He who Bends Time
Chapter 87 - hidden danger

Chapter 87: Chapter 87 - hidden danger

They had already noticed the commotion and had seen Henry defeat all the villains. At first, they were confused by his sudden shout—but some among them acted quickly and ran toward Henry—or rather, toward the exit. It didn’t take long for the others to follow behind them. \n(o)v.e\l.com

There were a lot of children working in the mine, and Henry realized that there wasn’t nearly enough time for all of them to escape.

"I have to do something," he pondered, and suddenly, a thought came to his mind.

"The restriction is also a curse. If I use my theory, I might be able to suppress it..." Without further delay, he acted quickly and activated his theory.

[Magical THEORY – Mana Suppression]

From his hand, cursed energy surged out and rushed at Kunch before being absorbed into him. Afterward, patterns appeared all over Kunch’s body.

{Negative Sensation}

Henry cast another spell, and the curse rushed at Kunch and was absorbed into him just like before.

The patterns around his body began to activate, and the glow on Kunch’s neck—which was flaring intensely and on the verge of exploding—was held back by the activated markings.

But moments later, the patterns began to break.

"Shit, the restriction spell is stronger than my own! But I can’t let it break."

Henry channeled more of his own mana into Kunch, strengthening the Negative Sensation spell. As a result, the breaking of the pattern around Kunch’s neck halted.

Meanwhile, the children continued to run, following one another, and toward the end of the group, Henry was barely able to keep supplying Kunch with source mana to suppress him.

Seeing the last of the children running out of the mine, Henry finally stopped—or more accurately, his cursed mana ran out. And at that moment...

BOOM!

Kunch’s glowing neck instantly surged brighter than before and exploded with a massive wave of force.

Henry, being the closest to him, was fully exposed to the explosion and the blast of air. As a result, he was blown away from deep inside the mine and landed on the ground somewhat close to the entrance.

"Ugh... Looks like luck is on my side," Henry muttered, his face bruised and bloodied. Looking ahead, he saw the entrance he came from—and now, also the exit he needed.

Ugh!

His entire body was injured from the explosion. He felt immense pain every time he tried to move, and when he attempted to stand up, he realized his leg bone might be broken.

The explosion caused the entire cave to shake, and as a result, it began to collapse.

Ugh!

Henry desperately crawled toward the entrance, but it was obvious he wouldn’t be able to escape at that pace.

"No... I’m not going to end like this."

Henry’s voice trembled with desperation as he glanced back at the collapsing cave. Yet, despite his resolve, he still couldn’t stand—his broken leg made even crawling agonizingly slow.

"Nooo—!"

In Henry’s darkest moment he suddenly heard hurried footsteps. Looking up, he saw one of the children—a boy with determined eyes—dodging falling debris and sprinting toward him.

"Kid, get out of here! Save yourself!" Henry shouted.

But the boy seized Henry’s arms and began dragging him toward the exit.

He’s strong for a child... Henry thought as the boy hauled him clear of the cave just before the tunnel roof crashed down behind them.

Outside, the rest of the children huddled together, shaken but safe.

"Thank you—thank you for saving me," Henry rasped, collapsing onto the ground in exhaustion and pain.

"What a brave kid," he murmured. "To think he’d risk his life for a stranger—"

"Well, I don’t know if you should be that grateful," the "boy" said, his voice suddenly sly. "After all, once I hand you over to the boss, I’ll get a huge reward."

Henry’s eyes flew open. The child’s face was rippling, bones stretching; coarse hair bristled along his jaw.

"You’re not a kid... You’re... another body-modifier," Henry realized, shock flooding through him.

"I’ll be breaking this leg, too," the shapeshifter sneered, tightening his grip. Henry felt the pressure increase—one more twist and his already-injured leg would snap like a twig.

"Why?" Henry whispered, grief edging his voice. "Why must everything here be rotten? Just when I thought there was still some good left..."

{Tenfold Touch}

With a surge of cursed mana, Henry cast the spell. Black mist shot from his palm and sank into the shapeshifter’s body.

"Aaaagh! The wind—it feels like blades!" the creature screamed, clawing at his skin as invisible agony sliced through him.

Henry watched the thrashing figure, then looked past him to the wide-eyed children he had rescued—children who were now his responsibility.

Henry’s mind raced.

"If this boy turned out to be an enemy, I can’t be sure there aren’t more impostors hiding among the rest. If I let things stand, these children will eventually be in danger again—and so will I. But how do I find the traitors? I couldn’t even tell this one was a fake until he revealed himself."

He glanced at the frightened children huddled together, most staring at him in raw confusion and fear. After a moment’s hard thought, he reached a grim conclusion.

"There’s only one solution—heartless as it is," he whispered. "If I don’t act quickly, another hidden enemy could strike. I have to do this, for their sake—and for mine."

Henry extended his hand toward the group. Dark mist coiled around his fingers.

{Blinding Darkness – Mass Effect}

"None of these children can defend themselves; they’re barely old enough to understand magic, let alone resist it. They’re certainly not even at the Apprentice stage. One area-wide spell should envelop them all. If an impostor is hiding among them, I’ll feel the resistance in my mana."

As the spell spread like a dark veil over the group, Henry focused intently, ready to detect even the slightest pushback—any subtle flicker of counter-magic that would betray another hidden enemy.

The blinding spell was cast, and it affected the whole group of children.

"Huh!" f.re(e) w.e(b)nov el.c.om

"I can’t see!"

"Sister, where are you?!"

As the spell took effect, the children panicked—crying out and stumbling in confusion. But among them, a few acted strangely calm.