Return of the Runebound Professor Chapter 917: Humiliation

Noah darted forward, letting Unraveling Disruption’s power burn in his fingers as he closed the distance between himself and the other mage. The faster he ended this fight, the better. There were better things to spend his time on. And given that most mages weren’t particularly used to people just sprinting headlong at them, charging forward like a crazed idiot actually felt like a fairly reasonable plan.

He only needed to get close to his opponent for a moment. Unraveling Disruption would handle the rest. And with the Fragment of Self heightening Noah’s control of his body, he could tell it would only be seconds before he closed the distance and was upon—

The man was in front of him.

Noah’s eyes widened. He hadn’t even seen his opponent move. Before he could even send Unraveling Disruption’s power out, a wall of force slammed into his chest like a hammer. It knocked the breath from his lungs and sent him hurtling back toward the edge of the arena.

He hit the ground, rolling several feet before launching himself back to his feet in a stumble. Disbelief filled his thoughts. The other mage hadn’t used any magic to teleport. Not, at least, that Noah had seen. He’d simply materialized in front of him. It was almost like the magic that the Executioner had used. And the attack he’d been hit by… it didn’t feel like an attack so much as a wall of pressure.

Noah’s eyes narrowed. Stranger still was that his opponent hadn’t pressed the advantage. Instead of trying to follow the attack up with a second one, the gray-eyed man just stood silently, watching him with a slightly cocked head.

Noah’s eyes narrowed.

There was really only one way to find out. Noah darted forward again, drawing on his magic once more. It wouldn’t be so easy to catch him off guard a second time. He let Unraveling Disruption’s power well forth within him as he sprinted.

This time, the other man didn’t move. He simply stood in place and watched Noah’s advance. It seemed he had a lot of faith in the pressure he’d used to send Noah flying back the first time.

The distance between them melted.

A wall of force slammed into him for the second time about a dozen paces before he was upon the mage.

But this time, he was ready.

He unleashed Unraveling Disruption the moment he felt the energy. Oily magic spilled into the air. The pressure bearing down on Noah cracked and shattered, melted away within moments. He only missed a single step. Then he was sprinting again.

Noah drew on Unraveling Disruption once more as he took the final steps to arrive before the other mage, thrusting his hand out for the man’s shoulder—

Pressure slammed into him for the second time. And this time around, it was easily twice as powerful as the first. There wasn’t even a moment for him to react. The ground was blurring beneath him before he’d even realized that he’d been hit.

Noah grabbed for Concentrated Singularity’s power, slowing his flight before he could slam into the wall. He dropped back to the ground and reached for his runes… only to find that the other man still wasn’t moving. All he was doing was staring at Noah.

Whatever the case, it had become quite apparent that he wasn’t going to be ending this fight quickly. Whoever this was… they were at least a Rank 6. So much for the idea of trying to put the Rank 5s up against each other at the start.

Noah suppressed a sigh. This was going to be a pain in the ass.

“Seriously?” Noah called, summoning his violin to his hands. “I’m starting to feel a little offended here. Are you just going to stand there and make me look like an idiot? Or are you going to fight properly?”

The other man didn’t reply. He just stared at Noah, the two swords at his sides hanging loose at his sides. They almost looked out of place. As if they weren’t his swords at all. His grip on them was awkward, and he barely even seemed aware that he had them in the first place.

Something about his eyes set Noah on edge. The other mage’s gaze unblinkingly bored into his skull. Noah was pretty sure he hadn’t blinked once since the fight had started.

Noah started to pull the bow of his violin across its strings, letting a formation spill forth—

And then the man was in front of him again.

Noah braced himself. He drew on Unraveling Disruption to try and tear the magic apart before it could slam into him. But, strangely enough, the wall of force never arrived.

“Curious,” the man said. “You can drop the facade. I am uninterested in seeing anything other than the full extent of your powers. Where is the strength I witnessed during the melee rounds?”

Then the man waved his hand.

Noah’s magic sputtered out.

He blinked.

His Runes had been snuffed. He could still feel the magic within him, but the power he’d been gathering in his Formation had just… disappeared. As if it had never been there at all.

He tried to draw on his magic.

Nothing came. It was as if someone had taken the anti-domain field covering Aqua Terra and stretched it to completely envelop every aspect of his power. Noah found himself reaching for the Beyond. He only caught himself a moment before it would be too late.

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But his other runes weren’t responsive at all. He could still feel the Line within him. Its power hadn’t been blocked. Noah didn’t have any desire to start using that while everyone was watching, though. Not unless he had literally no other choice.

“You’re not a Rank 6,” Noah said flatly.

“No,” the other man said. “I am not.”

“You do realize that admitting that is grounds to get expelled from the tournament,” Noah said.

“I am not participating in the tournament,” the man replied, his gray eyes still boring into Noah’s skull. “It is of no concern to me.”

And then it clicked.

“Who are you?” Noah asked. “And what is it that you want? Because its pretty clear you aren’t here to fight.”

“I am Rake,” the other mage replied. “And I have come to speak with you when Vivian was not watching. There was not another way.”

Noah glanced up at the massive crowd cheering above them. They sounded a hell of a lot more excited than they should have been for what was nothing more than a very boring conversation.

“You sure about that?” Noah asked. “Because I’m pretty sure she sees everything. Especially when we’re in the middle of a huge arena.”

Rake’s lips twitched in the faintest amount of amusement. Technically speaking, they weren’t even his lips. But that was semantics. For all intents and purposes, the mage before Noah right now was not whoever his opponent had been meant to be.

“I am quite certain,” Rake replied. “Vivian is powerful. But I am a Reality mage. Making it appear as if we are currently fighting for everyone else is a simple matter. Even Vivian will not be able to tell something is amiss from afar… and she cannot come down without directly interfering in her own tournament. Her powers does not enable such a thing.”

The hair on the back of Noah’s neck stood on end. The way the man spoke didn’t seem to imply that he was scared of Vivian at all. For that matter, it sounded more like she was his equal. And there were very few people that could ever dream of claiming such strength.

“You really think antagonizing Vivian is a good idea?” Noah asked casually. The crowd was still cheering above them. He had no idea what it was they were seeing, but it was becoming increasingly clear that nobody was going to stop the fight.

“I would not go so far as to call this antagonizing,” Rake said. “Meddling, at best. Vivian has more pressing matters to deal with than a minor interruption of one small fight. And she will know nothing unless you speak of it.”

“Right,” Noah said grimly. “So what is it you want?”

“To help you,” Rake replied simply. “Why throw your lot in with Vivian? She is stiff. Unbending. She will do nothing but stifle your growth. But I witnessed what you were truly capable of during the melees. That magic you used. Slipping in and out of reality. I recognize it. And you will not find a master more capable of teaching you how to properly harness it than I.”

“You’re trying to recruit me?” Noah asked.

“I am,” Rake said. “I can take you from here before Vivian even realizes what has happened. There will be nothing she can do about it.”

“I see,” Noah said diplomatically. “But I’d like to consider my options. I’m not the type who acts rashly.”

Somewhere, Noah was pretty sure he’d just made Moxie start coughing.

“Consider?” Rake’s eyes narrowed. “You will my offer?”

“Well, we’re currently in the middle of a tournament,” Noah replied. “I didn’t come here for no reason, you know.”

“You came here for reason,” Rake replied. “Surely you are not so blind as to think that the Coral Empire holds anything for you. I can—”

The rest of Rake’s sentence never made it out of his lips. His eyes had flicked up to the sky.

Noah followed his gaze.

Then his eyes widened.

In the sky above the arena was Vivian, and she was staring right down at them.

“You sure she can’t see you?” Noah asked. “Because it looks like she can see you.”

“She cannot,” Rake said. “Lose your fear of her. It will not serve you.”

“I think fear of any Faction Head is a smart thing to do,” Noah said. “Anyone who scared of you lot is an idiot.”

The corner of Rake’s lip curled. “Perhaps. But if you join me, you will not have to fear her. I can show you true power. The proper path. And right now, there is nothing at all you have to fear from Vivian. She would not interrupt her own tournament for the sake of any mild suspicion she may have. She is not coming.”

Rake didn’t bother hiding the very clear double meaning in his words. His point wasn’t just that Vivian couldn’t pose Noah a threat right now. It also meant she couldn’t save him.

“An answer,” Rake said. “I will not accept consideration. You know why as well as I do. This is your opportunity. Make the right choice.”

That was a chilling thought.

Noah’s face paled slightly. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been worried about truly dying. Nobody had ever managed to completely block his runes off before.

Noah’s jaw clenched. Not even Grim’s voice was providing any help. It seemed that even his grimoire had somehow been silenced.

Then something prickled against the back of Noah’s neck.

He glanced back up at Vivian.

She wasn’t floating in the sky anymore.

She was hurtling down toward them.

Rake spotted it at the same time. Disbelief washed across his stolen features.

Then Vivian slammed into the ground between them.

The sheer force of her arrival sent a shockwave into Noah, forcing him to stumble several steps back. Cracks split through the ground of the arena as the ring of crystalline runes suspended in the air behind the Faction Head’s back shimmered as if in reflection of her fury.

“Have you lost your wits?” Rake asked, his eyes going wide. “What are you doing? You are interfering in your own tournament! The—”

“What am doing?” Vivian snarled. “What are doing? This is my tournament, you arrogant bastard. You think you can just flaunt your powers in front of my face? That some sense of embarrassment would keep me from interfering? This is my city, Rake. I will do as I please.”

Rake’s lips thinned. “And if I dismiss my version of reality, Vivian? How will you explain your own interference to the others? You could not have known what I was doing without getting close. We are both more than aware of the limits of your power. You were planning on interfering in this fight regardless of my presence. Why is that?”

Vivian’s expression twitched ever so slightly. That caught Noah by surprise. Rake had hit a nerve. He was, at least to some degree, correct.

“Do not think to question me,” Vivian said. “Go ahead. Drop your illusion. I am sure you have already modified it to explain everything. But if you lose it and the other Faction Heads are brought into this, I will simply claim you were interfering in a fight. I have every right to be here.”

“It will be a humiliation,” Rake said. “That I was able to get this far without interference. You would make that sacrifice for one disciple?”

“You would be surprised to see how far I would go to spite those who dare stand in my way,” Vivian snarled. “One chance, Rake. Leave. Do not speak of this. If you do, I will pretend it never happened. Leave — and keep your greedy hands off of my disciple.”

Noah, who had started to nod along in agreement, felt the world grind to a halt around him.