Come With Me

The sky obscured by flames illuminated the entire city instead. The man with blond hair and blue eyes looked like a god descending to earth. No one had ever paid attention to him before. From the moment he entered the trial ground up until now, he had been trying his best to minimize his presence.

Clearly an S-class Esper approaching the peak, yet he was doing his utmost to avoid any battle, until this moment when he finally took action, his might as majestic as the heavens.

"Charles, do you still remember me? Three years ago I was defeated by you. You even snatched my Aisha away. Today I've come seeking revenge!"

Hearing this yell, Charles frowned. "You're Salman? I did not snatch your woman away. She clung onto me herself. And I did not accept her advances either. She tried to drug me and I broke her limbs in retaliation."

"Enough!" Flames burst out from the top of Salman's head, his angry roar unceasing. "My Aisha is so pure and kind. Yet you still dare to slander her! She's an angel descended from the heavens. It must have been a fiend like you who corrupted her!"

Charles said unhappily, "I'm not lying. If I remember correctly, she told me her skills were quite good and she could give me a wonderful night. My bodyguard told me she usually charges three thousand for it."

"Stop spouting nonsense!" Salman was enraged beyond control. Spear after spear of ice materialized behind him and shot out.

Li Changan stared dumbfounded as he listened to everything unfold. He tapped his earpiece as he retreated, "There might be a change of plans. This Charles knows how to provoke his opponent with words. He's no mere brute."

"Uh..." Wen Anran also overheard everything and was rendered speechless. Why do I feel like he's just naturally foolish?

No one cooperated, but someone else achieved tacit understanding. After Salman made the first move, others hiding in the shadows also began to prepare to take action.

Charles was too strong, so strong that he upset the balance of the trial, so strong that most chose to be wary of him first. This was also because Charles made no attempt to conceal his formidable power at all. His ability and he himself were as resplendent as the brilliance of the sun.

From beginning to end, Charles never intended to hide his strength. What he wanted was to simply bulldoze his way through, killing everyone, and obtain victory through sheer invincibility.

For someone like this, going head-on was the only way to get his attention rather than beating around the bush.

After Salman, the next to attack was a bizarre Esper who abruptly appeared behind Charles. A serrated saber filled with jagged teeth slashed down viciously in his hand.

The blade hacked down about three feet away from Charles' body and was blocked by the transparent electric shield that rose up. Currents of electricity entwined around the saber but did not affect the sneak attacker.

By the time Charles turned his head back, the sneak attacker had already disappeared without a trace, his arrival and departure utterly soundless.

"Shadow ability. Charles is wreathed completely in electricity so he can't see shadows. He struck from the shadow of one of the ice spears Salman hurled out." Li Changan stopped in his tracks. "Since that was the main body attacking, his ability shouldn't be above A-class. C-class at best."

Wen Anran asked, "Then what?"

The corners of Li Changan's lips quirked up. "The range of a C-class Shadow ability isn't big. He has to initiate his attack within two hundred meters of his target. Using the spot where his Shadow appeared as the center, I can give a rough guess of his location."

"I see," Wen Anran sighed softly under his breath. A few seconds later he said, "To the south. He alternately appears and disappears, so he's probably changing locations."

Li Changan grinned from ear to ear. A Shadow ability user not even at A-class was just free points!

A few minutes later, Li Changan arrived in the vicinity Wen Anran had described and found a suitable corner to watch the skies.

The battle between Charles and Salman was still ongoing. Salman was powerful; even from hundreds of meters away, the scorching high temperature could be felt. Charles also suffered his first injury—

His hair was singed.

Under such blistering heat Charles was uninjured but not completely unscathed. It could be seen that beads of sweat the size of beans had already soaked his clothes and his smooth golden hair had started to curl and blacken.

Li Changan lay in wait, ready to discover his opponent's location the next time that Shadow attacked again.

He did not need to wait long. After another barrage of ice spears shattered uselessly against his shields once more, the same shadowy figure appeared by Charles' side, sabre slashing horizontally yet foiled again.

Gotcha! The corners of Li Changan's lips curled up smugly. When activating his Shadow ability, the Esper's gaze has to face the direction of the casting. Furthermore, being activated instantaneously, it'd be extremely difficult to change posture midway.

Therefore, by determining which direction the Shadow was facing when he materialized, Li Changan could judge where his assailant was hiding.

Following that line of direction, when Li Changan caught a whiff in the air of burnt hair, he knew he had succeeded.

The Esper changing locations up ahead turned to look back and saw Li Changan following him. Without any alarm, his figure flashed and disappeared.

Li Changan twisted his waist to elbow strike backwards and heard a muffled grunt upon solidly hitting below the enemy's ribs. Not staying any longer, he dashed forward. By the time Shadow dispelled his invisibility to reappear at his original spot, Li Changan had arrived right in front of him.

After smashing in the other party's chest with a punch, Li Changan finally said "Goodbye" with a smile on his face.

Too easy— so easy that it'd make one feel extremely powerful. But Li Changan understood it was due to his opponent's weakness. The Esper's mentality wasn't bad, but unfortunately his usage of his ability was too simplistic.

After witnessing Shadow attack twice, Li Changan could ascertain the other's shallow understanding towards employing his ability. A qualified Shadow ability user ought to move continuously via the shadows instead of withdrawing after every activation.

Slinging up his not yet completely lifeless enemy, Li Changan madly dashed forward, following as close to Charles and Salman's feet overhead as possible. This was the most dangerous yet also safest path.

Half a minute later, Li Changan found Wen Anran who had come to meet up with him.

"Quick, quick! He's about to expire. Hurry and finish him off!" Li Changan tossed the man over urgently and shoved the saber into Wen Anran's hands.

Urged on by Li Changan, Wen Anran executed the stab bewilderedly. Then the familiar ding indicating points scored that only he could hear sounded out.

"Phew, made it just in time." Li Changan breathed out in relief.

Wen Anran asked blankly, "You rushed over urgently just to let me get the points?"

"Yup. Now your points should be in the lead. Even if we can't manage to kill off everyone else later, as long as I help you survive until the end, we'll still emerge victorious." Li Changan patted Wen Anran's shoulder and tucked the saber into his own waist.

Ugly for sure, but damn sharp.

Wen Anran was still dazed while Li Changan had already ripped everything clean and was dragging him away to run.

"Let's scram. Can't linger here any longer. I'm afraid Salman is going berserk and will do a mutual destruction play. We gotta get further away." Li Changan shook his head as he ran. "What a pity there's too few bullets left for that sniper rifle, only three remaining. You better conserve them."

"Charles' shields can block blades and also Salman's ice spears. Not sure if the rifle's bullets can pierce through. You try not to expose yourself, save those bullets."

Wen Anran nodded absently, clearly preoccupied by something on his mind.