Rivers of the Night-Chapter 211: He Was

Chains rattled as Raiden stood to his feet. The man looked disheveled, but there was a vast gap between mere outward appearance and the depths of power within him.

Theron could see it all quite well. The empty pill bottles, the lingering Mana in the air, the dense lingering fragrance of one breakthrough after another.

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According to the rules of the guild, Raiden should have been locked away, unable to see the light, unable to control his own thoughts, unable to even think of cultivation itself. And yet, here he was, having improved by leaps and bounds over the last three months.

This confirmed for Theron something that he had been speculating for a long while.

Raiden had the support of someone quite high up. In fact, the odds that that person was the old man were nearly 100%.

But wasn't that exactly why he sent him away?

Now… Theron would kill in peace.

BANG!

Raiden's arm flexed, ripping his chain off the wall and swinging it in a line of snaking lightning toward Theron.

Fast, vicious, ruthless.

The strike embodied everything about the relentless nature of lightning, and Theron realized in that brief instant that Raiden was indeed a genius. A genius worthy of the old man being hesitant about Theron himself.

Manaborn Resonance.

Theron's wrist flickered. Like flowing water, he took a slight step to the side, his blade crossing the edge of the cinderblock that hung from the end of the chains.

He parried it to the side.

BANG!

The block crashed against the ground, scattering to pieces as lightning jumped from the chains onto Theron's body, arcing over him in waves.

In an instant, Theron had become a man of bolts of yellow and gold. They writhed across his body akin to roaring serpents and twisting vines, fusing and separating in a wild chaos.

And then it all vanished.

Theron stood there, unblemished.

Raiden's eyes narrowed.

There was a natural progression of Mancers and the Elements. Water Mancers should suppress Fire and be especially susceptible to Lightning. And yet…

Raiden cracked his neck, spreading out his limbs, flexing them and hopping up. Lightning Mana crackled through his eyes, and in just a few split seconds, his body was completely warmed up.

He clenched his other fist and the second chain ripped out from the wall, the radiant aura of a Seventh Silver Resonance Mancer pooling forth.

BANG!

The cinderblock shattered.

The two assassins stood across from one another in silence, neither seemingly having the intention to talk. At this point, there was no need for it.

Raiden had wanted to kill Theron long ago, not for his younger brother, but simply for the sake of removing a threat and satisfying his curiosity. To this day, he still didn't understand how Merchant Greycoat related to all of this.

As for Theron, his purpose spoke for itself. Raiden had already crossed his bottom line. Because of this man, he had taken risks that put his very chances at revenge in jeopardy…

He would make him pay for that.

Chi.

Theron suddenly drew his short sword across the air, a [Water Scythe] ripping through and appearing before Raiden in an instant.

The Lightning Mancer was impossibly light on his feet. As though a bolt himself, he didn't seem to dodge the scythe but instead passed right through it. Flashing once to move out of its way, and flashing a second time to close in the distance on Theron.

Twin chains lashed out, wreathed in lightning akin to the thorns of a rose, the chains gave sparking light to the dreary underground dungeon.

Every time they clashed, stone crumbled and metal bent.

Theron had long slipped into Veinsong, his eyes focused. Every streak of lightning was misdirected, every blow parried.

He took a step forward, and then another, his body almost carrying the momentum of his blades. While his slashes, and cuts, and thrusts all seemed casual, the power that rushed up from the base of his feet to the pivot of his hips and then the flex of his torso was undeniable.

He embodied fluidity, understanding the transfer of power in ways others couldn't begin to fathom.

But then there was Raiden. His Manaborn Resonance had power of its own, vicious and mighty. It carried a tempestuous fury to it that reminded one of the fury of the Heavens themselves.

But Theron could tell that Raiden had yet to bring out his true strength. These chains weren't even his real weapons.

That said… neither had he.

[Pressure Burst].

BANG!

One of Raiden's chains shattered to pieces. It had just been snaking through the air, aimed for the very center of Theron's forehead. In fact, Theron himself was dashing toward it as though presenting his head to be splattered like a watermelon to a sledgehammer.

But the instant they were about to collide, the makeshift weapon crumbled as though combusting from the inside out.

The snap change caused Raiden's arm to whip back, leaving an opening to his side.

Theron had already taken advantage, accelerating and appearing to his side, driving a dagger right toward his liver.

Sparks danced in Raiden's eyes, and crouched down from below, Theron's met that indifferent gold with a chilling blue of his own.

Chi.

BOOM!

Theron's blade pierced through, only to be stopped by what felt like an impenetrable wall.

Raiden's lightning had solidified into a barrier. No, not a barrier, but an armor.

In the same instant, the arcs of lightning on the one remaining chain solidified as well. If before they were vaguely reminiscent of thorns, now they well and truly were.

It didn't look like Raiden was controlling Lightning Mana at all. Rather than having the usual volatility, it was as solid as glowing gold metal, as though he had become a Light Mancer.

No, not like a Light Mancer.

He was a Light Mancer.

A Light Mancer and a Lightning Mancer in the body of one young man.

Theron's eyes narrowed as he tried to pull his dagger back only to find it the light-lightning combo snaking up his blade.

It was possible to have two affinities like this?