As the woman emerged from the darkness, Lazeer fiercely glared at her.
"Who the fuck are you?!"
Lazzer demanded as thick ropes of electricity materialized on his body, emitting crackling sounds.
Behind him, the two survivors lifted their hands as translucent shields appeared. Their auras then violently erupted, causing the ground to tremble and nearby trees to collapse.
Earlier they were caught off-guard by her strange shadow attack, but now they were ready to make her pay the price!
Lazzer was at the peak of Level V while his companions were at the peak of Level III. Their release of power was shocking, creating unbearable pressure that rumbled through everything.
"Evangelina Webley."
The woman introduced herself. Her seductive yet innocent smile didn’t waver as the men released their terrific auras.
"You can call me Eva."
BANG
The space behind her exploded, instantly changing into a turbid sea of ominous shadows.
Lazeer and others felt their hearts jolt. They felt a chilling sensation as the shadows opened their dark mouths, exposing canine teeth.
Whoosh~!
Even as looks of shock appeared on their faces, the sea of shadows flooded out in all directions, wrapping everything. In a matter of seconds, the night sky, the ground, the villa... everything dissapeared. If there was anything in sight, it was shadows.
"Domain!"
Lazzer’s expression drastically changed in disbelief. He has electronic sensors that can capture the level of a mutant, and if the readings were right, the woman in front of him was a mid-stage Level IV.
Yet she has summoned a Domain! It has to be remembered even among Betas, only a selected few could do so!
Eva’s hair floated in the air as shadows danced around her, turning into constructs. She flicked a finger and waves of shadows surged out, charging straight at the three men.
Lazeer didn’t lose his cool. He aimed at the waves, blasting out an intense amount of electricity.
BOOM
As the waves and electricity collided, an explosion rang out like peals of thunder. Shadowy shockwaves followed, entangled with wisps of electricity.
The two men used their shields to block them as the fight started.
Backed with a torrent of electricity, Lazzer shot at Eva, his hands booming out blinding projectiles.
Every single projectile emanated off such high voltage that it could even blast a hundred stories building, much less a human!
Eva didn’t do anything as projectiles rained down on her. The shadowy constructs around her whipped forward on their own, smashing into the projectiles and retaliating.
✵✵✵✵
Living Hall, Dream Rise House.
Amora and Yose were stunned as they looked at Agatha. Energy frantically poured out of her, enveloping the villa and themselves.
"What on Earth is this power?!"
Amora wondered as she saw dazzling streams of energy wrapping her. She could feel its nature was entirely different than the one created by Divine Particles and that frightened her.
A second barely passed and by then, to her shock, she felt she and Yose were isolated from the space of the villa even they were in the villa!
She then eyed the chair where Zed was sitting.
It was just a few meters away, and yet, it was like he was in a different dimension!
How could that be possible?!
She brought her eyes back on Agatha, her expression serious as a possibility struck her.
"You have the ability to influence space?!" Amora asked.
Space was one of the great concepts of the universe alongside Time and Fate. Very few mutants existed that have the ability to influence them!
And yet, a mutant in front of her had this great power!
Next to Amora, Yose didn’t care about getting the answer. He opened his mouth and breathed out piles of smoke.
Swoosh~!
The smoke gushed with poisonous gases, and it rushed at Agatha. He knew Agatha existed in the same space as theirs, so he wanted to crush as her as soon as possible.
In a fight against any mutant that could influence the great concepts of the universe, the only way to win without suffering any damage was by smashing the opponent in the quickest possible time!
Giving even one extra second to such a mutant could be fatal!
As the smoke descended on Agatha, it poisoned every molecule of oxygen around her, giving her no possible route to survive.
Whish~!
Agatha found herself submerged in the smoke. It tried to enter into her facial orifices and melt her body, but her expression didn’t change.
"For years, I was terrified of my real powers," Agatha said as she lifted her hand. "I always tried to come up with excuses to not use them, but that stops now."
Yose’s pupils dilated as a chill crawled through his smoke body. As he tried to make sense of this sensation, the smoke submerging Agatha collapsed.
"What?!"
Yose was connected with the smoke. He felt it losing its materialistic characteristics, thereby collapsing, and even as this happened, the space around him tightened, locking him. It made it difficult for him to even discharge a puff of smoke.
Much less discharge, the tightening space compressed his smoke body, making him feel as if he was being hammered.
"Dammit! I didn’t even get the chance to use my abilities fully!"
Yose complained as space continued to tighten around him.
Amora’s heart sank.
She was sure Agatha was far weaker than them, and yet, the quality of her power was countless times higher than theirs!
She didn’t know how that was possible, but she knew now was not the time to think! She has to act, and that too quickly!
"I have to go all out!"
BOOM
Her aura exploded out like an invisible cyclone, causing everything to shake violently. The stitches on her eyelids tore and her eyes opened, revealing nothing but the blazing void.
Frightening presence surged out of them, releasing a world-devouring force.
Her face also underwent a monstrous transformation, making her look like a demonic creature. The pressure she emanated instantly reached the early-stage of Level VI!
Had space not been isolated, the villa would have exploded to pieces under the eruption of her new powers!
"Let me show you the price for your impudence!" Amora announced.
If she couldn’t defeat her opponent in quality of power, then she would let the quantity do all the talks.
"You must have undergone experiments to gain such a powerful transformation!" Agatha couldn’t help but remark with a smile.
"Are you looking down on me?!" Amora thundered.
How dare this bitch look down on her just because she was beautiful!?
"My apologies," Agatha replied. "I wasn’t looking down on your appearance. Rather, I smiled because I thought what my love would do in front of a dangerous opponent like you."
"Your love!? That man who has to rely on you to save his pathetic life?! Hahaha! What can that weakling do anyways?!"
Amora flooded out the devouring force, attacking the confines of the isolated space. Cracks appeared on it as the force sucked the powers creating this space.
Yose took a breath in relief as he became free. He stretched his hand towards Agatha and launched a column of dark smoke that smashed forward like a roaring dragon.
Amora appeared before Agatha from another direction, her hands clawing down on the gorgeous face!
"Many things, far too many things! He is a big cheat!"
Agatha answered as she unleashed her strength that she derived from the alien particle!
A whirlwind of pure power surged out, chaining the hands that wanted to rip her face. Alongside this, the power cut into the column of smoke, charging straight at Yose.
"!!"
Amora’s heart skipped a beat and she broke out in cold sweat as Agatha’s power chained her hands.
An overwhelming power made every cell in her body bow down. She felt an overbearing sense of reverence, something she felt not so long ago when Hyperion destroyed Delta Military Base.
"Power Cosmic!"
Amora cried in shock as the majestic power rippled out.
Even as the shock of her realization gripped her, the splitting space collapsed.
To both Amora and Yose’s terror, they collapsed alongside it. That wasn’t what terrified them, rather where the collapsing space brought them.
They phased through the villa floor and crossed thousands of meters before landing in what appeared to be a lab!
Still, they had plenty of battle experience and they didn’t learn the shock overpower them. They were put to the sorry condition because of the shock element, otherwise, they were sure, they could defeat Agatha!
All they need to do was fight with everything they got!
Having power Cosmic didn’t make that big of a difference because Amora knew the laws of Earth tried to suppress such powers! This was why the terrifying battle between Hyperion and Kiba didn’t destroy the planet! And since Amora worked for the World Government, she knew the reason why such suppression existed! It was for the same reason why the World Fragments of Celestial Elysian Plane arrived on Earth!
Of course, despite suppression, power Cosmic was far superior to the powers derived from Divine Particles! Not only was it superior, but it also gave envy-worthy abilities and a long lifespan. Something why the echelons of the world so desired this power!
As Amora and Yose rose, their expressions turned unsightly. They realized they haven’t actually fallen on the lab floor but rather somewhere else!
"Underestimating my love because he had turned weak is courting death!"
Agatha said with a loving smile.
"Anyways, what he taught me is that... why waste your strength in defeating your opponents when you can use others for that! So I choose science to complete the job!"
Amora wanted to shout and scream, but she knew that would make no difference. Everything was blocked because she and Yose were in glass chambers!
She was far too familiar with them because they were also called:
"Experiment pods!"
She looked uglier than crying.
These pods were used to conduct dangerous experiments on mutants. So they were obviously designed to restrict any possible thoughts of struggle!
A blue gas discharged in the pods, nullifying the senses of the subjects, making them feel sleepy.
"Bitch! Let me out!"
She finally shouted but it was useless.
Science defeated her and Yose... not even giving them the opportunity to show-of their superior abilities.
[[Lady Agatha, thank you for gifting me such high-quality specimens.]]
Claudia expressed her gratitude. It had been many months since she had live specimens.
Agatha nodded and replied, "You are welcome."
✵✵✵✵
Living Hall.
Zed observed the visuals from the lab. He closed the virtual screen and let out a sigh.
"Agatha... how could she accuse me of being a big cheat?!"
He was a very honest guy who spent his resources for the greater good, especially of that women. Yet, she almost implied he was shameless while praising him!
[[Lady Agatha only stated a fact. There was no accusation.]]
Claudia’s voice ringed in the hall.
[[Every boyfriend/husband whose girlfriend/wife you bedded with your sly schemes would agree.]]
"......."
Zed released another sigh. He didn’t reply because he knew Claudia’s retorts would be far too vicious.
He rose to his feet and arrived before the broken window. Looking out, he saw an area wrapped with a sea of shadows.
He wasn’t worried for Eva because in case her opponents were far too strong, he has given her backup of science.
[[Sir.]] Claudia turned serious.
"Hmm?"
[[You think the plan would work?]]
"No, it won’t," Zed replied. "All it would do is buy us some time."
[[....]]
Everything today happened was to deter those who have nefarious intentions regarding him.
Of course, Sylvan’s actions went against the plan when he started attacking those who witnessed him in a compromising situation.
That didn’t derail the plan so Zed didn’t mind. No, if he was honest, Sylvan somewhat helped him in spreading the message that he wasn’t an easy target.
"We only need three more days... so even though the plan won’t work, everything would be fine."
Greed and lust for power and riches were impossible to stop. No amount of deterrence could stop them.
Otherwise, no adventurer would explore World Fragments where countless people died every year.
People always seek opportunities even if they were dangerous. Desires overpower common sense...
✵✵✵✵
Next day.
Morning.
Half a mile away, Heather opened her eyes in surprise. She thought she might need to take action, but no such situation arrived.
"Maybe I was worried for nothing."
Her ethereal body returned back to its physical form. She turned around, but then, she jerked her back, her pupils constricting in shock.
"!!!!"
Above Dream Rise House, a mutant had appeared. His face was full of strange tattoos, giving him an eerie look.
"Drackon Moonfall! The Blazing Demon!"
Heather’s face turned solemn as she identified him.
Inside the villa, Zed was in the middle of breakfast.
Agatha was in the underground lab, observing Hope who was about to awake in three days. Eva was also in the lab after the fight that ended six hours ago, now undergoing treatment.
Zed took a glass of juice when a virtual screen flashed in front of him. It projected the security visuals of Drackon Moonfall.
[[His readings are far too high for our outside sensors to capture! Most likely, he’s an Alpha!]] Claudia warned.
"!!"
✵✵✵✵
House of Hestia, State of Avalon.
Lord Harley and Xalion looked at the live satellite visuals of Dream Rise House.
"Fufufu! That kid did what we expected!" Xalion burst out laughing.
Lord Harley smirked.
"Heather should have seen Drackon! Everything is working as per the plan!" Xalion continued. "Now is the time to take the kid out of his comfort zone!"