Chapter 71: Funeral

The remains of the staircase collapsed beneath Reinhard’s feet, forcing him to step away just as Big Boss came charging through the smoke.

"Still standing?" Big Boss asked, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth. "You really are annoying."

Reinhard landed on the floor below and looked up at him. "You say that like you’re not enjoying this."

Big Boss laughed and raised his fists. "Of course I’m enjoying it. I haven’t had this much fun in years."

"That’s a sad life story, but go on."

Purple flames spread across the ceiling, and Reinhard looked up to find Purple Light standing on the remains of the upper floor, black bones floating around him. "I don’t think he means the same thing by fun that you do," Purple Light said.

"He means fun like punching. I mean fun like a nice dinner and someone laughing at my jokes." Reinhard glanced between them. "You two are terrible dinner company so far."

Purple Light looked down at him. "You talk too much."

"That’s rich, coming from the guy who’s said maybe six words all night. Are you charged by the syllable? Is that why the lanterns follow you around, so you don’t have to carry a lamp bill?"

The black bones shot downward as Big Boss attacked from the opposite side. His fist caught Reinhard’s raised arm and drove him backward nearly ten meters.

Reinhard looked at his arm, then at Big Boss. "Okay, that one actually hurt. I’m docking you a star."

Big Boss’s grin widened. "Good."

"Don’t get too excited. I still have four stars left."

Reinhard vanished and appeared behind him, driving his fist into Big Boss’s back before following with two more strikes. Big Boss turned and blocked the next one.

"You’re stronger than you look," Big Boss said.

"I get that a lot. It’s the face. Nobody expects the face to also punch."

Big Boss swung again, but Reinhard ducked beneath it and drove his knee into the man’s stomach. Big Boss grabbed his shoulder and slammed him into the ground.

The floor cracked beneath Reinhard’s back, and he rolled away before the second punch landed, but purple flames were already descending from above. Eight translucent shields appeared around him, and the flames crashed into them one after another.

Reinhard pushed himself forward as several shields shattered. "That’s useful. Remind me to thank whoever’s paying for these."

A black bone shot toward his head. Reinhard tilted aside, then used Space Tear to redirect the next one into a C-Rank Collector.

"Sorry!" Reinhard called. "You were standing there, and honestly, that’s on your team’s formation, not me."

He drew a relic gun and fired three times. The shots disrupted the enemy formation, and Reinhard threw a relic spear with a talisman attached to its shaft.

Big Boss turned his head. "Missed."

"No."

Reinhard snapped his fingers, and the talisman detonated, catching several Collectors behind Big Boss.

"That was aimed at me!"

"Exactly."

"You missed me."

"I wasn’t trying to hit you. I was trying to hit the people standing behind you like a coward. It’s a workplace safety issue."

Big Boss stared at him before laughing. "You really are annoying."

"I’m beginning to think that’s my charm. My wife says the same thing, except she means it kindly."

Lightning tore through the smoke, and Reinhard’s instincts warned him just before it arrived. He moved aside, but a second attack forced him through a doorway.

He landed hard, blood running from the corner of his mouth. Reinhard wiped it away and looked at his fingers.

"Okay." He smiled. "Now I’m interested."

Power surged through his body as his muscles tightened and his senses sharpened.

Big Boss stepped through the destroyed doorway. "Oh?"

"Come on, then. Let’s see if you’re actually worth the trip out here."

They charged at the same time, and their fists collided.

BOOM!

The entire floor shook.

Their exchange became too fast for the surrounding Awakeners to follow, but Reinhard was watching. He noticed the movement of Big Boss’s right shoulder whenever mana gathered in his fist, the way his jaw tightened before the beam came from his mouth, and his left foot shifting before heavier attacks.

"You’ve figured me out," Big Boss said.

"You telegraph your shoulder like you’re mailing me a letter that says punch incoming, sincerely, Big Boss."

"That’s annoying."

"I’ve heard that a lot for the past twenty minutes. You should all start a support group."

Big Boss opened his mouth, and Reinhard immediately saw the attack coming. Mana gathered, but Space Tear swallowed the beam before it reached him. Another tear opened behind Big Boss, sending the attack back.

Reinhard pointed at him. "See? Your own attack, delivered fresh, still warm."

Big Boss rolled across the floor. "That trick is getting old."

"Then stop shooting things at me."

"I don’t think that’s happening."

"Fair. I respect a man who commits to a bad plan."

Purple Light appeared behind Reinhard, and dozens of black bones formed around him.

"That’s a lot," Reinhard said. "Did you bring the whole graveyard, or just your favorites?"

The bones launched. Reinhard slipped between them while his shields absorbed the rest. He threw a relic bomb toward Purple Light, but purple flames swallowed it before it could do much damage.

Reinhard clicked his tongue. "You’re really bad for business."

Purple Light looked at him. "Explain."

"You’re destroying all my expensive toys. Do you know how much I spent today? I have a receipt in my coat that would make you cry."

"You bought them for this."

"That doesn’t mean I want to waste them. There’s a difference between spending money and throwing it away."

One corner of Purple Light’s mouth lifted. "You’re strange."

"I’ve been told that too, usually right before someone tries to kill me."

A black bone shattered Reinhard’s last shield. He vanished and appeared above Purple Light, but purple flames forced his fist back.

Purple Light looked up. "Too obvious."

"Was it?"

A tear opened beneath Purple Light’s foot. Reinhard kicked him through it, sending him across the room, but Big Boss was already there. His fist slammed into Reinhard’s stomach and launched him through a wall.

Reinhard landed on one knee, breathing heavily. The battle had gone on too long. He had been moving through space, reinforcing his body, maintaining enhanced perception, activating relics, and fighting multiple B-Ranks at once.

His next Space Tear opened slightly slower.

"That’s not good."

His mana wasn’t empty, but it was getting expensive. If he kept fighting at this pace, they would outlast him.

"If I keep fighting like this, they’ll outlast me. Which is embarrassing, considering how much I paid for this outfit."

Big Boss crashed through the wall, and Reinhard moved aside before countering. Another attack came, then another, and his breathing grew rougher.

Then Reinhard remembered something.

"Right."

His Immortal Emperor Body responded. Mana stored throughout his cells began flowing back toward his Gnosis, and the exhaustion eased.

"I have another reserve. Wonderful. I love finding money I forgot I had."

Then another source opened within him. His Enlightened Heart released its accumulated energy, and the mana he had spent began flowing back from two different sources.

Reinhard slowly stood, his breathing steady again.

"Much better."

Big Boss stared at him. "What the hell?"

"Remember when I said I was getting interested?"

"Yeah."

"I lied. I’m interested now."

Big Boss charged again, but Reinhard’s movements were sharper. He slipped beneath punches, redirected attacks, and used his relics to strike enemies from unexpected angles.

Big Boss swung, and Reinhard redirected the punch into another B-Rank.

Purple Light appeared above them. "Big Boss."

"What?"

"Don’t attack him directly. He wants you to."

Reinhard’s smile widened. "There you are. Wondered how long the graveyard candle would take."

Purple Light had finally understood. Big Boss stopped giving Reinhard obvious targets, while the other B-Ranks began covering each other’s blind spots.

One specialized in lightning, another used long-range attacks, a defensive B-Rank strengthened their barriers, and a spatial-type Awakener began interfering with Reinhard’s escape routes.

They weren’t simply throwing attacks at him anymore.

They were solving him.

Reinhard’s smile grew. "Six different problems."

"Good," Big Boss said.

"I was talking to myself, but sure, be proud of your homework."

The battle continued through the mansion. When Reinhard used the corridors, they collapsed them. When he moved through space, the spatial Awakener predicted where he would emerge. Whenever he attacked one B-Rank, another covered them.

Purple Light kept adjusting the formation, while Big Boss remained the hammer pressing Reinhard from the front.

Reinhard took a lightning strike across his side and retaliated, but a defensive relic absorbed the blow. A tracking relic followed him through space, and he destroyed it before another attack forced him farther into the mansion.

"They really are learning," he muttered. "Somebody give them a certificate."

His enhanced perception swept across the ruined mansion. Walls had collapsed, floors had cracked, and fire and smoke filled the corridors. The Collectors were scattered, the Baal guards were struggling, and even the B-Ranks were breathing harder.

Reinhard could feel their exhaustion, and he realized something else.

They had been fighting him for a long time, but he had been fighting the mansion.

Every corridor he used, every room he crossed, every wall he broke through, every relic he threw, and every place he had been forced to retreat, Reinhard had been leaving something behind.

Purple Light suddenly looked around, and his expression changed.

Big Boss noticed. "What?"

Purple Light’s eyes moved across the ruined mansion before settling on Reinhard. "You’ve been leading us."

"Took you long enough. I was starting to think I’d have to draw you a map, and honestly, at this point I already did."

Big Boss’s expression changed. "What did you do?"

Reinhard raised his hand, and chains erupted from the darkness. They shot from the positions Reinhard had prepared throughout the mansion, wrapping around the B-Ranks and anchoring them in place.

Big Boss pulled against the chain, cracking the floor beneath his feet, but it didn’t move. Purple flames erupted around Purple Light, but the restraints remained.

One B-Rank attempted to escape through space, only for his expression to change when nothing happened.

"What is this?"

"You’re staying there. Sit down, relax, the show’s almost over."

Purple Light’s eyes narrowed. "You prepared this while fighting us."

"Of course. Did you think I was just running around getting exercise? I hate exercise. This was all work."

Big Boss pulled again, and the chain held. Reinhard’s blue eyes brightened.

The weaker Awakeners froze almost immediately. Several D-Ranks collapsed, the C-Ranks struggled to remain standing, and even the average B-Ranks dropped to their knees. Big Boss gritted his teeth as his legs began to shake.

"What... is this?"

Purple Light’s flames flickered as he forced himself to remain standing.

Reinhard stepped forward.

Purple Light looked at his eyes. "Your eyes..."

"Yeah." Reinhard took another step. "They’re pretty. I get that one a lot too, right before the screaming starts."

Despite the pressure, Big Boss laughed. "You’re insane."

"Probably. But I’m insane and I’m winning, so let’s not focus too hard on the first part."

Reinhard looked around. Every trap was in position, every major enemy was restrained, their formation had collapsed, and their mana was running low. His own reserves were still feeding him, and the mansion itself had become one enormous weapon.

Reinhard raised his hand. "Now let’s finish this. And for the record, this was never a fair fight. It was a very expensive magic trick, and you were all part of the act."

Every relic Reinhard had planted throughout the mansion activated. Explosive talismans detonated, relic bombs erupted from hidden positions, stored weapons fired from the walls, and specialized ammunition tore through the remaining formations.

The entire mansion erupted.

BOOM!

The floor disappeared, walls collapsed, and the ceiling broke apart. Purple flames surged through the destruction, lightning exploded across the halls, and mana blasts tore through the structure as the remaining relics detonated one after another.

Big Boss’s roar disappeared beneath the destruction. Purple Light vanished beneath fire and debris, and the mansion began collapsing in on itself.

Reinhard didn’t stay to watch. He opened a tear behind himself and stepped through as another massive explosion tore through the mansion.

The building collapsed, and the night sky filled with fire and smoke.

Far away, Reinhard emerged on the roof of a nearby building. His clothes were torn, blood covered his cheek, and his breathing was heavy, but he was standing.

He looked back at the burning remains and let out a long breath. "Note to self. Buy more talismans. Also, less mansions."

The System notification appeared in the corner of his vision.

[Investment Objective Completed.]

[A-Grade Investment Successful.]

[Calculating Returns...]

Reinhard stared at it for several seconds, but his phone vibrated. He looked down and saw a message from Emily.

Emily: Are you coming home?

Reinhard smiled. After everything that had happened, that was the only question he actually cared about.

He typed his reply.

Reinhard: Yeah. I’m on my way.

He looked once more toward the burning mansion before turning toward the city.

"I’ve got somewhere to be."

Home.

With that, Reinhard walked toward the edge of the building while the city lights stretched before him and the mansion continued burning behind him.

The System notification remained open in the corner of his vision.

[Calculating Returns...]