Interstellar: Return of the Villain

In the command room, a hush fell as a red dot blinked out on the screen.

An operator glanced at the head instructor, a smile playing on his lips, and he said, "R-report, our tenth outpost has been wiped out by the enemy."

Not too long ago, the head instructor had teased the new students for their supposed lack of skill. Now, it seemed the joke was on him. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

"Bam! In your face!" The burly man chuckled, waving his hand. "Bring up the surveillance footage."

The screen flickered, showing four young people. The head instructor leaned in, pointing at a young woman with black hair. "Does she look familiar?"

The information officer’s mouth twitched. "The young woman who fought in the dark on the first night."

"Oh, I remember now, the healer," the head instructor said, then sneered. "On the day of the superpower test, I said to give her full marks. Those old fools argued a healer couldn’t get full marks. They were worried about the school’s reputation. Old-fashioned thinking."

Everyone listened to his rant, eyes downcast, silently agreeing. He was the boss, after all.

But giving a healer full marks in a superpower test was unheard of. Since the academy’s establishment, perfect scores were rare.

"Should we inform the others?"

"Inform them of what? That would make us look like bullies." The head instructor shook his head. "Just tell Anton to handle these kids. They’re quite bold."

The operators rolled their eyes. ’And that’s not bullying?’

Meanwhile, the team they were looking at was fracturing.

"I think we shouldn’t work together anymore," Lyra said, her arms glowing with healing power, her eyes cold. "If someone had helped earlier, I wouldn’t be this injured, and I wouldn’t have wasted my superpower."

Taryn, feeling guilty, stammered, "I was tied up. If you hadn’t insisted on going that way, this wouldn’t have happened..."

"Enough!" Thierry, anger flashing in his eyes, cut her off. "Those were just regular vines. Don’t tell me you couldn’t cut through them with the dagger still in your boot!"

"Taryn, as your teammate, I am deeply ashamed," he said coldly, making her feel wronged.

Taryn argued, "It was her fault for getting exposed! Why blame me? I don’t want to work with a useless healer!" She felt a surge of anger. She was a top talent too— Why should she take orders from a healer?

But she realized she had thoroughly angered Thierry.

Thierry snorted, "We’ve agreed to hunt the enemy. You agreed and participated, so you shouldn’t betray your teammates at the crucial moment. You’re the one dragging us down, aren’t you?"

Their plan had been solid, but Taryn nearly got Lyra eliminated. If that happened, Thierry would have faced the two instructors alone.

Knowing she was wrong, Taryn kept her pride but said nothing more.

At that moment, Lyra glanced toward a direction in the forest. Then she looked at her teammates, a smile spreading across her face. "Forget it, just don’t let it happen again."

Her smile, though faint, was captivating, like a ray of sunshine melting away the ice.

Thierry was captivated for a moment before saying, "I’ll keep a close watch on her from now on."

He then looked at Taryn, who still seemed upset. "Taryn, do you understand?" he asked, his meaning clear.

Taryn crossed her arms and turned away. "Next time, I’ll try my best."

She finished with a dismissive sneer. It was obvious she thought they were just trying to use Thierry’s power while acting all high and mighty about it.

Mandy, the most uncomfortable with the tension, finally relaxed and let go of her sweaty hands. "Let’s hurry. It’s already two o’clock."

Thierry was about to nod when he suddenly shoved Taryn aside.

Lyra also pulled Mandy back.

A woman appeared out of nowhere, swinging a nunchaku, its sharp sound piercing the air.

Thierry tensed up.

A light laugh echoed a meter away, "That’s fast."

With a swift kick, the woman broke Thierry’s arm in an instant.

"Thierry!" Taryn caught him, and they both flew backward, landing in front of Lyra.

Lyra’s healing power fell on Thierry.

Thierry climbed up from the excruciating pain, surprised by how fast he healed.

While holding her healing power in her palm, Lyra said calmly, "I just had a fight and can only assist now. There are two of them, so it shouldn’t be too hard."

Thierry gave her a strange look. "I think we’re facing a big problem."

These two were close enough to be a threat before he even noticed them. Their skill was evident.

But Taryn, surprisingly, agreed with Lyra. "There are four of us. That’s enough!"

If Lyra could handle two, these ’enemies’ weren’t as tough as they seemed.

Besides, they had Thierry.

"I’ll take on the woman with Mandy. The man is for Thierry." With that, Taryn charged. Mandy felt something was off but followed.

Had she looked closer, she would have seen the ridicule in the enemies’ eyes.

Before they could see how the woman moved her nunchaku, Taryn and Mandy were already sent flying, their chests burning with pain.

Lyra’s healing power fell on them again.

"Keep going," Lyra encouraged softly.

"Humph!" Taryn hit the ground and got up, charging at the woman again.

Thierry couldn’t understand Lyra’s strategy, yet he had no choice but to fight. He manipulated gravity to become lighter and lunged at the man.

With reduced gravity, he could reach the speed of sound and then increase gravity to strengthen his attacks.

This was one of the most powerful superpowers in the Alliance.

But before Thierry could react, the man appeared behind him, using his momentum to slam him into the ground!

"Gravity manipulation is strong, but you’re only at level four. Besides, I’m a space manipulator."

A space manipulator!

Another feared superpower. In his space, he was invincible.

Thierry’s face changed. "You’re the instructor of Class 2?"

This was the ’enemy’ that new students were warned to be wary of. His partner was Alaria, the instructor known for the strongest martial skills.

Taryn had heard of them too, and her fighting spirit immediately died down. ’They are both level-six! How are we supposed to beat them?’

Seeing Thierry completely overpowered, Taryn felt a sense of impending doom. If this continued, they would be captured. She shouted, "Lyra, come help!"

She expected to be refused, but to her surprise, the frail young woman coughed twice and joined the fight.

Lyra’s swift movements and strong attacks shocked Alaria, who immediately swung her nunchaku to fight her.

The battle between the two was so intense that Mandy almost got injured and had to retreat further away. She felt a wave of helplessness; she was too weak.

It seemed there was no way out today.

Meanwhile, Taryn fought while gradually retreating. Suddenly, she turned and ran into the depths of the forest.

If they got caught, it would be over. But if she could find others and destroy more outposts, she might still earn some points back!