BOOM!
Flying across the room, Marcus’s eyes filled with disbelief as he couldn’t believe what had just happened.
A wave of pain flashed through his cheek, leaving him stunned.
Unfortunately, Ethan wasn’t done yet.
’Hmm, although I noticed it earlier, gathering mana on my fists drains quite a lot, considering the fights I had earlier.’
’I probably have about one tenth of the mana in my chest remaining.’
’Fortunately, I think that’ll be enough.’
Silently assessing his own situation, his eyes turned towards the gunmen who had been surrounding Marcus before.
"All of you, are you going to surrender or do I have to kill you one by one?"
His voice, though calm, cut through the tense silence of the room like a blade. The gunmen exchanged nervous glances, their grips tightening on their weapons.
Silently, they began to measure the gap between them and the youth in front of them.
It wasn’t until one of them, who seemed to be the leader, took a step forward. Taking off his mask, he revealed a bald head and a gruff face with a scar that ran across his left eyelid.
"We surrender, young master. Although initially we called him a divine child, that was only because of the strength he showed us."
"At the end of the day, we are but mercenaries, and although I don’t really understand what you said, it seems like Marcus over there isn’t the only one."
Nodding to his men, he took the lead in dropping his weapon.
Clang!
The sound of metal hitting the ground as his gun fell; afterwards, the others began to drop their guns one by one.
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
In the shocked eyes of everyone, in one move, Ethan had made the whole room surrender.
"Hehehe! As expected of my brother!" With her nose in the sky, Elena laughed at the scene.
In his seat, Christian, who had long prepared to die, also sighed with relief at the sight; although surprised, he felt more proud than ever of his grandkids.
"As expected of my grandchildren, if heaven exists, I’m sure both your parents are looking down on you with smiles on their faces."
And Alfred, hearing this, also nodded as he used his right hand to twirl his grey moustache.
"Indeed, I’m sure the madam and the master would be extremely proud of them."
Even Elon Tusk and the other dignitaries were in complete shock, as although they had heard rumours of the Smith siblings, what did they just witness?
Two of them had single-handedly taken down a mercenary organisation filled with dozens of gunmen.
’Impossible! Even storytellers don’t dare write like this! Just what am I witnessing!’
’Father, next time I am never taking your place for something like this.’
Whispering silently, Elon thought as he hid under a table, his chubby physique jiggling with fright.
However, as all this was going on, one person in the room could not accept what was going on.
"Impossible! How could you be so strong!"
"Were you also chosen by God?"
"Impossible!"
Rising from the rubble, Marcus couldn’t accept what was happening, especially after seeing his followers surrender to the enemy.
"That’s it, I’ve given you a chance; unfortunately, my goodwill and patience have run out."
"Not only you, but everyone here will pay for this!"
"Now die!"
Roaring angrily, his body began to change.
His height began to rise, from around five feet to seven feet.
His muscles bulged, and his hair stood on end.
Even the very ground he stood on, unable to bear his immense strength and weight, began to rapidly crack.
’Monster!’
Although unknown who whispered it first, everyone in the room had that singular thought.
No longer was Marcus just some religious lunatic, but a through-and-through monster.
However, Ethan, who had been waiting to analyse his ability, was filled with smiles.
"That’s it, Marcus, show me that ability of yours!"
"Only by displaying your full strength can I make it mine!"
Whispering lightly, Ethan unknowingly licked his lips as if he could taste himself using that power.
"Hahah Marcus, take this!"
Once again gathering mana on his fist, Ethan threw a punch in his direction.
Marcus, already angry, not to be outdone, threw his own fist.
"Damn it, Ethan Smith! Today is the day that you and all the Smiths die!"
BOOM!
Meeting each other’s fists, a huge shockwave came from the centre of the room as mana clashed against mana, awakener against awakener.
With Ethan and Marcus at the centre, this battle seemed to represent the start of a new era.
...........
Awakeners.
With the advent of the apocalypse, to regular people, awakeners were no less than monsters or gods.
Even the weakest F-rank awakener could resist modern firearms, as their reflexes and strength made it almost impossible to be hit.
Only high-calibre sniper bullets and guns could affect them.
And at A rank, not even a nuclear weapon could stop them.
Because of that, there was a saying in the apocalypse:
’Not an awakener, but an ant.’
And right now, everyone here felt like an ant as they witnessed the battle in front of them.
Every punch that happened, every dodge, every move.
Everyone present understood that if it were them, they wouldn’t even be able to last a second.
’Brother...’
Whispering with her head down, Elena clenched her fists. This feeling of weakness and helplessness, this was the second time she had felt like this in her life.
The first time was when her parents died, and now watching her only brother risk his life to protect all of them.
Clenching her fists so hard that her nails dug into her flesh, she silently promised to learn from Ethan after this and become as strong as possible, no matter what.
However, unknown to her, while her mind was in chaos over her brother’s danger.
Ethan, the person in question, was currently in a state of euphoria.
With every punch he exchanged, his mind rapidly began to analyse Marcus.
In a trance, he could see the flow of mana in his body, how it was absorbed, directed and used.
In a few minutes, he would be able to analyse it.
"Hahah! Come on, Marcus! Don’t tell me you’re tired!"
Throwing another punch at his stomach, Ethan laughed to the sky.
Marcus’s ability was his!