Chapter One Hundred and Five: Spatial Distortion

The little parachute drifted slowly downward on the breeze, soon swallowed by the forest of towering buildings. Then, in the heart of the city, a plume of red smoke rose like a lone column beneath the blood-red setting sun.

“In twenty minutes, the battle zone will shrink again.”

A blond, blue-eyed young man appeared behind the slight boy. He wore a crisp military uniform, and black-rimmed glasses rested on the bridge of his firm nose. “Oda, do you sense anything?”

The blond boy’s gaze shifted to the youth before him. He was not tall, yet there was something about him that made it feel impossible to cross the distance to his side.

This young man was the captain of the God-Slaying Squad, a level-ten powerhouse known as the Wind God: Oda Nobunaga.

No one knew his true name, and no one knew where he had come from. The only record of him dated back ten years.

At the age of twelve, he had dismantled half of the Far Eastern Branch’s superpower research center by himself.

No one knew why. At first, people assumed the City would send powerful espers to capture him, but instead the City tacitly allowed everything he had done. From that day on, the God-Slaying Squad he founded was directly incorporated into the City’s elite forces.

In ten years, the small team created by a twelve-year-old child had grown into the strongest force in the City and become the legend of an era.

In recent years, the God-Slaying Squad had been burdened with countless labels in public opinion: bloodthirsty, cold-blooded, iron-willed, war-mad. Every one of them pointed to the team’s core figure, Oda Nobunaga.

No one could understand what this young man was thinking, except for the blond boy standing behind him, the one codenamed Rommel.

Because the two of them had once gone through something together—something they had never forgotten, and never wished to mention again.

“Do you feel it?” There was no wind in the withered city, yet beside the two of them, a strand of breeze coiled gently around them like a lover’s hand.

“I feel it.” Oda Nobunaga opened his eyes, which had been closed until then. Wind seemed to flow within them. “The wind has already changed.”

“Among the teams still remaining, all of them are strong,” Rommel said gravely. “Except for…”

Oda Nobunaga gave a slight nod, showing that he understood. His attention was already fixed on a sheet of paper in front of him. Three large words were written on it:

Doom Squad.

“I never thought they’d really make it this far,” Oda Nobunaga said with a cold laugh. “I have to admit, their luck is remarkable.”

Rommel did not agree. “I don’t think they got here on luck alone. They must have defeated other teams along the way. If not, then it means they found a way to avoid them.”

“You shouldn’t have forgotten how Toyotomi Hideyoshi and the others lost their eyes,” Rommel reminded him.

Only then did Oda Nobunaga’s expression change. In a low voice, he said, “Wind. Their eyes were slashed by wind. That much can be hidden from others, but not from me.”

“But as far as I know, the one called Dead Eye cannot use wind abilities. There is only one explanation.”

Rommel had not yet finished when the corner of Oda Nobunaga’s eye twitched slightly.

“Then there is only one possibility,” he said in a deep voice. “Dead Eye’s speed and power reached a terrifying level. The compressed air from his strike turned into wind blades and cut the eyes of the three of them.”

“How much force do you think that would take?”

“I don’t know. But at the very least, it would be impossible without exceeding human limits by fifty times.”

“Fifty times?” Rommel repeated, mulling over the estimate.

At that moment, three figures came rushing up from the base of a ruined building.

“Captain, this is bad! We found members of the Oracle Squad in the rear!” one of them shouted first.

Before Oda Nobunaga could speak, Rommel asked, “Where is Achilles?”

He was referring to one of the squad’s level-nine aerokinetic users.

“Achilles, he…” The three who had fled back hesitated, but in the end they said it. “He’s already been eliminated. It was the Oracle Squad’s captain, the Fire Walker.”

“They’re also level nine, and you fell that quickly?” Rommel asked in surprise.

Oda Nobunaga’s face darkened. “Don’t come looking for me again. Handle it yourselves. There are only four of them left. Don’t tell me you can’t take them down.”

“But Captain, among the four of them there’s a level-nine esper. We—”

Before the leader could finish, his entire body floated into the air.

The wind around Oda Nobunaga lifted him up. He had no power to resist.

“You always boast that you’re the strongest hunting squad,” Oda Nobunaga said with a cold smile. “And now, isn’t this the time to prove your strength? Don’t assume we can wipe your asses for you every time. Deal with them yourselves.”

With that, the breeze dispersed. The man who had been lifted by Oda Nobunaga’s power crashed to the ground and struggled several times before getting back up.

Rommel then said, “Gilgamesh, Donghuang Taiyi, and Lionheart Richard—among our God-Slaying Squad, the three of you are the strongest. Don’t you have the confidence to annihilate the Oracle Squad on your own?”

“But they have the Energy Barrier, Will. We don’t have a chance at all,” Richard said hurriedly.

Oda Nobunaga laughed coldly. “There’s only one level-nine esper on their side. The rest are level eight, even level seven. If you can’t beat that, then get the hell out of the God-Slaying Squad. So what if they have an Energy Barrier? Isn’t that only level eight too? Are you all really stumped by that?”

After being spoken to in such a way, the three in front of him felt their faces grow hot.

The one called Donghuang Taiyi lightly clasped his fists. “Since you’ve put it that way, I have nothing more to say. Farewell.”

Oda Nobunaga gave a cold laugh. “You think giving yourself a grand name makes you impressive? Go on, then. Don’t disgrace that name.”

With that, he turned and walked into the shadows.

...

The Oracle Squad.

The Fire Walker, Zhao Tianxing—the City’s most powerful fire-type esper and also the level-nine powerhouse most likely to break into the tenth level—was sitting amid the ruins, bandaging his wounds.

A man in black appeared beside him, a hand resting on the hilt at his waist. “Captain, we searched the area. There’s no ambush nearby.”

Zhao Tianxing nodded. After thinking for a moment, he said, “Will, do you know who those people were just now?”

Will turned to look at the charred wreck not far away and said in a low voice, “They should be from the God-Slaying Squad. But none of the people we just saw were level-ten.”

“They were strong. You should have noticed that,” Zhao Tianxing said flatly.

Will nodded in agreement. “Yes. They were all level-nine powerhouses. I don’t know why, but they were clearly stronger than us, and yet they withdrew like that?”

Faced with Will’s question, Zhao Tianxing finished bandaging his wound before explaining, “Perhaps this is where Oda Nobunaga and Rommel made a mistake. Because the two of them are so powerful, the people around them have come to rely on them. Once they meet an obstacle, their first thought is not to fight, but to run back and ask the two captains for help.”

He gave a cold smile and shook his head. “A team like that, aside from those two people, really isn’t frightening at all.”

As they were speaking, a petite woman emerged from the shadows and stood behind Zhao Tianxing.

“Captain, the three of them are back. This time, they’re probably planning to take us head-on.”

“Understood. Good work, Xueyan. Tell Phantom not to scout anymore. We’ll wait for them here.”

...

Zhao Tianxing gathered the remaining members of the team together and, from afar, saw the three figures walking out from the depths of the city.

“Gilgamesh, Donghuang Taiyi, and Richard. It’s actually them,” Zhao Tianxing said, drawing a deep breath. “All three are famous powerhouses in the City. I can handle Richard. Will, go and hold back Gilgamesh for now. Donghuang Taiyi’s ability is special. Xueyan, Phantom, the two of you go and tie him down. Don’t aim to win; just stall him. Move.”

After assigning their tasks, the four members of the Oracle Squad spread out. They did not choose to ambush. Since the other side had chosen a frontal battle, they could not afford to back down.

Will took the lead. The blade at his waist was already drawn the moment he took his first step, yet what emerged was not a sword at all, but a dazzling sheet of light.

Though Will was only level eight, his ability was exceedingly rare: energy control. He could precisely manipulate any energy in nature, whether his own or even the enemy’s.

“Come on. Your enemy is right here.”

Will stepped forward and saw Gilgamesh on the opposite side do the same, drawing the sword at his waist.

Then space warped.

The instant Gilgamesh drew his sword, the blade vanished into a distorted fold of space. The next second, Will abruptly stepped backward. The void before him twisted, and a sword light slipped through the warped space. Had he been slower, that slash would have cut him cleanly in two.

Will retreated repeatedly. Gilgamesh sneered and stepped forward. Sword in hand, he slashed again and again. As he swung, space kept twisting, and his blade light appeared at every possible angle around Will.

Energy surged rapidly through Will’s body. He had no idea where Gilgamesh’s longsword would appear next. Every attack was ghostly and unpredictable. If not for the energy shield he could form around himself, blocking those impossible thrusts, he would already have been pierced through with a dozen holes.

After a moment of entanglement, Will seized an opening and leapt clear of the attack range.

“Spatial distortion?” he thought, recalling the description of the other man’s ability from memory: the power to create warped space within a radius of several hundred meters, and by distorting space, forcibly connect two different spaces.

So the sword light that had just been cut from his hand had attacked him directly through distorted space?

Thinking of this, Will became even more cautious. His opponent’s ability was terrifying—utterly lethal and invisible.

One careless mistake, and he would be decapitated.

With that thought, Will tightened his guard to the fullest and prepared to meet the next round of battle.