Early the next morning, Alistair caught a ride back to the city. There was nothing urgent left to do in the countryside. His next visit would likely be during the summer break, where he planned to stay for the entire season.
As for Aoi's bloodline, Alistair didn't fully understand it and decided to leave it to Uncle Takai. However, the "Sorcerer" trait was genuinely broken; if she didn't lack mana, she'd be a living magical artillery battery.
In a way, Alistair considered himself a "Sorcerer" too. Chanting or weaving runes before casting a spell was merely a method to ensure the mana flowed, gathered, and released exactly as intended, as mana itself was notoriously difficult to control. A true Sorcerer's essence was the ability to control mana at will, though it came at the cost of significant consumption.
With the Tiger Talisman, Alistair specialized in efficiency and power multiplication. He was a pseudo-sorcerer; as long as he studied the flow of different spells, he could achieve instant-casting.
Screeeech—!
The car suddenly slammed on the brakes. The violent inertia sent Alistair face-first into the back of the front seat.
"Uncle Nakamura, what happened?" Alistair rubbed his forehead. Even entering the city, they shouldn't be braking this hard unless there was... a person?
Alistair looked at the three figures blocking the road. They looked familiar.
Wait, aren't these the three idiots I met back at the Sakuramiya sisters' place?
"Ali, stay here. I'll go check it out," Nakamura said. He honked the horn several times, but seeing no movement, he prepared to step out.
Thud!
Before Nakamura could exit, the leader—a red-headed punk—raised his leg and stomped directly onto the hood. The impact was deafening. The car shook violently. Alistair recovered quickly, but Nakamura was dazed, his head slumped against the steering wheel.
Something's wrong. That stomp carried a psychic shockwave.
Seeing the redhead lift his foot again, Alistair kicked the door open and leaped out. He summoned [The World] and threw a heavy punch toward the redhead.
Boom!
A black-haired guy with a side-parting standing next to the redhead stepped forward, meeting the attack with his own fists. Compared to the massive, boulder-like fists of [The World], his hands looked dainty and fragile—yet they locked with [The World] in a stalemate.
What?!
Alistair was stunned. Up until now, only Uncle Takai and that one soul-burning mercenary could withstand [The World]'s raw strength. How could this random thug hold it back?
No, these guys have been modified. Like that cyborg mercenary?
A quick scan revealed they weren't burning soul energy, but mana—and the quality was absurdly high, even surpassing Alistair's own.
What kind of steroids did they take?
Alistair grew wary. The redhead had psychic shocks; the black-haired guy had raw physical reinforcement. He hadn't seen the third guy's trick yet. Whoever sent them had specifically designed them to counter him.
Tap, tap, tap, tap...
A faint, rhythmic sound reached Alistair's ears.
What is that?
Alistair squinted. The third guy, hiding in the back, was tapping his fingers... on thin air?
He couldn't leave it be. Alistair crouched low and lunged forward like an arrow, his body wreathed in [Flame Shroud], radiating intense heat.
The thugs were ready. The redhead charged, intending to meet Alistair head-on.
Whoosh!
Their fists collided. The searing heat of Alistair's mana transferred to the redhead's hand, but the man didn't even flinch. Alistair, however, felt as if a sledgehammer had struck his brain. His vision blurred.
The redhead's every movement triggered a psychic tremor that traveled through physical contact.
Tricky bastard.
Alistair clutched his head. Before he could recover, the redhead was already on top of him, a fist inches from his face.
Wow, no villain monologue? This is too real. He's actually trying to combo me to death?
Alistair wasn't panicked.
DOOM!
The invisible ripple of "Time Stop" expanded. The redhead froze mid-swing.
Snap!
Alistair grabbed the man's head and twisted it 180 degrees. Simultaneously, [The World] didn't waste a second. The black-haired guy who had been stalling it was now a helpless lamb; [The World] crushed his skull with a single overhead strike.
Doom.
"Super-Acceleration" ended. The scene of carnage greeted the final thug.
The guy remained expressionless. Definitely puppets, Alistair thought. No pain, high combat IQ. Alistair dropped the redhead's corpse and moved to finish the last one.
Zip!
Thud.
The last puppet stopped his tapping and let his hands fall. Before Alistair could react to the sound of something piercing the air, the puppet collapsed. But in that same instant, [The World] took a massive hit.
A finger-sized hole appeared in the indestructible chest of [The World], followed by a web of cracks. The cracks spread instantly.
Crrrk— Shatter!
[The World] was obliterated.