Apocalypse Baby-Chapter 264: Easiest To Defeat.

Did they want the selection to fall apart before it even began?

Did they really think a fight wouldn't break out? Unlikely.

The proctor had said VIP Combatant Zone was supposed to be about rest and prep. Time to recover. Focus. Plan. But clearly, they didn't take into account the egos of people with power.

Alex shook his head.

This wasn't going to work.

And what had just happened proved it.

A low, echoing growl from Brakka rumbled through the chamber.

He was already on his feet.

Unhurt.Not a limp. Not a scratch.

Even the wall he'd smashed into?

Perfectly fixed.

Like it had never been damaged at all.

Brakka's eyes locked onto Alex with pure, unfiltered fury.

The gleam in his eyes wasn't tactical.

It was wild.

Just rage and battle-lust, boiling to the surface like lava about to erupt.

Brakka snarled, spreading his arms wide.

"You'll do."

"I'll sate my hunger for violence by crushing you!"

His voice hit the room like an explosion.

Then he charged.

Fast.

Each footstep shook the ground like a drumbeat of destruction. The floor quaked beneath him.

Red and black chaotic energy exploded from his back, spiraling like a twisted jet trail—A storm of raw Emi twisting in his wake like smoke from a falling meteor.

Alex didn't flinch.

He stepped forward instead, calm. One hand lifted slowly, fingers glowing pale blue.

Frost coiled around his skin, sharp as shattered glass, swirling like snow in a storm.

He was ready.

If the proctor wanted chaos… if they wanted blood before the stage… then so be it.

Alex would give them a show.

But then—

There was a shift in the air.

Before Brakka could close the gap, someone moved between them.

Alex's eyes snapped open.

Malik.

One second, the demon had been leaning against the wall, relaxed. Next, he stood right in the path of the raging kruckle.

"Get out of my way!" Brakka roared, his fury cracking the air.

But Malik didn't budge. Not an inch.

And then...

Brakka just... fell apart.

It didn't even make sense.

One second, he was lunging. Rage boiling. Fist cocked back.

The next...

SPLSHHT—

Brakka's limbs detached—arms and legs sliced off cleanly, like a butcher had dissected him with a scalpel made of light.

And then—A perfect hole blasted straight through his chest.

Like reality had just glitched and deleted parts of him mid-attack.

The Kruckle hit the floor like a broken boulder.

Unconscious. Maybe even dead.

Then...silence, heavy, like the room itself was holding its breath.

Sylen and Grugrim's eyes were glued to Malik. Not blinking.

Trying to process what they'd just witnessed.

Alex, on the other hand, had seen everything, his ocular ability catching it with details.

Brakka had lunged, full of fury and chaotic Emi, tearing across the floor like a beast unchained.

Then, in a blink, Malik struck.

His arms glowed red-hot, veins of molten power streaking up to his shoulders, then they extended.

SHNK!

Thin blades of crimson energy burst out, sharp and narrow like laser scalpels, slicing clean through Brakka's limbs, mid-motion, like cutting through paper.

Brakka didn't even have time to scream.

Before he was hit with another attack,

BOOM!

A thin beam of compressed Emi fired straight through his chest, precise, surgical, and ruthless, Malik looking like he was taking out the trash.

He stood there, still, arms slowly retracting as the glow faded.

Then he turned toward Alex and started walking.

Alex's instincts screamed, alarms blaring in his head.

His muscles tensed automatically.

But Omni Gaze, with the ability of 10 seconds of foresight, showed no visions of Malik attacking, so he should be at ease.

But for some reason, his heartbeat kept racing uncontrollably.

Thump! Thump!

Malik's face hadn't changed.

He just looked… amused.

Not smug. Not crazed.

Just calmly entertained, like this was all a game.

Every step Malik took radiated power, lethality wrapped in skin.

Each movement was slow and steady, like a predator taking its time, savoring the moment before the pounce.

Controlled violence in humanoid form.

A walking, breathing execution.

He'd felt the chaos in Brakka—wild, explosive, and unpredictable.

But with Malik, whose energy was just as chaotic, there was a difference.

Compared to Brakka, he didn't spiral, didn't go wild.

It just waited, simmering under the surface, like a storm bottled up behind glass.

Perfect. Controlled. Scary.

And the unnerving part was that Alex wouldn't have sensed it at all if not for his high-ranking detection skills and his resistance to illusions.

Most people wouldn't even realize what Malik was.

Not until it was too late.

A demon, indeed.

But Alex could see it.

He could feel it.

Malik wasn't just dangerous—he was the most dangerous contestant in the room.

Every step Malik took echoed with quiet menace.

One step.

Then another.

Deliberate.

Measured.

Like he had all the time in the world.

His ember-cracked skin pulsed faintly, glowing like cooled lava coming back to life.

Alex, with his eyes sharp, tracked every detail.

The way Malik's shoulders rolled with each step.

The subtle twitch of fingers.

The heat danced beneath his skin like caged fire.

Closer.

Closer.

Until Malik stood just inches away.

That same calm, amused look in his eyes—like this was all a game.

But it wasn't his presence that got to Alex.

It was the realization that hit him as they stood face-to-face.

Malik might be the most terrifying one here.

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The most powerful.

But strangely enough...

He might be the easiest one to defeat.