First of all, sorry for my absence—I was sick with some kind of cold. Everything hurt, and I couldn't write because my head was aching so much. I had no choice but to take a break, but hey, I'm back now!
Thank you so much to the ones that even without chapter left some power stones for the fic.
Enjoy the reading guys ✌️
Also, every 80power stones there's will be an extra chapter
Here start the chapter.
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Ancient Power.
The boulders slammed into her, driving her into the pool with a deafening crash. Water erupted in a violent spray, masking the damage. Yet, as Raiden took a moment to assess, her tail—moving as if it had a will of its own—snaked through the chaos and struck him with brutal force. The impact sent him careening to the ground, where he landed hard, skidding across the fractured concrete.
"Dammit," he muttered, groaning as pain flared in his shoulder.
It had been far too long since he'd been in such a precarious position. Quickly, he summoned a healing ability, Life Dew, which enveloped his wound in a soft, shimmering glow, stoping the bleeding.
Pushing himself upright, Raiden took to the air again. His sharp eyes scanned the scene below, focusing on the cluster of boulders that had crashed into the pool. Something felt off—a gnawing suspicion that this fight wasn't over. He was right. The stones began to crack, fragments breaking away as a familiar figure emerged.
"You've got to be kidding me," he muttered, his frustration was evident into his voice.
What stepped out now was no longer even remotely human. The woman's skin was stretched taut over skeletal limbs, her once black hair now stark white. Her frame had grown grotesquely large, monstrous. Whatever humanity had been left was gone.
Raiden gritted his teeth.
This had to end, and fast. He surged forward, launching two Confusion attacks in quick succession. They struck the creature dead-on, eliciting a guttural growl. She leaped high into the air, her claws slashing toward him with ferocious speed. Raiden twisted in midair, narrowly avoiding the blow, and countered with a well-aimed Psyshock that struck her squarely in the head.
The attack disrupted her momentum, sending her plummeting toward the ground. Raiden wasn't about to waste the opportunity. He locked his focus, channeling his power. With razor-sharp precision, he unleashed a barrage of rapid-fire attacks—Confusion, Swift, Psyshock—one after another, each strike battering the creature and keeping her off balance.
As she neared the ground, Raiden clasped his hands together, his energy pooling between them. A radiant yellow light began to form, growing brighter and more intense as he concentrated the last reserves of his strength.
The creature crashed into the concrete below, shattering the surface. Raiden didn't hesitate. He released the built-up energy in a devastating blast.
Hyper Beam.
The yellow beam tore through the air with a roar, obliterating the ground upon impact. The sheer force carved a massive crater, leaving the monstrous figure at its center, motionless and engulfed in smoke and debris.
Raiden hovered mid-air, his breath ragged and his energy nearly depleted. His muscles trembled as he muttered to himself, "Just stay down... please."
This had been the second most grueling fight of his life. His body screamed for rest, but his mind remained alert, refusing to let its guard down. When the smoke from the battle began to clear, a wave of anticipation gripped him.
In the crater below, he saw her—the woman who had pushed him to his limits. She was still twitching, her body riddled with burns and bruises, but somehow, impossibly, alive. Above her, the scorched earth bore the mark of his final attack.
"How are you still alive?" Raiden murmured, astonished.
His exhaustion mixed with reluctant admiration for her resilience. Then, almost in relief, he added, "Well, thank God you are." Deep down, he had wagered she wouldn't survive the attack. Her endurance was... terrifying.
Raiden clenched his fists, summoning the last vestiges of his strength. Through sheer willpower, he extended his telekinesis outward, gathering every piece of metal within reach—chairs, tables, shards of debris, even fragments of sunshades.
With meticulous precision, he melded them together, layer by layer, crafting an unyielding cocoon of steel to bind her to the ground. The effort was monumental, each second feeling like an eternity as he poured everything into securing her.
When the final piece of metal locked into place, Raiden collapsed onto one knee, gasping. For a fleeting moment, he allowed himself to believe it was over. But then, a faint glow caught his eye.
The marking on his forearm—a bright, enigmatic numeral—began to shift. The eight that had been there for as long as he could remember flickered and transformed into a nine. Then, in an unexpected twist, it pulsed again and changed to a ten.
Raiden's brows furrowed as he stared at the glowing mark. "This... this is new," he muttered, his voice tinged with confusion and curiosity. His last battle, the one with Nejire, hadn't triggered such a transformation.
As the glow faded, he looked back at the woman. Her body jerked weakly against the metallic restraints, but she was too battered to do more than struggle faintly. The makeshift prison held firm.
"Finally," Raiden exhaled, his voice heavy with relief. He staggered to a nearby piece of rubble, collapsed onto it, and rested his forearms on his knees.
His exhaustion was deep, but a strange clarity coursed through him, as though this fight had honed his connection to his abilities and some of his power was restored.
He watched her for a moment longer, her defiance still present despite the state she was in. A question gnawed at him.
"Why hasn't anyone come?" he wondered aloud. The battle had lasted only five minutes—seven at most. Yet that should have been plenty of time for reinforcements to arrive. He scanned the empty battlefield, the eerie silence amplifying his unease.
Raiden stared at the building, its structure weakening with each passing second, nearing the point of collapse. But then, something caught his attention. Thick treads spread out from various parts of the building, seemingly holding it together. Faint sounds of a struggle echoed from the middle and lower floors.
"What…?" Raiden muttered, his confusion deepening.
He stepped forward, eyes scanning the scene. Someone was fighting to keep the building from falling apart. Raiden hesitated, considering his energy levels. He knew he should act, but he'd need to keep his distance. He couldn't offer much help in a fight—not when pro heroes were already likely handling whatever villain or crisis had sparked the chaos.
"I can't let you go," a voice suddenly interrupted his thoughts.
Raiden's eyes widened in shock. Before he could react, the concrete beneath his feet morphed into liquid, trapping him. He sank into it, waist-deep, immobilized by its unnatural grip.
At the same time, a figure wrapped their arms around him from behind, and a sharp, searing pain shot through his neck.
Looking down at the corner of his eye, Raiden saw the same man he had tried to rescue earlier—his neck pierced by a needle, draining his blood.
The sensation of vulnerability hit Raiden like a cold wave. His heart raced as he felt his strength slipping away. His pupils contracted as he assessed his situation. He had little power left, but he wasn't finished. With every ounce of focus he had, he gathered his telekinesis, targeting the man and the ground beneath him, trying desperately to break free.
But his strength was failing him. He felt his blood leaving his body rapidly— At least 350 milliliters were already gone, the dark fluid draining at a disturbingly quick pace. Panic flared in his chest. He had to do something.
His eyes locked on the man's face, narrowing in on every detail, his last reserves of energy concentrating. With a mental push, he focused everything on one single point. He didn't speak aloud, but in his mind, the words came like a distant rumble, vibrating through the man's body.
"Confusion."
A wave of psychic power rippled through the air, sending the man hurtling backward with a shockwave. Alongside him, the needle flew out of Raiden's neck, but the man managed to keep hold of the vials containing Raiden's blood. He crashed to the ground a few meters away, blood dripping from his mouth.
"Damn it, kid. I thought you were spent, that brute was right you are tricky" the man said, spitting blood onto the ground. Despite his injuries, his expression remained disturbingly casual. "You're making my head spin. Why not just cooperate for once?"
Raiden ignored him, focusing instead on his predicament. The concrete had solidified, trapping him up to his waist, his hands pinned beneath the hardened surface. "Come on… you can do this," he muttered to himself, forcing his remaining energy into his hands. A faint white glow surrounded them, and the ground began to tremble.
With a burst of psychic force, Raiden shattered the concrete around his hands. Without wasting a moment, he launched a swift strike toward the man. The attack forced his opponent to raise a liquid wall of concrete for defense, buying Raiden just enough time to focus his energy again.
Using a powerful kick, Raiden broke free from the remaining concrete around his legs and shot into the air. He hovered above, catching his breath and gaining a tactical advantage.
The man glanced up at him, tilting his head. His gaze shifted from Raiden to the vials clutched tightly in his hand. "Listen, kid, I'm not really the fighting type. I've got what I came for, so—"
Before he could finish, a figure appeared in a flash of motion. An armored older man stood before him, his katana slicing through the air toward the man's neck. The villain sidestepped fluidly, narrowly dodging the strike.
"Step aside, young Raiden," said Musha, the samurai hero. His voice carried a tone of authority and reassurance. "You've done well, young hero. Let me handle the rest."
As Musha swung his katana, a deep gash formed in the ground, glowing faintly with blue energy that trailed behind his blade. He pressed the attack relentlessly, forcing the villain to retreat. The man manipulated the concrete beneath him, surfing atop the liquefied material to evade Musha's strikes. Despite the effort, Musha's movements were precise, his blade cutting through the shifting concrete like it was nothing.
The villain gritted his teeth, his evasions becoming more desperate. Clutching the vials behind him, he conjured a massive wave of liquid concrete, towering at least five stories high.
"Oh no, no," Musha muttered under his breath, his tone calm yet firm. "We're not escalating this."
In a single, fluid motion, Musha swung his blade, releasing a glowing arc of blue energy. The wave split into countless pieces, the fragments raining down harmlessly. Raiden, still hovering, watched in awe as faint threads of light from Musha's blade seemed to melt the concrete midair.
From behind the collapsing wave came a scream. "Damn you, hero!" The villain's voice was filled with rage and desperation. When the debris finally settled, Raiden and Musha saw the man plummeting from the sky, one arm severed.
Even as he fell, the man clung tightly to the vials of blood with his remaining hand. "This isn't over!" he roared, his voice fading as he neared the ground.
As the debris from the shattered wave rained down, the man and his severed arm fell in different directions. Musha's attack had been precise, cleanly severing the villain's right arm.
"We're almost done here," Musha said calmly, his voice steady as he began walking toward the man. From the back of his armor, he retrieved a pair of handcuffs, their metallic glint catching the light.
But contrary to everyone's expectations, the man didn't hit the ground. Using his quirk, he slowed his descent, seamlessly merging into the ground beneath him instead. Musha paused mid-step, slipping the handcuffs back into place. His stance shifted, sword at the ready, as he waited for the opponent to reemerge.
Raiden, still hovering above, focused his energy, scanning the area for any sign of movement. His senses remained on high alert, but there was no counterattack. The tension in the air stretched thin, every second feeling longer than the last.
Finally, Musha relaxed his grip on the hilt of his sword and exhaled. "Let's go," he said, with a resolute tone. "He's gone. I don't know why he targeted you, but probably he's the one who sent those things here in the first place, we had to reunite with the rest."
"Those things? As in, more than one?" Raiden exclaimed, flying alongside Musha. He quickly realized the pro hero was referring to the creature he had fought earlier.
"Yes, more than one," Musha grumbled, his voice carrying a hint of irritation. "It was a smart move on the villain's part and an oversight on mine. You weren't the only one dealing with one of those creatures."
Raiden nodded silently, The two of them moved forward, rushing into the hotel lobby.
The sight that greeted Raiden made his breath catch. Standing in the ruined lobby were five creatures, each disturbingly similar to the one he had fought. Their grotesque forms loomed ominously, their clawed limbs twitching with barely restrained aggression.
By their side stood a figure Raiden recognized immediately—a man with sharp features and blonde hair, dressed in a stylish denim outfit. Best Jeanist, the pro hero ranked number five, faced the creatures with a calm expression, his threads already lashing out like living extensions of himself.
Raiden's eyes darted between the creatures and Best Jeanist, realizing that the threat was greater than he had imagined. Musha tightened his grip on his katana, his expression hardening.
"This is far from over," Musha muttered "I had a very bad feeling about all of this"