All or Nothing

"Summon."

Suddenly, a familiar cube materialized in my hand. It was where I stored the relics I bought earlier. I didn't think twice about which relic I should equip.

[Lady Staria's Left Bracelet] increases the wearer's mental resistance and reduces fatigue. It's perfect for long battles or expeditions but I aim for a quick battle right now—that is why I chose the [Gloves of Caine].

I recalled its description when I first touched it: [Caine, a prodigy in battle during the era of endless wars, led his kingdom's army to reclaim an ancient city. Thus, earning a pair of gloves from a legendary craftsman—these gloves, as light as fine leather, strengthened his grip and adjusted his blade's weight. It however sapped his strength due to over-usage and hence the once talented prodigy became a shell of his former self.]

'It worked' I couldn't help but smile as my weapon felt lighter than ever.

I let go of unnecessary thoughts and move in to my goal. Enhancing my body, I got up on a clock tower to find my target.

After casting a spell that big, mages after doing that tend to have a very sensitive essence allowing me to locate what I'm looking for more easily.

After looking around, I located an individual running away from the scene. A slim hooded man headed to an isolated area on the port. Perfect!

I quickly rushed towards him, unwillingly letting go of this perfect opportunity to strike! Before I could position my glaive to strike, a surge of essence suddenly erupted on the floor. It was a magic trap—I managed to dodge the fireball as soon as I landed.

'Close call-!'

Another spell came out before I could finish my thoughts. This time it was coming from the hooded man. I dodge it but I realized that the fireball wasn't targeting me; he cast it to create a smoke.

I augmented basic essence to the blade of the glaive as I slashed the smoke. The mage could be seen running and distancing himself from me. Seeing this I continued chasing him, I couldn't let him recover his essence!

The chase-down continued. Oddly enough, the man seemed to run into dark and narrow alleys instead of open areas where mages could aim at their opponent more clearly. People shouting could be heard at a distance but no more explosions occurred—it seems like he alone is the one that carried out the spells.

We eventually ran into a wall and when I thought I cornered him, the man suddenly phased through the wall.

'The hell!?' I was flabbergasted.

I was confused at first but immediately remembered writing something like this in the book. It's unexpected to encounter these kinds of gateways this early after my transmigration.

I let out my essence covering my whole body to protect myself. To not delve any deeper within the unknown, I quickly dashed forward.

Using plenty of essence, my body dashed through the wall as fast as a dagger before it closed. I didn't realize I had dashed already and the mage was also flabbergasted when he suddenly fell onto the ground after I crashed into his body. Before he could even cast a chantless fireball he was knocked out by my fist.

"Hah... Hahh..." I was wheezing after knocking him out. My body can't fully stand using too much essence and I would fall unconscious if the chase took any longer—I was lucky.

"Goddamn, I would die if it weren't for my lucky ass." For a moment, I laughed at myself. In the end, I was successful because the mage was probably planning to explode more infrastructure if I didn't chase him down.

While I was celebrating, something glowed inside the man's robe. I immediately got up and tried to get away from him as fast as possible—the body would explode! I couldn't dash for now as my mana hasn't recovered yet. The body fully glowed and then..

Boom!

I stumbled to the floor because of the explosion and when I got up, robed figures suddenly surrounded me in every direction. After realizing I was cornered my movement stopped; there is no way to fight back in this situation. Among the robed people surrounding me, another robed man came forward looking at me.

The man in question was walking with an overwhelming presence. I estimated it's as strong as Dominic's but it emits a more violent aura than the ones I've known before. His muscular build that he hides on his robe and the visible scars on his face makes the man even more intimidating. Not only that but his essence.. it belongs to a corrupted.

It will be suicide to try to face off against this man. I rushed to try and think of an idea to escape.

"There's no use thinking of one, puny noble." The man answered like he's reading my mind.

"Really? I think your nostrils are big enough for me to escape." I tried to play it cool. Stalling them is the best thing I could do right now.

"You bastard." He smirked at my unexpected response; he probably thought I'd cry about my parents or something like that.

"Hey, now. Don't kill me and I'll promise to keep my mouth shut." I brushed his comments off "In fact, I could leave my things here. The relics I'll give aren't probably as much as my life but- I'll make sure to get more once I go back to my home SAFELY."

I took out my magic storage box—I was shaking but I feigned calmness as much as possible. First, I dropped my remaining gold, then the bracelet, and the glaive. I then took out the mask and then...

Smack!

I made a small dash to the man and hit his face with the sturdy mask while he was off-guard. I made him trip over and thus, I have created an opening for myself.

"Hungry? I just remembered I have some leftovers here!"

A plate with pie suddenly appeared on my left hand and threw it to the swordsman closing in on me. It blinded him and before he could slash through me, an arrow hit him, it was an arrow from an archer that was supposed to hit me.

"-unleash your wrath! Wha-!?"

Another hooded mage who was chanting a fireball spell on his left hand was suddenly shocked when I made another short dash to his direction. I got on his back and snatched his hand, covered his face with the mask, and gripped his left arm to redirect the spell towards the archer. The archer was burned by the fireball the mage has casted.

The mage was down after I used my left hand to smack his face knocking him unconscious on the floor.

"Hah, how dare you underestimate me..." I mocked the thieves who just cornered me a few moments earlier. I was pretty worn down after that sequence but I just couldn't help but be prideful about my successful trickery.

Before I could catch my breath, the muscular man was suddenly oozing with a lot of killing intent. My body was in goosebumps after just feeling it. I immediately ran and grabbed my glaive then got into a fighting stance.

"You puny bastard... you think I would go down with some kiddie magic tricks?" The man got up from his position.

His muscles bulged unnaturally with his veins twisting under his skin. Dark essence surging all around him making his presence more overwhelming than before. This is something no human could achieve but a monster that sacrificed their own humanity for power—a corrupted.

In front of me is a monster that could finish my life in a blink of an eye. My mind is screaming at me to run yet I tried to force myself into a stance clinging for the hope of survival. No matter how much I strategize, winning or even successfully fleeing this battle is impossible.

Before I could even react, the man used his dark essence to dash at me, it was a long dash and faster than what I could do. I couldn't do anything and was too late to even react to the sucker punch he was about to land at me.

Thump!

I was devastated. The essence covering my body was useless against his overwhelming strength and I flew to the ground.

"What now, huh? Fools like you do nothing but brag. You know nothing about the reality of this world!" He screamed at me, who was lying down on the floor.

I tried to get away.. like the coward I always have been. It was no use as I couldn't even walk and was just crawling away. I was in a weak state; I was bleeding and couldn't even move properly.

When my hopes were going down as my options became none. Something.. something whispered through me. Not in my ear, but piercing through my soul. The voice felt like it was ordering me. It was coming from the mask I dropped earlier.

'Unchain.. liberate me.. and we'll ascend.'

It has been whispering through me and becoming louder as my desperation on the situation builds up further. I used all my remaining strength to grab the mask near me as my last gamble for survival in a damned situation. I successfully grabbed it but the man isn't slowing down coming at me.

"You!" He prepared to dash at me once again.

As I wore the mask, everything suddenly went blank as an odd power from the mask enveloped my body. The last thing I saw was the man rushing at me, perplexed—and so, I fell unconscious; everything went dark.