The monastery, State of Avalon.
Akshobhya’s body shook heavily and he opened his eyes the next moment. There was a look of complete disbelief on his face.
His connection with the three blood-red cubic crystals was severed due to the sudden changes and he coughed up a mouthful of blood.
"Akshobhya?!" Kurtis couldn’t believe what he was seeing. The great Akshobhya was sweating and shaking along with coughing up blood?
"What just happened?" Akshobhya thought of the sudden changes in the world of blue.
Just a minute ago, within a span of a few moments, Zed’s consciousness was forcefully pulled back. When Akshobhya tried to bring him back, he realized Zed’s consciousness’ power was growing multiple folds.
What was even more strange was that in the next moment Akshobhya was no longer able to track the source of Zed. This resulted in a backlash and his consciousness returned back to his body at the monastery.
"Hang on! Back then I discovered a new life that was connected to the kid," Akshobhya thought of the events that took place before his confrontation with Zed.
He has sensed the existence of Hope due to the faint connection she had with the source of Zed’s parents.
"That new life has no bloodline connection with the kid, and yet it seemed the kid was the father! Their psyche carried a familiar source!"
"I remembered the bloodline source of the child, so I should be able to track that kid, "Akshobhya further contemplated with a smirk.
" Not to mention I still have the trace of his consciousness."
Akshobhya wasn’t worried about the increase in the power of Zed’s consciousness. When he attacked him, he hasn’t even used five percent of his powers.
He was revered as Psychic Hunter. Even among those with psychic powers, his power was unrivaled.
"I even have my trump card," Akshobhya looked at the blood cubes and then at the crystal platform upon which he was sitting.
"I have to discover the secret of that kid!"
Akshobhya’s heart was full of greedy ambitions. He ignored Kurtis and closed his eyes.
The satellite in Earth’s orbit once again activated...
------
Delta City.
Kiba was floating high in the sky. There were no clothes on his body, and all the injuries his other form suffered due to the explosion were completely healed.
"Oh?" Kiba looked down and noticed Felicity speeding on a bike.
Her eyes were on the road so she didn’t notice the disappearance of the column of fire after confirming he was alive.
Even if she noticed him, she wouldn’t be able to see him since he was far too high in the sky. From the ground, he would look like a point object.
"I’m so sorry for making you worried," Kiba muttered in his heart, "I would make up for this."
Rays of white light surrounded him and he disappeared from the sky.
----
Section I, Dream Rise House.
Kiba teleported inside the lab.
[[Sir, I am glad you are fine.]]
"Claudia, thank you," Kiba took a set of clothes from a humanoid droid. "You truly know me best."
[[....]]
"Please contact Felicity so that she stops worrying about me," Kiba said with a small sigh. "In the meantime, also find information about that Psychic Hunter."
[[Sir, I would advise against a confrontation for now.]]
"?"
[[Your innate ability warned you of a life and death crisis even though your instincts know the full extent of your hidden powers. So far, what you faced didn’t even come close to a danger given your willpower.]]
"Claudia, it doesn’t matter," Kiba’s eyes were filled with malice. "If the situation turned worse then I would go all out. I can definitely kill that man."
[[You are not in the right frame of mind to decide things. Your anger and aggression are far beyond your normal self. As such, I can’t allow you to take any action.]]
"You think I would be happy after being nearly put in a vegetative state," Kiba was annoyed by her words.
[[Obviously not, sir. But the lab sensors are detecting an unusual level of chemical and hormonal changes in your body.]]
"What are you talking about?" Kiba had a frown on his face.
[[The changes are proof that your instincts are still active in your body after helping you transform into your current form. You know it better than me the danger your instincts carry when you are in your current form.]]
"Don’t tell me!?" Kiba’s eyes narrowed as realization struck him.
The very next second, he teleported to the end of the lab where a large glass compartment was placed.
The compartment was a freezer inside which ten syringes filled with green serum were stored.
He opened the compartment in a hurry and took out one of the syringes. Without any hesitation, he injected the serum on his neck.
"They found the best time to influence me."
[[The hormones and chemical activities have been balanced.]] Claudia read out the new sensor report.
A higher form of life would always have disregard for a lower form of life. This would be due to a sense of supremacy in one own’s instincts.
It was similar to how humans felt while killing ants or insects. Humans wouldn’t feel a tinge of guilt or sadness while taking the life of a lower power being.
Similarly, from the perspective of Kiba’s powers, humans (mutants or not) were nothing but ants.
The humans have their powers derived from Divine Particles but his power source was Cosmic Spark.
Kiba was a higher form of life than others which made his instincts feel others were vermins who needed to be exterminated.
Just like how humans couldn’t handle the presence of insects in their homes, Kiba’s instincts made him feel there should be no humanoid insects in this world.
There was no concept of good or evil involved in this urge. It was something natural just like other primal instincts every living creature was born with.
Even Agatha has this urge of extermination but she avoided it so far by rarely using her powers. Kiba, on the other hand, used his strong willpower to suppress his urge.
For worst case scenarios he has prepared serums which could help him neutralize the effects of his instincts. This made sure that he wouldn’t carry out a genocide.
The psychic attack by Akshobhya and the following events gave his instincts a chance to take over. They subtly started influencing him by taking advantage of his hatred against Akshobhya.
If he gave in to the anger and hatred then there would be no telling what he would do after facing Akshobhya.
"Dammit," Kiba took a deep breath, "I can’t let that bastard live otherwise I would turn insane."
[[We are not aware of the identity of the attacker or his reasons. If it was someone from the government, then they should have already surrounded our home.]]
"You are right," Kiba said as he injected another serum to clear his mind. "I can’t believe I didn’t think of something so obvious."
[[Your instincts stopped you from thinking logically so that you would give in to them.]]
"...."
[[If you hadn’t seen Lady Felicity after transforming, perhaps you wouldn’t have come to the lab. Her presence made you rationale since you felt guilty for making her worry. This guilt brought you here so that you could command me to inform her.]]
"Yeah---Argh!" Kiba felt a sudden headache, "That asshole has started again."
Kiba and Zed had different DNA and gene structure, heat signature, physical features, aura, etc. Only one feature remained the same: consciousness.
If his consciousness was modified or evolved then he wouldn’t be him. He would become a completely new person both in body and soul.
This made his consciousness his weakness since it was still the same as his Zed form. While the presence of cosmic power made his consciousness stronger than before, his psychic powers weren’t strong enough to resist someone of Akshobhya’s caliber.
"Kid, your consciousness is powerful than before," Akshobhya’s voice sounded inside his mind, "But don’t think you can resist me forever."
"Get lost," Kiba gritted his teeth and temporarily blocked him out.
[[Sir.]]
"He is either using a satellite or signal towers to attack me," Kiba muttered while looking at the ceiling. "I felt his psychic attack in the form of electronic signals."
[[What? The lab interior should block out outside signals. Unless the signals are generated from technology as advanced as ours.]]
"Open Section IV," Kiba’s eyes were firm, "Let that bastard know there are places he should never try to barge in."
[[Opening that section would be dangerous since we haven’t made enough preparations.]]
"Do you have a better way without me using my full powers?" Kiba asked.
If the psychic attacker was nearby, he could have attacked him in the current form. But given the attacker was at an unknown place using a satellite or signal tower, he wouldn’t be able to land a counterattack now.
This was mainly due to him not having any experience facing a powerful psychic like Akshobhya. The only other way to win was going all out.
But there were far too many eyes in the city and he didn’t wish to attract attention for the time being.
This was why he temporarily wanted to block out Akshobhya by using Section IV while he found another method to counterattack.
[[Opening Section IV.]]
Zzzzz
The entire electricity from the underground floors started transferring towards Section I, II and III. Even the electricity from the villa cut off and started flowing towards these sections.
This electricity transformed into a high-density white force field covering the entire lab and the other two sections.
CREEK~
The door to section IV started opening up, while the red force field protecting the door disappeared.
When Agatha visited the lab a few weeks ago, she believed the red force field existed to prevent any intrusion to section IV but in reality, it existed to protect the outer world.
Powerful violet energy waves manifested from the small opening of the door.
CHI~
The violet waves attacked the force field covering the corridor walls. Some of the waves passed to the other sections.
"Argh!" Kiba’s head started numbing, "That cocksucker just doesn’t know when to stop."
He waved his hand and a golden force field surrounded him. The force field stopped the energy waves from Section IV while he resisted the psychic intrusion.
"Kid, you truly surprise me," Akshobhya’s voice ringed inside his mind. "Your bloodline source is completely different from before."
"Damn!" The intensity of Kiba’s headache increased further.
"How could you make such a transformation?" Akshobhya asked with deep curiosity, "I would find out after I turn your brain into a vegetable."
"Dream on," Kiba glanced at the door of Section IV which was 1/4th opened, "Just one more minute."
"I would find your secret after dissecting you," Akshobhya continued in a menacing tone, "Then there is that child of yours waiting to arrive in this world."
"What?!" Kiba’s breathing turned ragged.
Does he know about Hope?!