"HALT."
The young woman's voice didn't just carry volume, it carried absolute, crushing authority. Her shimmering blue eyes were as sharp as daggers, cutting through the chaotic mana in the air. She stepped forward with a terrifyingly calm confidence toward the half-Dreadlord, ZhangLi.
Desperate and feral, ZhangLi tried to force his limbs to move, causing his skin to rupture and bleed under the pressure of her command. With a guttural roar of defiance, he flared his aura violently and lunged at her.
Before he could bridge the gap, she whispered a single syllable.
"LOCK."
ZhangLi's body froze mid-dash, suspended in the air as if the very atoms of the world had turned to lead. There was no ice, no visible telekinesis, but just a total cessation of motion. His eyes rolled back in shock, frantically searching his own chest and finally realized the source of his paralysis. The Core embedded in his ribs had been frozen solid by her intent.
"Tch," he clicked his tongue, his monstrous form slowly receding as his strength failed.
Suki stopped exactly two meters away from his form. With a nonchalant click of her thumb, a resonant snap echoed through the alley. The Core within ZhangLi's chest shattered into fine, iridescent dust. ZhangLi let out a strangled groan as internal tremors racked his body making him double over, vomiting blood mixed with the sparkling remnants of the destroyed artifact.
I stood there, paralyzed by the sheer disparity in our power. A Dreadlord-class threat was supposed to be a calamitous event, yet she had dismantled it in seconds.
'So this is the strength of a Diamond-Tier Captain,' I thought, a chill running down my spine.
Suki tapped a device in her ear which was a sleek piece of magi-tech that looked strikingly like the earbuds from my old world.
"Report. Target: ZhangLi. Status: Neutralized," she said curtly.
She turned her gaze toward us, her eyes lingering on me for a fraction of a second before she pointed toward the shadows on her left. We followed her gesture and saw the unconscious bodies of ZhangLi's lackeys sprawled in the dirt.
"Take care of that," she commanded, turning her back on us and walking away without a second glance.
"Tch. Such arrogance," Kageno muttered, his eyes narrowing as she vanished from sight.
I managed a faint smile, motioning for him to help. Together, we hoisted the limp bodies onto our shoulders.
"Tsk. This guy is way too heavy... what does this pig even eat?" Kageno complained, heaving the chubby Suheok upward with visible irritation.
I glanced back at ZhangLi. He had regained his human form, but he looked hollow. A man stripped of his pride and his power. Before I could say a word, a squad of Tier-5 Academy Guards rushed into the alley, led by a senior officer in a long red coat and reinforced tech-armor.
"ZhangLi, you are under arrest for unauthorized departure from academy grounds and endangering the lives of citizens. Come with us," the officer ordered.
As ZhangLi was led away in mana-suppression handcuffs, we transported his unconscious friends to the St. Jude's Ability Center near the Academy District. It was the premier facility for treating mana overloads—the very same affliction that had claimed the life of this body's previous soul during my reincarnation.
The walk back through the city was sobering. The damage from the chaos was extensive. Patrols were already organizing reconstruction crews to mend the shattered pavement and crumbled walls.
"Hey, Oliver!"
Ria's voice cut through the air. She and Sinata were running toward us, looking frantic.
"Where have you been? We've been looking everywhere for you!" Sinata added, her eyes wide.
I gave a small, forced laugh, rubbing the back of my neck. "Just had a bit of trouble finding Kageno and Kael," I said, gesturing vaguely at the destruction behind me.
"No way... how did all this happen?" Ria asked, staring at the debris.
Just as the word left her mouth, a voice cut through the conversation.
"Hello, everyone. I believe it's time to head back to HQ. I trust everyone had... a productive afternoon?"
Sherach appeared out of thin air, his eyes closed in a characteristic smile as he strolled toward us.
"Well, not everyone," Sinata said, pointing toward the exhausted Kael and the brooding Kageno.
"Kael did his part," I defended, causing everyone's eyes to shift toward Kageno. We all stared at him with a mixture of blank pity.
"What?! Don't look at me like that! I was busy!" Kageno snapped, a metaphorical vein popping on his forehead.
Outside the walls of Veyron Star City, four figures clad in obsidian-black hoods stood on a jagged ridge, overlooking the glowing metropolis and its shimmering barriers.
"The mission failed, didn't it?" the first figure asked.
"Yes," the second replied. "The city is a fortress. The barriers are woven from pure Divine Magic which are frighteningly similar to the warding of the Angels."
"Curse those Veyrons," the third hissed. "They make everything difficult. We cannot return to our back empty-handed without a way to breach those walls."
"They still have an heir," the fourth figure whispered with a dark, predatory grin. "The Veyron boy... he is the key. Soon, humanity will fall and be ruled into our Lord's hands."
With a final, lingering look at the city, the figures vanished into the shadows, scattering in four separate directions.
-----
As the Elite aircraft hummed beneath my feet on our way back to headquarters, my mind was a storm of questions. 'The Cult in black hoods... where did they come from? Why target ZhangLi? What is their true aim?'
The silence from my internal interface only fueled my frustration.
'System, damn you. What use are you?' I asked inwardly, my tone dripping with vitriol. 'Why do you even exist if you're going to be this useless when I need answers?'
I felt a surge of cold, sharp energy resonate within my soul which I guessed was the System's displeasure.
[Without me, the Host wouldn't even be alive to ask these questions.]
'Oh? And what's that supposed to mean?'
[Host would have died a pathetic, forgotten death without a second chance. Consider it your greatest luck to be here. Be grateful for the life you currently hold.]
I lowered my head, staring at the floor of the aircraft as I digested the commentary. The System was right. Without it, I never would have met Suki again, nor would I have had the strength to pursue my goal of never being weak again.
I clenched my fist until my knuckles turned white, gritting my teeth.
'I'm sorry for being rude, Sage. But I don't know what kind of forces are moving in the dark. I don't trust my current level to hold them back. I need answers.'
I felt the System give a metaphorical sigh deep within my cognition.
[The Host must reach a certain threshold of power before the unanswerable becomes known.]
'What kind of level are we talking about?'
[Firstly, achieve your primary objective: REACH RANK SSS.
REWARD: Information regarding your parents.]
I scoffed inwardly. 'Don't worry. I'll find someone else to tell me before then.'
[Dream on. Your encounter with Yamacha was no coincidence, yet he remains silent. Why? Because the time is not yet due. Reach SSS-Rank, and the truth of the Veyron lineage will be yours.]
I took a deep breath, calming my racing heart.
'System Sage... when we arrive at the dorms, I want a full re-assessment of my abilities. I'm tired of using powers I don't fully understand.'
I felt a faint, electronic ripple of approval.
[Acknowledged. Preparing the Status Interface for deep-sync.]
_________
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