Tiny sparks still danced across the Wind King’s body, stray currents of wind coiling around him in uneven spirals with an eerie calm.

A heavy invisible pressure filled the atmosphere, forcing everyone to inhale sharply.

The Wind King’s gaze never left Lucien.

"How did you know?"

His voice was quiet, far quieter than before when he had screamed at the top of his lungs.

Lucien rubbed the side of his neck where those iron-like fingers had nearly crushed his throat only moments ago before eventually responding with a question of his own.

"That’s what you’re worried about?"

"Answer me." The King persisted in trying to know the answer.

The simple command carried enough weight to make several nearby survivors flinch.

Lucien frowned, for the reaction was excessive — far too excessive. All he had done was mention the man’s second talent. Without another word, he reopened the status panel and let his eyes move across the information.

Confusion flickered through them briefly.

Then understanding settled in.

Don’t tell me he has been hiding the existence of his second talent from others? Is that why?

Slowly, he raised his head.

---

Name: Roman BlackWood]

[Race: Human]

[Talent: B-grade Talent(Wind manipulation), A-grade Talent(Berserk)]

[Combat Power: D++...?]

---

The atmosphere shifted.

"I will simply kill you and everyone present here. No need for me to ask useless questions."

Something invisible seemed to drain from the air itself as the Wind King went still — not the stillness of composure, but the kind that comes just before something irreversible happens.

Whatever thing that was holding him back was gone entirely.

Several survivors exchanged uncertain glances, taking steps back until their backs pressed against the wall. None of them understood what had just passed between the two men, and neither were they interested in knowing after seeing the King’s reaction.

Andrew felt it too. His gut feeling told him something terrible might happen in the next few seconds.

"Ethan, check him."

Ethan swallowed and activated Insight with a nod. Pressure built steadily behind his eyes as he pushed his focus entirely onto the Wind King, straining the ability as far as it would reach because not only the difference in talent, but the distance he used his ability from multiplied the strain on him at the same time.

Information began surfacing.

And the first talent appeared with slight difficulty. Wind Manipulation.

The second—

Ethan frowned.

A strange blur obscured everything beneath it as the text seemed to fold in on itself, distorted and unreadable. He pushed harder but still nothing came into his view except for his base combat power.

If only I could get closer to him.

Then a sharp pain drove straight through his skull as he tried to peek past those blurred words.

"Ugh!"

He staggered, though Andrew caught his shoulder immediately.

"What happened?"

"I... I don’t know." Ethan pressed a hand to his temple. "I can only see one talent."

Andrew’s jaw tightened. "What?"

"The second one is there." Ethan glanced toward the Wind King again. "But I can’t read it, it feels like something’s blocking it." He paused. "Or my ability probably isn’t strong enough yet."

It wasn’t a reassuring answer, deepening Andrew’s worry even more.

Meanwhile, Evelyn stepped forward.

To her, the situation had already moved far beyond anything she could have anticipated, and neither side showed any sign of pulling back from the clash. If this continued, they both might end up completely dead or sustain serious injuries.

Sure, she could interfere and help, but she knew it would be the same as mocking Lucien’s ability. And she didn’t think she had enough right to even fight alongside him without his permission in the first place.

Yet she still had to do something.

"Stop."

She placed herself between them deliberately.

"You’ve already proven your strength." Her voice stayed level. "Nothing changes by continuing this." She looked toward the Wind King. "Not here." Then toward Lucien. "And not with him and us standing in front of you."

The man didn’t respond.

His eyes remained fixed on Lucien. He had barely acknowledged anyone else, so Lucien sure was one of the best natural talents he had ever seen. But the information he knew, that was the sole thing that turned auch a god-like potential he could have in his team go down the drain.

Evelyn accidentally met his gaze, and the breath left her body.

It wasn’t fear exactly, though fear was part of it. It was the sudden and overwhelming sensation of being seen by something that measured the world in entirely different terms. She took an involuntary step back. Andrew steadied her from behind without a word, for he too felt the same sensation.

Then the Wind King moved, but not toward Lucien.

Boom!

The concrete groaned beneath his step as he dashed ahead.

Lucien was already moving.

He stepped directly into the path, forearm raised, and caught the strike clean. The force travelled up through bone and muscle and shoulder, nearly driving him sideways, but he absorbed it by planting his feet firmly on the ground.

His raw strength is even more absurd than mine. But aren’t we in the same grade, how is this even possible?

The Wind King pulled back and came again — faster this time, wind tightening around each of his movements, making every strike sharper than the last.

Lucien gave ground deliberately as multiple thin blade-like cuts streamed his cloth red. He kept retreating in controlled bursts, drawing the exchange away from the others while reading the rhythm of each attack and looking for the gap between them.

A compressed current of air carved past his ribs without warning.

He felt the sting before he registered the wound — a clean, deep cut across his side where the edge of the attack had caught him despite the dodge. He kept moving, keeping his breath controlled.

His opportunity came a moment later.

The Wind King overextended slightly, drawn forward by his own momentum in too much anger. Lucien pivoted, channelled what remained of his reserves into a single focused strike, and drove his palm into the man’s chest on the same spot once again with everything he had left.

The impact made him cough up blood before being thrown backwards.

The space between them hummed with exhaustion and restrained intent as one side had his reserves thinned into almost nothing, while the other had accumulated far more damage. The man’s breathing grew heavier as his concentration was the only thing still holding steady.

Should I use it right now? 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

The wind continued circling him as he focused on Lucien and the people who had already stepped onto the staircase to prevent collateral damage. A faint static charge gathered quietly around the other.

Around six awakeners.

Then both of them moved at once — closing the distance in the same instant, the gap between them vanishing entirely—

*SCREEEEEEEECH!*

The sound split through everything, stopping both of them. Every person still on the rooftop snapped their gaze upward as a sense of deja vu crossed through their minds.

And somewhere above them, something had arrived.