Chapter 77 - Dominance

The man's question lingered in the air for a few seconds, the silence that followed it ringing much louder than any words could— Lily thought her thought process moved much quicker than anything they could possibly achieve.

Within just a few seconds, her mind had already processed all the information she currently had at her disposal and the possible paths she could take to achieve her goal.

She also took note of all the mutants and armed individuals around her— their wariness made them stay on guard, but it also made them prone to mistakes. 

From the group of 24 people that surrounded her, 10 of them were mutants, including the leader who spoke up; 2 of them were Inhumans, and the rest were normal people.

Lily shifted her focus back on the man before her, her eyes locking onto the man's green orbs, and he could almost see a slight glimmer of predatory instincts with her gaze. 

Breaking the silence that had cloaked the room, she addressed the reptilian leader with a voice that no longer held its friendly tone— now, it was only laced with an uncaring distance.

"While gaining your trust and learning more about your group would have been pleasant, I simply do not have the time for that."

Her words were vague, but they echoed clearly in the silent room.

The leader wasn't smart, but even for someone like him, it took no longer than a few seconds for the realization of what she meant to set in— the dimly lit space suddenly broke out into chaos as he yelled.

"Capture her!"

The man's orders broke the people out from their dazed state and propelled them into action within a moment's notice— the mutants of the group that was more physically inclined dashed forward instantly with the intention of grabbing the girl.

They clearly did not think that Lily would possess great physical capabilities, but unfortunately for them, there were very few mutants on earth that could match Lily when it came to physical strength, at least that she knew of.

As the mutants drew close in an attempt to grab her, Lily wasted time on them, and as they attempted to grab her with their bodies, she would use her hands to glide them to the side, using their own force against them to send them tumbling down.

It was a very simple technique that used very little of her strength— but it was effective.

As they kept failing numerous times, the other mutants grew impatient and attempted to attack her with their abilities— one such mutant possessed the ability to throw flaming balls from his hands.

As the mutant threw the flaming balls— rather than dodging the attack or blocking it with her own body, she grabbed one of the physical mutants that were attacking her and held them up in front of the incoming attack.

Using them as a shield, she was able to not only block the fireball but also be perfectly unharmed from it. The man she used as a shield, however, was not so lucky.

His back was badly burnt, and the burnt smell of meat lingered in the air— causing the one that attacked to widen his gaze in the realization of his actions.

"You bastard, you killed my brother!"

Yell one of the normal humans from the crowd as they aimed their gun at her, firing it in an attempt to pump her body full of holes.

While Lily wasn't certain if she could tank the impact of a bullet, she knew that they wouldn't seriously hurt her even if they landed— at least normal bullets wouldn't. Armour piercing or specially made bullets were a different story.

But she didn't take that risk just yet; using the body of the man's brother as a shield, she was able to block most of the bullets that came her way— and those that ended up going through the man's body lost enough force that they could not pierce her hardened skin.

"Stop shooting, you idiots. Are you trying to attract everyone's attention!"

The reptilian leader yelled in anger, which caused the shooting to stop— leaving the group in silence.

It seemed, in his hysteria, the man had forgotten that they were currently in the middle of the city, merely underground in an abandoned building. If the gunshots were to be heard, then they would draw the attention of the authorities.

That would be bad for everyone here.

Lily decided to wrap this up quickly now that her time had been cut short— and before the people could get the chance to run away or attack once more, her abilities surged forth.

One particular ability— her eyes glowing with a purplish hue as she activated it and the air around her visible shaking with the force that erupted forth.

"Kneel."

As she spoke the single word aloud within the room, an invisible force seemingly came crashing down on everyone within it. It felt as if their body was being crushed by an invisible hand, the pressure visible causing their body to shake.

Those who were physically stronger than normal were able to hold out for a while, lasting a few seconds longer than those who weren't, but in the end, they were all forced to kneel around the girl.

Even the reptilian man who took the position of leader here.

'How useful.'

Lily commented in her head as she mused at the use of the ability she had just used for the first time— it was one of the abilities she was looking forward to using the most.

Lesser Demon Physiology, or to be more specific, one of the abilities that she was granted because of it— Lesser Eye of Suppression.

'It seems this ability has its limitations, but it works even on mutants with capabilities above that of normal humans.'

She took note of the fact that some mutants were able to fight against it for a few seconds, but she was pleased with how good it was for now— and as time went on, she could even improve it.

The mutants around her were unable to bear the weight of the pressure. Some of the humans had already passed out because of it, and others were barely holding on. 

It was sufficient to say that they had all lost their will to fight, the weapons that they held having already been dropped on the floor, and their presence now diminishing before her dominance.

A small smile graced Lily's face as she noticed their clear surrender, or rather, their submission to the ultimate inevitable of the situation before them.

"I will make it painless; just don't fight it."

Her words rang true— and she kept to them as she made her way over to each and every single mutant in the room. First, she decided to kill them; to do this, she simply broke their necks.

With their inability to move, fighting back wasn't possible; this allowed her to break their necks with ease, ending their lives with as little pain as she could.

The only thing that remained in the room was the fear of the others, knowing they were next— and being next.