Chương 16: Captured

Ch 16 - Captured

"And why should I?" Isaac said, raising his hand covered in dark flames.

"Because you will definitely regret killing me," Evan said, smirking.

"Nice demonic beast, by the way. Did you raise it yourself?" Isaac narrowed his eyes, seemingly caught off guard by Evan's mention of demonic beasts.

"Who are you? And who sent you? Was it the church? Are they now deciding to crawl back to me and beg me to return?"

"The church?" Evan said. Internally, he filed the name away in his notes, but continued calmly.

"No, no, no. I'm merely a fellow who appreciates the same things as you. It's quite rare to find another demonic arts practitioner around here." Isaac frowned at the claim.

"For what it's worth, sorry for attacking you. You were chasing me so aggressively that I didn't think you'd be willing to listen," Evan said.

"How did you find me?" Isaac asked, still not lowering his flaming hand.

"Followed you. What else?" Evan said.

"You are not hiding yourself that well, you know. Not even bothering to hide or cleanse those traces of demonic energy on you." It was a bluff. Detecting demonic energy was beyond Evan's abilities, but Isaac didn't know that.

"You should thank me. I am just here out of curiosity, and I even gave you a helpful warning like this," Evan said.

"If you continue down this path, it is only a matter of time until a Demon Hunter finds you and kills you."

"Demon Hunter?" Isaac repeated.

"Those actually exist?"

"Oh, they do. They just do not make themselves public and parade around like Awakeners," Evan said.

"So how about we set aside our hostility and try to talk things out like civilized people?" Isaac stared at him for a long moment before slowly lowering his hand. Evan smiled.

"Glad you made the right decision."

"I never imagined there would be someone like me," Isaac said as he approached Evan with a relaxed gait.

"People like us are pretty rare. Though I wonder how exactly you learned this knowledge?" Evan said, holding his ground and staring straight at Isaac.

"I doubt you have a master."

"A master? No. I have been blessed," Isaac said with a deranged grin. There was only a short gap between them now. Then suddenly, the man raised his hand. Evan tried to move away, but Isaac was faster. He struck the back of Evan's head. As consciousness slipped away, the last thing Evan saw was the System making a remark: [(눈_눈)] When Evan woke, he found his wrists bound in Suppression Cuffs and his ankles locked in heavy chains.

The cuffs rested heavily against his skin, faint sealing runes pulsing across their surface as they sealed away every trace of mana. He tried to move it, but it refused to respond, remaining as still as stone. Great. He couldn't use his abilities at all. A dull pain throbbed at the back of his head as he slowly lifted his gaze. Isaac was in the makeshift kitchen, busy preparing food.

The smell of instant ramen drifted through the room, familiar and strangely enticing. Evan's stomach rumbled. He must have been out for a while.

"Are you hungry?" Isaac asked.

"I can make some for you too."

"Thanks, but I would've appreciated it more if you hadn't just knocked me out and then tied me up with Suppression Cuffs."

"I'm sorry, but you have to understand, a man on the run like me has to be extremely careful," Isaac said as he poured the freshly made ramen into a bowl.

"Even if I'm dealing with a colleague." Despite offering to make Evan food, Isaac just started eating his own bowl. Evan watched him in silence for a long moment, letting him eat as he gathered his thoughts. As annoying as this was, it was still within his expectations. Someone who dabbled in Demonic Arts or was corrupted by demonic energy would be highly paranoid. There was no way simple conversation would have convinced Isaac. System, don't you think I've completed the mission? Evan thought.

The System remained silent. I already investigated the Rift, figured out why it appeared, and even found the culprit. Don't I deserve the reward already? [(ಠ_ಠ)] Help a guy out will you? Evan thought. If things continued like this, he would eventually end up dead. It would be easier if he had another trump card, anything useful. The System remained silent for a moment, then another window appeared. [Congratulations!] [You have completed your mission!] [You call that investigating? You didn't even finish everything, but fine. A weakling like you can't be expected to complete things properly anyway.] [Reward: Skill - Cry Later] [You're no great warrior, but at least you're not a pathetic wimp. Even if the world kicks you down and beats you into paste, you'll keep standing. What else can you do?] A survival skill? Evan frowned. He had been hoping for an offensive skill, something that would give him a fighting chance against Isaac. What was he supposed to do with this?

His mind raced as he searched for any way to turn the situation around with the tools he had. When Isaac finished his meal, Evan spoke up.

"Those kids downstairs... you're planning to use them for a sacrificial ritual, aren't you?" Isaac smacked his lips.

"You know about that?" If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

"What else would you do after kidnapping those kids and keeping a demonic beast upstairs? Surely you're not planning to feed those scrawny children to the wyvern. They would barely fill its stomach," Evan said, tilting his head.

"No. For demonic arts practitioners like us, it would be far wiser to use them as sacrifices to strengthen the beast."

"It seems you really do know about Demonic Arts," Isaac said.

"You think I'm lying?" Evan asked.

"I might look young, but compared to you, I could be considered your senior based on how much Demonic Arts I've studied. You don't even have a proper master."

"I don't need one. I've been blessed," Isaac hissed, placing a hand over his chest, his eyes gleaming with a maddened light.

"Blessed?" Evan scoffed.

"Let me guess. You came across a strange Artifact shaped like a book, and it poured knowledge into your head. Am I right?" Isaac's eyes flew open, and he shot to his feet.

"How did you know?!" Evan shook his head and clicked his tongue.

"This is why masterless practitioners are so foolish. You don't even know the basics. You weren't blessed, you moron. You were cursed. You came into contact with a powerful Demonic Artifact, and it forced demonic knowledge into your mind. If this keeps up, it's only a matter of time before that knowledge twists you into nothing more than a raving madman." Isaac's expression darkened.

"Still don't believe me?" Evan continued, ignoring the murderous look on the man's face.

"Let me tell you something else. The knowledge you received was probably incomplete, considering your brain is already half-fried. You can't even comprehend it properly." Judging by the dark look on Isaac's face, Evan could almost imagine a thundercloud hanging over his head.

"How about you show me the ritual circle you're using?" Evan said.

"I'm sure I can point out numerous flaws." Isaac blinked. The hand that had been twitching, ready to hurl dark flames at Evan, slowly relaxed.

"Why? Scared? It's not as if I can do much with my hands and feet bound like this," Evan said.

"Go on. Show me. Or are you ashamed to let a teenager see your work?" That finally got to Isaac. He walked over to his desk, sifted through several documents, and pulled out a single sheet of paper. It was covered in barely legible scribbles, but the ritual circle drawn across the page stood out clearly. Evan narrowed his eyes, studying it for a few moments before clicking his tongue several times.

"What did I tell you? Utter novice work. Look at these outer rings. They aren't even evenly spaced. You're bleeding energy before the ritual even starts." He shook his head.

"And these anchor symbols are facing inward instead of outward. That'll choke the flow instead of circulating it." He pointed with his chin toward the center of the diagram.

"That core sigil... are you trying to kill your demonic beast or make it stronger? It's off-center by nearly a finger's width. The sacrificial energy won't distribute evenly. At best, your wyvern mutates into something unstable. At worst, it explodes from backlash." Evan clicked his tongue again.

"You even mixed a corruption glyph with a domination glyph. Those two don't belong in the same layer unless you enjoy your own creations ripping your head off. Honestly, I've seen children doodle cleaner ritual circles than this."

"Liar! I've used this ritual circle before, and it worked!" Isaac shouted, his eyes turning red.

"Yeah, because your beast was small! You performed the ritual when it had just hatched, right?" Evan shot back.

"At that stage, those sloppy mistakes wouldn't matter much. It was only a hatchling, and wyverns are more resilient than most creatures. But now that it's reached the juvenile stage? You'll be lucky if only one of you dies. More likely, both of you will." Isaac growled, baring his yellowing teeth.

"Oh, stop with the dramatics. I'm trying to help you here," Evan said, rolling his eyes.

"You can go ahead and use that ritual if you want, or you can let me draw the correct one. After that, use whichever you like. If either you or your beast dies, it won't matter to me. I'll just pack up and leave." Evan and Isaac locked eyes, neither willing to back down. Several long minutes passed before Isaac finally looked away.

"... Alright." He grabbed Evan by the scruff, dragged him over to the desk, and shoved him into the chair. Then he placed a fresh sheet of paper in front of him and stuffed a pencil into his hand.

"Are you going to take these cuffs off?" Evan asked.

"What do you think?" Isaac replied, glaring down at him.

"Whatever. Just don't complain when I draw slowly because I can barely move my wrists," Evan muttered. He lowered the pencil onto the paper and began drawing a new sacrificial ritual circle, recalling everything he had learned from Chronicles of a Demon Hunter. Unlike Isaac's design, which was filled with shaky lines and smudges, Evan's strokes were clean and deliberate.

"The beast sits here," Evan muttered, sketching the large central circle.

"The containment glyphs need more spacing. Otherwise, the demonic energy bottlenecks around the heart." He moved to the upper section of the ritual, where the sacrificial array connected to the main circle.

"This transfer path is your biggest mistake," Evan said.

"You want the sacrificial energy to spiral into the core instead of crashing straight into it." He continued drawing while talking.

"I'll also replace these stabilization glyphs. They're outdated." His pencil glided across the page, reshaping the glyphs into a more refined pattern. He completed the outer rings with the same confidence before setting the pencil down.

"There," he said.

"Now that is a proper sacrificial ritual circle." Isaac grabbed the paper and narrowed his eyes as he examined the ritual circle from top to bottom. Evan simply leaned back in his chair, confident Isaac would believe him. Isaac studied the ritual circle in silence, his eyes moving over every line and glyph. At last, he lowered the paper.

"I've… greatly underestimated you, Senior. It seems there are many things that I've yet to learn." Evan only nodded, a smug smirk on his face. Then he raised his bound hands.

"Now, can you release me?"

"I'm sorry, Senior. You know I can't do that," Isaac said. This bastard. Calling me 'Senior' while still treating me like a prisoner, Evan thought darkly, but he only said, "Fine. I understand your wariness, but could you at least spare me some bread? I'm quite hungry."

"Of course." Isaac handed him a large melon bread. Evan opened the package and took a bite. Internally, he swore he would make this man pay.

Aboard a train traveling from District 1 to District 20, Reid sat quietly in his seat. The spacious carriage was brightly lit, with rows of cushioned seats lining either side of a central aisle while wide windows framed the city rushing past outside. Overhead luggage racks stretched the length of the cabin, and digital displays above the doors cycled through the upcoming stations.

The steady hum of the train blended with the murmur of nearby conversations and the occasional automated announcement, creating a calm rhythm as the journey continued. A soft smile spread across Reid's face as he imagined Evan's shocked expression when he unexpectedly returned home. A month had passed since he had left District 20 to study at Central Awakener Academy.

When he heard there would be several days off because a public holiday coincided with the regular weekend break, he decided to use the opportunity to pay Evan a visit. So far, Evan had proven himself perfectly capable of living alone and taking care of himself. It left Reid with mixed feelings. He was glad his little brother had become so self-sufficient and independent, yet he couldn't shake a strange sense of wistfulness.

He had spent so long looking after Evan that the absence of those daily responsibilities felt oddly unfamiliar. He was not blind to how much he doted on Evan. Had his brothers and sisters from the Order still been alive, they would never have believed the sight. The cold, distant man they had known as Reuel would never have fussed over another person like this. But time had a way of changing people, even someone as aloof as he had once been. Besides, Reuel had spent enough of his life pushing others away.

Reid's train of thought was interrupted when his phone suddenly rang. He unlocked it and saw Hye-jin's name on the screen.

"Hello?" Reid answered. There was a brief pause before Hye-jin spoke.

"Reid... you're really not going to like this." Her voice was tight.

"Your brother... he's gone missing." His grip on the phone tightened.