"Red Fox didn’t tell you about her, did he?"
Even without Zed saying anything, Goten Whiteskins knew the answer.
"Fufu, this is so funny," Goten Whiteskins broke out into laughter. "You not knowing about your mother!"
"!!"
Zed visibly flinched.
Mother?!
In the corner of the cafeteria, Felicity, Jessica, and others were astonished. Felicity’s eyebrows knotted while Jessica turned confused.
"Didn’t his mom and dad die when he was young and living in the slums?" Jessica whispered. "So what does Zed not know about his mom?"
"...."
Felicity remained silent. Unlike others, she knew the story of his parents’ death was false and that he has never met them.
"The infamous Fire Queen must be really furious!" Goten Whiteskins smirked coldly. "Red Fox finally did something good for once!"
He then aimed a hand at Zed and the skin on his fingers stretched out, shooting like a net.
Zed used the flame on his body to amplify his reflexes and dodge, but the skin-net was faster and it enveloped him. A cooling sensation rippled out of the skin and like water extinguishing the fire, the flames puffed out of existence.
At the same time, from behind, Felicity attacked Goten Whiteskins. The floor cracked apart as hundreds of vines charged through them, ready to pierce through Goten Whiteskins. Alongside this, she released mutated pollens to affect his senses.
"Girl, save your efforts!"
Goren Whiteskins thundered and the vines smashed into pieces. The pollens failed to produce any effect as his skin formed a protective layer on his senses.
"Urgh!"
Felicity coughed up a mouthful of blood and dropped to the floor. She felt her skin freezing, turning her senses numb. No matter how she tried, she couldn’t make a single movement.
"How could he manipulate skin to such an extent?!"
Jessica wondered in shock as she too found her body freeze just as she thought of helping.
After taking care of little distractions, Goten Whiteskins focused back on Zed.
"Fate has brought you to me, kid!" Goten Whiteskins said. "You were responsible for my decade-long suffering and now I can pay that bitch in the way she deserves! By gifting her your skin!"
Zed struggled inside the skin-net.
While he didn’t fully understand the situation, he did realize his mother was not among Goten Whiteskins’ favorite people.
Amidst the pain, he lifted his head and said, "Just like Red Fox, she must have got you real good! Otherwise you wouldn’t vent your frustration on me!"
"Silence!"
Goten Whiteskins clenched his fist, and simultaneously, the skin-net tightened.
Zed still didn’t stop as he said, "What did she do to you? Broke your little ego?"
Goten Whiteskins snapped his teeth and put a hand on his face. His facial skin wrapped and changed, bringing back his original facial features.
"!"
Zed was stunned. His mind flashed with one scene from the events of the future past that Pythia showed him.
Goten Whiteskins - the mercenary!
Zed identified him as one of the two assassins that he knew of, trying to murder him after he was born. Pythia has helped him witness the prelude of Goten Whiteskins and another assassin’s battle with Red Fox so he was sure.
Some distance away, Loren’s face constricted in shock.
"How could that murderous mutant be here?! He was imprisoned in Stormseal Island till the end of his life!"
"Stormseal Island?!"
Felicity was no longer surprised by the overwhelming strength of the opponent.
"Yes! I was around nine years old when that happened! It was on the news in the city I used to live!" Loren said, her voice filled with fear. "Dad told me about it!"
Felicity frowned and tried to regain control of her body.
Goten Whiteskins didn’t care about exposing his identity. He didn’t plan to let anyone live so there was no risk.
And unlike that pageant, there would be no one to hinder him, and even if that man from the pageant was here, he has enough trump cards to take care of.
A savage expression appeared on Zed’s face.
Goten Whiteskins’ very existence broke the only code that he followed: Never letting anyone with murderous intent towards him live!
"Red Fox must have told you about me," Goten Whiteskins said when he noticed the change in Zed’s expression.
"..." Zed didn’t respond.
"Anyways, you asked me what your mother did."
Goten Whiteskins placed fingers below his chin and then raised them up. His face distorted and changed, but not into another person’s. It was still his but burned and hollow... to such an extent that the insides of his mouth, nose, and eye sockets were visible.
It was ugly and unsightly...
"That bitch burned my face on the cellular level! To such an extent that neither science nor supernatural abilities could ever regenerate my vibrant skin!"
Goten Whiteskins’ eyes were bloodshot.
"And why? Just because I tried to do what her family paid me to do? "
"!!!!"
Zed’s face darkened.
Suppressing the pain from the skin-net, he asked, "Her family paid you to assassinate me?!"
Goten Whiteskins smirked and replied, "Oh, they did more than that! Things you couldn’t even imagine!"
Zed knotted his fists. Unspeakable rage pumped through his heart.
"Why?"
He barely managed to ask as murderous thoughts ran through his mind; urging him to transform and destroy this world.
"Because your origin blood---"
Goten Whiteskins stopped in between as he felt a powerful burst of aura from Zed.
"What?"
The temperature in the cafeteria drastically fell while flames appeared on Zed’s body.
"You are absorbing the surrounding heat to overpower the confines of my net? It is useless!" Goten Whiteskins snorted but then his expression flickered.
Fire burned in Zed’s eyes, seething fiercely. The flames grew wild, radiating scorching heat and cutting through the skin-net.
BOOM
A pillar of fire erupted from his body and ripped through the ceiling, soaring into the morning sky.
Goten Whiteskins was startled. He looked with shock as the pillar opened up like a curtain of fire, quickly wrapping a radius of two hundred meters, locking the area into a barrier of wildfire.
"Domain at such a young age?!" Goten Whiteskins muttered in amazement. "You are just like her! A monster!"
The sudden appearance of Domain interfered with his flow of power and freed Felicity and others from his control.
BANG
The heat ripples blew the entire building into igniting ruins.
"The rise in temperature is far too terrifying!" A student complained while trying his best to be not burned to ashes.
Ssss
The air turned unbelievably hot, making it harder for people to even breathe. They felt as if they were in the gas chamber, forced to inhale toxic air.
Even the ground surface turned volcanic hot as the heat fluctuations eroded through it.
The students and teachers were alarmed, their eyes filled with fear.
"This is the power of Zed?!"
"How could he be this strong!?"
"Not even the teachers could match his aura!"
"Forget about us teachers! Not even the city forces could summon such power!"
"Indeed! Don’t judge us weak! That kid is a monster!"
The heat fluctuations distorted the air, making it difficult to see clearly.
Goten Whiteskins eyed Zed and with plain ridicule, said, "You surprised me, but having the ability to summon domain means nothing! Your fate remains the same!"