Chapter 256: The Prophet [4]

Chapter 255

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Episode 64 - The Prophet [4]

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For a moment, nothing happened; however, since I had shouted, I hadn’t only drawn the attention of my pursuers.

I could also feel several eyes watching me from all around: alleyways, houses...

...However, I simply smiled as I "looked" in a certain direction, about two kilometers away.

’Mhm, so they really did send a failsafe in case their mission failed.’

Not far from my pursuers was someone exceptionally strong.

Although my Mana Sense only indicated that the approximate amount of Power of Chaos he possessed was at Class 8, he actually seemed to be much stronger than what my Mana Sense could perceive.

’That guy could fight a rookie Nine-Star Awakened.’

Of course, even if he faced a rookie who had only just reached Nine Stars, he would still be defeated. He simply had enough strength to hold out for a while and escape with ease.

In any case...

Whoosh!

Mana rippled through the air, and seven figures appeared in front of me.

They looked exactly like a squad or team sent to carry out a secret mission.

Five of them were Class 5 villains. For me, simply using Gravity would be enough to crush their bodies with ease.

However, my attention naturally turned toward the woman wearing a smile, unmistakable joy written all over her face.

’Her name is Amanda, right?’

She was the same woman I had used Eyes of the End on for the first time. She was also the anomaly that had appeared in Chapter One, Part One, back then.

On the other hand, standing beside Amanda was a rather short, bearded man, around 1.60 meters tall, or perhaps even shorter.

He was a Class 7 villain and carried an axe.

"Jojojo, we meet again, little Adel."

At that moment, Amanda broke the tense silence hanging over the area.

"Well, you’re right. I remember crushing your body, and just when I was about to kill you, you managed to use a Magic Item with the Teleportation characteristic. So you survived."

Amanda gave me a thumbs-up and nodded.

"Hehe, exactly. You have a very good memory, little Adel. So, wouldn’t you like to play again?"

I tilted my head slightly to the side and smiled.

"Play with you..."

My voice was mocking, and without hiding my smile, I continued:

"Mhm, sorry. I was actually planning to look for you myself once I had some free time, but since you’ve come to me yourselves..."

I drew my sword, gripped it firmly, and finally pointed its tip toward them.

"I can just kill you and save myself the trouble, you know?"

Amanda clapped happily and said:

"Jojojo, I like that, little Adel. However, if you kill me, we won’t be able to keep playing, and that makes me sad..."

At that moment, the dwarf raised his axe and, frowning, said:

"Damn idiot, just shut up."

Amanda patted the dwarf on the head and said:

"Let me have a little fun, dwarf."

Several veins bulged around his head as he shouted:

"Seriously, do you have to joke around at a time like this? Can’t you see that guy has reached Six Stars and nearly killed you when he was barely at Three Stars? Do you have shit in your head or what?"

Amanda pouted and crossed her arms.

Seeing their rather strange conversation, I thought:

’Why are female villains always the craziest?’

I agreed with the dwarf.

In any case, while they continued arguing, I extended my hand and muttered:

"Gravity."

".....!"

In an instant, the expressions on the dwarf’s and Amanda’s faces changed. Then, they both turned their heads toward their subordinates.

Whoosh!

The moment I muttered the word and extended my hand, the bodies of the five Class 5 villains shrank. Then...

".....?"

Their bodies twisted and transformed into five spheres of flesh and bone, dripping with copious amounts of blood.

’Although ’Gravity’ doesn’t consume Mana, but Willpower, it still deals a heavy blow to my mind even after reaching Six Stars.’

Using an excessive amount of Willpower, even for something as basic as Gravity, causes me to suffer a powerful mental backlash that lasts for quite some time and leaves me considerably exhausted.

’Manipulating objects is less exhausting than crushing or compressing them.’

After using Gravity, I lowered my hand, and the five spheres fell to the ground. They immediately scattered, as their bodies were no longer truly held together.

The sound of flesh and bones hitting the ground as blood formed a massive pool would have been a horrifying sight to anyone.

Amanda and the dwarf, especially the latter, wore completely serious expressions.

"If you’re worried about ending up like that, don’t be. You two are Dark Knights; your bodies are naturally more resilient."

That would only cause a severe mental collapse, to the point where I could even pass out for a few seconds or minutes.

And I wanted to avoid that, since there was an enemy in the distance who was preparing to make a move.

Finally, after saying that, instead of swinging my sword, I sheathed it and then assumed a combat stance.

’All this time, ever since I left the Academy, my training had become even more intense and prolonged.’

If I had previously trained for a maximum of seven hours, I now trained for sixteen hours every day without stopping.

And naturally, I had completed my Martial Art. I had finally created the Four Stances.

"Imperfect Heavens Art, Second Stance: Art of Dimensional Spaces."

After incorporating the concepts of Space and Time, I had created the Second Stance of my Martial Art.

It allowed me to teleport simply by moving one foot, alter the speed of each attack through Time, and even alter and sharpen my own perception of time.

Above all, it allowed me to "observe" not only my enemy more effectively, but also everything surrounding me.

Boom!

I pressed the sole of my foot against the ground, and in the blink of an eye...

...The surroundings around me changed, and I instantly appeared in front of the duo.

Then, I moved my arms and legs and, using Time, accelerated each of my movements while altering my perception of time.

As a result, the world around me became extremely slow, with the exception of my own movements.

Whoosh!

I slammed my fists, kicks, and palms into the villainous duo from every angle.

At the same time, using Inverted Mana, I ravaged their bodies from the inside by circulating my Inverted Mana throughout them.

Inverted Mana was not only extremely dangerous to Awakened, but also to villains who used Power of Chaos.

And, above all...

"Annihilation."

My other Unique Trait, which was the natural enemy of villains, erased the Power of Chaos from their bodies, reducing them to mere humans with extraordinary strength and resilience.

The Inverted Mana penetrated their bodies, and after striking them from every angle...

Whoosh!

I stopped some distance away from the duo. Then, the flow of time around me returned to normal.

"...."

"..."

The duo remained completely motionless for a few moments before collapsing to the ground.

Bang!

Black blood exploded from their veins and burst out of their bodies.

The Inverted Mana coursed through every corner of their bodies, destroying their Circulation Channels. In the case of villains, these were the Chaos Circulation Channels.

Lying on the ground, both of them writhed in agony as the veins throughout their bodies burst and their organs also began to suffer the same fate.

"Gaaah...!"

The dwarf screamed as he clenched his teeth, desperately trying to endure the pain of feeling his body being torn apart from the inside.

"It hurts, doesn’t it?"

At that moment, I walked toward them and stopped in front of the two of them with a smile on my face.

"If I had never awakened the Immunity to Pain Trait, every day, while they tortured me and drained the blood from my body, cutting off my limbs and regenerating them so they could draw even more blood..."

I began to speak about the experiences the original ’Adel’ had endured before I awakened inside this body.

From beginning to end, while they remained consumed by agony, feeling their bodies slowly being torn apart as they died in the midst of unbearable pain.

"Maybe I can’t feel any kind of physical pain anymore; however, you two can, so stay there while I kill the other guy."

I turned around as their groans and screams of agony echoed throughout the surrounding area of the Slums.

The sight of their bodies writhing and being torn apart was like music to my ears.

Although I hadn’t personally experienced those ten years of torture that the original ’Adel’ endured before I took control of his body, there was no doubt that the original ’Adel’ would be grateful that I was avenging, even if only a little, all the suffering he had endured during that time.

And in any case, one of my goals was to destroy the Five Greats (five villain organizations led by a Class 10 villain) once I had enough strength to do so.

And that included the Abraham Clan. Soon, every one of its members would end up just like those two behind me.

But for now...

"Hey, shouldn’t you be helping your comrades instead of just silently watching from beginning to end?"

My attention shifted toward a particular area. Then...

Tap! Tap!

Footsteps echoed, and a figure appeared. It was a man wearing an elegant suit with a well-defined physique.

He carried no weapon and had his fists wrapped in bandages. Above all, his arms were truly massive.

’Don’t tell me... a close-combat fighter?’

A Branch of the Dark Knight Specialty: Martial Warrior.

In short, an opponent who fought using nothing but his own body, as if it were a weapon, had appeared.

’Perfect. I’ll put the Four Stances of my Imperfect Heavens Art to the test.’