Chapter 44: Keaton

Professor Charles, who was in midair, had no way to dodge the torrent of fireballs, sharp metallic rods and bubbles that were coming at him this time.

Boom!

The fireballs hit first and the flames caught onto his armor and body.

But it wasn’t enough to disintegrate the armor or do any damage to it like the pillars of fire.

The skin of his body that was caught by the flames burned but the regenerative attribute of an SSS Level Awakened started working immediately.

Next came the sharp metallic rods that lodged into the armor and some of them plunged into the skin and flesh of Professor Charles, but they weren’t enough to penetrate any deeper into him.

"Argh!" Professor Charles gave out a cry in pain and he pulled out the sharp metallic rods from his body.

But it wasn’t over for him yet.

Bubbles came at him and they exploded immediately upon contact.

The bubbles were so numerous that the explosions were all over his body.

Splatter!

Professor Charles was badly hit at his head and neck by the bubbles, with a huge chunk of skin and flesh blown off by the explosion.

He tried to gasp for air but all he could muster was a wet mushy sound coming out from his throat that was seriously damaged.

His regenerative attribute kicked in and his flesh started to grow back.

But while he was doing so, Alex had unleashed his next wave of attack at him.

Another slit appeared on top of the Professor’s head this time.

It opened up and another torrent of fireballs, sharp metallic rods and bubbles rained down upon him.

One after another, they inflicted more damages onto the Professor and he dropped onto his knees from it.

Soon, there was barely anything left on his shoulders except for a mangled mass of flesh and a skull that only had the lower part of it left attached to the spine.

Professor Charles finally fell onto the ground and lay motionlessly.

"You did it again!" Riley shouted at Alex with joy while Terry and Brian tried to catch their breath.

It was a long and difficult battle for them.

Much more difficult than the other Awakened they’ve encountered so far.

They thought they could have a breather now but Alex didn’t respond to them at all.

He turned towards the path where Professor Charles had come from and ran at it as fast as he could, leaving Riley and the others feeling perturbed.

"Where are you going!" they shouted while they chased after him.

Alex wasn’t someone to be so rash so they knew that he had a reason for him to be doing so.

And they were right about it.

Alex saw what happened with Riley earlier and it was clear to him that there was someone else that was behind it.

This person’s ability might not be as powerful or devastating in attack but it was equally terrifying for it to be able to influence someone from afar.

He had better catch him before the culprit gets away or blend in with the other students.

And he had just caught a glimpse of Keaton turning around the corner at the end of the path that he was on.

Alex hastened his pace and he turned into the corner where Keaton went.

Keaton was trying his best to get away and blend in with the other students held captive.

With his ability he could then be able to let the students listen to his bidding by making them fear him.

That was the best bet he had.

And he couldn’t help himself but grin when he thought about the fun he would have with Alex and his friends if he succeeded.

He could break them from within, making them turn on each other one by one with his ability.

But it was too good of a dream for him.

Keaton’s eyes opened wide when he saw a portal appear in front of him and within the tight corridor, there wasn’t anywhere else he could go to.

How did Alex figure it out? And why the hell didn’t he give him a chance to negotiate and talk about it?

That was the last thoughts he had when the fireballs slammed into him.

Boom!

Fires lit onto him and his body was nailed to the ground next by the sharp metallic rods that followed.

Keaton gritted his teeth and tried to break free, but he had the bubbles that came at him next to contend with.

Splatter.

His skin, flesh and bones were ripped off by the explosion and splattered out onto the ground and walls of the corridor.

Then, his body slumped backwards onto the ground, sliding through the sharp metallic rods that were impaled into it.

Alex gave out a sigh when he saw Keaton dead.

He figured that Professor Charles must have been at SSS Level with how tough it was to deal with Professor Charles, but to him, Keaton was much more dangerous than Professor Charles was.

To him, being attacked or influenced by someone that couldn’t be visibly seen was alarming.

And he took note of it.

Next time, he and his friends better be more careful when approaching other Awakened.

"There you are... What’s the hurry?" Riley panted with his hands on his waist and said.

Terry and Brian followed behind him and they were also trying their best to catch their breaths.

Alex shrugged his shoulders and pointed at the body of Keaton and said, "This guy was the reason, I don’t know what happened to you back there but if I don’t get rid of him fast, we might have a bit of an issue on our hands later."

"Yeah, what happened to you back then." Terry patted on Riley’s shoulder and asked.

Brian also got near to hear what Riley had to say about it.

It was unusual for Riley to freeze right in the middle of battle since it had never happened before.

Riley lowered his head and recalled what went on earlier.

"I don’t know. I felt intense fear with that man coming at me all of a sudden."

He lifted his head and frowned at the body of Keaton.

Terry and Brian also felt wary when they heard what Riley had said.

It seems like these abilities came in a much wider form and variety than they had expected.

"We will have to be more careful next time. But for now, let’s search for any survivors around here." Alex said with a sigh and they nodded at him.