Just like the surviving members of the group, the people on Zed’s side were similarly stunned. With wide eyes, everyone saw the chains of energy ripping through Kafir and Somir.
"Impossible!" A surviving member uttered in pure shock.
"They didn’t even get time to blink!"
He almost wet his pants by the scene in front of him.
Kafir and Somir were top Level III mutants but when the chains arrived to kill them, they were completely helpless. Blood and ghastly liquid splashed out of their bodies as they collapsed on the ground. The frosty ground quickly turned crimson and an unpleasant smell emitted out, making the group feel extremely uncomfortable.
Swoosh~!
The chains retraced back and the sky turned normal. If not for the two corpses on the ground and the stench, no one would have believed the trial zone has killed two contestants in such a brutal manner!
"Sirs, can we start again?" Zed politely asked the surviving members of the group.
When the surviving members heard his polite question, their expressions turned unsightly. Their bodies were completely soaked in cold sweat as memories of those chains continuously flashed before their eyes.
Start again?! You can attack us! But if we retaliate, we are killed!
Like hell, we would start again!
Do you take us for idiots?! We might not look smart but we are not dumb!
Without saying anything, the group turned around and fleed! They didn’t dare stay here for a moment!
Behind, the hen-like creature was startled at the development. The crisis the hen-like creature was desperately worried about was easily resolved without any efforts!
The hen-like creature’s cyan body glittered as it glanced at Zed as if he was a god.
Just what has he done? How did those two humans die without him doing anything?
A few minutes ago, before the group of fifteen arrived, Zed has signaled the hen-like creature to stay back. Due to language differences, the hen-like creature could only understand this much, and while it didn’t like his request, it still accepted.
Never in its wildest dream, the hen-like creature imagined for him to have the capacity of killing people in such a way! He was simply a god!
Jenina stupidly stared at Zed’s back from behind. A few minutes ago, he has told her what she has to do and nothing else. While she was nervous and even a bit frightened, she carried out his request. Back then, she didn’t understand what he has in mind, but now looking at the corpses, she has a faint idea.
At the same time, the space in front of Zed flickered as Sophia arrived. Sweat dripped out of her forehead and she placed a hand on him for support.
Zed smiled and wiped the sweat with his sleeve.
"Are you fine?" Zed asked while handing her a water bottle.
"Yeah," Sophia answered before emptying the entire bottle. "Just that it was too hard to maintain my speed without creating any fluctuations."
Zed nodded in understanding.
She was the fastest person here due to the nature of her powers, offering her multiple uses. Knowing this, he has asked her to cross the speed limit so that she almost turn invisible while ensuring it results in no damage or speed fluctuations. This naturally was a tough task for someone so young.
A minute ago, when he first ’launched an attack’ on Kafir, he has actually aimed at Sophia as per their plan. His flame attack was flashy with no real power, and since it carried no negative intent towards Sophia, the attack didn’t qualify to require the intervention of the trial zone.
Then there was his second move: the enormous fireball. The fireball was actually aimed at the group just as they leaped in the air.
This too didn’t qualify for the intervention of the trial zone. After all, while it looked terrifying, the fireball has no real destructive power, unless you count the dazzling firework!
As for the attacks used by Kafir and Somir to retaliate, they carried true destructive power. Since both Kafir and Somir believed Zed and Jenina were trying to kill, they also launched attacks with intent to kill.
This naturally fell into negative intent and required the intervention of the trial zone.
"I never knew we can exploit the trial zone like this!" Sophia said as her exhaustion disappeared.
She raised her head and gazed into his eyes.
"Did you know of this from the start?" Sophia asked.
"No," Zed answered honestly.
"Then how?" Sophia was curious.
"Every rule/law has a loophole," Zed replied politely. "This is something I learned when I was young... So, when the trial rules were stated, I analyzed them to find their limitations and ways by which they could be exploited."
Sophia looked at him before nodding.
As a descendant of an aristocrat family controlling the World Government, she naturally understood the principle of loopholes. Many times the loopholes were intentionally created for the benefit of a specific few.
Of course, for other people, finding and using those loopholes was easier said than done. This was especially true for a place like the trial zone. The fact that Zed easily found the loophole and used it to his advantage only showed how quick-witted he was.
"Thank god he is on our side!" Jenina muttered to Divya and Rita.
"Yes! We are lucky!" Divya and Rita agreed while remembering everything he has done so far.
"Well, we should leave," Zed stretched his hands before continuing. "But before that..."
He trailed off in between and arrived in front of the hen-like creature. He retrieved four sets of explosives he has used after the first trial.
While the surviving members of Kafir and Somir’s group have fleed, there was a strong chance they might return if they understood what truly happened.
Zed didn’t think those guys were really stupid. They only fleed because of the overwhelming development, the fear factor, and the resulting chaos.
Who was to say after calming down they might not grasp the truth?
One should never expect others to be totally dumb. This was why Zed patiently explained the hen-like creature on the use of explosives through sign language and diagrams.
Just as a safety precaution, he even guided the hen-like creature in implanting the explosives and its management. Since the explosives were planted by the hen-like creature, he was sure the rule wouldn’t target him if the explosives killed other contestants.
"Take this as well," Zed retrieved a digital tablet.
"Maybe you couldn’t understand but perhaps, someone in your next generation would find its use... there is a strong chance it might go to waste but oh well..."
He erased a few things and after making sure there was nothing related to him, he placed the tablet in front of the hen-like creature. The tablet contained some formulas and diagrams on explosives and force field mechanism. These mechanisms relied on crystal technology and the second trial lacked anything but crystals.
A few minutes later.
As Zed started to leave, the partner of hen-like creature arrived to express its gratitude. The other alien lifeforms approached him as well to pay with some treasures.
Zed politely refused by saying, "I did what I did because I wanted to... It has nothing to do with you."
A true devil was someone who did as his heart pleased, no matter how contradictory his actions were to his thoughts and personality.
Slaughter because you want to, protect because you want to, fuck because you want to!
Live the life of an overbearing king or an ordinary mortal as long as it is is what you want!
Aspire for greatness or live without any ambition as long as that’s what your heart desire!
Good or bad, righteous or corrupt, sage or demonic... they were just labels based on the thoughts of others! Something a devil true to his own nature never cares about!
The actions of the true devil doesn’t have to be justified to anyone, not even to him. As long as he felt it was something he wanted to do, he should!
That was the only thing that should matter to the true devil!
...
Zed glanced at the little offspring of the hen-like creature. Its eyes were closed as it slept peacefully in the embrace of its parents.
"Take care."
Zed rubbed a hand over its crystalline head before turning around to leave.