Zain returned.
"You have to be insane," Brawler muttered in disbelief. "You seriously think you can escape?"
A scar inflicted by Zain ran down from his eye to the chin.
Dorian sat in the back, motionless as always. Brawler covered him with his body.
The other two, Illusionist and Sharin, were missing, probably preparing for an ambush.
"Hehe, we need to be insane to be sane in today's world," Zain answered, measuring the distance till Dorian.
30 meters.
Three Grade 3 metahumans – four, actually – stood in Zain's path. The distance was anything but easy to cover.
Bam!
Zain kicked the ground and ran.
The rooftop broke at the third step. Countless arrows struck down like artillery.
Zain moved without hesitation. He dodged the attacks aimed at his vitals, took the hits he couldn't dodge and continued to run forward.
His eyes didn't follow the arrows. But their future trajectory.
Nutless worked tirelessly, calculating every variable, and created holograms for the attacks' paths that were aimed at Zain.
"Holy mother of…" Brawler couldn't believe his eyes.
Zain moved like a fish swimming in a river, dodging the lethal arrows at the precise timing. It was as if he could see the future.
Suddenly, the air at the sides shifted.
Sharin appeared on the far right. The snakes on her head hissed. They grew larger and pounced on Zain.
Illusionist created the Illusion Lightning Spear. The electrical discharge from the Illusion Lightning Spear burned the ground to crisps. He threw it at Zain.
The attacks came from three sides. Sharin on the right, Illusionist on the left and Hawk from above.
Zain whipped out all the remaining potions.
The snakes let out a painful hiss as they bit the hand holding the potions. Excessive energy from the potions coursed through them.
They thrashed around in agony, blowing the arrows with the wind.
Zain retracted his hand before the snakes pulled him along.
The Illusion Lightning Spear was upon Zain. He swiftly transformed his gauntlets to the hat.
The vortex, leading to Magic Pocket, appeared on the mouth of the hat and swallowed the Illusion Lightning Spear.
The Spear exploded. It destroyed everything inside the Magic Pocket. Electrical discharge leaked from the hat's mouth.
Zain coughed blood, but remained relatively unharmed.
He wore the Gauntlets.
"Shit! He was hiding more tricks!" Illusionist was alarmed at Zain's resourcefulness.
However, this was nothing special for Zain.
[Clown] Talent didn't excel in anything particular. Its advantage lay in versatility and adaptability.
Zain rapidly covered the distance.
Sharin's internal energy was on a rampage due to potion overdose. And it would take another 3 seconds for Illusionist to attack.
20 meters left.
10 meters left.
5 meters…
He reached it!
Brawler didn't stop Zain.
Perhaps he was mesmerized, watching Zain struggle against impossible odds, or maybe he had other reasons. Zain didn't bother asking.
Zain grabbed the Godsbane Needle and stabbed.
"Rise," Dorian muttered. The ground shot up violently before Zain's attack could connect.
He was safe. However, he felt as if he heard Zain snicker.
Zain suddenly changed the trajectory of his attack and pierced the ground. Dorian was connected to the Mirror Dimension through the land. The space in his 1-meter radius was the part of 'boundary'.
Before anyone could comprehend his actions, Zain pulled the Needle and ripped a tear in the space.
"See ya, losers~"
He didn't forget to flip the bird before escaping.
…
Crash!
Zain appeared in an abandoned warehouse and fell. He groaned.
The Killer Seven wouldn't enter the spatial tear without confirming its safety. That brought him some time.
He dashed towards outside.
"Nutless, contact Liam and Alice for reinforcement. They should be on the planet."
Only a few people from the Academy remained on the planet, rest were outside, completing tasks, or they were not strong enough to fight against Killer Seven.
Zain doubted Alice would come. But he tried.
"Already on it," Nutless answered.
Zain opened the warehouse door with some difficulty and—
Alarms rang in Zain's mind. He instantly jumped to the side.
Booom!
The door burst apart.
Zain checked the spatial tear. The Killer Seven didn't step through it. Then, they had to be making use of the Mirror Dimension to attack!
"Crazy guys…" Zain ran for the road. He hoped the Killer Seven didn't come after him in a populated area.
Mirror World was a pseudo dimension that partially coincided with the reality – The material dimension.
Any change in the Mirror World appears in the material dimension.
If you pick a pen in Mirror World, the pen in the real world would float on its own.
There is no living presence in Mirror World. It's normally impossible to harm a living person through it.
But there were indirect methods.
Hawk was blasting the surroundings inside the Mirror World. The surroundings in the material dimension also exploded. Hawk aimed to kill Zain through the collision with flying debris.
Boooom! Boooom! Boooom!
Zain reached the road. The lack of precise location made it difficult for Hawk to accurately target Zain.
A hoverbike rested on the roadside. Zain connected his intercom to it.
"Master, it's done," Nutless spoke before Zain asked him to hack the hoverbike's system.
The hoverbike's engine came to life. It floated a few centimeters above the ground.
Zain jumped on the seat.
"Master, I've calculated the probability, the likeliest place where the Killer Seven has kept Charlotte–"
"City Library," Zain spoke.
Sharin, a member of Killer Seven, gave Zain coffee in the City Library. They must've made that place their place.
He had to rescue Charlotte before the Killer Seven left the Mirror Dimension.
Just as Zain revved the engine, the road exploded, causing a high-speed car to go out of control and crash into him.
Boooooom!!!
Zain lost his consciousness for a moment. The impact shook him badly.
Cough! Cough!
He stood up while holding his side.
The driver of the car fell out. She was barely injured. A high-rank metahuman?
"Dammit, I need to change the vehicle again," She helped her friend out of the car, then glared at Zain, "Can't you drive… You?"
She had covered her face with cloth and makeup.
But Zain recognized her.
"Hanna?" Zain focused on the 'friend' in Hanna's hand. "Is… Is that Charlotte with you?"
Hanna tried to speak, but words didn't leave her mouth. She hid Charlotte behind her awkwardly.
Watching Hanna being so expressive despite being expressionless was funny. Zain would've laughed — if this was any other moment.
They heard police sirens in the distance. Hanna fidgeted nervously.
"Master, they are being hunted."
"This is good."
The attacks on Zain stopped. Hawk retreated due to the authorities.
While Hanna was looking for another vehicle, Zain sneaked behind her.
"Don't go easy on her." He whispered.
Hanna swiftly faced him, "What are—"
Her words were cut short when Zain suddenly punched her chin. He grabbed her head and smashed it into the wall — thrice.
As Hanna's consciousness blurred, she heard Zain.
"Sorry. I'll get chloroform next time."
Zain put Hanna inside his Magic Pocket. He checked on Charlotte. She was unharmed.
The police arrived.
"Hands up!"
And hands did Zain raise.
The next day, Zain was deep behind the bars.
The news created a huge stir. After all, Zain was a Stellar Academy student. Rumors about his involvement in terrorism, territorial conflict, or similar sprang.