"
Elian shook his head, his face looking disappointed.
"Ah, right. Karl is indeed that stupid. He believes in blind loyalty without conditions."
Elian looked at me with an assessing gaze. A gaze that stripped the soul. As if he were looking at my internal organs, counting my heartbeat, and measuring my lung capacity in detail.
"But I am not Karl," he said coldly.
Fear began to creep up my spine slowly. This person... he was dangerous. Far more dangerous than the explosive Karl. Karl was a noisy storm, but Elian was an invisible and deadly poison.
However, amidst that fear, something else rose within me.
Something hot, wild, and primal.
Survival instinct forged from hundreds of hours dissecting monsters and being beaten to death by Brook.
When an animal is cornered by a larger predator, it has two choices: Curl up resignedly waiting for death, or bite back with all its might.
And I... I was tired of curling up.
My jaw muscles hardened strongly. I did not retreat or bow obediently.
Instead, I lifted my face. Staring straight into Elian's red eyes. And for the first time, I let the Killing Intent I got from slaughtering monsters in the forest leak out from behind my innocent student mask.
"If you know everything," I said, my voice low and sharp, no longer polite. "Why are you still standing here chatting? Why not attack me directly?"
Elian blinked slowly. A hint of surprise flashed across his perfect face.
He did not expect this rat would show its sharp fangs.
Then, his smile widened. This time, the smile looked more... alive. More enthusiastic and entertained.
"Hoo..." he hissed softly. "You have guts too, apparently. I thought you were only good at counting on paper."
Elian raised his right hand slowly. With a deliberate slow movement, he placed his palm on my left shoulder.
"Why don't I attack?"
THUD.
Heavy pressure slammed onto my shoulder instantly.
It was not ordinary physical pressure. It was pure, compressed Mana pressure. Elian released his magic weight directly onto my collarbone without holding back.
What the hell was this?! Was he this strong?! Wasn't Elian's strength more or less the same as Elena's? His mana pressure felt as if he were not merely a second-circle mage.
It felt like being shouldered by a one-ton Stone Golem. The floor beneath my feet creaked softly holding the load. My knees were forced to bend. My lungs felt tight as if the air around me was sucked dry by his dominating aura.
This was absolute dominance. He wanted to see me kneel before him.
"Because I do not care about Karl," whispered Elian in my ear, while his hand kept pressing down, adding mana weight. "I do not care about Elena. I do not care about romance drama or the silly power struggles of noble factions."
The pressure grew heavier and more painful. My shoulder bone cracked horribly. Pain traveled fast to my neck and back.
But I did not kneel.
I gritted my teeth holding back the pain. Conditioning, Iron bones, and adaptation, I summoned all the results of my hellish training with Brook.
My leg muscles tensed hard, rooting firmly to the marble floor. My spine stood straight, refusing to stoop even a little. I hardened my shoulder muscles, fighting that magical pressure with pure physical strength that had mutated.
I stared at Elian, my eyes burning with unspoken challenge.
"You think this is enough to break me?" I asked, more challenging. "I have been hit by a Master with real gravity! Your pressure is just a breeze to me!"
Seeing I was still standing tall and even staring back with a murderous gaze made Elian's expression change again.
From disparaging, to... satisfied.
He chuckled.
"Good," praised Elian. "Very good."
He pulled his hand back suddenly. The pressure vanished instantly, making me almost stumble forward due to the loss of load, but I managed to maintain body balance.
Elian patted my shoulder once more, this time gently and friendly, as if cleaning dust.
"Your bones are hard, Arin. Much harder than my initial guess."
He stepped back, giving me room to breathe. His face returned to an elegant bored expression, but his eyes still sparkled with amusement.
"Karl wants you dead because of his severely wounded ego. He wants to prove he is better than you," said Elian while smoothing his crumpled robe. "But me? I just want to see one thing..."
Elian looked at me with the gaze of a mad scientist staring at a rare specimen inside a jar.
"...how long a rat can hold its breath inside a box I have submerged in water."
He walked past me, his footsteps light moving away toward the library stairs down.
"Do not disappoint me in Sector 9 later, Arin," his voice echoed in the quiet hallway without him looking back in the slightest. "I have prepared a front-row seat to see you... slowly suffocate."
Elian disappeared around the corner of the stairs, leaving the scent of sandalwood and a threat hanging heavy in the air.
I stood alone in the dark and quiet library hallway.
My hands trembled violently. Not from fear, but from residual adrenaline exploding from the confrontation earlier. I held my shoulder that was pressed earlier. It still felt hot with a lingering mark.
He knew everything. Knew about my oxygen bomb, Tom, and my war preparations.
But he didn't care at all.
For Karl, this was a war of pride and revenge. But for Elian... this was merely a game to chase away boredom. And that made him far more terrifying than anyone else.
"He wants to see me struggle..." I hissed to the darkness of the night.
My lips curled into a thin smile no less crazy than his.
"Very well, Young Master Delphine. If you want a spectacle..."
I clenched my hands tightly until my nails dug into my palms.
"...I will give you a show you will never forget for the rest of your life. But be careful... spectators in the front row usually get splashed with blood."