NOVEL NEXT Chapter 80: Rogue [II]
People were drowning underwater.
Cars bobbed like toys in the current, colliding with each other before being dragged down.
Some drivers were still trapped inside, fists banging desperately against their windows as the water swallowed them whole.
Others who had been walking moments earlier now clung to lampposts, their faces pale with terror as the torrent ripped at their legs.
Bodies were already floating down the street.
A mother's scream echoed as she lost grip of her child.
An old man's cane slipped from his fingers before the flood took him under.
Chaos.
That was the only word that fit.
'Please… someone save us…'
A young man clung to a bent traffic sign, his knuckles white.
His chest heaved, his arms shook, and despair gnawed at him.
The police weren't coming — they were too busy securing the perimeter.
Awakeners? None had arrived yet.
He was going to die.
And then, just like that, he wasn't.
Air.
Blessed, sweet air.
His vision cleared, and he realized he was no longer drowning.
He floated weightlessly, rising higher, the water shrinking below him.
Around him were others — men, women, children all plucked from the raging flood and deposited safely into the sky.
They blinked, confused, their terror melting into awe.
"Are you guys okay?"
The voice came from above.
Lucius hovered effortlessly, his long coat billowing in the gusts.
His gaze swept across the civilians, he was calm as if this was nothing more than a mild inconvenience.
The moment recognition struck, whispers rippled through the group.
"It's him…"
"Lucius von Hohenberg?"
"No way…"
Their voices trembled with a mix of disbelief and relief.
But before anyone could bombard him with questions, Lucius raised a hand.
His tone was flat, almost bored. "Don't celebrate yet. We're not out of this."
He tilted his head toward the battlefield ahead.
Vanessa surfed forward on a platform of blood, her crimson blades tearing waves apart like paper.
Her expression was sharp, her hair wild as she carved her way closer to their enemy.
The rogue stood opposite her — a blue-haired man, eyes bloodshot, veins bulging as he screamed at the sky.
Every roar summoned another tidal wave, his fury manifesting as destruction.
Lucius sighed, rubbing his temple.
'I can't believe she left me with babysitting duty.'
Citizen rescue.
The one job he didn't want.
He wasn't the hero type.
As much as he wanted to fight, he also didn't want to fight.
A tug on his sleeve broke his thoughts.
"Mr. Lucius!"
He glanced down.
A small boy, no older than ten, clutched at him with wide, trusting eyes. "Aren't you going to fight that Awakener?"
The boy's mother gasped, clapping a hand over his mouth. "Don't be rude!"
Lucius smirked, lowering himself slightly to meet the child's gaze.
"My Guild Master has it under control," he said smoothly. "Your safety is my top priority."
The boy's eyes shone and everybody calmed down.
Lucius's eyes flicked back to the rogue.
Something was wrong.
His wild gestures weren't just random.
His gaze wasn't even on Vanessa anymore — it was locked on them.
Vanessa had noticed too; her body stiffened mid-movement, her expression tightening.
'What's this lunatic planning?' Lucius thought.
Threatening them? Possible.
Even with that level of power, if Lucius focused, Infinity wouldn't break.
Still, unease prickled his skin.
"Mister Lucius…"
The young man from earlier trembled, pointing at his own chest.
Lucius followed his gaze and froze.
Water.
The droplets clinging to their soaked clothes, to their hair, to their skin… they were floating and forming a single orb that was constantly growing bigger and smaller as if it was unstable.
Lucius's face went flat.
"A fucking bom—"
The sky split open.
The explosion ripped through the air, detonating like a thousand cannons.
A deafening pop turned the atmosphere into a rainstorm, sheets of water blasting outward with lethal force.
Screams filled the air.
The civilians clutched each other, certain they were about to die.
The rogue's laughter echoed across the drowned streets.
But no bodies fell.
Instead, the survivors found themselves standing atop a tall building, the city sprawled below.
They were dry and safe.
They blinked, dumbstruck.
"We… we're alive?"
"But… how?"
"That blast should've killed us…"
Lucius yawned, dusting imaginary dirt from his sleeve.
"Is this guy underestimating me?"
His Infinity had stretched the instant the bomb formed, a perfect barrier that isolated every drop of water before it could touch them and then he teleported them.
Not even a ripple had reached the civilians.
The crowd stared at him as though he were a god.
Relief broke into sobs, laughter, prayers.
Lucius ignored them.
His gaze was fixed on the rogue, who was screaming in disbelief, thrashing at Vanessa's blood blades.
"I really hope they see this," Lucius muttered, eyes narrowing at a drone buzzing in the distance. "Would make a damn good highlight reel."
He snapped his fingers.
Wood mana gathered, shaping itself into a sleek bow in his hand.
He nocked an arrow, pulling the string back.
Energy surged, condensing along the shaft until it shone like a shard of light.
This was probably the first time he was using wood after forming a mana heart but… it felt almost natural.
The arrow grew thinner, sharper, deadlier with every breath.
Lucius poured more into it.
Wood mana to reinforce, space mana to accelerate.
The air crackled, bending around the projectile.
His smirk curved, amused.
He let go.
The world thundered.
The arrow screamed forward, faster than sound, tearing through the air like a lightning bolt.
The sonic boom split windows, rattled cars, and silenced the city.
The rogue had no chance.
His eyes widened, and then — impact.
The arrow buried itself clean through his skull.
A wet explosion followed, his head bursting like overripe fruit.
His body staggered once before crumpling into the raging waters below.
Silence fell.
The flood calmed instantly, waves breaking apart as if their master's death stole their fury.
Lucius lowered his bow, watching the rogue's corpse drift away.
His weapon dissolved, fading back into nothing as though it had never been.
He flexed his fingers, still tingling from the shot.
'Did that just break the sound barrier?'
A small chuckle slipped from his lips.
'How overpowered am I?'