A chill ran down Lucien’s spine and at once, he stepped back.

A dagger sliced through the air where his neck had been moments ago.

And a fraction of a second later, Aiden appeared before him while holding the dagger in his right hand.

Lucien’s eyes narrowed.

His heightened senses hadn’t been able to detect where Aiden was while he used his talent. However, the moment he had emerged from whatever strange state his talent placed him in, Lucien was able to sense him again.

The problem was that the warning had only arrived at the last possible moment.

Aiden smiled, and his figure vanished again.

Lucien didn’t hesitate this time. The moment he sensed the shift in the air behind him, he spun around and slammed his body forward.

Bang!

He was hurled backward and crashed into a nearby wall with considerable force, which was insignificant compared to what his enhanced body could endure.

For the first time, surprise flashed across his face.

He can sense my presence, though only at the last second.

Lucien, unwilling to waste the opportunity, rushed forward while manipulating all the nails that blitzed forward with terrifying velocity.

Unfortunately, Aiden disappeared before the follow-up attack could land.

The hundreds of nails lodged directly into the ground and walls, and a second later, he reappeared beside Andrew.

"Let’s deal with you ants first."

The dagger flashed toward the unawakened man.

Lucien’s expression changed as he didn’t expect Aiden to do something like this.

His telekinesis erupted instantly. Andrew was yanked backward just before the blade reached him.

Once again, Aiden had failed to land an attack.

But all he did was click his tongue before retreating once more into thin air, and just as he was about to target Emily and Mark both at once thinking it would be impossible for Lucien to protect them both simultaneously, a strange sensation washed over him.

His gaze shifted toward Emily.

More specifically, to the ferret resting atop her head that was staring directly into his eyes.

The creature was able to see him even though he was using his talent.

Aiden felt an indescribable pressure for the first time in his life.

It wasn’t physical, but mental.

For now, the thought of attacking them vanished entirely from his mind.

His eyes narrowed as he tried to see the amount of spiritual energy inside the ferret but couldn’t sense any fluctuations from it, nor from the others standing near it.

Something about the creature was abnormal, but this wasn’t the time to investigate.

His attention returned to Lucien, but not before glancing briefly towards Evelyn..

The two injured awakeners had already recovered from the initial shock and damage to their ankles and necks.

Gritting their teeth, they rushed toward Evelyn together.

One of them lunged forward, enlarging his hands into claws that reached directly for her throat.

Though before he could touch her—

Crack!

His arm twisted unnaturally and a scream escaped his mouth.

Aiden stood beside him for a brief moment and vanished once again with a single warning.

"I told you to capture her, not damage her."

His voice was cold and detached, and his presence itself was more than enough to make the man who was screaming in pain shut his mouth the next second.

Even Evelyn was left momentarily confused seeing Aiden save him, but the words that came from his mouth made her blood run cold.

A thin layer of ice spread across the floor instantly, making the two awakeners lose their footing for a split second.

And that was all she needed.

Two spiraling ice spikes formed beside her in a moment and shot forward immediately.

One awakener barely managed to dodge.

But the other who just had his hand broken apart, reacted too slowly.

The spike pierced straight through his eye and burst out through the back of his skull.

The man couldn’t even realize what had happened and he collapsed onto the ground clutching his face.

The fighting ground had now become even.

With only fighting her now, Evelyn gradually gained control of the fight with her terrifying S-rank talent.

Meanwhile, Andrew and the others had retreated near the walls of the living room.

His heart still pounded violently against his chest as he recalled how he had almost met King Yama from hell.

Even now, the memory made his palms sweat.

Around him, nobody dared to speak and all they could do was watch the battle unfold.

Lucien narrowly twisted his body when the dagger grazed past his shoulder.

Another cut, and another near miss.

His clothes had already been stained with blood in several places because although his senses allowed him to react in time, reacting alone wasn’t enough.

Aiden was still the one controlling the pace of the battle.

Every exchange was pushing him further back, and all he could do was dodge. Only the first strike had been the one where he had been lucky enough to tackle, but now? Aide already knew it and changed his blade’s trajectory in a heartbeat.

Gritting his teeth, he slipped past another attack and finally accepted the reality of the situation.

I can’t win, not like this.

The thought echoed in his mind.

If he continued relying solely on telekinesis, which was used mostly to counter Clara’s ability throughout the exchange, defeat was only a matter of time.

Which meant there was only one option left.

It’s time to use it.

Electric sparks crackled across Lucien’s fingertips and inside his eyes faintly, but he didn’t attack immediately.

Instead, he waited patiently, searching for the smallest opening.

And it did arrive.

Aiden vanished and reappeared once again as the dagger flashed toward Lucien’s chest, aimed at his heart.

This time, Lucien didn’t dodge the attack like earlier, which produced a faint smile on Aiden’s face.

Is he tired?

He thought Lucien had finally reached his limit but alas, that was a big miscalculation on his part—the first one since he had ever awakened.

Golden lightning erupted from Lucien’s hand catching the dagger with ease.

A surge of electricity passed through the dagger and destroyed it into pieces before entering his body.

Boom!

The world flashed gold, preventing Aiden from forming a thought.

His body was launched backward like a cannonball that shattered the window behind him.

Glass exploded outward into the Black Water when he crashed through it before his body slammed against the metal railings of the balcony, and only then did he stop.

For a brief moment, silence descended.

Lucien breathed heavily as sweat dripped from his forehead continuously. His head spun, and the world swam before his eyes, the result maintaining telekinesis, heightened senses, and lightning simultaneously.

Aiden slowly rose to his feet. Blood trickled down the side of his forehead while the burn marks left behind by the lightning covered parts of his face. Yet despite the injuries, a smile spread across his face that appeared strangely unsettling.

This is absurd.

"How are you still alive?" Lucien asked, trying to stall for time as he still found it difficult to concentrate.

Aiden simply stared at him before eventually speaking.

"You don’t need to worry about that."

The next instant, he vanished again, but this time he didn’t appear beside Lucien and instead, materialized behind the remaining two awakeners that had been standing still on his command all this while.

Beside them, Clara’s breathing had already become uneven as she continued maintaining her pressure talent.

"I think I have played enough, it’s time for you to die." With that, all three of them rushed at him together.

—

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