Chapter 5: Minor disturbances during combat
Lucius stood with unwavering confidence, his form-fitting white shirt and sleek black jeans accentuating his poised demeanor. A straight sword, sheathed and ready, hung at his side. Without a moment's pause, he turned his back to the assembled foes and addressed them directly, "You three, hand over the 100 million Aetherium. I'll manage the situation while you focus on freeing the hostages and your comrades."
"Enough with your chatter!" Darren retorted, his frustration palpable as he thrust his right hand forward. A bolt of blue-white lightning crackled through the air, its path aimed unerringly at Lucius's head.
Lucius, unfazed, casually tilted his head to the side, easily evading the lightning without so much as a backward glance. Turning to meet Darren's astonished gaze, he taunted, "You're like a hot-headed child, old man. Didn't anyone ever teach you manners?"
Darren's anger flared, ignited by the sharp taunt. He summoned a greater reservoir of mana, intensifying the lightning that danced around him, obliterating surrounding objects. His eyes blazed with a luminous blue-white fury.
"Perish, you insolent brat!" he roared, leaping high into the air. In each hand, he conjured massive lightning spears, hurling them at Lucius with lethal speed.
Such swift attacks were nearly impossible to dodge. Yet Lucius, serene and composed, projected an aura of dominance through his gaze. The lightning spears, enveloped in a violet aura, vanished from sight, dissipated entirely.
"What?!" Darren landed, eyes wide with disbelief. Never, in all his years, had he imagined someone could neutralize his most powerful techniques with a mere glance.
'His gaze isn't just simple,' Darren pondered, growing uncertain about Lucius's true capabilities.
"You possess strength, but so do I. If that wasn't enough, I'll simply amplify my lightning's intensity!" Darren declared, conjuring a high-intensity lightning manifestation—a colossal dragon's head.
"Hey, you three, hand over the money and go rescue everyone," Lucius commanded, extending his hand for the ransom card with a backward glance.
Gary, Henry, and Ericka were momentarily frozen by the unfolding events, but Gary quickly regained his composure, handing over the card without hesitation. They swiftly departed the battlefield. Chou attempted to block their path, but Lucius's overwhelming aura of dominance held him firmly in place.
"Damn it, my body feels completely immobilized. What kind of strange energy is this?" Chou hissed, struggling against the violet aura's oppressive force.
'Damn, what kind of power is that? Why doesn't he use it on me?' Darren wondered, perspiration beading on his forehead. 'But I can't back down now!' Resolving himself, he unleashed his assault.
"Raging Dragon!" he bellowed, launching a massive blue-white lightning dragon.
Lucius deftly retrieved his sword from an extra-dimensional storage. With unwavering intent, he thrust it forward, releasing a destructive aura from its tip, manifesting a violet dragon as vast as Darren's.
In the blink of an eye, their attacks collided, generating a powerful shockwave that deformed structures within a wide radius.
"This attack is formidable," Darren muttered, struggling to maintain his stance against the violet dragon's relentless pressure.
The pressure intensified with each passing moment, pushing Darren back. Unable to withstand it any longer, he relinquished his attack and deftly dodged the incoming assault that effortlessly pierced his lightning dragon.
Leaping into the air, Darren conjured hundreds of lightning spears around him, launching them simultaneously with a wave of his right hand.
Lucius, smiling with satisfaction, activated a special aura granting him superior perception. The lightning spears, despite their speed, appeared sluggish in this heightened state. Calmly, he evaded the barrage, parrying a few with his sword. He then unleashed his aura of dominance, manifesting violet tendrils that mirrored the lightning, dissipating each spear's energy with absolute finality.
Surging forward at lightning speed, Lucius closed in on Darren, who remained airborne. Enveloped in a violet aura, some of which he converted into an empowering force, he swung his sword horizontally without employing a destructive aura.
Recognizing the attack pattern, Darren manifested a concentrated lightning sword. With nimble movements, he parried Lucius's strikes.
Lucius, undeterred, launched a series of thrusts aimed at Darren's head, each narrowly evaded. With fierce resolve, he strengthened his left hand, delivering diagonal slashes with increased power.
Despite Darren's formidable lightning sword, he struggled to keep up with Lucius's relentless assault. 'Damn it, my hand's going numb. Just how strong is this kid physically?!' he lamented internally, battling to match Lucius's tactical onslaught.
Suddenly, the force behind Lucius's strikes surged dramatically. Darren found himself overwhelmed, unable to keep pace with his opponent's rhythm. With a powerful vertical swing, Lucius shattered Darren's lightning sword using sheer physical strength.
The impact sent Darren hurtling to the ground with tremendous speed. A lightning explosion marked his landing, suggesting he had employed some form of defensive technique.
"Even with my body enveloped in lightning armor, that attack still hurt," Darren hissed in pain, spitting blood.
Lucius landed a few meters away, seemingly ready to converse. "Is that all the power you possess? If you have more, unleash it all at once so I can take this seriously," he remarked, dusting off his clothes, conveying his disappointment with a relaxed air.
This time, a wicked grin spread across Darren's face. "Hahaha, I won't be baited by such taunts," he replied confidently. Rising from the ground, he charged at Lucius.
"Feel this!" Darren sprinted forward, concentrating a lightning orb in his right palm.
Just meters from Lucius, he leaped once more into the air, declaring his technique: "Ultimate Lightning Orb!" Instantly, a colossal lightning sphere, akin to a miniature sun, formed above Lucius.
The sphere filled the entire open area of the building, melting surrounding objects with its stray bolts. The intense blue-white light radiated, illuminating everything around it, momentarily blinding Lucius.
"Hey, if you release that, the entire mall will be obliterated!" Lucius protested, visibly perturbed by the situation. "Ah, perhaps urging you to use everything was a mistake. Seems like we need a more open space." He sighed, resigning to the necessity.
Channeling vast amounts of mana, Lucius employed his aura of Omniscient Perception, creating a sphere of perception encompassing thousands of kilometers in every direction. This sphere was invisible to others, linked solely to his spiritual senses.
Within this sphere, he perceived, observed, and analyzed everything like a deity omniscient. Unintentionally, Lucius focused his sight on a five-star hotel adjacent to the rockstar mall. Instantly, the visual and auditory inputs of countless couples engaged in intimate activities flooded his spiritual senses.
"F*ck, they're doing that in broad daylight amidst all this chaos?!" Lucius cursed, irked at the thought of others enjoying themselves while he faced turmoil. Employing his aura of Empyrean Dominator, he enveloped his omniscient sphere with an absolute dominion.
With a mere thought, he rendered the thousands of couples unconscious, plunging them into a state of unconsciousness in the blink of an eye.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone