“Lorenzo’s over here!”

That shout was like lighting a torch in the dark. All eyes turned toward him.

“Fuck! Lorenzo, hand over the Ancient Dragon’s Lifeblood already!”

After unleashing a barrage ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) of arrows, Sam reloaded quickly under the cover of his subordinates while roaring at Lorenzo.

At this point, nothing else mattered. First get the Lifeblood, then deal with the rest.

“LORENZO!”

On the other side, Shurz bashed a Red Flame Gang elite to death with his cane, his face twisted in a murderous frenzy. He led his mob of thugs straight into the fray!

No matter who had originally sparked the conflict, now that the brawl had begun, the allure of the Ancient Dragon’s Lifeblood meant Lorenzo was slowly becoming the target of a full-on gangpile.

Even the wild dogs who’d been lurking couldn’t hold back anymore and surged forward.

And what enraged him most was that the same flickering shadow had been darting around his men from the start.

In just a minute, he’d been ambushed multiple times—whacked with cudgels, even kicked in the balls with cheap shots. If it weren’t for his magitech armor, he’d have definitely lost something vital!

“Son of a bitch!”

Lorenzo was nearly frothing with rage. He shoved the metal container into his trusted aide’s hands and barked:

“You hold onto this—I’m gonna drag that sneaky bastard out and gut him!”

“Got it!”

The aide grinned wide, flashing gleaming white teeth.

Lorenzo had a faint sense that something was off, but in the chaos, he didn’t stop to think. He just raised his blade and charged into the crowd!

With Lorenzo’s sheer strength joining the fray, his side’s formation instantly stabilized. Though he still hadn’t managed to flush out the bastard, he had carved out a path for his allies.

At his side, the trusted aide kicked away a sneaky Rat Society thug and came panting to Lorenzo’s side.

“Boss, what now?”

“What do you mean ‘what now’? Obviously we need to protect the Ancient Dragon’s—”

Halfway through his sentence, Lorenzo suddenly stopped.

He stared straight at his aide’s empty hands, dazed.

“Where’s the Ancient Dragon’s Lifeblood?”

“The Ancient Dragon’s Lifeblood?”

The aide looked genuinely confused. “Isn’t it in your hands, Boss?”

“Bullshit! I clearly gave it to you just now!”

Lorenzo grabbed the aide by the collar and shook him violently. Seeing the clueless expression on his face, something clicked—and Lorenzo’s expression changed dramatically.

“Shit. I’ve been had!”

He immediately turned his head. Through the gaps in the crowd, he could just make out a lean figure slipping through like an eel, tearing off a hood and bolting away at full speed.

Fast as hell!

“STOP!”

Lorenzo’s mind went blank. He turned without hesitation and sprinted after the fleeing figure.

“Lorenzo! Where the hell do you think you’re going?!”

Shurz and his blood-soaked mob of thugs were close behind. They had clearly lost their minds, completely ignoring the disparity in strength as they lunged at Lorenzo with savage roars.

“FUCK OFF!”

Blue light flared across Lorenzo’s magitech armor, boosting his speed and power severalfold. He swung a fist and sent the thugs flying.

But just as he was about to take a step forward, a wave of dread crashed over him.

Click.

The sound of crossbows loading rang out again.

Sam and his men had raised their magic crossbows and locked their sights onto him once more.

“Lorenzo! Hand over the Ancient Dragon’s Lifeblood!”

“FUCK! I DON’T HAVE IT ANYMORE! IT WAS STOLEN!”

Lorenzo shouted, enraged.

“You expect me to believe a shitty lie like that?” Sam sneered.

“What kind of super-thief could steal something out of your hands?”

“I’d love to know where the hell that bastard came from too! But he really did run off with it!”

“That kind of bullshit? Save it for the devils in hell!”

Sam didn’t believe a word. His crossbow was already trained on Lorenzo. He refused to believe Lorenzo’s armor could tank that many bolts.

“Damn it!”

Lorenzo nearly spat blood in frustration. He could only mutter under his breath:

“I’ll have to ask for your help.”

In the next instant—

The air in the alley twisted into disorder.

It was as if an unseen force had begun to gather—then, beneath a quiet chant muffled by the noise, it suddenly exploded.

With a deafening roar, everyone instinctively looked up.

A massive fireball shot into the sky, like a miniature sun. In a flash, it illuminated the entire district.

“Shit.”

Sam stared up blankly at the fireball, cursing again.

“Lorenzo, you son of a bitch! You brought in a mage?! And you let them cast so blatantly?! Aren’t you afraid of drawing in the city guards?!”

“Relax. I paid them off. They’ll look the other way.”

Lorenzo winced at the thought of the fortune he’d have to spend cleaning this up afterward. But now wasn’t the time to dwell on that. He pointed and shouted:

“LOOK AT WHAT THAT GUY’S HOLDING!”

Bathed in the light of the little sun, the fleeing figure had nowhere to hide. And in his hand, the cold glint of a metal container was unmistakable.

All eyes followed Lorenzo’s finger—and nearly every person smacked their thigh.

The Ancient Dragon’s Lifeblood really had been snatched!

No wait—this wasn’t the time to marvel at it.

The Lifeblood was getting away—they had to chase it!

The thugs, elites, and rats who had been stunned by the fireball erupted into chaos again.

The crowd surged. Those in front barely had time to move before those behind crashed into them. The alley wasn’t wide, and people began pushing.

With weapons in hand, even shoving left many wounded. And these red-eyed maniacs weren’t about to stop and play nice—fights broke out on the spot.

Blood splattered. Bodies dropped.

“FUCK! Who cares about fighting now! GO AFTER HIM!”

Lorenzo dragged his elites out of the melee and resumed the chase.

Thanks to his position, Sam hadn’t been caught in the chaos. He raised his crossbow, aimed at the fleeing figure, and fired a volley!

As the fireball’s light faded, Sam saw the figure blur slightly—not only dodging the bolts, but seeming to rocket away like an explosion had gone off under his ass.

“Holy shit, that guy’s fast!”

Someone gasped amidst the chaos.

“Can we get a location on him?”

Lorenzo stared at the shrinking silhouette and muttered again.

Energy stirred around him. Trails of blood gathered into faint red threads, drifting into the depths of the night. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Lorenzo’s expression turned cold. He jammed his blade into its sheath and growled:

“Chase him.”

The brief light vanished. The night deepened.

Chaos and madness continued to spiral.

Dawn was still far, far away.