Going Back on Words (Part III)

"People don't appreciate kindness!" Zed remarked with a deep sigh.

Finlay's five companions flinched. They were horrified by his attitude that projected he displayed kindness!

"He ruined Finlay... and yet he's claiming he showed kindness?!" Sieur said in disbelief.

"Finlay won't be able to father any children in his life! And that's being kind?!"

"How despicable!" Rony, the one who tried to issue a command to Sieur, remarked.

"Hmm?" Zed turned towards them, "Despicable?"

"Yes!" Rony gritted his teeth, "You didn't have to be so cruel to him!" 

Zed was amused. He smiled in a way that was unique to his alter ego, and said, "That's a funny thing to say. He wanted to smash my face, and you accuse me of being cruel?"

"You crippled him for life!" Rony shouted.

Face injuries and limb injuries could be healed through cloning, but healing injuries on jewels was different! The sensitive and complex organs were difficult to clone, and not to mention, the cost involved was not affordable for a gang like theirs.

"Wow! So you can attack as you please, but when your opponent does the same, it is foul play!" Zed stepped towards them. "The funny part is that many people in this world shares your perspective!"

Whish~!

Rony clenched his fists and a dazzling green glow erupted through them, wrapping the fists. The air around him twisted and he aimed at Zed.

"If you want to fight, then let's fight!" Zed said as a pillar of flames exploded from his body.

He didn't need to rely on his alter ego to face opponents like this.

Terrifying heat fluctuations rippled out, making space distort and force everyone to close their eyes.

"Dammit!" Rony jumped back to avoid the heat ripples.

"His aura is far more powerful than before!" Suir's body shook in shock. "He wasn't using his full powers till now!"

"He's a monster!" The others cursed. 

"Like being rich wasn't enough, he has to be even strong!"

"The world is so unfair!"

Far away, the four fools violently trembled as the heat fluctuations crashed into them. They were crippled and in no condition to dodge.

"Argh!"

"Oh no!"

"Save me!"

Their skins turned scorching red before melting.

Sshhhh~

"Eh?" Percy opened his eyes as he felt the heat fluctuations reducing. He was pleasantly surprised, thinking someone has come to rescue him.

But then he noticed there was no one! It was only Zed who looking in his direction, with a kind smile.

"Apologies!" Zed said politely. "I wasn't able to control the initial heat ripples so forgive me if you were injured."

LIAR!

The fools swore in their hearts. They noticed Loren and Jessica were completely fine despite being near to him, and then there was his car, there was no damage to it either!

So how was it the heat ripples only rushed towards them, that too, so far away?!

...

Kaden has barely recovered and as he rose to his feet, Zed turned towards him, and asked, "Are you going to join as well?"

"@#%&!"

Kaden's veins popped out in anger. No one warned him of Zed being strong to such an extent.

"I guess not," Zed turned back to Rony. "Sorry for the wait."

Swoosh~!

The pillar of flames split open, turning into a curtain that wrapped the entire area. Under the crestfallen expressions of everyone, flames spread everywhere, from the ground to the sky!

It was like the world was made of fire!

"This is... Domain!" Sieur backed away as the realization hit him.

The air twisted with intense heatwaves.

By the time domain manifested completely, everyone who was inside the domain felt their breathing turning heavy. They weren't even able to sweat as the heat killed moisture, dulling their skins.

Rony enveloped his feet with a green glow and jumped up as flames wrapped the road below. As he jumped, he complained of hardship!

Because only five members of the gang were inside the domain! The other members were outside!

Wasn't this unfair?! Shouldn't everyone suffer together!?

Why was Zed discriminating against those outside?! This was against the concept of equality!

"Break the domain otherwise we all are dead!" Rony shouted to his companions.

"Dead?" Zed was surprised. "You can rest assured I have no intention of killing anyone."

Before Rony could appreciate Zed's words, he saw an arc of fire sweeping at him, like the scythe of the grim reaper!

Rony brought his fists together and punched out.

SHRIEK

Green mass of energy bombarded out, powerful enough to destroy a building block, but when it smashed into the arc, it was burned!

The momentum of the arc of fire didn't slow down, and it rushed forward.

"Damnit! I forgot that inside the domain, the strength of its caster is amplified!" Rony cursed his bad luck. 

Green ethereal steps flashed in front of him and he jumped on them to avoid the arc of fire.

SHUA!

Just as he avoided the arc, he felt powerful heat energy from the dome. He lifted his head just in time to see the dome shooting out a rain of fire!

Rony spread his arms and streams of energy cascaded out, turning into a green barrier. 

"Well done!" Zed said as the rain bombarded the barrier without creating any damage. "Shall we increase the difficulty level?"

"He was toying with me!"

Rony felt a chill crawl down his spine. He and his gang had come to cripple Zed, and yet, the actual villain was Zed!

"Ahhhhhh!"

Rony was startled by a sudden shriek. He looked below and noticed two of his friends impaled by dozens of fire spears.

"The spears didn't pierce their vitals... but they are in terrible condition!" Rony realized.

"Rony! What do we do!?" Sieur shouted from the ground. He had wrapped himself with hundreds of bones to resist fire, but now his bones were showing signs of wear.

"Sieur! Join forces with me!" Rony replied, "Together we can destroy this domain!"

"You are frightening me with such powerful words!" Zed backed away, a look of terror on his face.

As he retreated, from the ground and dome alike, large spears of fire emerged, aimed at Rony and Sieur.

BOOM

"Son of a bitch!"

Rony cursed as the barrier came under the onslaught of fire spears. The barrier started shaking, and fissures sprang up.

****

Outside.

Jessica and Loren stood near Zed's car. A few steps away from them, there was the enormous curtain of fire.

"Is that the domain?" Loren asked.

"Yes!" Jessica nodded. She didn't know what was happening on the other side of the curtain, but she knew that as long as the domain was intact, Zed was safe!

"Fuck!" Kaden's body twisted with fury. He wasn't even able to determine the condition of his five subordinates.

"Boss! Let's capture those girls!" One of the remaining four subordinates suggested. "We can use them as hostages!"

"Great idea!" Kaden's eyes lit up. 

Without saying anything more, he and his four subordinates rushed towards Jessica and Loren.

"Leaving his gorgeous girlfriends behind! Your boyfriend is stupid!" Kaden said with a smirk.

Jessica and Loren ignored his words and readied themselves for battle.

"Haha!" Kaden was just fifty meters away from them.

"Jessica, get ready!" Loren said, her voice serious.

"Yes!" Jessica was ready to use her new ability for the first time in real-life combat.

"Don't struggle and you can save yourself from some pain!" Kaden and others were now just twenty meters away.

VROOM~

"Eh?" Jessica, Loren, Kaden, and others were startled by the sound of the engine firing up.

The car started, and without any warning, it charged straight at Kaden and his team!

"What?" Kaden was shocked by the speed of the car.

There was another person here?!

Neither he nor his subordinates got time to think or dodge as the car smashed into them.

"AHHHHH!"

They were sent flying away, coughing up arrows of blood.

The car stopped.

"Dammit! I will tear apart the bastard driving the car!" One of Kaden's subordinates declared as he got on his feet.

Purrr

The car rushed forward, this time with far greater speed.

"N-Noo!" The subordinate cried in horror as the car crashed into him. The collision shattered all his bones, and he smashed into the ground like a broken doll.

Jessica and Loren looked at each other in blank dismay.

"Who is running the car?" Loren asked.

"I don't know," Jessica answered, "But I do know that person doesn't like insults!"