Gazet’s body turned scorching red as streams of fire coursed through his body, burning away his insides. His vocal cords melted into oblivion, making him incapable of even screaming. As for seeing, well, his eye sockets were empty, filled with bright flames.
Thud.
Gazet collapsed on the floor and began rolling in a bid to fight the internal pain. He prayed for Onur to help him quickly!
At the same time, Onur ducked the column of fire and whipped out the energy chain. He hated Zed to the core and this hatred only intensified by the methods Zed employed one after another.
He has promised Gazet to rescue and heal him, but this was getting more difficult with every passing second.
"Stop interfering, bastard!" Onur shouted, his eyes filled with viciousness as he eyed Zed.
As the energy chain rushed at him, Zed threw himself to right. Just as quickly, the chain curled towards right and thurst at his waist like a drill.
Zed stretched a hand quickly and flames exploded out of his palm, slamming against the chain.
Clattering sounds ring out and the chain bounced backward.
Meanwhile, Onur has sped forward and arrived in front of collapsed Gazet. He took out a green medicine pill from his pocket and tossed in Gazet’s mouth.
Onur’s eyes brightened as the pill spun forward, moving towards his companion’s mouth. Just as it was about to enter into the mouth, a concentrated beam of fire struck on the pill.
BANG
The pill exploded and evaporated into green vapors.
"Son of a bitch!"
Onur cursed just as another beam of fire slammed on Gazet’s mouth. In just a flicker of a second, Gazet’s tongue and entire mouth burned to ashes. There was no chance of giving him any medical pill now...
"Bastard!"
Onur has taken his eyes from Zed for only a few seconds to help Gazet, and the result was in front of him.
Snapping his teeth, he yanked the chain and rotated it at high speed before swinging it at Zed. Alongside, he summoned another energy chain in his freed hand and sent it forward.
The air whistled and air currents streamed out in all directions.
Zed was surrounded by both sides and there was no place to retreat as there was a wall behind. Even though the corridor was enormous with its width more than two hundred meters, there was not much free space now.
Enveloping his legs with rings of fire, he took a step forward and leaped towards the ceiling which was over three hundred meters away.
The air buzzed and the chains rustled towards him.
Just as he covered a distance of hundred meters, one of the chains slammed against his leg. The rings of fire faded and blood splashed out, exposing a sharp cut. The chain then fell down as it lost its energy from clashing with the rings of fire.
Onur didn’t care as his second chain would finish the task.
Zed let out a grunt and lowered his hand as another chain began crashed towards his torso.
The only reason he leaped was due to the initial might of the chains. When they were first launched straight at him, they were charged with great force but when they moved upwards after him, the intensity of the force reduced.
It resulted in some serious pain and an injury but it was still fine. He has handled far worse and while that might be a long ago, his body hasn’t forgotten the experience.
Now, as he began falling down towards the floor and another chain rushed towards his torso to slice him open, he enveloped his hand with a gauntlet of concentrated fire.
He grabbed the end of chain tightly and stuffed it with blistering heat.
The chain links might be made of energy and not real metal, but they were not insulated. In just a second, Zed transferred such an intense amount of heat that the entire energy chain flashed with fire energy.
At the other end of the chain, Onur’s face fell. In the time that it takes to blink, hundreds of burn blisters appeared on his hand.
"Argh!"
He felt as if his hand was being grilled.
Having no choice, he quickly tossed the chain away. The moment the chain left his hand, it dispersed into thin air, disappearing.
"Hey!"
Zed’s voice came from the front.
Onur raised his head to look ahead and his pupils shrunk. Zed was shooting at him like a rocket, propelled by a sea of fire.
Onur shivered and quickly, he raised the remaining chain and lashed it at Zed. Sadly, he acted far too late, as by the time the chain swept to attack Zed, the latter was in front of him.
All the chain did was sliced through the sea of fire behind Zed, slashing it into two.
The chain was mostly a weapon for long-range attacks and while it could be used in close quarters, now there was just no time.
"Are you really a Level III mutant?" Zed asked.
Before Onur could even react to his sudden appearance, Zed thrust a hand wrapped with swirling flames on Onur’s face.
"I ask because even a Level I mutants fight better than you," Zed added.
Onur answered with screams.
His face was grabbed by a hand of flames that surged deep into his skin. An unpleasant smell of flesh burning swept out, as his face began falling down, like melting wax.
"Oh well, you don’t seem to be in the mood for answering," Zed guessed aloud and kicked him away.
At the same moment, Zed felt his scalp turning numb.
"So they are finally showing up!" Zed thought with a smile and leaped sidewards by thrusting the flames around him.
Just then, without making any sound, a red laser beam flashed through the corridor and exploded in the place that Zed was earlier standing.
If he was even a moment late, the beam would have easily exploded someone of his strength.
"Your perception is strong!"
A cold and arrogant voice came from a distance of almost a mile.
Zed turned towards the speaker. He was hardly surprised to see it was fatty named Leonardo - one of the top contestants.
"You aren’t too bad for a dimwit," Zed replied.
His voice echoed in the silent corridor and entered Leonardo’s ears.
"What did you say?" Leonardo was startled.
After the second trial, he has encountered Zed when he was trying to open the ancient door. Back then, Zed was extremely polite and respectful even when Leonardo mocked him.
This was why this reply startled him.
"I said you aren’t too bad for a dimwit and a coward," Zed said.
A scowl appeared on Leonardo’s forehead and his eyes flared with murderous intent. He knew very well coward was an additional insult that didn’t exist in the first reply.
Zed ignored him and looked towards the end of corridor. There was no one standing there but he asked, "Are you guys going to wait till the end?"
There was no response so he raised his right wrist and pointed at the black band. The two jewels gleamed brightly, like stars in the night.
"Surely, you guys know that if this dimwit manages to kill me, the band would fall in his hands...and you guys would be able to do nothing but curse your stupid parents for giving you such terrible luck... Then again, you might have already done that when you were born with shitty looks."
"How dare you!"
Multiple curses followed at the same time from the end of corridor. In total, fifteen people stepped into the corridor.
The one in the front was the sole Chosen - Alistair. He silently walked in front without speaking anything.
A few steps away, top geniuses Aishah and Nur followed, just as silent.
Behind them, other cursed Zed with varying adjectives and local slurs.
Alistair swept a glance at Zed and then at Leonardo. He didn’t want to appear now but he had no choice.
Just as Zed said, if someone managed to get the band, then it would be impossible to take it from that person. After all, others were still protected by the rule of protection. That meant using force, no matter how small, was useless.
If there was no usage of force, how could one get the band?
In normal situations, no one would dare go against someone like Alistair, Leonardo, and other top geniuses if they target something.
But now it was different.
The allure of the band was strong.
It offered two unique opportunities: a top treasure from the legendary treasure vault and a priceless Legacy Orb!
And since the rule of protection existed, even pigs wouldn’t give any thoughts to the threat of lion!
Till now, none of them intervened as they didn’t want others to take advantage of their efforts. So they looked from sidelines as Zed faced Onur and others.
But after Leonardo jumped into action, they knew they have to step in.
Leonardo was a top genius! It was almost guaranteed that he would kill Zed and take the band.
So, the reason they appeared was more due to Leonardo and less to Zed’s words.
"Wow~ So top dickheads have finally shown themselves!" Zed said with a smile.
He obviously expected such a situation when Enchantia gave him this band. Which was why he rushed here at top speed, leaving everyone behind.
He knew they would eventually find him here given varying abilities and gadgets people possessed. This was why he tried his best to destroy Sealstone, but sadly, it was still intact, albeit with many cracks.
So, using Cosmic Spark was not an option unless he was ready to face disastrous consequences.
Consequences which might wipe out his chance of finding what he needed the most... something he would never want.
"Haah~ This is going to be very difficult for sure."
Zed thought while checking his opponents.
"I’m not even sure if I could win."
Everyone was here either at Level II or Level III. Many of them had actual battle experience, not like Onur and others who only advanced thanks to their influential background.
And the top geniuses were as strong as him, if not stronger.
"But this would make it so much fun!" Zed’s lips curved up into an excited smile.
Meanwhile, Leonardo didn’t attack despite his anger and thirst for blood.
If he attacked first then others might use it as an opportunity to steal the band. After all, for others, there would be enough time to make the best out of situation when Zed is facing an opponent.
Leonardo brought his vision on three contestants. They were his followers, almost lackeys, and till now, they were cheering him.
"I can’t trust them!" Leonardo knew no one was reliable in such a matter.
The band offered the chance of turning a slave into a king! And his followers were not even his slaves!
So there was no chance of trusting them!
Just like Leonardo, no one attacked first for the same reasons. Seconds turned into minutes but no one rushed forward.
Seeing a state of stalemate, Zed sighed and retrieved a plastic bottle from his storage ring. It was labeled with warning symbols exclusive to medicines.
"If you guys don’t mind..." Zed trailed off while opening the cover lid.
Everyone looked at him with full attention. They might be not jumping in action, but their eyes were locked on him.
If he tried to flee, they would catch him in a matter of seconds!
Of course, since he was only opening a pill bottle, no one did anything due to obvious reasons from before.
"What type of pill is he using?" Leonardo wondered aloud.
"Most likely something similar to Overdraining Pill!" A contestant named Tashan guessed. "Only those types of pills have such exaggerated warning signs!"
"Overdraining Pill!" Another contestant named Allu gasped.
Such pills could draw out the latent potential in genes!
This would result in an explosive increase in strength. In almost all cases, a mutant would have at least a 100% rise in strength!
Such terrifying pills were obviously rare and costly.
That might be, but they were the types of pills no one really purchased. In fact, they were never in demand.
Because while they gave terrifying strength, they also resulted in serious side effects!
After all, how could there be no consequences from forcefully exploiting genetical potential!?
The side effects were such that it would physically age the body and reduce the life force.
Both the strength gain and resulting side effects depended on latent potential and age. If a youth in twenty takes such pill, then his body would be similar to seventy years old.
Now, seeing that Zed was most likely taking out such pills from the bottle, the contestants felt both schadenfreude and pity.
Mostly, they were happy.
"At most, his overpowered state would last for a minute!" Leonardo thought to himself. "I just have to drag for a minute and then I can grab that band!"
Not only him, but others also thought the same. They eagerly waited for him to consume pills.
"Sighs~ This is not something I want to use," Zed muttered, his expression filled with hesitation.
His voice was low but most mutants here had enhanced hearing. And listening to his words, their eyes sparkled.
"Such hesitation!"
"There is no doubt!"
Everyone looked at him with bright eyes as he emptied the box in his other hand. In total, he has taken out six pills.
"Are they Overdraining Pills?"
The pills didn’t look anything special with their cyan surface and skull engraving.
"He is going to use six pills?!"
"He must be insane!"
"Obviously! No matter how great strength he gains, he would die just from the side effects!"
"What an idiot!"
The top geniuses looked at Zed with ridicule.
"I don’t even know why that mighty figure praised an idiot like him!" Leonardo internally mocked him.
Without thinking further, he prepared himself. His mechanical arm transformed and opened up with various gadgets he might need.
He was ready to charge straight at full speed and grab the band.
At the same time, Zed brought his hand near his chest. He observed the pills for a moment and then a look of determination appeared on his face.
"I have no choice but to use them!"
Zed clenched his hand tightly and gritted his teeth.
"Yes! Use them!" Tashan, Allu, and others screamed.
Don’t delay any further! Man up and don’t hesitate!!
Almost all contestants prayed.
Zed raised his hand towards the ceiling and then curled his hand further towards his back.
"Huh? What the fuck he is doing?!" A contestant was angered.
"Maybe it is some practice one must follow before using those pills?" Another contestant replied.
They were trying to make a sense of his actions when they saw Zed rapidly raising his hand back and bringing it in front, almost like how one throws a ball in the game of cricket!
"Throwing!"
Every contestant thought at the same time.
Simultaneous to their thoughts, six beams of fire surged out from his hand. The beams of fires rushed towards the contestants like asteroids, bringing with them the cyan pills.
Just as the eyes of contestants detected the pills, the fire beams were already in front of them. Alistair was the quickest and he leaped up to avoid. A few top geniuses did the same and before others could do the same, the pills dispersed into the air along with fire beams.
"Huh?"
"What happened?"
Leonardo’s eyes turned bloodshot.
"Could that punk be playing with us?!"
He was thinking when he heard loud sounds from behind. If the situation changed and he was in privacy, he would find those sounds refreshing and pleasing to the mind.
But given the location and the fact that those sounds didn’t belong to him, his skin turned ice cold.
Leonardo turned around and his eyes popped out. He almost stumbled down in shock.
Alistair also looked towards the source of sounds, and the moment he did, his body turned stiff.
There was so much he wanted to say, but when his eyes registered the scene in its full glory, all those words died right in his throat.
Just some thirty meters in front of him, the most unpleasant thing a male could ever witness was taking place.
No, the most repulsive thing a straight man could ever witness!
Aishah and Nur were similarly dumbstruck. They wanted to smash their eyes and erase their memories.
Tashan, Allu, and three other contestants were behaving like animals in heat. They were groaning, moaning, and doing things which one shouldn’t even think about!
Yet, those indescribable and vulgar things were taking place so openly. That too in a place like this!
How shameful!
In total, ten contestants felt repressed to such an extent that they felt suffocating.
They closed their eyes and shut their ears, but from time to time, certain terms were uttered so loudly that they would enter their ears.
Oh, baby!
Take me!
Do you like it?
I’m all yours!
You are so...
When such words entered their ears, their skins crawled and goosebumps appeared all over their bodies. Their expressions were even worse than crying.
If not for their fear of the trial zone’s rule, they would have killed the source of these sounds.
The situation was truly horrifying!
Some five hundred meters away, Zed stood with a wireless headphone planted over his ears. The headphone has a lightweight and comfortable ear tips with perfect noise cancellation function.
♩♪♫♬♭
Zed has his eyes closed as the headphone played his favorite music song.
"I really didn’t want to use those pills," Zed said the words he has said before. "But at least, it should have got six contestants out of the picture."
🎵🎶
As the song changed, Zed couldn’t help but feel sorry for not preparing enough pills. He and Claudia have only created a total of eight.
Never expecting they could come in so handy.
Now, all eight pills were used...
"Oh well, now is the time to start for real!"
The air around him began to surge with wild flames...