Eternal Freedom's Ascension

Chapter 253: Not enough

"Hm? It’s a two against one, but you guys are the ones being guarded. Why?"

Kaiser asked leisurely, looking genuinely confused by their behavior.

Adela suddenly smiled. "It’s natural. We’re going against an anomaly like you, after all."

He blinked, his blue eyes shifting slightly. "Oh! Indeed, I’m an anomaly. So... shall we?"

The next instant, he vanished and reappeared before Gaga, throwing a feint at his face and driving his other fist into the guy’s stomach.

Gaga’s eyes bulged, and he felt his internal organs being pressured greatly.

"Kuhk-!"

He groaned, taking several steps back as he tried to balance himself.

Kaiser immediately ignored him and dashed at Adela.

However, he was forced to step back when Gaga threw a punch that dented the ground before him.

’So he can contain force inti his palms for more attack power, or project them into long-ranged attacks, hm?’

His eyes glowed with the white wheel that continued to spin slowly, measuring, adjusting, and reading patterns.

’Unfortunately, I can’t afford to switch my ability to bypassing Gaga’s force. This Adela girl feels even more dangerous.’

Holding that thought, he had to confront Gaga without cheating.

’Sigh... what a hassle.’

The other boy’s eyes glowed gold, and he charged at Kaiser.

"Looks like your cheat is on cool-down."

He was right. Well, half-right, but still somewhat correct.

"It doesn’t matter."

Kaiser replied indifferently, shifting to the side as he grabbed Gaga’s wrist, and threw a punch to his torso.

Bang!

The hit landed cleanly, and Gaga winced in pain. He immediately tried to yank his hand from Kaiser’s grip, but that wasn’t enough to free him.

Kaiser’s grip tightened, his gaze showing no compassion.

"Adela. If you release Mordica now, I will not cause you further trouble."

He tried convincing the girl, since he was growing uneasy. He really didn’t want to kill. Or be forced to kill.

Unaware of this, the lilac-haired girl thought he was being high and mighty.

"Oh, Kaiser. You don’t think I’ll release her like that, no? Even if you’re my darling, I can’t be that nice."

She giggled, already sensing her other classmates coming.

Soon, Kaiser would be surrounded. She wanted to test his limits. And she wanted to see if she coudl get a chance to use her ability on him.

He released Gaga’s wrist, allowing the boy to step back.

His head was lowered, and an audible sigh escaped his lips.

"It’s not their fault... crippling them is enough... yes, it’s not their fault..."

Soon, just like Adela predicted, Yamada and the others arrived, surrounding Kaiser immediately.

Tamar glanced at him once, then looked at Adela. "Where is the flagpole? Did you lose it?"

Surprisingly, Adela didn’t smile and glared at her. "Watch your tone and focus on who’s before you."

The black-haired girl snorted and turned back to Kaiser who still had his head lowered.

They all looked at him warily, hesitating on who to attack him first.

It was at that moment that the shadows around him shifted, and something similar to Tamar’s tendrils appeared from the ground, taking the shape of a mask and handing it to him.

Kaiser took the mask, then covered his face with it.

When he raised his head, his expression couldn’t be seen at all. The only thing they all saw was a pitch black facial surface without any expression.

Wearing that mask, he took a step forward, completely calm.

"Come here."

His voice was magnetic, but contained a command that could not be disobeyed.

The students lunged at him, barely snapping back to reality as they swung their weapons at him.

Yamada’s flaming hammer came straight at the side of his face.

He glanced at it, then stepped back a few inches.

The hammer wheezed past his face, heat brushing against his face.

Even through the shadow mask, he still felt the heat.

Bang!

The hammer was met with Gaga’s fist, effortlessly pushing it back.

The two of them immediately turned to look at Kaiser, seeing him grab Tamara’s leg as she aimed for a kick at his neck.

Before she could pull back, he spun her in the air, then slammed her to the ground without any carefulness.

"Ah!"

The girl cried out in pain, but he wasn’t done with her.

Still holding onto her leg, he pulled her out of the crater, then used her as a weapon to deal with the others.

Someone who had been sneakily approaching him from behind was forced to stop when Tamara was thrown at him.

The two collided and were thrown backwards, slamming into a wall behind them.

Bang!

Ignoring them, Kaiser turned around just in time to catch Mira’s spear, aimed at his torso.

"Got you!"

The girl grinned as lightning crawled across the weapon, stunning him into a rigid stance.

"Hold him down."

Yamada shouted as he swung his flaming hammer straight at the immobilized Kaiser’s torso.

Suddenly, Kaiser’s image blurred, and the hammer passed right through where he was standing.

"Didn’t hit?"

Yamada was confused, but the sound of cracking bones and Mira’s pitiful scream made him shiver.

He turned around in shock, seeing the girl on the ground, holding her chest and coughing up blood.

Kaiser walked away from her and approached Gaga.

"What the hell..."

The gold-eyed student gritted his teeth, his expression grim. For a moment, he considered pausing and asking Adela why she wouldn’t just let Mordica go.

However, Kaiser didn’t even let him do that. He stepped forward, his glowing eyes showing from the holes in the mask.

"I will be gentle."

Gaga shivered from those words, and he threw out a series of quick punches, ensuring they took up the space before him without a loophole for Kaiser to use.

"Hm. You’re wise."

Kaiser nodded, then left him alone. He turned back to Yamada who was trying to hit him from behind, and grabbed his hammer.

Pulling the weapon forward, he slammed his elbow into Gaga’s elbow, causing a wet crack to be heard.

Before the guy could register the pain, Kaiser grabbed him by the hair and threw him straight at Tamara who was standing back up.

"Alright. Stop."

Adela finally spoke, her face devoid of any unseriousness.

Kaiser paused, then turned to her, his fingers twitching. "Why? You started it."

Adela looked completely unfazed. "If you keep this up, then everyone here will fight you with the aim of killing you. Is that clear?"

A chuckle slipped from his mask, followed by a low voice.

"Even if they fight with killing intent, do you truly think you can kill me?"

He took a step forward, the wind recoiling from him like an omen.

"I am already showing mercy by not killing any of them. Adela, do not drag me into your games next time."

He walked up to her, completely relaxed. The girl was forced to look up at his eyes.

"If you do, then I might just collapse your whole game."

Saying that, he walked past her and crouched beside Mordica.

"Wake up."

Adela groaned and stumbled, feeling her control over Mordica being ripped away violently.

Gaga immediately supported her, though he was a little confused.

’This guy... I always thought I could handle him but...’

After realizing he could still fight him without neutralizing his punches, Gaga no longer had that confidence.

’I need to work on myself.’

Meanwhile, on the ground, Mordica’s eyes slowly opened, looking confused.

"Hm...?"

Kaiser looked at her calmly, then lifted her from the ground, throwing her over his shoulder.

"Oof!"

The girl groaned, her eyes widening at the suddenness.

"You... what are you..."

Her remaining words were lost in the wind as Kaiser dashed away from the center of the city.

Adela watched them leave but didn’t say anything. Instead, she looked at her injured classmates and facepalmed.

"I think I should appreciate the fact that he isn’t keen about class competitions."

............

Meanwhile, Hazel had just gotten back to the city when she saw Kaiser running straight at her while carrying a sack of potatoes—

’Wait. That’s Mordica!’

Kaiser also spotted her, but instead of pausing, he grabbed her as soon as he passed by and dragged her into the withering grassland of yellow leaves some distance from the city.

Only then did he pause, putting the two girls on the ground.

Mordica’s eyes were wide and spinning as she sprawled on the ground.

Hazel fared better, already sitting up to look at Kaiser.

"You fought them all—Wait. What’s the matter?"

She noticed he was breathing heavily, like someone struggling to control something from within.

She immediately walked up to him and grabbed his hand. It was cold. Almost like ice itself.

She immediately let go and looked at him in surprise. It was only now that she saw that he was wearing a mask.

With no other facial detail to focus on, she had to look at his eyes.

And what she saw...

’Kai...ser...?’

With her trait, she immediately snapped out of it and grabbed him.

"Kaiser, you have to let it out. I can tell you’re suppressing something. Let it out now."