Chapter 10: I’ll Make You All Gooey!
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Time rewinds. Back when Alicia was annihilating Ibinom in America, the one who stood in her way was not an Ibinom, but a Gifted.
“Long time no see, Witch.”
“Who are you?”
Alicia didn’t remember the villain who had appeared before her.
After all, the criminals she had captured so far were too numerous to count on both hands. There was no way she’d remember every insignificant nobody.
“Kahahaha! Well, I guess you wouldn’t remember me…”
“You probably escaped from the detention center taking advantage of the chaos, but appearing before me means you’re prepared to die, right?”
Floating in mid-air with Telekinesis, lifting the surrounding rubble, she was an overwhelmingly powerful individual.
In contrast, the man merely wore a defiant smile, showing no change. He appeared full of confidence, but it seemed he was just putting on a brave front.
The next moment, Alicia’s relentless assault began, giving him no chance to respond. She slammed the surrounding rubble onto the man, crushing him.
A mass of rubble formed, and the man was dead. Just as Alicia thought so and tried to hurry on, the spherical mass of rubble was blown away.
“I’m surprised. To think you’re still alive.”
“Gehyahahah! The me now is different from the me back then! Underestimate me and you’ll die, Witch!!!”
“Ah, you’re so noisy.”
The man had energetically jumped out from the rubble, but he was caught by Alicia’s Telekinesis. She would just crush him, and that would be the end of it.
“Haaah!!!”
“Wha-!?”
Just as Alicia put her strength into crushing him, the man forcefully repelled her Telekinesis.
Alicia was taken aback by the unexpected counterattack. Having never had her Telekinesis repelled before, she was terribly bewildered.
“You’re kidding, right? Repelling my Telekinesis…”
“Hey, hey, what’s wrong? Where’s that bravado from earlier?”
“Tch…! Don’t get cocky.”
This time, as if to put even more power into it, Alicia unleashed her Telekinesis as if grabbing him with both hands.
A pain like being squeezed by a vise assaulted the man, and he was being crushed.
An unpleasant creaking sound echoed from the man’s body, and it seemed the match would be decided, but once again, her Telekinesis was repelled.
“Hah-hah! It’s not working… Witch!”
Alicia was shaken by the unbelievable sight. She didn’t remember him, but he was one of the criminals she had captured at some point. He shouldn’t have been that strong.
And yet, Alicia wondered what on earth was going on.
“Did his Gift get stronger? No, that can’t be…”
As Alicia pondered, one possibility came to mind. It was the incident in Japan involving a Gifted who seemed to have undergone a mutation.
“Come to think of it, there was that incident where a Gifted gained a second Gift. Could he be like that too?”
If so, this was bad. Alicia didn’t remember insignificant nobodies. From the way he repelled her Telekinesis, she could tell he had a Body Enhancement Gift, but anything else was unknown.
“Well, fine. Either way, he’s no match for me.”
However, that wasn’t a big deal.
Even if the opponent’s Gift was unknown, her victory was unshakable.
Alicia’s Gifts were Telekinesis and Barrier.
Her Telekinesis alone was incomparably powerful, and on top of that, she was equipped with an absolutely invincible Barrier.
There was simply no element of defeat to be found.
“Now it’s my turn…!”
As the man said that, he started running as if crawling along the ground.
His speed was so tremendous that Alicia couldn’t follow him with her eyes, but he wasn’t a threat.
She had her absolutely invincible Barrier.
No matter how fast the opponent was, as long as her Barrier wasn’t broken, he couldn’t inflict a single scratch on her.
“Oraaah!!!”
“!!!”
Dogon! An ear-splitting roar resounded from behind Alicia.
It was the sound of the man circling behind Alicia, leaping up to where she floated in mid-air, and striking her Barrier.
Had it connected, a fatal wound would have been unavoidable, but thanks to the Barrier, Alicia was unharmed.
“Tch… Just as I thought, you have your Barrier deployed in all directions.”
“Too bad for you. You certainly seem strong, but you can’t beat me.”
“Hah, I wonder about that!”
With a ferocious smile, the man dashed off, gouging the earth.
Dust swirled, and Alicia unleashed her Telekinesis at the man who ran like a beast, but it didn’t hit.
She launched rubble, attempting to attack, but she couldn’t keep up with his speed, and her attacks were completely ineffective.
“What’s wrong, what’s wrong?!”
“You shouldn’t look away.”
“Huh?”
Don! The man crashed into an invisible wall.
Remembering Alicia’s earlier words, the man, bleeding from his nose, looked at her resentfully.
“You put a Barrier in my path…!”
“You’ve stopped.”
“Gugh!”
The man who crashed into the Barrier had his stance broken, and Alicia seized the opportunity, catching him with her Telekinesis.
This time, it was truly the end.
Alicia put strength into both hands, trying to crush the man.
“Gugugu…!”
“Hurry up and let it be over!”
The man continued to resist desperately, while Alicia put her strength into crushing him.
Their powers were evenly matched, maintaining a balance.
Alicia desperately increased her power to crush the man, but he, not to be outdone, mustered his strength, and with a creaking sound, his body swelled, his muscles bulging.
“O-ooooh, ooooooooooh!”
“No way!?”
Her Telekinesis was broken, and the man was freed.
In that instant, the man dashed forward, closing in on Alicia.
Determined not to let him, she flew with her Telekinesis, retreating high into the sky.
However, the man’s tenacity was terrifying, and he chased after Alicia as she fled upwards.
“Got yo—”
Gan! A Barrier slammed into the man’s nose.
Alicia had instantly put up a Barrier, stopping the man’s pursuit.
Just when he was about to reach her, the man lost Alicia and fell to the ground.
“Dammit all!”
Dokan! The man crashed to the ground, creating a crater.
Watching this from above, Alicia was uncharacteristically sweating and out of breath.
“Hah… hah… That was close. If I’d been a little slower…”
Saying that much, Alicia imagined the worst and shuddered.
If she had been caught there, it wouldn’t have ended with just a broken leg bone.
If things had gone badly, her leg might have been torn off.
The thought horrified Alicia, and she hugged her trembling body.
The man in the center of the crater slowly got up and stomped on the ground violently.
He seemed unbearably frustrated that he hadn’t reached her when he was so close.
He was stamping his feet and throwing a tantrum like a child.
“Damn, damn, damn it all!”
However, the man understood that he currently had the advantage.
The Witch Alicia Miller had fled.
Realizing her disadvantage.
In other words, she was now cornered.
As proof, Alicia was still maintaining her distance, staring at him.
“Heh… Not bad.”
The man was pleased that he had the upper hand.
He had once been utterly defeated, unable to do anything, but now things were different.
Their positions had reversed.
He was being looked down upon, but she was the one who was desperate.
That fact greatly stimulated the man’s vanity.
“I’ll drag you down from there soon enough…”
The disgusting man, licking his lips, looked up at Alicia.
Even from high above, Alicia felt the man’s creepy gaze and was filled with intense revulsion.
She had to finish him off quickly and go exterminate the Ibinom, but she lamented that she had been targeted by such a troublesome man.
“There shouldn’t be a problem if I stay this far away, but… what a pain.”
Alicia sighed, and the next moment, her eyes widened.
In the corner of her vision, she saw a group of people who were likely evacuating.
Fortunately, the man hadn’t noticed them yet, but if he found out, it would be disastrous.
He seemed like the type of man who wouldn’t hesitate to use any means to win.
He would surely take them hostage.
Her prediction came true. The man, who should have been looking at Alicia, spotted the evacuating group and the corners of his mouth curled up like a crescent moon.
Then, the man gave Alicia a nasty smile and ran towards the evacuating group.
“That damn bastard!!!”
Her face contorted in anger, Alicia chased after the man.
The man’s running speed was faster than her flying speed with Telekinesis.
The man would likely reach them first.
“Hyahahahah!”
As the man laughed maniacally, the evacuating group also noticed him.
Terrified by the man rushing towards them at tremendous speed, they screamed.
Unaware that the Witch was in hot pursuit behind him.
“Die!”
Reaching the evacuating group before Alicia, the man released something like water from his hand.
“Gyahahahaha! That’s acid! If it hits, your bodies will melt into goo and disappear!”
Hearing the man’s words, Alicia remembered.
The name of the heinous criminal called Acid.
“You’re Anthony Augustus, aren’t you! You’re the worst!”
“Even if you remember now, it’s too late! These guys will melt and die!”
“As if I’d let you!”
Deploying a Barrier in front of her, Alicia blocked Anthony’s acid. With this, the evacuating people would not be harmed.
However, Anthony had been aiming for that.
The moment Alicia helped the evacuees with her Barrier.
The Barrier could only be deployed in one location, and Alicia usually protected herself by forming it into a sphere around her.
The fact that she used that Barrier for the evacuees meant that Alicia was now defenseless.
“Heroes of justice sure have it tough! So many things to protect, eh!”
Anthony turned on his heel and lunged at Alicia.
Even when she tried to blow Anthony away with Telekinesis, she was overpowered by his extraordinary strength, and Alicia allowed him to get within her guard.
“Kuh…!”
“I’ve always dreamed of melting that pretty face of yours with my acid!”
“Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!”
The unleashed acid completely covered the right side of Alicia’s body and burned her beautiful face.
“Hyahhahhahhahhahhahha! I finally did it~!”
Having been doused with acid, the gravely injured Alicia collapsed to the ground.
Anthony, who continued to laugh maniacally nearby, left despair as his parting gift.
“I’ll tell you something good… In addition to Body Enhancement, I’ve also been blessed with an incurable Gift. You’re beyond saving now. Fall into the abyss of despair and die! Gyahahahahahahahaha!”
Perhaps satisfied, Anthony, still laughing, left Alicia there and departed from the scene.
The evacuees saved by Alicia used the phone she was carrying as she lay collapsed to contact Stephen, and she was rushed to the hospital.