Chapter 123: DON’T MESS WITH A VILLAIN.

Chapter 123: 123: DON’T MESS WITH A VILLAIN.

Rayder and Jason had gone into extreme mode. Realizing that Nyx wasn’t as easy to deal with as they had thought, they tapped into the core of their powers to initiate a more intense level of combat.

The three moved from the air to the ground, red flames bursting across the atmosphere while lightning and thunder struck through the space around them.

They had grown powerful enough to gauge Nyx’s attacks now, strong enough to finally land a couple of strikes on him. Nyx staggered backward from one hit before falling back.

Nyx struggled to his feet, wiping the blood from his lips as he cracked his neck. He knew at that moment that he also had to step up his game, so he clasped both hands together and sent golden flames spreading across the atmosphere, setting almost everything around them ablaze.

Jason and Rayder paused, both standing on the ground and staring around at the flames that had built up around them.

"What the..." Rayder muttered as he stared at Nyx. "That crazy... What’s he on? Drugs?"

But Nyx simply smiled at them. "Let me show you how to properly teach a lesson."

He clenched his fist, and the golden flames immediately consumed the two of them.

Jason and Rayder struggled to escape, but the fire caught them and swept them in, leaving them screaming and struggling in pain. It didn’t burn their skin, yet they could feel something inside them weakening and shattering. No matter how hard they struggled, they couldn’t escape the flames.

They were trapped.

And then Nyx flew straight into the flames.

They couldn’t see him as he moved in flashes through the golden fire. All they could feel were his fists and legs doing the work.

Nyx beat them relentlessly, his fists flying through their faces multiple times in a blur and leaving blood gushing from their lips and noses. Then he sent his leg smashing into their chests and stomachs.

By the time the flames disappeared, Jason and Rayder were left floating in the air, bruised, weak, and bleeding. The flames had weakened something inside them, while Nyx’s fists had left them in even more physical pain.

Nyx stood before them with a smile. "What? Can’t handle a lesson from a junior?"

He immediately flew at them again with his staff, striking them back and forth without giving either of them a chance to recover. The staff smashed across their heads, faces, stomachs, backs, and legs.

June stood below and watched.

"Ouch..." he commented as he watched Nyx smash them around with the staff. He could practically feel their pain from where he stood.

"Is that too much...?" he wondered, but then he recalled how nasty they had been to Nyx during practice.

June shrugged. "I mean, they asked for it. You don’t play with the villain like that..."

He shook his head and looked around. "Too bad I didn’t come with popcorn, though."

The hits grew harsher each time until Jason and Rayder were physically battered and eventually sent flying down, crashing hard against the ground.

Nyx landed before them as they struggled to even stand up, but to no avail. His eyes were still glowing golden as he stared down at them with a smirk.

"You monster... who... who are you...?" Rayder stared at him, clear fear appearing in his eyes as he looked at the murderous expression on Nyx’s face. "Stay away from me...!"

He struggled backward as both of them crawled away from Nyx.

"Stay away from me, you monster!"

June could feel it too—the villainous aura surrounding Nyx.

He was in his dark mode now, and he could genuinely harm them without batting an eye. June figured that Nyx probably saw them as nothing more than monsters inside a dungeon that needed to be destroyed.

"I’d like to see how you can walk away without your legs," Nyx smirked as he raised his staff, clearly ready to break them for good.

June wanted to intervene. He had a feeling that Nyx might actually kill them if he didn’t.

But immediately, a massive wind swept through the atmosphere.

It was so powerful that it swallowed everything into its tornado.

"What’s—?"

June stared upward as Nyx instantly turned and rushed toward him. He pulled June into a firm hug, protecting him from the violent wind.

But the tornado was too harsh. It swept them both off their feet and soon pulled them into the same space where Ryan and the others were.

---

Ryan stood with his eyes closed in deep concentration. He was controlling the flow of Simon’s energy, which was currently in a very sensitive state.

Simon was using his core—an extreme level of power—and Ryan was cautiously weaving and controlling its flow.

With precise control, Ryan used the raging wind to target specific people.

Luther and Karen were swept back and forth by the violent tornado, trapped in a spiral with seemingly no escape. They tried to hold themselves steady, but they couldn’t. Instead, they found themselves repeatedly crashing against rocks and surfaces around them, their bodies becoming increasingly bruised.

Evelyn had also been pulled into the wind, flying through the atmosphere while struggling to maintain her balance and continue guiding them.

But it wasn’t working at all.

Soon, June and Nyx were swept into the same area along with Jason and Rayder. While Jason and Rayder were caught inside the tornado and violently thrown around, June and Nyx were gently brought down to the ground.

The wind didn’t affect anyone who wasn’t part of the Elite 5, exactly as Ryan had arranged.

So while the Elite 5 floated violently through the air, June and Nyx landed safely on the ground close to where Kael stood.

Finn remained standing at a distance, silently watching the Elite 5 being tossed around in the air.

He sighed before turning his gaze toward Ryan and Simon.

His lower lip was caught between his teeth as he clenched his fist, clearly struggling with the thoughts running through his mind. Then, after a moment, he finally stepped forward and began running toward Ryan, who stood there with his eyes closed in deep concentration.

And as Finn ran toward him, he recalled Rayder approaching him the previous day.

Rayder had given him a deal.

A simple deal.

"I’ll add you to their team. All you have to do is sabotage the team."

And Finn had accepted. Now, he had to do his part.

He ran forward and immediately crashed into Ryan, sending him flying backward and slamming hard against a rock.