The female hero felt like her heart was burning and her lungs were overheating. The stamina drain was unbearable; it felt like she was at the final stage of an Ironman triathlon. She was on the verge of collapsing at any mont.
Seeing that the girl was at her limit, Maximilian raised his right hand.
In response to his command, the darkness surrounding the city surged upward like towering pillars. The vast shadows rose into the sky, obeying his gesture. The sight alone filled the witnesses with dread and despair.
"What... what is he going to do?" the hero with the cannon muttered in horror, watching the overwhelming darkness move at the villain’s command.
The shadows began to converge, shaping into multiple entities, the dreaded spears. But this ti...
They were massive, each one the size of an average high-rise building. So were slightly smaller, but the scale was undeniable.
At that size, no one could possibly stop them.
"No... this is impossible," the speedster in power armor said in disbelief.
"This... this kind of power... does he have the sa level of power as Atlas!?" the female hero with the bubble shield cried out, her voice trembling.
Maximilian drew his arm back as if preparing to signal the attack. The colossal spears hovered high above, waiting for his command.
"This... this is bad. He’s going to attack! Retreat! Retreat!" the speedster shouted, grabbing his two teammates and speeding out of the impact zone.
With a simple signal from Maximilian, the dark spears descended from the sky, crashing down amidst screams and panicked shouts from the people watching in terror.
Villain Points gained: 812
Villain Points gained: 1225
Villain Points gained: 1874
The crowd scattered in chaos, running as far away from the city center as they could. The speedster frantically tried to get his friends to safety.
"Where do you think you’re going?" Maximilian said, his voice amplified through the modulator, deep, cold, and terrifying.
With a twist of his wrist, two of the massive dark spears split into hundreds of smaller ones.
They shot toward the fleeing heroes at incredible speed. With a piercing whistle of wind, the spears struck the ground around them, cutting off their escape. The rest pinned them in place.
The three heroes were slamd down, their arms and legs impaled by the dark spears.
"Arrrrrrghhh!"
"Gerrrhhhhhh!"
The heroes scread in agony, immobilized as the spears pierced through their limbs, preventing any chance of escape.
[Ding! Bonus objective complete!]
Bonus Objective: Defeat all who attempt to stop you [Completed]
The colossal spears descended onto the statue. The first one crushed it from the head down to the base, while the second impaled the ground above the first, as if the spears were driving deep into the earth.
BOOOM!
Rumble... Rumble...
The statue was reduced to dust and debris. Its base was completely destroyed, but it appeared that there had been an underground area beneath the statue, which was also crushed along with it.
— MAIN QUEST: SCULPTURE DOMINATION! [Completed] —
Description:
Every great villain must demonstrate their dominance to the world! Even when lacking the strength to guarantee survival, you must still assert your supremacy over your greatest enemy. Display your dominance today, beco the greatest villain tomorrow!
Ti Limit: None
Primary Objective: Destroy the ’Atlas’ statue in the city center [Completed]
Bonus Objective: Defeat all who attempt to stop you [Completed]
Reward: Upgrade Temporary Ability Sharing to Permanent Ability Sharing
Bonus Reward: A System Feature Upgrade of your choice
—
After seeing that the quest was completed along with the bonus objective, Maximilian looked at his system UI and noticed that the system features had already changed.
Permanent Ability Sharing
[500 Villain Points per ability or 2 Energy Blocks per ability]
{Athel, upgrade the shop function for ,} Maximilian said to Atherna through their link.
[Okie dokie! Give a sec! (≧▽≦)/ ] Atherna responded giddily.
The shop function quickly updated.
– Shop [Daily Discount Unlocked]
[Done! There are lots of new items added to the shop. There are also two new shop categories and a search function. Enjoy shopping! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ ]
Maximilian took a quick glance at the items in the shop and spotted three notable items under the new categories: the tickets.
- Atherna Manifestation 3 days trial ticket Free
- Customize Clone 1 day Ticket 10,000 Villain Points
- Old World Return 3 days Ticket 1,500,000 Villain Points
The three items were very interesting, especially the last one.
But... why was the first one free?
{Oi! Athel, don’t tell you’re bored and want to co out and play,} Maximilian asked. He was too familiar with her not to notice that this was her doing.
[Ehehehe~
{Fine... stop acting cute. I’ll buy it once I get back ho, okay?} Maximilian replied, a little tired of Atherna’s antics.
With that settled, Maximilian looked at the defeated heroes lying on the ground, then turned his gaze to the devastated city center, still ravaged by dust and smoke.
The heroes near the center were all covered in gray dust, completely drained of the will to fight.
Suddenly, Maximilian’s instincts flared. He quickly dodged away from where he had just been standing.
Bang!!
A railgun bullet zipped past him and struck the ground below. Maximilian imdiately looked up into the sky and spotted a hero in black—a woman.
His visor zood in and enhanced the image. It was the sa woman he had t several days ago.
She was the Onyx Blade, the hero in black.
"Tch! Your instincts are quick, huh? Villain," the woman muttered as the glider on her back propelled her toward him.
With her ambush failed, she opted for lee combat.
Maximilian didn’t want to engage her. He quickly fired several spears to force her back.
Clank! Clank! Clank!
The dark blade in her hand deflected the spears, and she charged straight at him.
Then, suddenly, at about 10 ters away, Maximilian felt a sharp resistance. It beca far more difficult to summon and control his shadows.
The force required to manipulate the shadows had increased by more than tenfold. His dark wings, sculpted from shadow, began to destabilize. Unable to maintain their form, he was forced to land before completely losing control.
Maximilian looked at his hands in confusion, seeing his shadows weren’t responding despite the sa exertion.
"My suit broadcasts EF inhibitor waves at all tis," Onyx Blade declared defiantly as she rushed toward him, blade in hand. "You can’t use your EF abilities anymore!"
Maximilian dodged the blade and quickly pulled a dagger from his storage space.
Clank! Clank! Clank! Clank!
Their weapons clashed in a flurry of sparks. Blades parried and deflected with sharp precision.
Maximilian didn’t use his katana sword style, those were reserved for his other identities. Instead, he relied on Blood Mongoose CQC, and lee combat skill, to fight Onyx Blade.
"You!" Onyx Blade was visibly flustered. She had expected to end the fight quickly in lee, relying on her combat training and the EF inhibitor wave from her armor.
She never imagined that the villain before her would have the skill to stand toe-to-toe with her in close combat.
Usually, villains with overwhelming powers neglect physical training or technique. They relied solely on brute force.
Villains like that, when facing her armor’s EF-inhibiting field, specifically designed to counter them, were no different than ordinary people with limited close-combat skills.
"Who are you?" Onyx Blade asked in a graceful tone. A villain this powerful—and with this level of training—was no ordinary small fry.
Most like him were either dead or locked away in Purgatory Super Max Prison. Back in the early days, villains of this caliber were dealt with by Atlas himself.
"? I’m just a bringer of truth. Nas are irrelevant to ," Maximilian replied, his voice distorted through a terrifying modulator.
"Your choice of modulated voice is terrible. Do you really think that’ll terrify anyone? Pathetic!" Onyx Blade tried to provoke the villain. In anger, most villains would slip up.
But Maximilian understood exactly what she was aiming for. Instead of reacting, he calmly looked at the defeated heroes and the terrified onlookers.
"It seems to be working well enough," Maximilian said, deflecting her provocation.
Seeing the calm and composed villain in front of her, Onyx Blade gritted her teeth.
Where did this psycho co from!? This guy wasn’t your average villain that the city could handle!
Fighting this villain put her under imnse pressure, it felt like she was going up against a veteran... a veteran who had survived blood-soaked battlefields for decades.
Where did this monster co from!?
He had training. His mind was too composed. There was no imdiate weakness she could exploit.
At this rate, the fight would drag on, and the battery in her suit that powered the EF inhibitor would run out before she could bring this villain down!
With this in mind, Onyx Blade quickened her footsteps, and her attacks beca increasingly aggressive.
This change in Onyx Blade’s behavior didn’t go unnoticed. Maximilian stepped up his movents and tightened his guard, his stance firm as he parried and avoided her strikes.
His combat instincts were becoming more and more of a problem for the heroine.
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