"I count…other five people. They’ve taken over a nice camp, haven’t they? What do you say, genius?"

  Etlast stood tall on a raised platform that allowed him to see the enemy camp from above.

  "It is a very small camp. Especially compared to ours."

  Simele knelt beside him, scrutinising the enemy territory with a keen eye, noting that there were no real huts, no fires, nothing else. Just a group of people with a few tents and some boxes.

  "What... are they? Their superhuman bodies... Such self-sufficiency that they don’t need food or water. Worst of all... their terrifying use of the Sciarra."

  The boy pressed his hand to his lips, his eyes almost cowardly looking down.

  Learning of such power frightened him more than ever. Something didn’t add up.

  "Are... they... human?"

  Etlast turned to the boy, filling his lungs with air, thinking about it.

  "Who knows. To kill a Zwasì, their body must be torn to shreds, or they will return immediately on their feet. It could be due to a different physiognomy or simply high endurance."

  After finishing their reconnaissance, the two scientists jump down from the ridge where they had been hiding. They reach Risa, who in the meantime had taken cover and prepared some food. The forest they were in was an emerald green, far removed from anything man could ever hope to replicate.

  "I'd say let's not stand on ceremony, they've probably been warned. We go in, kill them, and get out."

  While Etlast lays out his plan, Simel looks toward the sky. He can't come to terms with it, can't understand how he could be so utterly crushed by this deeply unknown power.

  "When we launch the attack, I'll send up a flare to alert Areo and Talloy."

  The woman stands upright, clutching a small flare gun loaded with a green signal flare.

  Two hours pass, and now the group is about twenty meters away from the camp. They stare intently at what lies before them, ready to act.

  The woman raises her arm, pointing it upward, the gun held tight in her hand. In front of her, Etlast extends his fingertips, covered by his black glove, straight toward the enemy camp, poised to snap. Simel kneels on the ground, trying to figure out how he will help.

  "Let the dance begin." The man in black says, and the woman acts accordingly, pulling the trigger.

  The rocket soared into the sky, and at that exact moment, from the Zwasì camp, a brute force launched itself like a cannonball toward the human group.

  He who was seen as the most powerful man had vanished without warning. Simel turned to his left to check why the signal to open fire hadn't been given yet. Etlast was no longer there. The boy stood frozen in complete shock, still unable to process what had just happened.

  "Simel!" A cry of fear escaped Risa's lips as she lunged forward with a burst of full power, using the Sciarra to enhance her legs to their maximum. With a swift motion, she grabbed the helpless boy and hurled him about ten meters away. While airborne, the boy regained some sense and analyzed the situation. But what he saw frightened him even more, where he had just stood, there was now a deep furrow, and embedded in the ground was a large shield made of lustrous metal, engraved with a spiral that extended across the entire perimeter of the object. In the air, however, flew Risa's arm, the one she had used to move Simel—severed by the powerful blow, falling in front of the young man.

  The shield was strapped to the arm of what appeared to be a male Zwasì. He wasn't wearing the hooded cloth; instead, he was bare-chested, with only a sort of straw covering around his hips that reached his knees. Muscular and mighty, standing three—no, four times taller than a man if they stood upright on top of thenother. A mass of brute force and power.

  The moment Simel's backside hit the ground, Risa tried to use her still-intact left arm, attempting to touch the man's abdomen and make him explode. Quickly, the beast made of muscle took a step back.

  *BOOM*

  An explosion was unleashed from the powerful male's body. Superficial damage—the contact had been too brief, and all she managed was to create a hole the size of a golf ball in the Zwasì's flesh.

  *SWISH*

  "GRAH!"

  A spear of gleaming metal pierced the woman's body from behind. The other four Zwasì had moved forward. The scorching blade instantly burned through the woman's body, an atrocious heat that made her spit blood. The attacker withdrew the blade from her body, and the woman collapsed to the ground, lifeless.

  Simel, now on his feet, stared at the scene before him, a situation with no hope of victory.

  The mighty man turned toward the boy, ready for another charge at full power. The young man rose to his feet, his face bearing an unreadable expression.

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  "I have no chance of victory, that much is clear. And yet... I have no intention of dying. I didn't know that woman very well, but seeing a life extinguished so clearly—it hurts me too. What right do YOU have to tell us what to do and where to draw our boundaries? Why, tell me, do you want to limit our freedom?"

  The young man's words reached the Zwasì, who responded with a cold, icy expression.

  "You humans have no right to choose in this matter. Our population has existed for billions of years; we know what is right and what is wrong. Now it is time for divine punishment."

  The boy took a shallow breath, staring directly into the beast's eyes.

  "What bullshit. No one... can decide someone else's life. But thanks to you, I've figured out how to win this battle."

  The other Zwasì laughed scornfully.

  "What an arrogant boy."

  "Humans truly deserve extinction."

  The Zwasì beast wasted no more time and flexed his muscles forward. The instant he lunged ahead, a wave of pointed ice hurled itself at him as opposition, pushing him back and all of his group. Emerald-colored leaves fell from the trees.

  "What the?!"

  As he tried to strike it force equal to his own overwhelmed him, completely covering his body.

  "I noticed something, my dear Zwasì. My brain, when in crisis, increases its calculation abilities. I have no idea what happens inside there, but I know for certain that my strong emotions further enhance my ability to control the Sciarra. When I saw the men wounded by the battle, a great sense of anger and sadness pervaded me."

  The man tried to push and shatter the ice, but the more force he applied, the denser the frozen cage became.

  "It's a simple concept, you know? During my monologue, I used the Sciarra to accumulate the liquids of this forest beneath me and transform the mass of the ground.

  Knowing I wasn't remotely capable of reacting to your speed, I waited to see an attack signal from your mind. I'm an expert at reading brain signals, and I attacked the moment you released Sciarra with aggressive intentions. As versatile as you Zwasì are, you're not capable of reading the Sciarra, because for you it's more instinctual. Like I breathe, you enhance your body—you don't do any kind of calculation. Now I just need to use the Sciarra to transform your kinetic energy to increase the mass of the ice until you croak, and if you don’t move at all your own thermal heat will dissipate to fuel the ice cage. I admit it was a real gamble, based on what I've learned about you these past few days. But it has definitely paid off."

  The Zwasì stopped and looked him in the eyes.

  "You're not a warrior, are you?"

  The young man was a bit surprised, then chuckled, still confident.

  "Maybe. But what does that have to do with anything?"

  The Zwasì forcefully swung his arm, pointing his shield toward the ever-growing wall of ice.

  "I'll admit, using the surrounding terrain allows you maximum efficiency without having to suffer too much from a hypothetical physical limit."

  The man's harsh, rough voice paused for a second before continuing.

  "And yet, revealing the weakness of your move indirectly like that is the mark of a complete novice."

  "...!"

  "This isn't an automatic system. YOU calculate it with your brain, so what happens if..."

  The spiral engraved on the shield lit up, and from its center, a powerful air projectile was released, completely shattering the ice structure, pulverizing it. The shot was so powerful that it even managed to reach and pierce Simel's body.

  "RAGH!"

  A groan of pain, followed by blood streaming not only from his mouth but also from his nose, symbolizing the beginning of the boy's calculation limits. Simel clutched his left side while bending slightly from the pain.

  "Don't... think it's that bad... You got a kidney... I'll just piss blood for a while."

  The drool mixed with blood gushing from the boy's lips already signaled victory to the other Zwasì, now free, who were already celebrating.

  "It's over!"

  "Arrogant human bastard, kneel and beg for mercy."

  The male Zwasì wasted no time and launched himself again to attack with a strike from right to left with his enormous shield, hurling himself forward like a cannonball.

  *SFOOSH*

  Just before making contact with the boy's skull, another wave of ice and cold was released, which, besides generating another protective wall, pushed the Zwasì away, partially damaging him. Simel, now on his knees, held his now bleeding forehead.

  "Shit. That hurt. That thing is really hot, and to think it didn't even make contact with my skin, it was at least ten centimeters away, I made my calculation just in time."

  But while trying to maintain a tough exterior, underneath Simel was suffering greatly.

  "One more centimeter and I'd be dead. I can't even regenerate because I'd exhaust my mental strength, leaving myself open to attacks. How much longer can it take?" the boy murmured in a small sigh.

  The Zwasì, covered in ice, activated his shield once more. From the engraved spiral, air blades began to unleash, slicing through all the surrounding ice. Once again freeing him.

  "You've been... capable. But now it's over."

  The man leaped high like a frog, rising into the sky about ten meters, shield raised above his head. Like an eclipse, he completely blocked the light from reaching Simel, then exploiting gravity, let himself fall downward against the boy, releasing a massive strike.

  "ANALYZE THIS!"

  At the sight of this, the boy closed his eyes and looked down.

  *TANG*

  A powerful collision occurred—metal knuckles repelled the mighty blow from above. Simel opened his eyes, surprised to still be alive.

  "Just in time!"

  Another rough voice, but this time familiar. Areo and Talloy had arrived.

  "I see," said the Zwasì. "The boy was buying time. It changes little, but it's admirable."

  “Seems like thing have gone rough. Time to settle the score.”

  Without wasting a moment, Areo lunged forward, delivering a powerful punch with a straight right to the face. The Zwasì blocked with his shield, remaining fixed in place, yet looking into the eyes of his new challenger, he saw pure determination.

  Etlast may have the highest destructive capacity, but when it comes to using Sciarra for pure power, durability, and endurance—Areo is the best.