Chapter 312 Mendel
The sound of debris falling from the ceiling and the sound of electricity buzzing ringed throughout the area. Thankfully, it was just one of the entrances to the auditorium and the internals of the main section were reinforced, so the destruction didn"t spread out.
Among the wreckage of the escalator, Kiba and Sophia stood opposite each other.
"Shameless scoundrel," Sophia said while deciding on how to handle the situation further.
"Don"t slander," Kiba didn"t like her choice of words. He was a man of great character and her words were putting doubts on his stainless reputation.
"Yeah right, you didn"t listen to me so why should I listen to you?" Sophia asked in her innocent voice.
"Because---" Kiba"s words trailed off.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, a vigorous aura engulfed the conflict zone like torrential waves. Everyone felt as if they were being eyed by an ancient predator and chill crawled up their senses.
Kiba"s eyes narrowed. His body flickered with golden fluctuations and he vanished from sight.
The moment he disappeared, his earlier location smashed into a deep crater. Splinters, metallic tiles, wires drew up in the air along with soil and dust.
Sophia wasn"t harmed as she was not the target. She jumped a few feet back and raised her head above.
With a swoosh sound, a gigantic tail swept from the crater into the air. She looked further above and looked at the source of the tail.
It was an enormous, four-legged red dragon. Its claws were like steel hooks that could tear through any scavenger bird.
The dragon was vast but its body was illusory like a phantom. Only its tail carried materialistic existence but even that turned illusory as it coiled back.
Kiba appeared some distance away from the crater. He brought his eyes on an entrance of this area where a young-looking man was standing.
The young-looking man was clad in a dark robe marked with five stars. He has short black-haired hair and a tattoo of a red dragon on his left cheek. The tattoo was glowing with mighty vigor just like the illusory dragon in the air.
"Dark Star" Mendel Stoke.
Kiba has seen him when he chased Hollie after she stole his bracelet. Mendel and two other Dark Stars tried to interfere but failed after he blackmailed them.
Dozens of guards and drones also rushed in. The drones flew towards the ceiling and started reinforcing it with a protective barrier. The guards, in the meantime, planted what looked like-steel rods outside the conflict zone. Threads of light swept out from the rods that converged together to turn into curtains and ultimately into a transparent barrier.
"Well," Kiba looked around to see himself surrounded by a barrier. Only he and the illusory dragon were inside it.
"You have got guts to break the rules," Mendel coldly said.
"I do have the guts," Kiba replied, unfazed. "But I didn"t break the rules. You know it and yet, you attacked me."
Kiba pointed a finger towards Sophia and said, "Of course, you wouldn"t dare attack the true culprit."
The World Government didn"t openly govern the forest or the fair. But its influence was rather obvious if one considers how the fair has turned into a trading zone.
Neville Family was the second strongest faction within the government. So unless Mendel wanted to spend the rest of life running, he wouldn"t dare harm Sophia openly.
"Don"t pa.s.s blame on others!" Mendel shouted angrily.
ROAR
At the same time, the illusory dragon let out a threatening growl that was so powerful the entire section started trembling. The onlookers felt their eardrums on verge of snapping and many of them collapsed down on the floor. They started bleeding from their orifices.
The dragon"s mouth turned life-like and its sharp jaw glinted as it lowered its head. Every tooth was as large as a spear and gleamed brightly.
Just one look at them made it evident that they could shatter through the most powerful defenses and completely pierce through the strongest metal. Its entire body was radiating strong murderous intent.
At a speed that could not be described, the dragon head arrived above Kiba. It opened its mouth widely to smash Kiba between its strong jaws.
Kiba raised his right hand towards the incoming dragon. Telekinetic energy cascaded out of his palm and stopped the dragon head just a few centimeters from his hand. The dragon head snapped angrily but it could not move. The telekinetic energy has turned into a force field, sealing its head, and preventing it from making a single move.
Kiba pushed his hand forward and the dragon head felt a hammering pressure cras.h.i.+ng on it, rolling it back by a dozen steps.
"You think some force field can stop me?" Mendel scorned and laughed with disdain.
More strength flew through the body of the illusory dragon and its neck turned life-like just like its head.
The air turned heavy from its mere presence and a suffocating pressure further engulfed the ma.s.ses. Thin cracks appeared in the force field and rays of telekinetic energy swept out.
Kiba"s eyebrows creased a bit as he saw the force field shattering into fragments of energy. The dragon head moved down with its mouth wide open.
Dark sticky liquid fell from its teeth and landed on Kiba"s white sleeve as it brought its jaws to clamp down on his arm
"You are d.a.m.n annoying," Kiba hated the ghastly smell from its mouth and the sticky liquid. "Let me guess - Your dirty master never clean your mouth?"
"You don"t know just when to give up, do you?" Mendel stopped the dragon from ripping his arm.
Kiba was surprised as the dragon head moved up.
A Red orb of energy started concentrating between its open mouth. The orb twisted like a vortex as more energy streamed into it.
Just the ripples from it were strong enough to smash a level III mutant into a b.l.o.o.d.y paste.
The guards activated mechanical imprints on their dress and more protective s.h.i.+elds swept out. The drones did the same to protect the crowd from resulting shockwaves. This ensured further protection along with the earlier barriers.
"Stop this. I"m the one responsible for the destruction here," Sophia called out from a distance. "Spare the shameless villain and I will pay for the damages."
"Pervert, stop addressing me in such a way!" Kiba was happy to see her trying to save him but he didn"t like being called a villain, much less a shameless villain.
"You shut up!" Sophia snapped back at him angrily. "I"m trying to save your life so don"t disturb me!"
"Miss Sophia, don"t interfere," Mendel directly refused her request. "I"m here to punish a criminal and justice would be served."
The dragon head roared in response and moved above Kiba like it was the king of the world, about to punish a punny subject.
"There is only one time when I like someone above me," Kiba"s eyes flashed brightly. "And that definitely does not involve a man or a beast."
"?" Both Sophia and Ashlyn looked at him in confusion. They didn"t understand his words a bit but others in the crowd did, and they were left speechless.
"He can still bother to make such comments?!" A man in thirties was dumbfounded.
"Doesn"t he realize the crisis he is in?!"
"Let him say anything he wants," A guard said while reinforcing the s.h.i.+eld in front of him. "Soon, he won"t even remain alive."
The crowd agreed and they looked forward to seeing Mendel killing Kiba. After all, it wasn"t common to see a Level IV mutant in action!
Kiba opened his eyes and a bright glow flashed among them.
The s.p.a.ce below his feet erupted into streams of golden brilliance while his terrifying aura rose up. The radiance was piercing to the eyes as it rolled out like surging waves, carrying the might of an ocean.
The metallic tiles burst open into pieces and the pillars shattered as the golden aura surged through them. The entire region started violently trembling if the ground was imploding from inside.
Hearts of the onlookers jostled in fright. They looked at golden brilliance in horror as if it carried the might to decimate mountains and evaporate rivers.
The blooming of his aura was both beautiful and deadly.
"Such a powerful aura!"
"It is not weaker than Dark Star Mendel!"
"Does it means he is as powerful as a Dark Star?!"
"How is this even possible?!"
Mendel was sh.e.l.l-shocked by this aura. He felt it was truly no less powerful than his. He pa.s.sed a command to the dragon beast to launch the final attack now.
The red orb between its mouth boomed out into a blinding radiance. The entire area was shrouded into this blinding ebullition of destructive energy.
Sophia was rus.h.i.+ng to help him but she was forced to leap backward and close her eyes. A crystal amulet around her neck flashed and the next moment, a barrier surrounded her.
She muttered a pray, "Shameless scoundrel, don"t you dare die before apologizing to me! I haven"t even taught you a lesson!"
Ashlyn stood far away with her usual cold expression. There was no traces of emotion on her face. She raised an arm to cover her eyes from the eruptive blinding energy but otherwise, she didn"t take any action.
Kiba stretched his left hand into the air. Golden current coated his hand which concentrated on his hand into a volcanic flash and swept out.
An intense clash of energy broke out as two attacks slammed into each other. Terrifying explosive waves erupted out which broke through the protective barrier and s.h.i.+els. The frightening waves crashed directly into the people.
Almost everyone was sent flying into the air as if they were ruthlessly crushed by a hammer.
Ashlyn remained in her place and so did Sophia. The energy explosion slowly calmed down as one of the attacks gained supremacy over the other.
The dragon head groaned loudly as the golden flash slammed into it like an imploding mountain.
It fell heavily towards the ground with a sad, deafening roar. Like a layer of frail gla.s.s, the dragon head scattered into tiny energy particles and faded into thin air.
Some hundred steps away, Mendel felt a severe pain coursing through his body. His skin crawled with a terrible sensation and he felt a strong urge to throw up.
"There is no way this is real."
His forehead throbbed violently and his knees started buckling.
He snapped his teeth and suppressed his pain. Blood streamed down from his mouth and the corners of his mouth but he refused to collapse.
He brought a hand over his face and wiped the blood. He raised his hand and looked at Kiba in shock and disbelief.
Mendel knew Kiba was strong as he was there when Anamarie fought him but he didn"t show such power back then.
"You are still standing," Kiba said in praise.
Mendel has a bad feeling so he instinctively crossed his arms over chest. He was proved right as Kiba disappeared from sight like a puff of smoke.
The s.p.a.ce in front of him blurred and Kiba appeared. As Mendel saw him raising a hand into the air, he believed a punch was coming so he put more power into his arms to block his vitals.
Strong energy waves boomed out as Kiba swept his hand.
Mendel looked up to see Kiba"s movements. His body turned stiff while his chest moved up and down violently as he saw the form of attack. His eyes bulged outwards and he shouted, "No!"
He could handle any form of attack but not this. It would be the ultimate humiliation.
Slap!
Time seemed to come to a standstill for Mendel. He saw in slow motion as the slap made contact with his face.
A slap that sounded more like a thunderclap! It ringed so loudly that even those in the seating floors of auditorium heard it.
Mendel let out a miserable shriek. Intense vibrations rampaged through his entire body. He has concentrated on protecting his vitals but in the process, left his cheek exposed and he instantly regretted his decision.
With loud cracking noise, his jawbone fractured and a few teeth fell from his mouth like dry weeds. He flew outward like a kite with a broken string while spitting out a mouthful of blood. He ultimately slammed into a broken wall and collapsed into debris.