The battlefield came to an uneasy pause. The crowd had gone silent, stunned into silence by what they had just witnessed.
Seoul’s mouth hung open, his jaw slowly dropping as he muttered, "How?"
Sirus was the most awestruck of the entire crowd, as she had been the closest to what had just happened.
It was truly impossible, she thought. Yet that was not the word that truly conveyed what was before her eyes.
It was not impossible... rather, remarkable.
There, standing between her and Valon, was the back of a white-haired boy. Around his body coursed a white torrent of lightning, pulsating in rapid successions as it crackled violently through the air, filling the battlefield with a surreal, almost otherworldly sound.
He had caught Valon’s fist mid-attack, a single foot from Sirus’ face.
He had saved her.
And while he had done that, it appeared to have all been so effortless. He didn’t look strained in the slightest, even after intercepting the punch that had lurched toward Sirus with frightening speed.
To catch such an attack was incredible.
Seoul shuddered in his stance, his voice becoming heavier as he muttered...
"Thors?—"
"..."
Thors stared directly into Valon’s eyes. And all he could see within them was a cold, hungry desire.
Bloodlust.
Thors’ gaze shifted to Valon’s wrist, which was held firmly within his grasp. The force behind the arm was so immense that it threatened to break free at any moment.
’It’s luck I even caught his fist... it’s like holding up a thousand tons of metal.’
Thors gritted his teeth as his eyes briefly swept across the crowd, taking in the bodies of the defeated members of the Top Ten. Those who could still stand remained frozen in place, watching the confrontation unfold.
Seoul stared at him with a glimmer of hope in his eyes.
Sirus had only curiosity.
And as for the formidable Valon, he stared at Thors with nothing but contempt.
Fwooom!
The air shuddered around Valon.
The cloak of aura surrounding his body flared violently, roaring outward with such tremendous force that it felt as though Valon’s very surroundings had exploded.
But they hadn’t.
Instead, the air itself had grown thicker.
Gravity seemed to become heavier around the entire field, pressing down upon everyone caught within Valon’s presence.
Seoul’s hands immediately grappled at his neck before he collapsed to his knees, desperately grasping for air.
Sirus did the same.
Being so close to Valon became unbearable. Not only did her breathing grow heavy, but her entire body, from head to toe, began to rage and sting... once... twice... then several times in rapid succession.
Each wave threatened to rip a scream from her lips.
It felt comparable to a thousand fire ants crawling beneath her skin, their tiny legs scratching relentlessly against her flesh.
Thors groaned beneath the immense aura.
[System has shielded against 70% of foreign aura.]
Thors groaned again, squinting his eyes as his body strained against the oppressive force.
"Ahhhhhh! Fuck!"
’Even with just thirty percent of this bastard’s ability affecting me, I feel like I’m about to pass out.’
Valon could see Thors’ strain. His lips curled slightly at the sight.
"Not many can stand against my aura. For that, I give you points."
Thors grunted, his brows arching in clear curiosity.
Valon leaned in close to Thors, lowering his voice until his words became nothing more than a low whisper between the two of them.
"My ability is a poison to superhumans. My aura absorbs the power of anyone close to me and uses it to strengthen myself... while weakening my opponents."
Thors’ gaze lit up, a knot tightening in his stomach as he stared directly into Valon’s mocking gaze.
"This... thi..."
"Yes. I didn’t win all based on skill."
Valon watched as Thors’ face grew pale. He wanted to savor the moment, to watch the realization slowly settle into the boy’s mind.
"But... I am not telling you this just for the fun of it."
His smile widened slightly.
"Instead, I am curious as to why my ability isn’t having an effect on you?"
Thors gritted his teeth.
He wanted to fight back. He wanted to question Valon, perhaps even throw a few words back at the bastard standing before him.
But even though he wanted to... standing there was the limit of what he could do, even with the help of the system.
If a fight were to happen right here and now, he would lose immediately.
Thankfully...
He had gotten lucky.
"What the hell are you all doing here!!!"
The voice was loud and authoritative, cutting through the field like an unsheathed blade.
"What are you students all doing here?!"
This time, three teachers had stepped onto the field.
Harold, Quinn, and a female teacher clad in a white lab coat, unlike the other two, who wore military uniforms.
Harold faced the crowd first and addressed them all, yelling several things and scolding them for what had happened.
It didn’t take long before the crowd began to scatter.
The woman in the lab coat hurried toward the knocked-out students and began tending to them one after another, feeding them various substances.
A moment after being fed the strange substances, their wounds began to seal up. The bleeding stopped, bruises faded, and their battered bodies were left in a far better condition than they originally were.
Meanwhile...
Quinn stood before Valon and Thors, who both remained locked in a brutal stalemate with one another.
Although Valon had released his aura, he still stared directly at Thors, his intentions still filled with bloodlust.
Thors shifted uncomfortably.
’Even with Quinn here, is this bastard still going to attack me?... If it was just anyone, I wouldn’t be so worried, but with this bastard... my body keeps yelling at me to run.’
Every instinct in his body screamed at him to create distance.
Valon finally backed off and raised both hands in a gesture of surrender.
Whilst his expression said something entirely different.
"You all have a lot of explaining to do," Quinn said. "And I’ll see to it that you all get punished."
After saying this, Quinn turned around once again and stared across the entire battlefield.
’When I heard the reports, I was rather in disbelief... how did one student single-handedly bring down so many of the first year’s Top Ten?’
His eyes moved across the battered field, lingering briefly on the fallen students.
But more importantly...
Quinn glanced back at Valon.
Just who was this kid?