EVIL SYSTEM

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Ben's breathing was erratic and labored. His vision was blurry, and his legs trembled—he had exhausted all his stamina and magic, yet stubbornly remained standing, staring at the man in front of him.

The man looked back at him… a clash of wills.

Amidst wreckage and lifeless bodies, they stared at each other until Ben slowly began to walk forward.

With unsteady steps, he finally reached the man and stood just inches away from him.

"You wanted the key?" Ben reached a trembling hand into his pocket and slowly pulled out the key.

The man shuddered at the sight of it.

"Then take it!!" Ben leapt at the man and cruelly stabbed the ancient key into the man's eye socket.

The man shuddered in evident pain, but couldn't move his body.

Ben kept stabbing the man's eye with the key until he felt him stop moving—and his evil points increased.

With a tired sigh, he leaned on the man's body, staring into the air and gasping for breath.

His body was covered in the blood of innocents—and the man's.

Many people looked at him with anger, but avoided approaching, having seen how cruel he had acted. They didn't want to be the next ones to fall into his hands.

Ben noticed their stares and frowned back at them. "What?! Haven't you seen a killer before?"

Michael burst out laughing at his comment, but his smile faded when the building began to shake.

The entire battle between Ben and the man had severely weakened the building's structure.

The building shook violently, and everyone began to panic as the floor began to tilt sharply to one side.

"What the hell?"

"Ahhhh!!"

Chairs, tables, and debris began to slide uncontrollably in one direction.

Ben also got caught by gravity and began to roll alongside the man's corpse.

Yanking the key out of the man's eye socket, Ben raised a hand and grabbed onto the aluminum doorframe.

It wasn't strong at all, so he had to climb along the wall until he found a column to hold onto.

His arms trembled from the overexertion, and his legs burned.

The man's body, unable to catch on to anything, smashed through a window and fell from the heights to the cold, hard asphalt below.

Ben couldn't see the body hit the ground, but he could imagine it.

Like the man's body, many others couldn't hold on in time and fell into the void, screaming in terror.

If things had stopped there, it wouldn't have been such a big deal. But the building didn't stop tilting, and Ben realized things weren't going to be so easy.

Clenching his teeth, he began climbing the wall again, until he reached the other side of the building, where he punched through a window.

Breathing in some fresh air, Ben felt his skin crawl as he saw that the building wasn't just tilting—

It was splitting in half.

With his heart pounding like mad, he started running along the outer edge of the building.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a helicopter taking off from the rooftop, maneuvering to avoid getting crushed by the collapsing building.

Ben's heart sank at the thought that maybe the people in that helicopter were his friends—and they had left him behind to board it.

But at the same time, he felt relieved knowing they were safe.

Two conflicting emotions he couldn't control. But when he slipped, shattered a pane of glass, and nearly fell, he stopped thinking about it.

Right now, he had to face the imminent danger instead of getting lost in his own thoughts.

His legs burned with exhaustion, and he felt they could give out at any moment.

He ran across the building, relying only on columns and spots that gave him a firm place to step.

He ran with everything his tired body could offer—even when one of his legs went numb, he forced himself to keep going, limping.

In the distance, he could see several figures—Michael among them—had already made it to safety by using their elements to descend instead of climb.

Ben didn't have that privilege. His magic was completely drained, and although it was starting to recover, it was useless in this situation.

The upper half of the building was completely horizontal now, and Ben knew that soon there would be no more chances to escape.

Clenching his teeth so hard he made himself bleed, Ben ran with all his might and jumped…

He soared through the air in slow motion, aiming for the other building at least 50 meters away.

But it looked like he wasn't going to make it.

He stretched with everything he had and, at the last moment, managed to grab the edge of the other building.

Hanging with both hands, Ben sighed in relief, and in the reflection of the building, he saw the other half of the building crash into the ground, shaking everything.

With one leg, he broke the window he was holding onto and climbed into the other building, immediately collapsing onto the floor—completely drained.

Dante abandoned Ben, not for some greater good or for Ben's own well-being.

He abandoned him decisively because he knew Ben was the only one capable of creating a distraction big enough to reach the helicopter without being seen by the others.

"Are you insane?" Ryuji was furious, and despite his wound, he grabbed Dante's shirt with clear anger written on his face. "We're abandoning Ben!!"

"He'll be fine," Dante replied with a stoic expression.

"Yeah, right!" Ryuji wasn't convinced by Dante's excuse. "The whole city is being destroyed, and advanced mages are dying. And you want me to believe Ben's going to survive that?"

Dante tried to ignore him and move forward, but Ryuji wouldn't let him.

"No, this time you're not getting away without an explanation." Ryuji was panting, clutching his wound. "Isn't Ben our friend? Is this how you treat your friends? How long until you ditch me too?"

Dante clenched his teeth, furious and deeply affected by his words. The fact that he was there was proof enough that he didn't want to give up on them.

He could have simply fled alone before all this started, but his conscience would never have let him rest if he did that.

Gritting his teeth and feeling his heart break in two, Dante punched Ryuji in the same spot where his wound was.

The small blow left Ryuji breathless, and he slowly fell unconscious. Dante hoisted him over his shoulder and continued climbing the building.

"Follow me," he said without turning to look at Roger and the man Ben had saved.

When the building began to collapse, the four of them were already on the roof.

The building started tilting heavily, and with it, the helicopter began sliding across the roof.

"Quick!!" Dante threw Ryuji into the helicopter as he climbed in and extended his hand to Roger to grab it.

Roger took Dante's hand and let himself be helped. When it was the turn of the man Ben had saved, he shook his head and refused to board the helicopter.

"I'm sorry, but I can't abandon the person who saved my life." Dante stared at the man, mouth agape.

Like the man, Ben had saved Dante's life on different occasions, but he hadn't hesitated to betray him and leave him behind.

With a heavy heart, he closed the helicopter door and started the engines.

His heart pounded with anxiety as he realized they might have arrived a bit too late. But when the helicopter was on the verge of falling without taking off, Dante gritted his teeth and managed to lift off just in time.

He made a wild maneuver in the air and dodged the building that nearly hit them.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Ben's figure, running desperately along the outer wall of the building.

With a resolute look, he turned his head and continued piloting the helicopter.

When Ben leaped from the building and couldn't reach the other side, the man was still on the roof.

His chest swelled with joy at seeing that Ben was still okay. With all the magic his body possessed, he cast the only spell he knew.

Wind Element.

[Push]

A gentle gust of air propelled Ben farther than he could have gone on his own, and he reached the other side safe and sound.

With a broad smile on his face, the man fell from the heights with the building.

+++

Unaware of the man's sacrifice, Ben lay staring at the ceiling, too drained to get up. Most of his stamina had recovered, and half of his magic as well.

But what he didn't have was the will to do anything. His friends had already left, and he was alone, so he really just wanted to stay where he was, close his eyes, and sleep for a good few hours.