"Damn it!" She clenched her fists. The attack had cost them dearly, and she hadn't even been able to eliminate the main orchestrator.
But there was no time to dwell on failure.
She turned her gaze to the remaining enemies. 'At the very least, I can ensure no one else escapes alive.'
---
Meanwhile, far beyond the base, other cadets—still on their exploration missions—remained unaware of the chaos unfolding.
"Hey Jared, why do you think we haven't run into any beasts?" A brown-haired youth, Owen, glanced at his purple-haired companion.
Jared scowled. "And how the hell would I know Owen?"
Owen smirked. "Well, you're from the De Silva family, right? Can't you, like, peer into space or something?"
Jared shot him a deadpan look. "It doesn't work like that, dipshit."
"Aha! You just insulted me. And here you all say I'm the foul-mouthed one."
Jared opened his mouth to retort—but then they heard it.
A thunderous **BOOM** shook the air. Then another. And another.
Both of them froze.
Owen's smirk vanished. "That… came from the base."
Jared's expression hardened.
"We're heading back," Owen declared, turning to their group.
Across the wilderness, similar scenes played out.
A silver-haired girl turned to Ashley. "What's happening?"
"I don't know," Ashley said, eyes narrowing. "But we're returning to the base. Now."
At another place, there was a group by a lake, the leader of the group seemed to be a green haired girl. a green-haired girl and a red-haired boy exchanged glances.
"Something's wrong," she murmured.
Klaus nodded. "We're heading back to base". "Just what I was thinking".
Elsewhere, another pair stood together. A red-haired boy turned to his black-haired companion.
"How the hell did we end up in the same direction?" Their two groups had unexpectedly met in the vast forest.
Before an answer could come, the ground trembled. They locked eyes. A silent understanding passed between them.
"Back to base," the red-haired one ordered the duo's group.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
"A rank 2," I thought grimly. There was no way I could ever come out on top; even if she didn't possess an overwhelming ability, her strength and speed were leagues above mine. "But I won't just go out without fighting."
**3rd POV**
Adam watched the woman intently, his usually stoic face taking on a grim disposition. It didn't take a genius to see that his chances of emerging from this ordeal were abysmal, to say the least. The mental dam on his emotions suddenly gave way—the lock on his emotions faltered and broke. All the feelings that had so long kept suppressed burst forth like a dam breaking, overwhelming his mind. First came fear, then despair, and finally, a searing anger—a furious blaze that consumed him.
Anger at New Eden, anger at the world, and… anger at himself. He was furious with New Eden for all the obvious reasons, for their ruthless attempt to eliminate all the cadets. Make no mistake—he cared little for the other cadets, yet he happened to be one of them.
Next, there was anger at the world for thrusting him into this unthinkable situation, even if such anger was as irrational as it was justified. And finally, anger at himself—for having grown complacent since arriving at the academy. Perhaps it was due to his inherent struggles with his emotions, but it was clear that his once unwavering ideologies on the dangers of this world were slowly fading away.
Deep down, he had subconsciously believed that the realm of bloodline holders would be far less perilous than the savage life in the slums—after all, bloodline holders had powers, and they were strong and all.
Yet the journey to this planet and the catastrophic events of the past few hours delivered a brutal "wake-up to reality" check. The world of bloodline holders proved to be even more precarious than life in the slums. The horrific way his group mates had met a gruesome end one after another, coupled with the expression on the instructor's face when he recounted the events—all of it revealed a grim truth. While it might have seemed that she was overcome with sorrow for their deaths, Adam knew that her true distress lay in the fact that they had perished on her watch.
Even as his emotions threatened to drown him, Adam found himself strangely detached from the loss of his comrades—especially in this moment when despair was rapidly eclipsing every other feeling. If he died here, he would merely become another name on the casualty list, and as he had resolved, he sure as hell was not planning on dying here.
"My, my, that's one determined expression," the woman garbed in black remarked with a sly smile. "Good—I'm going to enjoy breaking that determination of yours, hehe," she said, her visage morphing into something disturbingly sinister.
Adam's eyes, fixed intently on her, narrowed as he frowned. He couldn't fathom why she was so intent on breaking his determination, but if nothing else, her fixation worked to his advantage.
'At least', he thought, 'she won't waste me in a single, overwhelming attack. This means I only have to stay alive as long as possible—until someone strong enough appears, and provided that the bitch doesn't get bored and kill me before then'.
The very moment he concluded that thought, blood-red vines—or was it blood contorting into the shape of vines?—sprang from her fingertips and, with a burst of surprising speed, shot toward him. He attempted to dodge by leaping to his right, fully aware that his movement was futile. The blood vines, as if guided by their own dark intelligence, seamlessly changed direction and closed in on him. He swung his sword in a desperate attempt to sever them, but they reformed immediately, undeterred.
The vines eventually caught up to him, binding his limbs and suspending him helplessly in mid-air. With a deliberate skip in her step, she advanced toward him. "Seeing how utterly powerless you are, yet still brimming with determination, makes me want to break you even more," she declared coldly.
'This bitch,' he cursed silently. What did she expect—did she expect him to grovel? He might have his own little pride, but it wasn't nearly enough to stop him from begging, if doing that would help him or save him, hell he would even lick their boots. But if begging would change nothing, then whoever it was could simply go fuck themselves.
He was convinced that this maniac would torture or kill him no matter what transpired, so he might as well not grant her the satisfaction of witnessing his collapse. Especially since she wanted him to break before she finished him, his defiance might well extend his life, even if only for a little while longer.
He glared at her defiantly. "Oh, still defiant, are we? Let's change that," she chuckled. Pointing a finger at him, this time—rather than blood vines—a blood thorn emerged from the tip of her index finger. "Do you know what this will do?" she asked. "It will make you wish you were dead; it will force you to beg me for the solace of death," she grinned maniacally.
"Fuck you... bitch," Adam spat, his voice rough with defiance, causing her smile to momentarily falter. Without hesitating, she pressed her finger with the blood thorn against his forearm. The thorn snaked along one of his arteries, piercing his flesh and entering his body with a sinister purpose.
The instant the blood thorn infiltrated Adam's body, all the pain from his previous grievous injuries seemed insignificant compared to the searing agony now coursing through him. It was as if molten lava were being poured into every blood vessel, igniting each nerve with unbearable pain. His consciousness began to wane, desperately seeking escape from the torment that ravaged his body.
"Are you feeling that?" she taunted. "It is one of my torture techniques—the blood thorn snakes into every blood vessel in your body, causing unimaginable pain as it maps out your circulatory system." Yet, in the midst of his agony, Adam could barely process her words.
His mind became clouded with anguish and fuzzy from the relentless, excruciating pain inflicted upon him. After what felt like an eternity to Adam, the pain abruptly ceased. His vision remained a blurry mess, and then he heard her voice again—cold and taunting.
"Are you ready to change your mind?" she asked softly. "I guess not," she replied after a pregnant pause. Although Adam couldn't see her clearly, he could sense the sadistic satisfaction etched upon her face. "I guess we'll have to conti—" she began, but her words were suddenly interrupted by a sudden, mocking laugh.
"Hehehe," Adam managed, his chuckle shaky and raw. "I know people like you," he said, his voice trembling with both pain and defiance. "Someone with an inferiority complex, isn't that why you joined New Eden? You want me to break because that is all you know how to do, hehehe," he added, laughing bitterly once more.
The black-robed woman seethed, visibly fuming. He had struck a nerve—one that ran deep. All her life, she had battled feelings of inferiority, desperate to prove herself superior, a trait that had drawn her to New Eden in the first place.
"This little shit," she muttered through gritted teeth before screaming, "DIE!!!" In an instant, the blood vines that had held Adam transformed into razor-sharp thorns, impaling him mercilessly all over his body. Every nerve erupted with a sharp pain before darkness overtook him.
A/N:
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#Your gift is the motivation for my creation.
Grace this novel with them powerstones.
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