-Five Years Post Saturation Completion. CONT.-
Surging forward, I tackled the Gamma Ranker to the ground, surprising him with my sudden burst of strength.
"YOU… WILL… NOT… MOVE!" I commanded in a beastly tone, unaware that my eyes were glowing with an eerie blue light.
BAM, BAM, BAM!
One after another, I rained full-powered Beta-Ranked punches on the man's face, taking out my rage on the person, with each blow causing minor damage to his flesh, splitting his lip, and busting his nose open. Yet, none of my attacks were able to cause significant damage to the significantly stronger Ranker.
That is until something drastic started occurring, bringing a drastic change to my appearance.
Creeping out of my skin slowly, millimeters at a time, the same glow that coated my eyes flowed out like a ghastly aura, covering my fists until…
BOOM!
The strength of my punch was multiplied several times, shattering the man's nose and shooting blood all over both his face and mine.
However, it was nowhere near enough for me to stop, and soon enough, all that remained of my opponent was a splatter of gooey mushy gore.
Without hesitation, I jumped off the corpse and rushed at the man who had killed my Father.
I didn't think about the how or the why, such as how I had walloped him hard enough to shatter bone or why he wasn't fighting back, and to be honest, given my mental state at the time, I doubt it would have mattered.
I had found the strength I had always been lacking, and it was enough to transcend ranks; for me, that was more than enough.
I wanted blood, I wanted vengeance…and it was then that I made a choice, one which would determine the path I would take for the rest of my life….that was the day the Villain Xipher was born.
Gone were any hopes of digging myself out of the slave-like conditions forced on me by Vesaragon; I would write my own story, and I would become the vile person they viewed me to be.
Mind you, I was never entirely sane, to begin with, and for YEARS, I had been teetering on the edge where only ONE bad day would push me to do acts of terror and harm, and it was with the death of my Father, that I threw caution to the wind, and acted on my intrusive thoughts.
The man, who began launching lightning spears in my direction, was caught off guard by my sudden burst in strength. Still, his ability to think calmly under pressure reigned supreme, unlike the man I had literally mauled like a wild animal seconds ago.
By this point, I was moving purely on instinct; seeing a wave of five crackling, blue bolts of energy hurtling toward me, I brought up both arms and punched each bolt out of existence while staying on the move.
Half a breath later, I appeared in front of the man and began my assault. Dealing out kicks, punches, and flashy techniques, amazingly, my body flowed like water as my mind was filled with hatred for this person.
Unfortunately, the insurmountable wall that was Ranking Difference was too much for me to overcome; sure, I could deal damage to him, but that would only matter if I could ACTUALLY land a single attack.
With the man's Talent revolving around the Lightning Element, he was naturally my superior in speed and power; however, the ghastly energy coating my hands seemed to mitigate the difference when it came to stopping his attacks.
Unafraid of me at all, he recognized I was only buying time necessary for Brenden to finish off his enemies and come help out.
To make matters worse, each time he attacked and his strikes collided with my palms, it felt as if he were punching into molasses. He knew I was only a Beta-Ranker; however, somehow, it seemed as if I was able to perfectly read the trajectory of each attack before moving myself into position to block or counter.
Sensing something was wrong with the situation and reevaluating my capabilities, the man made a split-second decision: he needed to retreat.
Two of his squad had already been killed, one of which by me, who had become a total wild card out of the blue, and with Brenden only needing a matter of minutes to deal with his remaining two opponents and Emilia walling herself off behind a defensive shell, this battle was suddenly unwinnable.
"PULL BACK!" Pushing away from me by kicking my stomach and flinging me backward several feet, the man took control and yelled toward his comrades.
"YOU'LL GO NOWHERE! ALL OF YOU BASTARDS, FREEZE!" Pure, unbridled rage spilled out of my mouth in a primal voice unlike what I had ever used before…that's when it happened.
As if I had hit the pause button on a video, all four of the masked men Quit moving and were suddenly frozen in place, just like I had commanded.
"Brenden, kill them! Emilia, stop being a f**king turtle, and this last guy… he's mine," With each word that left my lips, the glowing light emitting from my eyes grew stronger, and I took hold of the opportunity to stalk toward the lightning guy.
Step by step, I drew closer to the man, whose eyes were stuck in a shocked expression; his pupils had dilated, and I knew he was still conscious within his mind.
He could still think and observe what was happening, and all four of the remaining men could; however, it was like some sort of divine intervention had occurred and took control of their bodies.
Stopping only a few inches away from the man, I reached up, pulled down his hood, and ripped the mask off his face, revealing a grizzled visage, one I had seen on TV hundreds of times over the last couple of years.
"EleBolt," I knew the man, well, not really; I knew of him but had never met him in my life; however, in this day and age, where Pro-Rankers were the equivalent of past celebrities, his face was easily recognizable.