Bhurm [1]

[3rd person Pov]

Standing with his arms crossed on a large hill outside of the more traditional-looking city known as Bhurm, Mr. Naut was currently inspecting his target.

Inside the small defensive walls, there were a lot of people running around, with quite a lot of them creating a line that streamed out of the city. However, because of the fact that they had to pass the royal soldiers that checked each and every one of them the process was slow.

Unfortunately for them, Mr. Naut wasn't a person known for his patience.

"Let's move."

In sync with him opening his mouth, a number of people dressed in brown, leathery armor suddenly appeared and flew forward, eager to meet their master's expectations.

"Is this your version of sparing as many as possible? Waiting for less than an hour?"

Behind the strong-looking man, a black-robed individual emerged, with a huge grin on his face.

Without turning around, Mr. Naut quickly dismissed the pointy words that the head of the Vipers had spewed.

"Don't get it wrong. I waited for exactly an hour. If that's not a sign of how charitable I am, I don't know what would be."

"Sure. Anyway, what are your plans? To weaken their forces before moving in yourself?"

"My plans? See, this is the difference between you and me. While you have been busy acting like a rat, planting poison inside of the city to decrease their numbers, I have merely been watching."

Covering his body in his signature red energy, the head of the Juggernauts started floating upwards, showing his intention of making his departure.

"Plans and tactics are merely tools for the weak."

*BOOM!*

A huge explosion rang out in the distance, quickly followed by the panicked screams of the citizen of Bhurm. Even from where they were standing now, they couldn't miss the first signs of war, with smoke slowly starting to rise up in the air.

"And I'm not so weak that I would have a need for such pitiful things."

And with those words, he flew forward, unable to contain his excitement no more.

Left behind on the hill, the grin on Mr. Viper's face could only grow even more, already aware of the personality of the monster known as the head of the Juggernauts. All [S]-rankers were not created equal, and this he knew all too well.

In terms of pure strength, he knew that there was most likely no one on this planet that could go against that obnoxious man, at least not since that green-haired monster had grown old and weak. However...

"Tactics are for the weak? That may be so... But isn't survival the biggest sign of strength?"

****

[James's Pov]

'So this is what they were up to...'

Looking down at the, now, burning buildings of Bhurm, from the sky, watching the intense battles between the telekinetic users of the Juggernaut house and the monstrous humans known as the Daemons, it wasn't too surprising to see the complete disregard for human lives.

In the process of fighting each other, a horde of bodies made up of innocent civilians was starting to pile up in the streets, with neither of the sides caring about them at all.

With blood filling the gutters, children crying and women screaming, I felt my heart squeeze. At least that's what I pretended it did.

In reality, I didn't care anymore. Though it was a bit sad to see innocent lives getting taken for nothing, it wasn't to the point where I would actually do anything about it.

This wasn't my fight, and it never would be. My role here was merely a spectator, a spectator that suddenly sensed a large presence quickly approaching me at insane speeds.

"Yo, boy! What is someone like you doing here?"

Somehow, without even rotating my head, I knew who the person behind me in the sky was. Because just his presence was enough to send a small shiver down my back.

Turning around, I took a second to inspect the monster dwelling in the body of a human in front of me.

With an exposed upper body, wearing only a jacket with a fluffy, fur collar and black dress pants, he truly looked like someone out of a tv-show. Although he had the same dark hair as Jessica, it still wasn't easy to see the resemblance.

Sensing that I didn't have much of a choice but to make another performance, I quickly made a line in my head that I could follow.

"Mr. Naut, I presume? What a coincidence, to somehow meet the esteemed leader of the Juggernauts up here! Ah, just your presence alone... Guh!"

Not caring for the pleasantries I was offering, he had already raised his hand and an invisible force suddenly started squeezing my body, making me feel like a chicken ready for the plucking.

"Answer my question."

'Ah, another shitty old man...'

The world seemed to be full of old men who carried too much power for their own good, all of them carrying some sort of haughtiness to them that was, quite frankly, more than disagreeable.

From the principal with his blind devotion to his research to Mr. Cane with the pride of a mountain to this man, who obviously believed him to be superior to everyone.

So, just to take him down a notch, I spread my mist around me, successfully intercepting and disabling the invisible energy around me. Surprised to see me just casually fend off his attack, I was allowed a moment to stretch my arms before he started talking again.

After having seen what Jessica could do, only a fool wouldn't think of some kind of countermeasure against this seemingly omnipotent ability, and luckily my [Misty Step] had already taught me to spread my mist thinly through the air. An act that also served as a kind of signal obstruction to their telekinesis.

Now, that didn't mean he couldn't just overpower it by using more power, but this should at least make him a bit more vigilant and deter him from moving recklessly. Even more so as no one could sense my inner power, meaning he had no way of determining my actual rank.

"Ho? Interesting. You are an interesting boy!"

'Or not I guess...'

Raising his other arm as well, he appeared to have construed my actions as some kind of challenge, now using his powers to squeeze me from two directions, fully intent on squashing me like a bug.

Not feeling like dying today, I activated my newly acquired ability and dispersed my body through the mist that I had already spread around us, only to appear behind the man. Even if I could have brought out my scythe and aligned it to his neck, I knew it was fruitless.

As he was turning around, there was no doubt that right now, I was not his match.

"Please calm down, Mr. Naut. I am not here to fight, nor am I here to stop whatever you are doing down there."

Crossing his arms, he finally appeared to be willing to speak to me without acting like a middle-aged man that had to prove his masculinity.

"So, why are you here?"

And that was a good question. Because, truthfully, I didn't have much of a reason to be here.

After concluding my business in the academy and talking to Mr. Cane, the little bird that I had planted in the castle had just stumbled upon a small conversation in the throne room. Purely accidental, really.

As a result, I couldn't hold myself back from coming here, too curious to see what was going to happen.

So the real reason why I was here?

"For fun?"

A second of silence enveloped us as the man tried to understand just what I was saying.

"...for fun? Bahahaha!"

Though it hurt a bit to be laughed at, it was still better than him trying to claim my life again. Just taking one [Misty Step] drained my mana a lot, so if it was possible I would rather not have to use it again.

"Then, shall I show you something even more entertaining?"

Suddenly, the air around us seemed to freeze, as a red glow emerged in his eyes.

*Crrzzzht!*

Red sparks started to cover his body, just to then elongate, looking like electric snakes coiling around his limbs. Somehow, I could sense the insane amount of invisible power that he was gathering below us, its density enough for me to even see a very blurry outline of his creation.

Then he casually spoke, his voice carrying the dignity of what could only be said to be a god.

"[Hand of the Emperor]"

Releasing the energy, it didn't take long for it to reach the unsuspecting city below us. As it made contact, the taller buildings started to crumble, shortly followed by the rest of the infrastructure.

Debris, blood, and dust all started to become a compressed cluster of mush as the monster's attack kept pushing downwards. Not caring if they were part of his family or an enemy, nor caring if they were civilians; Everything got crushed below us, decimating what had once been a city in mere seconds.

*ROOOOAAAARRR!*

Suddenly, a purple beam of light was shot through the attack, accompanied by the sounds of a loud roar. Looking at the man who had caused this kind of absurd atrocity, I was only met by a devious smile.

"Seems like my old friend didn't like my greeting. Well, greetings are better done in person anyway. See you around, boy!"

With that, he flew downwards to greet the one I could only assume to be the leader of the Daemons. Leaving me with a smile just as large as his on my face.