"Does John know about who you truly are?"
Ricky’s voice was like a sudden fissure cracking through a frozen lake. He stopped Cissel in her tracks, throwing the question directly into her face without the slightest hint of a lead-in.
The two had been running for hours, thodically checking the outskirts of the northern fog. They had tracked the remnants of machine squads, hunting for the source of the mysterious sixth den until they had reached the absolute northern limit of the trial zone.
Initially, their investigation had led them through the Bulltors’ territory, but finding nothing in the silent plains, they had moved further north, to the very first territory where their journey had begun.
Throughout the long march, an oppressive silence had hung between them. They had ignored each other with an icy agreent, as if a single stray word would act as a spark to a powder keg. Both of them knew that a seed of conflict was germinating in the dark, waiting for the right mont to erupt. That mont arrived with Ricky’s troubleso comnt.
"What are you talking about?" Cissel hissed, her eyes narrowing into dangerous slits. Her voice, her posture, and her sudden stillness were all screaming a warning for Ricky to turn back from the road he was walking.
Yet, Ricky didn’t succumb to the threat. Instead, he pressed deeper, his expression remaining eerily calm.
"You know exactly what I’m talking about," Ricky said, his gaze level and unblinking. "Others might not be able to sense it, but the two of us can. As Paragons, we possess the innate ability to detect others of our kind in the vicinity."
"I dare you to say one more word," Cissel’s voice transford. It lost its human warmth, becoming sothing savage and ancient.
In a blur of motion, her daggers were launched, the cold steel stopping a re hairsbreadth away from Ricky’s neck. The tallic tang of the blades was the only thing separating them. "This isn’t sothing trivial we joke about, Ricky. You know the laws. You know the stakes."
"I do," Ricky replied, unfazed. He had envisioned this confrontation a thousand tis in his mind during their silent trek. He didn’t even flinch at the blades against his skin.
"That’s exactly why I’m asking. John is a good lad, talented, resourceful, and arguably the most capable leader I’ve ever t. But he is still a normal human. He isn’t a Paragon. He doesn’t understand the burden we carry, and he certainly won’t understand you once the truth cos out."
"F*ck off!"
Cissel didn’t hesitate. Her daggers lashed out with lethal intent, but they cut through nothing but thin air. Ricky had already retreated the instant he sensed her muscles coil, his own reflexes boosted to the max.
"Consider this your first and last warning," she growled, acting as a wounded beast backed into a corner. Her chest heaved as she glared at him with ferocious eyes. "Do not ever bring this topic up again. Do you hear ?"
Ricky slowly shook his head, a pitying look crossing his features as he added: "Do you take John for a fool? Do you really think a man of his calibre, a prodigy, won’t eventually suspect sothing?
Besides, the two of us are just small drops in a vast ocean. Do you realise how many more like us are currently enrolled in the academy? How many more are at other academies?"
"That doesn’t matter!" Cissel roared, the sound echoing through the dead fog around. "This is my life! This is my call! You know nothing about ! Absolutely nothing!"
"Oh, you want to bet on that?" Ricky’s voice took on an arrogant edge, sounding like a man who held all the cards. "I’ve already reached out to my contacts. I’ve investigated everything I could find about the one they call... The Fate Goddess Paragon."
"I’ll kill you!"
Cissel didn’t roar this ti. The words were a cold, flat promise. She followed them with a sudden, explosive dash, unleashing a relentless wave of strikes. Ricky t her fury with his own, his tentacles lashing out to intercept her blades.
He moved with a speed that barely matched her own, thanks to her outburst, but Cissel was still faster. She used her short-distance acceleration ability to weave through his defences.
The two exchanged fierce, bone-breaking blows for nearly an hour. The northern fog’s dead silence was torn apart by the shockwaves of their clash, the ground scorched and scarred by their attacks.
They fought with the desperation of enemies, going for blood, until finally, the sheer exhaustion of the past few days caught up to them. They collapsed several ters apart, too dead-tired to move a single muscle.
"You are... You are really tiring," Ricky panted, his breath coming in ragged gasps as he stared up at the fog around. "You can fight all you want, but you’re just running from your own fate, Cissel."
"I told you... To shut the hell up!" Cissel spat, her voice weak but still dripping with venom. She wanted to tear him apart, but her limbs felt like lead.
Seeing that she could only bark and no longer bite, Ricky’s confidence returned. He propped himself up on one elbow, pressing the point further without a hint of fear.
"As the Fate Goddess Paragon, this can’t be your first ti regressing, right?"
Ricky didn’t even give her ti to object or shout. He pressed his advantage, his voice vibrating with the cold certainty of a man who had unearthed everything about her. He hurriedly added:
"The Fate Goddess Paragon, well known as the Ti Reset Paragon. Your strongest point is your unique ability, being able to regress back and change the past to affect the future... That’s how you’ve stayed one step ahead of everyone, secured a close spot to John before another girl would take him... Like Elena, isn’t it?"
"Shut up! You know nothing, f*cked up Paragon Reincarnation!" Cissel roared back.
His words seed to drive her over her limit. She dashed again, her silhouette flickering as she launched a desperate, lunging attack. But her exhaustion was too deep, her rage was too blinding.
Like before, her blades hissed through nothing but thin air, and she ended up collapsing onto her knees, her breath hitching in her chest as the damp soil of the northern territory stained her clothes.
This ti, Ricky didn’t try to approach her. In fact, he stood frozen, a look of profound shock washing over his face as he processed her retort.
"H... How do you know about that?!!"
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