Wishmaker Chapter 16: Chapter 16

Read chapter 16 of Wishmaker by Larch on NovelPedia.

"Not so fast," The knight said, looking down. Click! With a sharp snap of his fingers, a tiny azure spark ignited on the knight's thumb, crackling with static before darting to Valentine's chest and phasing through his clothes, exploding within. A muffled thump came from inside his torso. His body jumped at the recoil; Val's eyes snapped wide open, followed by him coughing and trying to hold his chest, which felt as if a bolt of lightning pierced through his heart. Writhing on the ground, the knight's heavy armour roughly met his resistance. "Gah!-" Holding him up by his hair, the knight effortlessly lifted the boy from the ground, meeting his pained eyes. He tried to resist, pushing the hand away as much as he could. But it seemed that no matter how hard he tried, there was not a budge in his steel grip. "You're going to pull my hair out! Stop!" Amidst his cries, the knight tightened his grip, looking down at him with an expressionless gaze. Two rubies stared him down, cutting through his voice. "Who are you?" The knight asked, his other arm already preparing to strike him in the abdomen, making an iron fist. Valentine's face paled. "I-I already told you! My name is Valenti-" "Lies." The next second, his fist dug into Valentine's stomach. The impact sent him on the verge of spitting out the apple he ate minutes ago, alongside blood and stomach acid. Tightening his grip on Valentine's hair, the knight brought him closer, his scarlet gaze piercing through him as if no lie could escape its sight. "Who was it that you stole the invitation from?" "What invitati- Urgh! " His body tasted steel once more, the knight's eyes narrowing at the constant, pathetic denial. His heavy blows made Valentine double over in pain while lingering blood dropped down his lip. He glared at the knight. "What did I do to you!?" "Fool." Valentine winced at the knight's raised fist, already preparing for the next hit to land through him. The shadow above them had yet to leave, still focused on watching the boy's helpless state. However, the next moment, another snap of fingers rang in Val's deaf ears, forcing his eyes to widen at the sight. A tiny blue spark appeared in front of him, similar to the one Sunday showed him days ago. It was smaller, like comparing a human to an elephant; this was merely dust. But around it, tiny sparks kept exploding quietly, like lightning. When it entered his chest, it was as if a ghost was passing through a solid object. His whole body lit up for a split second, akin to a tiny explosion burning within him. He wanted to scream out at the scorching pain of his insides being burnt, but all that left him were clouds of dark smoke from all of his orifices. The knight let go of his hair with a sigh, dropping the boy on the wet grass. Then, he spoke. "You are useless." Below him, Valentine was slowly standing up, his entire body shaking. It seemed as if his injuries had healed, replaced by dark scars across his limbs. He looked up with a resentful expression, gritting his teeth. "I'm going to kill you, you asshole." "Arrogant as well? It would be quite amusing to crush you." His brow rose while Valentine continued to stand up, his height matching the knight's. "It seems that you are quite sturdy; even if I were pulling my punches, you would be lying on the ground with fractured ribs and begging for Victoria to grant her blessing." "Hah!" Valentine gave him a bloody grin. "Bastard... Come here, I'll give you a blessing alright." Winding up his punch, Valentine clenched his teeth and moved his throbbing torso, twisting it while cutting through the air in front of him with all of his might. The knight's whisper reached his ears. "Is that all?" Valentine's eyes widened as he side-stepped unevenly. The red-eyed man appeared over his shoulder like a wraith, no sound of his footsteps ever reaching Val's ears. Raising his fists to his eye level, he tried mimicking a boxing stance he saw once. He exhaled a pained breath. "Combat arts?" Th