Keeping some distance apart, Jeff and Atlas walked out the cove. At their level, the repercussion of their battle could easily collapse this cove.

Walking past the hunters, the two walked into the fog.

One after another, the hunters shakily got up. In this normal atmosphere, they quickly recovered.

Looking at Jeff's back, some hunters' gazes became determined. By the looks of it, Jeff had became their role model.

More people looked at Jeff in awe and appreciation though.

Some stood a little taller. It's as if they were proud to be a hunter. Proud to have Jeff as their boss.

Some smiled in satisfaction. At this moment, in this dangerous world, they felt a sense of safety.

The S-ranks looked at Jeff with a mixed expression. Jealousy. Shame. Gratitude. They still remembered on how they treated Jeff. Even though Jeff was the president, they had never seen Jeff as their boss.

Yet, now, Jeff was fending for them.

One after another, the S-ranks sighed. At this moment, they'd totally given up their struggle for that spot.

Whether it's because Jeff had a big heart, or this was all calculated, Jeff had subdued their loyalty.

"You people look like the Mission Machine had won already." Atlas' follower looked around with a playful gaze. "I'd be grabbing a pen right now. Before, mister Atlas would have given you guys a lavish contract."

"Now..." The dude chuckled and shook his head.

"Are you mocking us, A-rank." An S-rank stared at this squad leader.

Under the cold stare of three S-ranks, this dude started to sweat in uneasiness.

"I am an internal security squad leader." The dude gritted his teeth and forced himself to stand taller. "Attacking me is the equivalent of attacking the law enforcement of sanctuary."

"Ooh?"

"Suuuree..."

"Hmph."

The S-ranks smirked and turned their gazes away.

"You-" The A-rank widened his eyes.

Seeing these careless replies, the A-rank started to sweat even more. Panting a little, this guy looked like he was experiencing quiet some unrest.

Down the shore...

In a moment, Jeff and Atlas had reached the shoreline. They were about 150 meters away from the beach now.

Jeff looked at Atlas with a confused gaze. 'Atlas should know that I have reached SSS-rank.'

'So where's this guy's confidence coming from? He thinks he has a certain win? Even being an SS-rank?'

Jeff scanned Atlas up down with his detection abilities on. 'Yeah... Just SS-rank.'

'Also. It's almost like this guy came for a fight.'

'All of those threats beforehand were just an excuse, a set up.'

'His only business here is to defeat me in front of the hunters?' Jeff raised a brow. He couldn't be certain.

"So. What gave you the confidence. Your new armor?" Jeff popped a staff into his hand.

*Poof* *Tssss*

Atlas' [Wrath] lance popped out of the armor's waist. This weapon looked rather small in the hands of the big powered armor.

"Correct." Pointing his lance at Jeff, Atlas' mana exploded. His powered suit started to hum with an engine sound. The sound quickly got louder and sharper.

The fog in the air was pouring into this powered suit now.

Jeff squinted at this process. It's quite similar to Lord Trample's warhammer. Same process. But the effect here was on steroids.

Glowing stripes started to appear on Atlas' armor. The glow quickly brightened up with color change.

Red... Orange... Yellow... Cyan... Sky blue...

TTOOooomm...

A surging heat wave blasted out of Atlas' powered suit. A hot wind brushed past Jeff.

SSS-rank mana density reached!

Around Atlas, the water in the silt quickly vaporized. In a moment, Atlas was standing in a cloud of steam.

Back at the shore...

Standing 150 meters away, with fog obstructing their view, the hunters could only see strips of glowing light.

Yet, they could sense Atlas' mana with ease. Now, Atlas was like a volcano about to erupt. A lethal threat that they couldn't outrun...

The faces of the S-ranks paled.

Is this... the power beyond SS-rank? They couldn't even bring up the will to fight back.

Sensing this, the A-rank squad leader stood a little taller. Looking at the S-ranks, this guy opened and closed his mouth a few times.

In the end, he chose to say nothing though.

Back at the shoreline...

Atlas took a deep breath of pure satisfaction. "How about now, Jeff? Do you still wish to fight me? For those S-ranks who are not even working under you. Is it worth it?"

"If you change your stance, everyone will understand." Atlas rose his chin in pride.

"Backing off from me, a fellow SSS-rank, there is no shame in that." Atlas lightly shook his head.

"Hmm..." Jeff smiled. 'How interesting...'

If this was before the Lord Trample fight, there's a chance for Jeff to reconsider the situation.

But now... Jeff was half a step into Sage-tier!

Now, he was at a whole new level!

"No. I'll pass." Jeff casually shook his head.

"You'll regret your choice." Atlas' gaze turned cold. "So be it."

Pooft...

Four missiles popped out of Atlas' back. Leaving trails of white fumes in the air, the missiles shot at Jeff.

Sidestepping right and left, Jeff easily dodged those projectiles.

A robotic extension popped out of Atlas' shoulder plates. Making a high-pitched humming sound, a laser beam blasted out like a water hose.

Leaving a red trail in the ground, that laser sliced up at Jeff.

A dash sideways.

Bbrroooomm...

The molten trail exploded.

Being hit by the blast wave, Jeff was pushed a few more steps sideways.

Particles of glass started to rain down. Under the reflection of the molten ground, it looked like it's raining red pixels.

A white noise started to get louder and louder. Jeff's vision became blurry for an instance. Jeff also felt a little sleepy. But just a little.

Bttooomm!

Like a ray of blue light, Atlas shot towards Jeff. The ground under Atlas' afterimage exploded into a shower of dry sand.

In air, his lance started to radiate a blinding light.

Slam!

An explosion of mana.

From the collision, a blast wave bursted out. In a blink, that blast wave had reached the shore.

Like being hit by a truck, the hunters at the front were knocked up into the air. One after another, they crashed into the fallen hunters on the ground.

Only the three S-rank hunters were remaining standing. Yet, their expressions quickly turned bitter. The power gap was simply too big.

Back at the shoreline...

Standing at the center of the crater, Jeff casually grabbed onto Atlas' lance with one hand.

With his other hand, Jeff lifted his staff.

Bam!

Atlas kneeled onto one knee.

Jeff's staff had chopped 2 inches into Atlas' shoulder armor. A burst of sparks shot right out. The glowing stripes on Atlas' armor started to blink.

Vrrrmmm...

It's the sound of an engine dying off.

"Haarrraaaahh!" Atlas tried to push up.

DOoonnmm...

Jeff landed a kick onto Atlas' chest armor.

Drawing an arc in the air, Atlas landed onto his back. The collision brought up some silt into the air. After sliding back some distance, Atlas finally came to a halt.

The dude tried to get up from this dead armor, but he couldn't.

"Why..." Atlas looked at Jeff in disbelief.

"How?!" Atlas's pupils shivered in shock and confusion.

"No! Arrggh! NOO!" In Atlas' view, Jeff's figure gradually overlapped with Lord Trample.

Looking at Atlas, Jeff lightly shook his head. 'Well... Someone has to cool off. And that person sure ain't me.'