"Two left!"

"!!!"

​​

The two enhanced humans remaining did not even look at their comrade as they ran away.

"Fly! Fly little commoners! Hahaha!"

They no longer even had any notion of fighting back as all they could think of was to save themselves as they heard the sound of Gerald's growing laughter. They should have brought more people, one of the escaping enhanced human thought.

Surely, if they have brought the other 6 of their team... No, if they brought the fully enhanced ones, or if they were more successful in absorbing the Essence. They maybe they would have--

The man's thoughts came to a stop as he felt something warm on his chin. "Wha--?" And before he could even say anything, he felt his vision instantly shift before it completely darkened. His body quickly fell to the ground like a noodle as his head was twisted by Gerald.

"1 left!"

Hearing this, the last remaining enhanced human could not help but slightly look back. It was his mistake, however; As doing so made his nerves waver even more; seeing the ominous expression on Gerald's cackling face as it leaped to approach him.

"N… no, stay away!"

"Hahaha!" Gerald's fingers were already only a foot away from grabbing the enhanced human's face. But then…

...The enhanced human suddenly disappeared, making Gerald slightly stumble in his steps. Gerald's eyes slightly widened in confusion for a few seconds. But after a while, the smile on his face slowly started to disappear, replaced by a frown as he slowly looked towards his right.

"What do you think you're doing?" Gerald's breaths were starting to get heavy; his frown turning into a snarl, "You fucking beggar?"

Gerald's eyes did not falter as stared straight towards Van's eyes, who was now suddenly on his left, holding the last surviving enemy by his collars.

"I…" Van muttered,

"...am here to pick up trash."

"..."

Xinyan's eyes could not help but slightly twitch as she heard that, "What's with these people and their one-liners?" She thought as she looked at the newly arrived Van with a shocked expression.

"Then you should pick yourself up," Gerald slightly scoffed as he slowly approached Van, "Hand that fucking Normie over," he then said as he gestured for the enhanced human.

"...Normie?" Hearing what Gerald just said, Van could not help but turn his head towards the intruder that he was holding; but as soon as he did so, the man with a circle burnt mark on his forehead struggled, his fists already on the way towards Van's face.

But right as it was only a few inches away from the tip of Van's nose, Van's eyes started to sparkle in gold.

[Time Perception]

Van slightly tilted his head to the side as he let go of the man, his cheeks lightly grazed by the man's knuckles.

'This… is a normal human?' Van could not help but squint his eyes at the thought. He could feel a slight sting on his cheek as he was not expecting a normal human to be capable of such speeds.

But after Van was done with his thoughts, he lifted up two of his fingers and impaled them straight through the man's eyes, gouging them out completely before moving back and turning back to this normal speed.

"..."

"W… what the?" The enhanced human was at a loss first as he felt that something was wrong. But soon, the tinge of pain in his face and the sudden lack of vision caused him to panic. "Gaah!" His screams started to fill and echoed throughout the air as he spun and groveled on the ground.

"Ack!" Gerald, on the other hand, could not help but dust off his body as a pair of eyeballs was thrown towards his face.

"You looking for a fight!?" He then roared as he looked at Van.

"Eyeballs are slippery," Van let out a light scoff, "Maybe if we take yours off, you'd know what it would feel like."

"Try it, you fucking beggar," as soon as Gerald said that, he widened his eyes and leaned closer towards Van as if telling him to really try it if he dared to. The veins on his neck were almost popping out as he contracted his muscles, ready to dodge as soon as Van disappeared from his position.

"...Hm," Van, however, only let out a smirk as he ignored Gerald and approached the groveling enhanced human on the ground, "Are you really a normal human, mister?" He asked, but the last remaining enhanced human was too busy wallowing in the voice of his own panic to even hear him.

"He is!" And so, the one to answer him was Xinyan, "He's part of the group that killed my brother and comrades! They're a product of the Circle!"

"...A product of the Circle?" As soon as Van heard that, he could not help but think of Cynthia. Didn't she mention something about this? No… Cynthia herself was one of them, along with her husband and Solomon.

"Can you encase him in ice like what you did with the Guard Captain?" Van then let out a slight sigh as he looked at Xinyan.

"My pleasure," Xinyan did not even hesitate as she used one of her skills to confine the man, "Frost Driver!"

"..."

"..."

"...You shout your skills?" Van could not help but blink a couple of times as he looked back and forth between the enhanced human, who was now encased in ice from neck to toe, and Xinyan, who still had her arms raised as she used one of her skills.

"That's weird," Van then slightly whispered, but enough for his words to reach Xinyan's ears.

"You're weird!" Xinyan clicked her tongue.

"..."

"..."

"What do we do now?" A few seconds of awkward silence passed before Xinyan couldn't help it anymore. Why did it suddenly become quiet, she thought as she looked at Van and Gerald, who was just staring at the enhanced human.

But finally, after a few more seconds, a group of people appeared. "What is happening, Van!?"

It was Latanya, Gil, as well as the rest of Van's group.

"Just cleaning out some trash," Van said in a somewhat proud tone, still pushing his line.

"...An intruder? The Circle is already here!" Gil could not help but holler as he looked at the man encased in ice. The circle burnt mark on his forehead, as well as the white clothes he was wearing made it obvious that he was part of the Circle.

"This… is the Circle?" Latanya slightly muttered as she approached the enhanced human. Noticing that he was missing his eyes, she quickly stretched her hands and healed them.

"W… what the!?" Feeling the sun once again basking on his eyes, the man quickly shed tears. He initially thought that he was dead as he felt nothing but cold and numbness surrounding him. But as soon as he saw Gerald again, as well as the newly arrived young boy standing in front of him, he once again let out screams of panic.

However, as soon as his eyes landed on a particular someone, his mouth quickly shut; his screams turning into a stuttered whisper.

"C… Cynthia?" He whispered, a smile slowly appearing on his face, "Is that… is that you!?"

"...Mike," Cynthia said as she slightly approached the enhanced human, "Been a long time."

"!!!" As soon as the man heard Cynthia's voice, the smile on his face turned into a delirious chuckle, "But they said… you were dead. You, Felix, Solomon, as well as Skylar. The higher-ups said you were dead!"

"...Skylar?" Cynthia could not help but furrow her eyebrows as she heard the name.

"Is she with you!?" The enhanced human called Mike could not help but show an excited expression on his face, not even minding the fact, or maybe even forgetting that he was currently in enemy territory and that his comrades just died.

"Are Felix and Solomon also with you!?"

"Wait… They said that Skylar is also dead?" Cynthia's hands started to tremble as her words became stuttered, "Skylar… is no longer with you people?"

Cynthia's eyebrows then began to lower as she stepped closer towards Mike.

"What do you-- Gruh!"

Before Mike could even finish his words, a thunderous snap resounded in the air as Cynthia punched him out of nowhere. If it wasn't for the ice confining him, he would have surely been thrown meters into the air. "...Wh--" And before he could even say another word, his mind fell into unconsciousness.

"..."

"..."

The rest of the people that were present could not help but look at each other due to the scene they just watched. It was as if their presence was completely forgotten, they all thought.

"You… know him?" Gil was the first one to break the silence as he approached Cynthia.

"...Yes," she nodded, "He was part of the group that came after me. Like me… he was also part of what the Circle has been doing."

"W… wait, what exactly is going on here?"

"Miss Cynthia… is one of these people?" Xinyan, who heard Cynthia's words, could not help but be shocked, "You're… one of the super humans produced by the Circle!?"

"...Hm," Cynthia nodded. Although it was already common knowledge among Van and the others, this was the first time that Xinyan, Gerald, and even Latanya heard it.

"So you're part of the Circle!?" Xinyan could not help but roar as her eyes stared straight at Cynthia's eyes, her hands stretched towards her, and without even saying a word, the temperature surrounding the group started to become colder.

"You…"

"S… stop this!"