one hundred twenty one

As the two continued to fight, Changbin used his fire to keep Jisung away. He was smart—he didn't plan on getting close to Jisung as long as he was using that fencing saber.

And so Changbin only used his magic to attack from far away. Jisung soon realized that his weapon wouldn't get him anywhere as long as Changbin kept the distance between them.

He'd have to come up with a different strategy if he wanted to stop Changbin. He looked around, his eyes continuously scanning the entire vicinity for something helpful.

Jisung wasn't as concentrated on his opponent as he should've been, and his inattentiveness ended up becoming his biggest weakness.

Changbin smirked victoriously upon noticing that he was distracted. Seeing an opportunity, he ordered the two panther-like fire demons to attack Jisung.

They all jumped towards him, all too eager to sink their teeth into him. Jisung's eyes widened in horror, but he had acted quickly and fended them off with his magic.

However, due to that distraction, Jisung completely forgot about Changbin who had gotten dangerously close.

The blood mage's fist erupted in flames. They turned blue—and he struck Jisung right in his chest. It hurt like hell and the impact sent him to the ground.

With a scream, he fell to the floor. The front of his shirt was completely burnt. "Fuck," he coughed as he tried to recover from the pain.

"Just give up. Don't bother fighting anymore, human," Changbin smirked. "You won't survive this anyway. It would be easier to accept it."

"You shouldn't underestimate me," Jisung spat and didn't hesitate to hurl a gleaming orb of light at him to shut him up.

"Die," Changbin snarled, moving his blazing hands to Jisung's neck. But he had completely forgotten about one thing though.

"You may be strong, but you're quite stupid," Jisung managed to say under his weak state. He raised his arm with the blade and plunged it into Changbin's back, burying it beneath his shoulder blade.

Jisung heard a strange sizzling sound followed by the blood mage's hoarse scream. Then, the panther-like fire demons started dispersing in the air one by one.

Changbin began to tremble and he pushed Jisung away from him immediately. The weapon was stuck in his body, and it obviously gave him trouble. Smoke rose from the area where the blade was.

Changbin tried to pull it out, but couldn't since it was too far up—he couldn't reach it on his own. He knew he looked pathetic at this moment, and that caused his anger to surge.

"You will pay for that, human," he growled, intending to retaliate. However, he staggered as he stood up and it became apparent that the weapon weakened him more than he wanted to admit.

"You're still so full of yourself until now, huh?" Jisung spat. An orb of light appeared in his palm, flickering dangerously.

His sharp eyes focused on Changbin, seeing his chance to finally end it. He walked up to his opponent, steps filled with purpose.

He forgot about everything around him, became fixated on Changbin. Nothing else mattered. Jisung used the very last of his strength, summoning as much of his magic as he could.

His light magic clashed with Changbin's fire magic. It held on for a frighteningly long time. The devastating power that rippled through the hallway caused the walls and parts of the ceiling to slowly form cracks.

Jisung closed his eyes, was blinded by his own magic, but he heard Changbin's angry scream. It was abruptly cut off, replaced with an eerie silence. Only then did the swirling flow of magic die down.

Jisung was breathing hard, he couldn't believe what he had accomplished. He couldn't see Changbin anywhere in the vicinity anymore and knew it was finally over—

"Jisung, can you hear me?" A faint noise reached his ears. He slowly fluttered his eyelids open and who he saw made him burst out in tears.

"Minho!" he sobbed, pulling him into a hug. A mix of emotions overwhelmed him. He had finally broken free from the illusion.

And for the first time, he succeeded without anyone else's help.

To be continued...

Ah, I missed updating this so much lol. It's been five days since I last posted a new chapter, I guess?