"Hey, stop causing trouble everywhere!"

Although I admit that I am just a cooked duck that still insists on being tough, I still decide to take a risk and go all out!

"My friend did provoke you, but it's unnecessary to go as far as taking him out, right?"

Saying this, I casually flicked back the Tang knife that had been swung towards me!

Yukari, with a slight stiffness in her demeanor, showed her suppressed anger on her beautiful face.

"Hmph, we'll see about that!"

Yukari tossed her long black hair and walked towards the Elena ship at the gate of the academy.

"Watch out, you punks!"

After cursing at me and Yuanhui fiercely, the dark-skinned, scar-faced old men behind Yukari also shot us a menacing look before leaving.

Shizuo, who seemed a little dazed by everything that just happened, immediately exploded in anger and directed it all towards me.

"Damn it, that bitch wants me dead, you know that?"

"Wow~!"

Seeing me react this way, Yuanhui angrily slapped him on the shoulder.

"Wow, what's wrong with you? You know and yet you don't teach her a lesson for me, and besides, am I not your little brother?"

Yuanhui's unreasonable shouting made me feel annoyed, but with my cultivated temperance and composure, I left the academy, still contemplating whether I should have just let that heroine deal with this nuisance!

"Even though I'm your brother, can't you help me teach her some manners?"

With a wry smile, I turned around and left Yuanhui, who was still making a fuss behind me, with a stern parting remark.

"Fine, why don't you go teach her etiquette lessons!"

And with that, I walked away without even looking back at him standing dumbfounded at the school gate.

"Me, teaching etiquette?"

Adjusting his collar, Yuanhui was seething with anger, cursing under his breath.

"Me? I can't even get through her front door without being neutered!"

Despite his complaints, he quickly caught up to me.

Yuanhui and I belong to the same type of enhanced humans.

In society, we are collectively known as "rangers"! I developed my ranger abilities at a young age; we are the pioneers of the future.

The Bullet Time is a deceptive maneuver that uses one's high-speed dash to create the illusion of slow time and slow bullets, allowing enough time to deliver the most lethal blow to the enemy. During my last assassination mission in Poland, I accurately dodged bullets by slowing down time, catching a spinning Tang knife with ease.

While Yuanhui has yet to unlock any abilities, his exceptional physical strength allows him to increase the explosive power of a specific part of his body by tenfold for a short period!

Similarly to my ranger abilities, where I can divide a tenth of a second into five seconds of usable time, his enhancement effect lasts a full minute.

If a ranger's power were limited to just that, it wouldn't be fearsome; the true fear comes from evolution!

After evolving, a ranger's skills not only change in effectiveness but also in their domains. For example, if a ranger enhances limbs, the next stage might enhance more than just the four limbs.

While my original power may have been lost in another world, the laws of this world are reaching a critical point, and calamity will soon sweep across the world!

At that time, many lives will disappear from the world, not just human lives...

"Juxi, only you can... only you can!"

"Only I can? Ha, I've heard this line so many times already!"

Sounds nice...

But when the time truly comes, what do I have to change things?!

Every time I think about this, my eyes become dull and lifeless. I know that even if all of humanity is destroyed, the Evil Entity will still seek out new hosts!

But... if we destroy the root of all evil, what kind of result will we see?

I think everything will come to an end, or maybe we will be reborn in another world.

Why think so much? That's all a matter for when we're dead, but are our sacrifices truly destined to be in vain in the end?!

"I..."

"Don't leave me behind, Juxi!"

I seem to drift off again, Yuanhui's hand waving in front of my eyes without any response from me.

"Hey, if you don't speak up, I'll take it as you agreeing to let me have the roast meat in your lunch!"

In the blink of an eye, my sister has already reached a place beyond my reach, and in another blink, the world becomes incredibly fragile, even more so than me!

Is this... a good ending?

I'm almost finished with my dream, envying those who won't endure this cyclical pain, those who don't need to struggle within their own dreams, eternally haunted by nightmares!

"Yukari, do you find this enjoyable?"

"Yeah, very happy..."

The black world, the black land, once vibrant under the sun, now devoid of life... No, perhaps I should say...

How much time do I have left to find answers? And after that, how many chances will I have to fight for survival with the remnants of my strength?

But the prophecy of destruction does not include my existence, which is enough to indicate that some ability or factor of mine surpasses it all?

...

(Outside world)

Death... Death... Death!

Death permeates everywhere, no humans, not even life, the ruthless battles and bombardments of various super weapons have turned this significantly large city bestowed with the title of the capital of the alliance into either hell... or paradise?

After the heavy snow, spring will surely come, but here, the land remains permanently frozen in ice, a lifeless world of ice and snow!

Only in the underground tunnels can occasional bursts of warm air emerge, melting some snow and ice beneath the surface.

"Hey, young men, dare to wander aimlessly outside in this weather?"

Two ranger soldiers were scolded by an elderly man with white hair wearing a gray down jacket.

"Whew... so cold, if we hadn't met you, we might have frozen to death outside the sewers!"

Those who have worked for Elena for years are well known within the alliance army, but those who have lived underground are now aware of the situation. When the alliance army came to wipe out the subway, many people defected and ended up living here.

"Hey, want a roasted rat? Our staple food underground follows strict portions!"

With that, the old man handed over a roasted rat from the grill. The older ranger took a bite, causing the young ranger to vomit uncontrollably!

"In this age, if you can't even stomach a rat, you'll starve to death. Moreover, it's hard for us to capture even rat meat these days!"

"Don't worry, this little guy has never tasted the bitterness of life. It's normal for him not to be able to eat it."

"Oh... I still have half a piece of bread here, you can have it."

The old man said while expressing forgiveness, after all, they themselves had no choice but to eat these disgusting things, as there was nothing else left to eat.

"It's okay, we are here to look for survivors. Honestly speaking, we are the so-called terrorists in your government's eyes...Elena!"

After the old wanderer revealed his identity and purpose, the hand of the old man who was handing over the bread suddenly stiffened!

"You...you said you are?"

...

"Are you saying these runes are some kind of ancient secret?"

Yuanhui rolled up his sleeves and asked me to take a look in my room.

"...it's this one, do you know why?"

"Well, I only know that it can help us achieve goals that ordinary people cannot reach, it can make me achieve..."

"No! No!"

I immediately denied his words, at that moment just now, I felt that his smile was a bit sinister, as if telling me - not to trust him too much.

"Our power is not meant to fulfill desires, you cannot do things that go against our duty!"

"Duty...what duty?!"

"This..."

I was speechless, facing my former "comrade" and realizing that we were no longer on the same side, I couldn't relax.

I knew, he was no longer the Sakai Yuanhui I once knew, this was like a text game, shrouded in mystery, my choices would change the plot.

"...You've changed, when did you become so arrogan...ahem, I mean stubborn."

I muttered to myself, assuming he had left.

I left my blood with Yukari sister, on that Tang sword, as far as I know she always carries the sword with her, so at that time I just happened to save Yuanhui.

"Hmph, out of battery?"

I plugged my phone, which had run out of power, into the socket to charge, while I lay on the bed soaking in the bloodstains, though she may have washed it, the blood cells could remain for quite a long time, as long as I was not dead!

(Elena Headquarters)

"Miss, the starting machine is not in good condition today, you can rest now."

The obese figure, and those eyes sunken deep into the flesh, couldn't be more familiar to me... Viktortje, the man I once remembered killing and who also killed me!

Yukari sister's expression was awkward when she looked at him, she didn't have any good feelings towards this person, maybe she even had some distrust towards her own father.

"Uncle Viktorch, where should I spend my time?"

"Well...I think your father has some troublesome matters to discuss with you, you can spend a lot of time with him."

"Oh, my goodness!"

Yukari sister took off the white armor helmet, shook her hair which was covered in sweat, then hung the helmet around her waist and left the scene.

While Viktorche behind her immediately wiped the smile off his face, and then seriously continued to discuss the documentation of the machine with other scientists.

"Hmph, a bunch of sycophants..."

For a while after closing the door, Yukari sister did not forget to curse Viktorche a few times.

"Sons of ...ah, it feels much better to curse like this every day!"

Cursing, she suddenly threw the Tang knife around her waist onto the bed, pulled at her collar, tilted her head, and then, without warning, began...

I immediately woke up from the dream, and the peeking was abruptly cut short!