A blade made from Joub's body penetrated Hugh's body. Hugh looked down and saw blood spilling on his uniform, yet his face was still expressionless.
Joub had a smile as he felt his attack successfully hit Hugh's body. It quickly disappeared as he realized how shallow the blade had gone through.
Joub expected the whole blade to pierce right through his body, yet he could only go through less than half an inch before it stopped.
The blade was stopped by Hugh's ribcage and was not fatal. Joub tried harder to pierce through, but Hugh held the sword in his hand.
Hugh slowly separated himself from the sword, and Joub could see the wound slowly heal itself. After a few seconds, Hugh's skin was as good as new. There was not even a scratch left to indicate that it was cut through.
Joub had his jaws on the floor as he witnessed Hugh's regeneration. He had felt Hugh's strength through his clones, so he thought it was Hugh's specialty. His regeneration could be a Desire all on its own, which made Hugh a monster.
Joub stepped back with fear in his eyes. He had used his energy to channel that skill, and he was now without any attacks left. His clones turned into liquid and flowed back to his original body.
"Y-you!"
Joub pointed at Hugh's transformed body with trembling fingers. He did not stop backing away from the monster in front of him.
"You do have hidden powers!!! You are Hugh!!!"
Joub had a crazed look as he stated Hugh's identity to him. Hugh started to walk towards Joub's trembling body without any hurry or haste. His stride had confidence built into its DNA.
Hugh's body blurred from Joub's vision, and Hugh was next to him in a blink of an eye. Hugh walked over his body and sat on his chest.
Hugh held Joub's hair and lifted his head with a curious look. Suddenly, Joub felt a tremendous force on his cheeks as Hugh punched his face.
The punch was fast and robust, which made his mouth bleed. His suffering did not stop there as Hugh pummeled Joub's face into the ground with multiple punches.
Joub's face became bloodied as his face deformed into a swollen mask. His teeth flew away from his teeth as Hugh continued his relentless attacks on his face.
It was hell, and Joub thought that he would die. After feeling an immense amount of pain, the punches stopped and gave him time to recover.
'Estimated time remaining: 0 sec.
Transformation over'
Hugh heard the notification in his mind. He felt the strength in his fists fade into obscurity like it never existed in the first place. His previous confident demeanor became one of exhaustion.
His muscles started to deflate, and his body turned into skin and bones. His face was sunken like he was a mummy. Joub could feel the dangerous and powerful aura coming from Hugh dissipate into the wind.
Joub looked at Hugh's pathetic body and saw his chance. He was still damaged to an extent, but he could safely escape from Hugh's clutches now that he had lost his power.
Joub did not know why Hugh suddenly lost his power, but he will take advantage of it.
"Where's your bravado now, fat guy?"
Joub gathered all the strength left in his body to stand up. His knees buckled as he tried to balance himself. His sense of direction was still of from the beatings his head had endured from Hugh.
"You do have a hidden power! Wait till everybody hears of this! We will find out how you gained such a power, and then we will take it for ourselves!!!"
Joub shouted like a madman. Hugh could see the greed on his face, and he felt the danger he possessed. Hugh's mind was filled with burning hunger. That was all he could think about until he heard Joub speak.
His head was in a critical emergency as his secret was about to be spread throughout the school. That was the only thing that should not happen, or else he would be hunted down by every power that be.
Hugh's stepped forward and rushed towards Joub. His armor had subconsciously wrapped around his one leg to give him a speed boost to get to Joub as fast as he could.
Joub did not expect that Hugh was able to burst out power due to his weak body. He was too surprised to be able to dodge away from Hugh's attack.
Hugh's hunger had turned into bloodlust. His instincts told him to protect his secret at all costs. That was all he could think about as he formed the armor on his fist.
Silver and brown liquid enveloped Hugh's right fist and gave him explosive power. Hugh punched it towards Joub's body.
Joub was expecting his ribcage to be broken from the punch's impact, but instead, he felt a stinging pain.
Joub looked down and saw Hugh's fist embedded on his chest up to his wrist. His mouth bled and dripped on Hugh's hand.
Hugh did not make a fist as he punched Joub's chest. He made a claw shape and aimed at Joub's heart.
Hugh's heart was calm as he aimed for the kill. He did not blink an eye as he rationalized it as self-defense. Joub would have spread his secret and indirectly kill Hugh.
Hugh could never let that happen as the bloodlust in his body allowed him to do what is needed.
Hugh could feel Joub's beating heart in the palm of his hand. It was beating as hard as it could, as Hugh held Joub's life in his palms.
With just one move, he could end Joub's life.
Without hesitation, he crushed the heart with his armored hands, making Joub's body bleed profusely. Joub's face was now pale as he looked in horror at Hugh's face.
Hugh retracted his bloodied hand and looked at it in wonder. He did not feel anything as he killed a person. He did not want to admit it, but it felt good. He did what was right; he protected himself from any harm that Joub could cause him.
*plop*
Joub's dead body fell on the ground, lifeless and creating a pool of blood underneath his cold body. For a second, Hugh forgot the hunger in his stomach as he was satiated from the thrill of killing a person.
"YOU!"
A cold robotic voice came from nowhere and surprised Hugh. He turned around only to see a person in a cloak wearing a faceless mask.
The voice snapped Hugh back to reality. He had now realized that he had killed a person, and worse, someone saw him do it.
Hugh did not hesitate as he bolted away from the scene of the crime, leaving the masked individual alone with Joub's dead body.
With Hugh gone, the masked individual walked forward and inspected the dead body in front of it. It did not squat down as it checked it with the mask.
After a while, the masked individual kicked the dead body.
"Get up. I know you're not dead."
The dead body did not respond. It continued to be dead.
Without any more words, the masked individual raised their hands and pointed towards Joub's dead body. The pressure around the finger multiplied as it signaled a strong attack about to come.
The masked individual was about to fire his Desire when Joub's dead body spoke up.
"Okay, okay, wait!"
The masked individual turned Joub's body around to see his eyes wide open and his mouth was speaking. Joub was not dead even though Hugh had crushed his heart.
There was still a hole in Joub's chest devoid of any heart, but he was still alive and well. Joub wondered how the masked individual was able to tell that he was still alive.
As a last precaution, he had created another heart somewhere in his body. The one that Hugh had crushed was only a clone heart, so he was still alive, although barely.
"Please help me!"
Joub begged for mercy. He did not know what the masked individual's plans were but left untreated, he would die.
The masked individual did not speak. It squatted down as it looked directly in Joub's eyes. Joub could feel the piercing glare even though its eyes were covered in the mask.
"From what faction are you?"
A robotic voice came out and questioned Joub. Joub had a frown as he tilted his head to convey confusion.
"I-I don't know what you're talking about."
The masked individual did not seem to be up in the mood for jokes as it raised its hands again and focused on its Desire.
Joub could feel the danger emanating from that one finger, and it gave him even worse vibes than Hugh's aura. He could feel the masked individual's deadly intent if he did not give it the right answer.
"I'm from Blacklade academy!"