For the first time in a long while, Zed acknowledged the hardships and struggles faced by normal mutants. Facing multiple opponents was easier said than done especially when they had the same level of strength. This turned more difficult if the opponents were older even if the age gap wasn’t that big.
From the last four years, he has faced none of these hardships and struggles.
Kiba would simply take care of powerful opponents and there was no need to rely on Zed. He was now paying the price for that...
Zed discarded these unnecessary thoughts as the gorilla - Xinu- jumped on him. Xinu’s gorilla fists ruthlessly slammed downwards, his eyes filled with naked greed.
Zed sidestepped and attacked with a stream of fire.
Just as the stream of fire left his hand, he leaped backward and narrowly avoided a blade-hand trying to slice his neck.
Aishah snorted coldly and ran after him.
At the same time, a sticky mass of white fluid shot at Zed from behind. Zed’s premonition ability warned him of an incoming attack even though he didn’t know what was coming.
The sticky fluid didn’t make any noise as it flew forward.
In front, Aishah and Xinu chased after him without noticing the sticky fluid.
Zed coiled rings of fire around his feet, and using them in a manner similar to a turbojet, he jumped upwards.
Just then, the sticky fluid arrived in his earlier position. Missing the target, the fluid fell on the floor and spread like a net, sticking on the surface like a high-grade adhesive.
In mid-air, Zed turned around and brought his eyes on a mutant named Desmond.
Desmond noticed his gaze and smiled ferociously. His body dripped with white glue.
Now that a battle has broken out, everyone was jumping in action to accordingly make the best out of situation.
Zed quickly brought his attention to Aishah who was pouncing on him straight in the air as he moved further up.
Aishah’s limbs gleamed brightly as if they were concentrated blade lights.
"Fuck off."
A fireball left out of Zed’s hand and shot at Aishah, leaving behind a trail of blaze.
After that, quickly, he stretched both his hands to either side and formed a protective ball of fire around him, almost like a cocoon.
BANG
From another direction, without any warning, two light beams slammed on the ball of fire. Ripples of heat hurtled out in all directions, carrying raging heat, and the ball of fire shook violently.
"Just how strong his sixth sense is?" Leonardo was pissed as he lowered his mechanical hand from which he has shot out laser beams.
THUD
The ball of fire landed on the floor and disappeared. Zed came in sight with traces of blood on his lips.
"There is just no end to them," Zed thought as an enormous hand made of blue liquid came from his right.
He was getting no time to rest as there was a total of ten geniuses in the corridor spanning for almost two miles.
The geniuses would attack him when he was most susceptible and then back off.
"Haah~" Zed took a deep breath of air and concentrated on the enormous hand made of liquid. The flames around his body sizzled brightly and he did nothing as the hand crashed on him. The hand slammed onto him, extinguishing out the flames.
Zed collapsed on the ground, his entire face soaked with sweat. He tried to raise an arm but failed and instead, he coughed up a mouthful of blood.
"No!"
His body trembled and he writhed on the floor while trying to create fire without any success.
"Ah!"
Some distance away, a contestant named Gai was pleasantly surprised. He was made of blue liquid and it was him that stretched out his arm to launch the earlier attack.
Quickly, Gai rushed towards Zed to grab the band.
Meanwhile, the other geniuses noticed Zed’s defeated state and they charged at him. They knew the first to approach him would win and so every one of them did their best.
"Damit! It was me who defeated him!" Gai moved ahead like a wave of an ocean. He stretched his liquid hands out to grab Zed’s body but other mutants came in between.
He didn’t dare touch them as there was a risk of it being considered as a violation of the rule of protection.
This was the main reason why mutants with long-range abilities have to physically rush.
At the same time, a mutant with enhanced speed arrived in front of Zed. He was named Eijiro and he has left behind hundreds of afterimages as he dashed here.
Eijiro’s lips were curling from ear to ear as he quickly lowered his hands to take out the black band. His eyes sparkled with obvious excitement of being the winner without doing anything.
Eijiro put his hand on Zed’s right wrist and started removing the band.
"Please... don’t," Zed muttered. "I really need it."
Eijiro smirked in disdain and pushed the band further above Zed’s hand. It has reached his palm when others arrived and threw themselves to grab the band.
Eijiro wasn’t worried. His body vibrated with speed fluctuations and he quickly pushed the band further.
But just then, a fireball smashed right into his chest.
Eijiro was dumbstruck as the fireball exploded into streams of raging fire, sending him flying. At the same time, the sole female mutant named Rivya has shoved a hand to grab the band, when she suddenly felt a hand on the back of her neck.
She has the ability to transform into birds. This was why she was the second mutant to appear here.
She was shocked and even afraid by the hand grabbing her neck, but she quickly began transforming into a butterfly.
But before she could completely transform, the hand surged out boundless flames that enveloped the half-transformed butterfly.
"Ahhhhh!"
Rivya screamed as the flames burned her body.
Meanwhile, the other mutants who have arrived were startled. Their eyes widened as they saw the ’sweat’ on Zed’s face evaporating as if it was water!
Water?! Where did it come from?!
Wasn’t his ability related to fire?!
Then, just as quickly, fire burst all over his body and he jumped on his feet.
From the time Eijiro was attacked with a fireball to the moment Zed stood up on his feet, it took less than tens seconds.
Zed wiped the blood from his mouth, and in the process, exposed the insides of his lips which were bitten as if to draw out blood.
"He was pretending to be hurt?!" Xinu was astonished.
But then, the feeling of astonishment changed to mocking!
So what if he was able to kill Eijiro and Rivya with underhanded methods?
The rest of us are on guards!
Doesn’t he realize just how much danger he is in with everyone surrounding him?! Unlike before, he now has no route to escape!
"What an idiot! He could have lived for a few more moments!"
Aishah chuckled loudly.
The eight contestants looked at each other and then at Zed. They were ready to kill him at any moment but no one wanted to make the first move.
Alistair swept a glance at everyone coldly. He decided to expand his swamp-like body to absorb Zed entirely.
As a Chosen, he has confidence in his ability to become the winner!
Swoosh~!
Suddenly, the air around Zed seethed. The fire wrapping his body opened up just like how an enormous bird flaps its wings open before flying.
In just a flicker of a second, the surroundings began to surge with swirling flames. It was like a turbulent sea of flames has appeared; threatening to incinerate the entire world.
The flames radiated heat of catastrophic proportions, and yet, they did no harm. Instead of attacking, they began to envelop the floor, the walls, and the ceiling in an area of four hundred meters.
"What?!" Gai’s mouth turned agape.
He felt an indescribable feeling surging in his heart. It was like he was transported into a land where a foreign Will has superimposed everything...almost like a god!
As he thought of this, a word flashed in his mind.
Domain!
Alistair thought of the same and his face froze in horror. He was someone who would not be shocked even if he saw a mountain collapsing, but when he saw the swirling flames in the surroundings, his eyes nearly popped out.