"Evans of Unique Class-1…

...It's time for you to graduate."

​​

***

Outside of the Pit, the whispers of the people currently filled the air; their curiosities almost reaching the skies, mixing with the sand and dust that flowed through the Deadzone. The curiosity of the Locals that were outside was already piqued when their President came out from the Pit, but it only doubled when the President's friends asked them to make way.

The New Wall, which was destroyed when the Resistance's floating base fell, now once again stood erect, and most of the Locals were on top of it, circling two individuals that were on the center of their base-- their President, as well as a small girl.

"Is that the President's sister?"

"No, I heard it was his teacher."

"T… teacher? That small?"

"Shhh. What if the President hears you? Do you want to be like those devils that just suddenly burst into pieces?"

"I wish he'd burst into me, honestly."

There were all kinds of rumours floating at the edge of the perimeter, their breaths filling up the air with smog as it mixed with the cold air. There was, however, one truth amongst the many whispers-- their President will be fighting the small girl in front of her.

"Can you hear what they're saying?" Andrea, who was also on top of the New Wall, asked Sarah, who was beside her.

"No."

"I can."

"I can."

"..."

Nisha and Gerald looked at each other as they both said the same thing at the same time. But afterward, Gerald just clicked his tongue as he focused his attention back towards the center. Xinyan was beside her, and the two seemed to be spending a lot of time with each other for quite some time now.

"What are they saying?" Andrea looked at Nisha. And before Nisha could even say anything, the group that was near them, Harvey and the rest, started leaning closer to her.

"..." Nisha could not help but blink a couple of times with the sudden attention she was getting, but after a few seconds, she just let out a short sigh before talking, "They're talking about Van's improvements, how fast he leveled up… and some other things that are not for me to say."

"W… what is it?" Harvey scooched over.

"I can't say," Nisha shook her head, "I respect Van's privacy."

"Hmm…" Harvey squinted his eyes from Nisha's words, "Are you in love with him?"

"What?" Nisha quickly raised her eyebrow as she looked at Harvey as if he was some kind of retard, "Are you a retard?" And she wasn't afraid to tell him even though they just met.

"No, I--"

"He is," Andrea interrupted, "But you were with Van this whole time, yes?"

"Yes," Nisha nodded, "We've met once... if you remember."

"Of course," Andrea let out a giggle, "I remember your beautiful grey hair."

"...Thanks?"

"..." Sarah slightly moved in front of Andrea as she heard the conversation between the two. Sarah, however, seemed oblivious of her actions as she leaned closer towards Nisha.

"Has Van… gotten stronger?" Andrea asked.

"Stronger?" Nisha let out a small breath, "Your brother…

...is a monster."

***

"Are we really doing this right now, Ms. Elton?"

"Of course," Angela nodded her head, "You're about to go to a land far away, this is the only time to do this."

"Is the Academy really destroyed?"

"I told you, I destroyed it," Angela shrugged her shoulders, "A lot of things have changed since you were gone, Mr. Evans. The house you were in is also gone, along with the neighborhood and the market near it. Newer York has become a battlefield."

"If there's a war in the country, then doesn't that mean we won't be able to leave?"

"Pft," Angela let out a small smirk from Van's words, "You seem to underestimate the authority of someone like Charlotte has. She is a Platinum Explorer, boy. Why did you think Master Evangeline wanted that muscle demon to accompany you in the first place? Her brain might be made of muscles, but she is still one of the only few Platinum Explorers in the world, there are only 7 of them, in fact. You didn't know that, did you? Because all you did in the Academy was sleep and fool around. I know it, we know it, we watched you."

"..." Van could not help but slightly blink his eyes from Angela's never-ending words, "Why do you call Evangeline maste--"

"Enough talk."

"..." Wasn't she the one that was doing all the talking? Was what Van wanted to say. But before he could do so, he felt the already cold temperature suddenly getting lower and lower.

"!!!"

And without even as much as a warning, the entire surface of the ground within the New Wall froze, turning into a field of death. If there were any small creatures still living in that part of the Deadzone, then they are probably not anymore.

Trails of lightning were already trickling from Van's eyes as he floated in the air. He was able to jump before the surface completely turned into ice. He was about to land, but before he could do so, he felt a slight tinge of pain across his chest, causing him to use [Air Step] to go even further into the air.

"..." Van looked at his shirt, which was cleanly ripped from one sleeve to another, crossing his chest and slightly exposing his skin.. Van didn't even notice what it was that Angela did, it was as if it was an invisible attack.

...Invisible?

Van then turned his eyes towards the direction where Harvey and the others were. If it was an invisible attack, then there was only one other person that Van fought that was like that-- Beatrice.

Did Angela copy her powers? The Skill she used in covering the entire surface of the ground was probably from Gerald's only friend as well.

'You think too much.'

"!!!"

Van quickly turned his attention back towards Angela as she heard her voice… in his mind. He was already in superspeed mode, and this was the first time he was ever hearing a proper sentence from other people in this state.

'So I was right, you perceive time differently.' Angela, even from afar, was looking him straight in the eyes, 'If only I could copy your skills as well, this would be a lot more fun.'

"..." Van's eyes were opened wide as he landed on the ground, but as soon as his feet made contact with it, he lost his balance, causing him to stumble almost 10 meters away from where he landed. He tried to stand up, but this only caused him to stumble once again.

Van quickly went out of superspeed to stabilize himself, careful not to do it while Angela was attacking. But from the start, Angela has never moved from her spot, so Van still had no idea when she was actually attacking.

Not knowing when she was attacking, and not knowing what her next Skill was… There was only one thing that Van could think of that could defeat Angela. The one thing that Van always uses-- his overwhelming speed.

With that thought, he once again used his [Air Step], slightly putting him above the slippery frozen ground.

Angela instantly let out a smile as soon as she saw Van's eyes, once again trickling a flash of gold lightning.

'Spoken like a true brute who knows nothing but to ru--'

Before Angela could finish her words, her whole body burst into a pool of blood as Van suddenly rammed through him. Van, who was not expecting Angela not to even be able to dodge, opened his eyes wide in shock.

Did… he kill her?

"Pft."

And as soon as he thought of that, he heard Angela snickering behind him, back in her original position without even a scratch on her. No, although she seemed to be unscathed, her whole left arm was missing.

"Are you alright, Ms. Elton?" Van asked.

"I should be the one asking you that," Angela breathed, "I admit you have definitely more control with your speed. You even instinctively used your [Air Step] Skill. Nice job, brat….

...but it's not enough."

"Wha--" Before Van could even finish his words, he felt a sharp pain around his neck. "...This?"

There were threads of red strings wrapped around Van's foot, crawling all the way across towards his… neck.

Van lightly tapped the string that threatened to slice his neck, only for his palm to touch something warm. "...Blood?"

"I heard you and the muscle demon were playing yesterday before our base fell," Angela let out a small sigh, "Good thing you're still alive. I heard some interesting things like a large pair of wings sprouting from your legs."

"That is…" The blood wrapping around Van started to crawl away, wriggling their way through the air and towards Angela's arm, "I think something like that happened, yes."

"...Interesting."

"I think it was my fastest speed as well. Everything went quiet when it happened while I was trying to run for my life."

"I see," Angela nodded her head, "You probably went beyond the speed of sound."

"Speed… of sound?"

"If you were even a bit interested in learning, you would have known what that means, stupid brat," Angela once again let out a sigh of disappointment, "I want to see it, I want to see you run that fast."

"...Now?"

"No, not now," Angela shook her head, "Do it when you and Charlotte are leaving, try leaving her behind. Fufufu." Angela let out a slight giggle as she slowly made her way back into the Portal.

"Wait… where are you going?" Van asked.

"We're done here," Angela once again sighed.

"But we just started," Van reasoned, "It hasn't even been a minute since we started fighting."

"And you already lost… again."

"I--"

"You failed your graduation, Mr. Evans," Angela stopped in her tracks as she slightly glanced back towards Van, "So I expect you to come back once you're stronger…

...return alive."

"..." Van could not help but blink a couple of times as he watched as Angela's back completely disappeared into the Portal.

"...She should have just told me to take care."

The people watching the fight on top of the New Wall looked at each other, confused as to what just happened. They were expecting to see something amazing… but it ended just like that.

"...Who won?"

"It was the President, right?"

"No… I think it was the little girl."

"A… amazing, does that mean she's our new President?"

"Stupid. She didn't kill President Evans."

"Hmm… but still… wasn't she amazing?"

"...Yeah."

And so… a new cult was born today-- "The Small Girl Cult."

***

"What the heck was that?"

Inside the Portal, Angela quickly raised her voice as she talked to the woman in front of her-- Charlotte.

"Right?" Charlotte let out a small chuckle as she looked at Angela's face, which was seemingly filled with shock. "I told you."

"That brat…" Angela took in a small gulp as a small smile slowly crept into her face,

"...will probably be even stronger than you in the future."