The four hurried through the halls, the messenger girl Kira leading them as fast as she could, the others did their best to keep up.
At first, when the news had only just come, Thors was hesitant, unable to see why this was supposed to be of concern to him.
After all, he was not the one who had gotten beaten up. That was what he thought.
At least, not until he had heard the words that had come out of Layla’s mouth.
Someone had challenged four members of the top ten to a battle and held his own against them.
Thors held his breath as he thought of the information Kira had relayed to the three of them. His stomach could only churn at the thought of it. Whoever the person was...
’I can only imagine their strength.’
A nobody performing such a feat made Layla worry the most, as she knew... there would be more consequences to this event than met the eye.
....
Seoul staggered backwards... one foot and then the other. His ears throbbed from the loud ringing of screams. Whether it was the cheers or the obnoxious commentary of the crowd, he was unsure.
Or maybe it was the shrieks of the other members of the top ten as they were struck down effortlessly and painfully by the formidable monster before him.
He grunted and then stepped back once more.
"Shit..."
Another body crashed into the ground with a horrible thud that raised mounds of grit into the air, creating an array of gasps from the crowd of students gathered around as they raised their hands to block against the flying debris.
The next second, though, rounds of gasps, yells, and praises towards the formidable student arose as yet another member of the top ten had fallen.
"Holy fuck, this guy is crazy," one student spoke.
"Such strength and skill. He has to be from a powerful family."
"Look how he whooped their asses. I knew it! The fucking top ten are as weak as fuck!"
A girl grasped onto the fabric of her dress and shuddered as she felt the immense wave of aura from the battle wash over her.
With a voice low and uneven, she finally spoke.
"He defeated three... is he... a monster?"
Seoul had the same question in mind.
Was this man a monster?
His gaze tore off the defeated student and unto the man standing in the distance. He was cloaked in a dark, liquid-like aura that surged high into the air, giving him a monstrous figure.
His pitch-black eyes seemed devoid of emotion, his muscular build bulging with thick, powerful muscles. Hell, Seoul was even scared shitless of the empty stare of the man.
No... this monster.
A monster who had singlehandedly held his own not just against five members of the top ten at the same time, but had also defeated three and frustrated the efforts of the last remaining two.
Seoul gnashed his teeth, enraged.
"Just what kind of monster are you?!"
The formidable monstrosity of a superhuman simply turned to face Seoul.
"I enjoy your efforts... you especially have tested my agility the most. I’ll give you that."
Seoul raised a brow, one hand clenching tightly around his left shoulder, which hung uselessly in the air, broken. Then he bared his mouth wide open and screamed.
"What the hell is with you? Are you insane? We just walked past you and you jumped us! Any person in their right senses would have instantly run the moment we retaliated, but even with our numbers and rank, you stood..."
He jerked his head back and groaned, letting out another horrid scream.
"Who the fuck do you think you are...?"
"I am Valon."
He interrupted, cutting Seoul off and silencing the initially rowdy crowd.
This was the first time the formidable demon had said anything.
"Cocky bastard."
Sirus, who was the last standing top ten member aside from Seoul, muttered, catching the attention of the entire vicinity.
She was hunched over, eyes squinted as blood trailed down her hair, drenching half of her face. But she dared not wipe it off, neither did she dare to blink.
With the little time she had spent against this monster...
No.
She dared not blink.
Valon simply glanced at her, only for a mere second, before turning back to face Seoul.
Sirus gritted her teeth.
’He doesn’t even see me as a threat...’
"How dare you mock the daughter of the Greyhound family!"
Sirus could not take this any longer, not with the insult to her pride and definitely... not one laid against her family name.
She lunged forward.
Her speed was incredibly fast, far too quick to follow with normal eyes. She covered the distance between herself and Valon in a second.
She thrust a balled fist straight at his face.
The blow missed him completely.
Valon quickly sidestepped away from the attack, allowing the fist to fly aimlessly through the air.
BOOM!
The air around them shuddered as her fist exploded with a wave of hot, violent wind.
Even after escaping the initial attack, Valon grunted from the immense heat and wind that threatened to knock him off his stance.
Sirus wasted no time attacking again, throwing yet another fist, then kicks at Valon in rapid succession.
Each attack made the air and battlefield shudder from Sirus’s devastating ability.
The ground beneath their feet cracked and scattered beneath the repeated impacts, while every collision sent violent currents of heated air tearing through the battlefield.
Even the crowd was amazed by the power of her attacks, mouths hanging wide open and murmurs filling their ears as they struggled despite their distance from the actual battle.
The immense heat and violent torrents of wind still crashed into their bodies, forcing some students to shield their faces and stagger backwards.
So far, her performance compared to her other peers was the only one to live up to its name.
Soon enough, from within the crowd, one could even hear some chanting...
"Athena!"
"Athena!"
"Athena!"
Each time, the chants grew louder and louder as more and more people began to scream the absurd nickname.
And somehow...
It appeared to be strangely... working.
Valon jumped backwards, avoiding a fist aimed directly at his face.
The hot wind crashed into him, causing him to groan.
Yet he did not falter.
He skidded across the ground, avoiding the next attack by mere inches.
He grabbed Sirus by the elbow to redirect another strike, which grazed past his face far too close for comfort.
He grunted, backing away just barely as Sirus—
No.
He was unable to dodge that.
Just as he was about to evade another deadly fist from Sirus, a pair of hands strapped themselves around his waist in a chokehold, restraining him for just a second.
In that second, Valon glanced at Seoul, who was the one who had grabbed him.
He wanted to react...
But that second of hesitation was all Sirus needed.
WHAM!
Sirus’s fist landed with bone-crushing force, dead in Valon’s face, filling the air with the sick, ghastly sound of bones caving in.
The raw impact folded Valon over his spine, his body contorting under the sheer force as his feet briefly left the ground.
His head snapped backward from the blow before his entire body was thrown forward, the dark aura around him violently scattering from the impact.
And for that moment...
Everywhere went silent.
The crowd stared with curiosity.
Seoul stared up at Valon’s body.
’Please be out, you bastard... just stay down.’
He prayed.
Sirus was a powerful superhuman. She knew her strength and her capabilities. Her punches were strong enough to knock out even the most experienced of superhumans, let alone another student like herself.
But against Valon...
Her skin crawled.
Her heart grew intensely cold as it hammered against her chest, and more importantly, her instincts screamed at her.
"Run!!!"
But it was far too late.
Valon’s hand snapped forward and snatched her throat in a malignant chokehold.
Sirus’s face drained of its colour, her eyelids fluttering as her entire body instinctively jerked backwards.
Her hands immediately grabbed onto his wrist, attempting to pry his fingers away, but they might as well have been iron chains wrapped around her neck.
Valon’s body slowly straightened.
He stared at Sirus for the first time, a small, crooked smile running across his face.
"Good effort..."
His grip tightened.
"But, a bad matchup."
And then...
SNAP!
A wave of gasps escaped the crowd as they watched the gruesome sight unfold.