The tension between the two had reached a boiling point. Neither was willing to back down. The surrounding guild members were sweating bullets, but no one had the guts to intervene.
Who were they dealing with? This was their Vice Guild Master—the strongest mage in the guild, and arguably the most formidable powerhouse in the entire empire. And yet, she was being chewed out by some kid with zero magic power. The whole situation was incredibly messed up.
Alice ground her teeth in fury. "You want to take on a quest, right? Then let me see what you're made of. I might not sense a single drop of magic from you, but I'm not ruling out the possibility that you're using some parlor trick to hide it."
"Someone, fetch the Magic Crystal!" she barked. "Let's see what makes this guy so damn special."
"If your magic ranks an A or above today, I'll keep my mouth shut. But if you fall short of that, you have absolutely no business protecting my sister."
"I'll still give you credit for killing Jack, and I'll even compensate you with a massive payout. But my sister is completely out of your league."
Shin just chuckled. What a total farce this was turning into.
Standing off to the side, Lucy watched in dismay as her sister locked horns with her newly adopted older brother. "What is wrong with you two?" she pleaded. "Everything was perfectly fine a minute ago. How did it escalate into this?"
"This is all wrong! Who even told you he was after me? Alice, cut it out! Shin is a good guy!" She then turned to Shin. "And Shin, please, just let it go. My sister has always been like this."
"She's all bark and no bite. Everyone here knows she has a soft heart underneath that sharp tongue."
But Shin and Alice completely ignored her.
A moment later, the old man returned, lugging a massive crystal. Even from a distance, the dense magical energy radiating from it was palpable.
Alice stared down her nose at Shin. "If you're as tough as you claim, then prove it. Test your power right here, right now."
"If you turn out to be a fraud, there's the door. You have no right to be here. Let me make this crystal clear—our guild doesn't sponsor fakes like you."
"And just so we're on the same page, even though my father calls the shots in our family, don't think you can pull a fast one. I'm Lucy's older sister, and I'm watching you."
"If you're weak, or just another piece of trash like Jack, I'd normally let it slide and kick you to the curb."
"But the fact that you have zero power and still have the nerve to stand here and put on an act? Your character is absolute garbage."
Shin didn't bother offering a retort. He stepped up to the Magic Crystal and pressed his palm against its surface.
Immediately, the crystal flared to life. A massive, glowing letter materialized in the air above it:
E.
The entire guild erupted into roaring laughter.
"What the hell is that?? Hahaha!"
"An 'E' rank? I've lived a long time, but I've never seen magical aptitude that rock-bottom!"
"I'm dying! I thought I was weak, but this is a whole new level of pathetic! A loser like him thinks he can protect our little Lucy? Keep dreaming, kid!"
Alice smirked, her expression dripping with mockery. This played out exactly as she had predicted.
"Looks like I hit the nail on the head. You conned my sister, didn't you? It's a good thing you walked right into our turf. Still, you did pull her out of a tight spot, so I'll toss you some spare change as a reward."
By this point, Shin had completely run out of patience. "I know you're trying to look out for your sister," he said smoothly, his tone dangerously calm, "but you're crossing a serious line here."
"Alice, stop it!" Lucy pleaded. "He is very powerful! I saw it with my own eyes. He literally sliced the combined form of the Four Heavenly Kings completely in half! I'm not making this up, I swear!"
"Lucy, he doesn't have a single ounce of magic in his body. Don't you get it? He played you. He used some cheap trick to mess with your head."
"But it's a good thing I caught him. Now he won't be able to string you along anymore." Alice turned her cold gaze back to Shin.
"Take the money and leave. I won't breathe a word of this to anyone. But as for my sister—forget she exists. The payout I'm giving you is more than enough to set you up for life."
Shin popped open the small pouch she tossed him and eyed the gold coins. There were well over a hundred in there. Clearly, Alice was rolling in a lot more cash than her sister. Her personality was a total trainwreck, but if she were properly disciplined...
...it might not be a total lost cause. He looked back up and spoke with a level voice.
"Well, since that's how we're playing this, I think I've got the picture. To settle this, all I have to do is beat you into the ground."
"You're the guild's Vice Master, which means you're stepping up to the plate. Taking you down might be a half-decent warm-up. Everyone else here looks like absolute dead weight anyway."
Alice offered a sickeningly sweet smile. "You've told so many lies that you've started believing your own hype, haven't you? I never expected someone to be this delusional, but I suppose it makes sense for a con artist."
"After all, you're pathetically weak. You're probably scheming up some underhanded trick right now, but let me promise you this—I won't let you get away with it."
Shin vaguely remembered Lucy mentioning something about Alice getting stabbed in the back in the past. Ever since that betrayal, Alice had developed some serious inner demons. She looked fine on the surface right now...
...but if she snapped, Shin wasn't entirely sure how to handle the fallout.
Alice shot a cold look at the crowd. "This magicless nobody wants to challenge me. What do you boys suggest?"
"Just toss him out into the street, Vice Master! Don't waste your breath on him. There's no honor in a mage beating up a regular civilian. It's ridiculous."
That was the breaking point. Shin had officially had enough of their arrogant yammering. In a split second, his eyes shifted, bleeding into the crimson, pinwheel pattern of the Mangekyō Sharingan.
At that exact moment, a chilling sense of dread washed over Alice. She snapped her eyes toward Shin.
She met his gaze and saw the eerie, hypnotic rotation within his pupils.
A soft, almost whispered word slipped from his lips.
"Tsukuyomi."
In a fraction of a second, a terrifying, suffocating power invaded their minds. Anyone ranked below an A-Class mage instantly went glassy-eyed, dropping to the floor like cut marionettes. A second glance confirmed it—their minds had been completely shattered.
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