As everything proceeded as Dark Wind envisioned, a gruesome flood of scarlet blood dripped throughout the entirety of Aegis. Under the onslaught of a fearsome Level 3 Super and two peak Level 2 Supers, the combat personnel of Aegis, no matter how skilled or experienced, remained as powerless ants against the enemy team’s supernatural abilities.
Their futuristic weapons were just scraps of metal. Their specially made armor proved no effect against the torrent of wind that broke their limbs with a casual wave of the Level 3 Super’s hand.
Soon enough, after killing countless people from Aegis who practically threw their lives away for the sake of protecting humanity from the great evil known as Night Storm, they arrived inside a strange room with various black boxes stored within numerous layers of protection.
They ignored the majority of those black boxes and went straight for their target as if they already knew which box to pick beforehand.
“Artifact 3-1069: Orb of Corrosion,” the Level 3 Super muttered with shining eyes as they stared at the box with the same serial code he just mumbled hidden behind a layer of thick glass.
A layer of compressed winds gathered around his finger and he pressed it against the thick glass surrounding the black box and carved the glass away like how one would cut a fruit.
If this branch was still functioning as usual, there would have been an endless array of attacks on him already, but luckily for them, the power unexpectedly went out just as they began to launch their attack.
Dark Wind is truly meticulous. He even went as far as deactivating a majority of this branch’s defense system! He inwardly praised his leader and reached out to grab the black box.
Although there were a lot of sealed artifacts around him just like the one he was grabbing right now, the man didn’t bother to take them due to one simple reason.
Every box within this room had various trackers placed on them along with the artifacts sealed within. If they were to take one of them, it would only expose their location to the rest of Aegis.
Only something like the Orb of Corrosion was worth taking from this pile of treasures as the problem of trackers being placed on the artifact would be solved when Dark Wind gains full control over this valuable artifact.
As his hand was about to come in contact with the black box, space abruptly tore open, with his hand passing through the fissure in space unknowingly.
“Bingo…,” a playful voice mumbled from behind the three as the Level 3 Super grunted out in pain.
The fissure in space swiftly closed, cutting off his arm in the process without any way to defend himself from the closing of space.
The three quickly turned around to discover the source of the voice, and they were surprised to see that the man who had run away moments before, the member known as Lucas Hum, had reappeared before them.
However, what was strange was that there wasn’t just one Lucas Hum—there were three of them.
One was wrapped in silvery threads, the other had space around their clawed hands fracturing and tearing, while the last one stood still, yet their eyes shifted at a rapid pace at an unnatural speed.
Before the invading supers could respond, the three Lucas Hum had already rushed forward, with the most inconspicuous one appearing right in front of the Level 3 Super in an instant.
He punched out with a sadistic grin aimed straight at the man’s liver.
Under the power of dilated time coupled with Braun’s inherently strong and fast body, the power of the punch was amped many times above what a normal Level 2 could hope to exert and launched the man flying, with blood spewing out of their mouth.
Then, without wasting another second, muttered softly, “Time dilation, slower!”
This served not just as a way to subtly increase the power of his ability by proxy of easier visualization and utilization of his crystal, but also as a signal to the rest of the Lucas Hums.
Under the eyes of the two supers—Shadow Body (Level 2) and Gun Creator (Level 2)—space around them fractured at blinding speeds, with threads shooting out of the fractures in space at an unavoidable pace.
For the Lucas Hums though, it appeared as if threads were slowly shooting out of fractures in space, with the two supers standing still wearing stupefied looks.
The threads pierced through the Gun Creator’s body successfully, killing him in one go, but the Shadow Body’s body, as their name suggested, was made out of shadows. The normal plain threads made out of metal were unable to damage them, leaving them completely unscathed from their surprise attack.
This didn’t deter them though, as in the next moment, sickly pale flames abruptly burst out of the void, with an illusory, pale white figure floating in the air appearing out of nowhere.
With a swipe of their hands, their hand phased through Shadow Body’s back, and grabbed their soul.
Sickly pale flames covered the surface of their soul, burning a significant portion of the surface of their soul in the blink of an eye. The soul-wrenching pain caused them to cry out, and their control over their body that maintained their shadowy physique spiraled out into a mess, transforming them from illusory to corporeal.
Ghostly green light then formed around the surface of their skin, wrapping them in a cocoon of spiritual energy.
With just a single thought, the spiritual energy caved inwards, compressing tightly. The shadow man’s body was turned into a tiny sphere of condensed meat and bones, killing them in one go.
As the Ghost Lucas Hum killed Shadow Body, both Threads Lucas Hum, Space Tearing Lucas Hum, and Time Dilating Lucas Hum rushed towards the Level 3 Super’s body, launching out a barrage of attacks in one go.
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Space tore open, threads shot out, and time dilated.
The Level 3 Super was still recovering from being punched devastatingly in the gut to the point that their organs and bones were crushed when in their view, countless portals opened. From the portals, silvery threads shot out, with the threads aimed right at his vital points.
If any of them landed, his death would practically be guaranteed.
His thoughts raced and he immediately came to a decision—the air around him exploded, pushing the threads away from their initial trajectory.
Then, using that moment of respite, he compressed the air behind his back and launched himself forward, propelling him toward the nearest target—Time Dilation Braun.
Upon seeing this, Time Dilation Braun wore a mocking smile and slammed his foot to the ground, taking a martial stance.
One needs to know that Braun had been extensively practicing his martial arts skills and weapon skills tirelessly within the month he had spent with Aegis, and with his ever-growing talent, one could confidently say that his mastery of combat had reached a terrifying point already.
As Air Pressure Guy rapidly approached him with a stretched-out hand where compressed winds gathered, Time Dilation Braun murmured, “Time Dilation: Five slow, five fast!”
His chant once again acted as a sort of point of focus, allowing him to more easily use his ability, warping time in both ways; accelerating it and slowing it down.
Air Pressure found everything around him speed up while a portal opened above his back, and at the same time, a similar portal appeared right in front of Time Dilation Braun.
The moment it appeared, he launched a ruthless punch through the portal, with his fist flying through the portal and arriving right above Air Pressure’s back.
With the terrifying strength of someone comparable to a Level 2 Super with a body-enhancing ability, amplified by time accelerating his movement to further elevate the kinetic force of his punch, Air Pressure’s barely enhanced body was directly snapped in half from the attack, effectively taking him down in one blow.
Just like that, under the ruthless and surprising attacks of four Level 2 Supers, a Level 3 Super and two Level 2 Supers were helplessly killed with no way of fighting back.
Ghost Braun, the original Braun, after having killed the rest of them though, felt no joy.
Instead, maybe because of his heightened spiritual sense, a result of his evolving soul, made him feel as if danger was quickly approaching. It was an instinctive feeling that couldn’t be described in words, but the intensity he felt continued to increase at a skyrocketing pace, with every second elevating the level of the danger to unimaginable heights.
This, along with the obvious fact that the flame in his body glowing brighter than usual, made him believe that this was no mere gut instinct—this was his soul warning him of an incoming danger!
Three milky white souls lurched out of the three corpses and three different crystals floated to the sky. With a swipe of his hand, green flames coated the three crystals and they rapidly transformed into fragments of light.
At this point, with his current abilities, escaping was nigh impossible. The only hope of avoiding this rapidly approaching danger was by acquiring an ability that he originally would have acquired a while later after processing his gains.
Fuck it! Diamonds are made under pressure, and I’m definitely a gem in the rough!
His eyes flickered with a resolute light as, within the metaphysical space inside his body, the three newly appeared crystals rapidly broke down, turning into pure energy. Then, the clones around him dispersed into motes of light, with their crystals returning to his grasp.
Although the threat hadn’t appeared yet, Braun already considered this a do-or-die moment and trusted the warning from his soul seriously. So, even if this might backfire, it was his only way out.
The green flame erupted with great might, illuminating the void with the light of evolution.
Two crystals, each around the same size, neared closer to one another, with a ring of energy surrounding them.
The ring of energy rapidly spun, shifting into numerous colors, while the two crystals shimmered with rainbow-colored lights.
Fuse two abilities into one, and sacrifice three different crystals to elevate it to the peak of Level 3!
This maddening plan that carried a lot of risk, if it were to succeed, would open a key to his survival!
The two crystals collided with one another, with a fierce explosion of energy that was contained by the ring of shimmering lights. When the two crystals collided, they transformed into numerous fragmented pieces that floated in the air, but a ball of light in the center released an attractive force, gathering the fragmented pieces into the center of the chaotic reaction.
Beads of sweat dripped down Braun’s forehead as he struggled to maintain the shift of energy and the unstable construct, but with his rapidly adapting state of mind and increasing skill, the whole situation calmed down to a manageable level.
As the two crystals quickly fused into one, Braun exerted his will and forced the ring of energy to crush towards the center, fusing with the embryonic form of the crystal, causing it to swiftly increase in size.
From being initially around a few meters to over tens of meters tall, this newly created crystal, this newly created ability, directly leaped from the peak of Level 2 to the peak of Level 3!
In one go, he ascended to a level far above his previous peak, with only a step away from the realm of demigods!
He didn’t relish in the success of his risky gamble but acted swiftly instead.
Space and time; what was once two separated concepts now became one!
He activated his newest and most powerful ability, tearing open a hole in the fabrics of space-time itself!
His figure disappeared, leaving the base empty and lifeless, with pools of blood covering each floor.
…
As soon as the Level 3 Super with the ability to manipulate air died, Dark Wind was immediately notified of this fact, and his eyes widened with shock and despair.
This… he couldn’t help but get distracted and look at the ground, and as if his vision could directly pierce through the ground, he visualized a scene of his defeated pawn dying at the hands of someone from Aegis.
The reason he felt so shocked was due to one simple thing—who else in Aegis was capable of defeating a Level 3 Super, much less when that powerhouse had two peak Level 2 combat-oriented supers supporting him?
His questions wouldn’t change reality though. Even though he felt a wave of indescribable emotions, he remained rational enough to know that his plan got fucked up, and there was no way of saving it.
So, using his decades of experience, he resolutely gave an order, “Everyone, retreat!”
Indeed. The only way to lessen his losses was to retreat. Only by being alive could he hope to achieve success once more.
He was a demigod, a being that had transcended its own mortality and could live far longer than the average mortal man. Right now, time was the least of his worries.
Dark Wind can still gather new members, plan, and scheme, and eventually find another opportunity to break through to Level 5!
At this moment though, just as he uttered his orders, the entire world abruptly turned colorless, with a figure appearing in the middle of the city, high in the air.
The figure in question was a tall man with a slender build. He had long black hair that reached below his neck and shimmering blue eyes that radiated with vibrant light. He wore a simple scholarly robe colored a light shade of blue, and held a leather-bound book in one hand.
He stared at the ruined city with emotionless eyes, as if the deaths of countless humans were barely processed in his mind. However, he still let out a sigh and mumbled with a cold tone, “What a tragedy…”
His eyes flickered with radiant light and an illusory series of grand shelves formed behind him. A rapid flow of the city’s information flooded into his mind, and the contents were automatically transcribed onto the books on the shelves, with a seemingly endless amount of information neatly gathered and organized.
This action, however, made the originally impassive man wear a look of surprise.
“What is this turbulent fate…?”
In his view, across the entire city, there were splotches of chaos scattered throughout the orderly fate, and the place with the highest concentration of turbulent fate was in a place he would have least expected—the southwestern Aegis branch.