9 Imposter

Zhan Shen's fist almost appeared unstoppable, as it continuously shattered through every concrete wall in its path. It was only a matter of time before it struck the intended target.

Realizing that he was being forced into a corner, Master Jonn roared out, his eyes burning with intense blue light.

The old butler's punch was forced into a halt, frozen in mid-air. It was as if it had lost its momentum, as if it had been stopped by the mere sound of the roar.

But the fist retreated back easily, along with the old man.

Coming to a rest a few meters back, Zhan Shen grinned, "Telekinesis, eh? It was clever to try and hide your ability by only manipulating the concrete, but the cat's out of the bag kid."

Master Jonn frowned, and was just about to retort back…

When Zhan Shen's grin widened. He pointed to the side, "Also your friend's down. Must've been tired or something, I suppose?"

Glancing at the side, Master Jonn could observe a mysterious boy standing over Luther, knocked out. This boy had raven-black hair, sharp, intelligent eyes, and a confident presence. But the moment he realized that he was barely a Faehuman, possibly even weaker than Luther, his plain face scrunched up into an angry scowl.

But in the next instant, his anger turned into surprise.

Slash!

Master Jonn took a step back, barely dodging the knife slash.

BOOM! Slash! BOOM!

What followed in the next instant was a mixture of knife slashes and powerful punches, each rivalling the initial punch in power. To make matters worse, clever feints were mixed in.

Master Jonn was forced to let some of the knife slashes graze his body, in order to dodge the more dangerous punches.

It was only after gaining several light cuts on his arms, that he finally got the freedom of mind to make his move.

CRASH!

Another concrete boulder separated from the roof, and crashed down before him. But Zhan Shen had already vanished, dodging it with ease.

Master Jonn had expected this. After all, the old man was one of the fastest Faehumans he had encountered.

All he had wanted to do was create an opening, a single moment to act. And he had.

His eyes gazing on a far-off wall, where one could barely see the three small holes formed by three bullets that had missed their target.

Whizz! Whizz! Whizz!

The three bullets dashed through the air, answering his telekinetic call.

Zhan Shen, who had once again rushed forwards to maintain his attack, suddenly fell into a hasty retreat, dodging the two bullets that had targeted his heart.

And yet, Master Jonn smiled.

Zhan Shen immediately realized something was wrong.

Wait, why were there only two bullets?

He spared a glance at Miles, his face twisting into one of shock and horror.

***

Once Miles had successfully taken down the fellow with the pistol, his role was complete. Their plan had been for him to take down the weaker Faehuman, and keep a lookout for the other outside, while Zhan Shen took down the Epsilon.

Miles had attempted to use the pistol himself, but to his dismay, he had found that the cartridge was empty.

'The hell? Who on earth loads only three bullets and shoots them all at once?'

Well, it wasn't like he had needed a pistol anyways.

Immediately afterward, his attention had shifted to the exciting battle between two powerful Epsilons, happening right before him. Naturally, he only watched out of the corner of his eye, his task as a lookout unforgotten.

As expected, Zhan Shen had had the upper hand the entire time, but he didn't seem any closer to defeating the plain-looking man.

'Damn, that mannequin guy isn't half bad! But… he's extremely well trained, and even got a Fae Ability, Telekinesis! Is he really just a random robber or looter?'

That was the same instant the tide of the battle shifted, and the plain-looking man summoned the bullets to attack.

Miles immediately felt the hair on his skin stand up. Something felt off!

'Huh? What's happening?!'

He could feel it on his skin, a rapid flow of air shooting towards his chest.

Looking straight ahead, he just barely saw the glint of metal as the bullet rushed through the air.

It was fast, extremely fast, and he realized that he wouldn't be able to dodge.

So Miles forced his newly acquired agility to the limit, and shifted to the side, rotating on the balls of his feet.

Schlick!

The bullet penetrated into his right shoulder, coming to a halt within his flesh, sending intense pain throbbing over his arm.

Miles clamped his left hand over the wound as he wobbled on his feet due to the shock and pain.

[HP 7/10]

[External Bleeding Detected. 0.1 BP lost.]

[0.3 BP lost.]

[0.6 BP lost.]

[0.7 BP lost.]

A series of small messages started to appear at the corner of Miles's vision.

[Conditional Undeath activated.]

But just as the last appeared, he felt the muscles in his right shoulder tighten. It didn't hurt. On the contrary, it felt extremely soothing.

Pop!

With an audible pop, the bullet was pushed out of his arm, clattering onto the concrete floor. As Miles stared at his blood-soaked shoulder in disbelief, he could feel the bullet wound scabbing over and healing, returning to how it was. Moments later, his arm was as good as new.

[All wounds healed. HP 10/10]

[Total Blood Points Lost: 1.7 ≈ 2 BP.

Total Remaining BP: 8]

Although Miles was slightly displeased about the approximation of 1.7 into 2, he was mostly ecstatic.

'I can't believe it! My body just pushed out the bullet and healed itself! Just like that Vampire had!'

He was no longer looking at another with envious eyes. Why would he? He had that strength for himself! For the second time, Miles felt satisfied with his decision of embracing the system.

Master Jonn stared at this event with widened eyes. He had heard of all sorts of regeneration abilities. But he had never seen such a strange one, that could push out the bullets by itself.

Who the hell was that boy? Could he even be killed, if he could heal just like that? And how on Earth could he afford such a powerful Fae Ability? What was this safe house Luther had dragged him into?

Despite all the questions, Master Jonn calmly summoned the two bullets towards him, noticeably not all three, and had them revolve around his body, intending to use it as a defense against any more surprise attacks from the old man.

Meanwhile, Zhan Shen heaved a sigh of relief, his face returning to normal. Of course he had known about the regeneration, and that was the only reason he hadn't dashed forward to save Miles. But seeing the bullet shooting, he had been unable to stop himself from feeling worried.

As if sensing his emotions, Miles raised his head towards his guardian and gave a relaxed smile, along with a thumbs up.

Zhan Shen smiled back at his ward, but the smile vanished shortly.

Someone had actually dared to target Master Miles, to wound him, when he was right here. As they would soon find out, that was a BIG mistake.

It was not only his smile that vanished, because he vanished completely. All that was left behind was a blurred apparition, a testament to his extreme speed.

The two bullets continued to dash around Master Jonn, guarding him.

With his initial speed, Zhan Shen would've had a hard time attacking amidst the revolving defense of the bullets.

Too bad for his opponent, he was no longer that slow.

At the exact split second, when both the two bullets were right in front of Master Jonn, that perfect moment when they couldn't be moved back fast enough, Zhan Shen appeared right behind him.

His face was now pale white, with pitch-black circles circling the eyes. He appeared to be relaxed and calm, but his entire body radiated a sense of silent fury.

Two ordinary palms rushed towards Master Jonn, from either side of his head. It was an extremely simple movement, as if Zhan Shen was simply clapping or slapping a troublesome mosquito.

But Master Jonn felt the most intense sense of crisis he had ever felt in his life. If this attack struck, he would definitely die, with his skull crushed inwards.

His instincts told him he wouldn't be able to defend against this attack. Nor was he fast enough to dodge by normal means.

So he did the only thing he could. He used telekinesis… on himself.

CLAP!

Sending a visible wave rippling through the air, Zhan Shen's palms met each other. It truly looked no different from an ordinary clap… if clapping could be fatal, that is.

Zhan Shen stared upwards, at the plain-looking man who was now floating in the air. He wasn't surprised by the fact that his attack missed. In fact, he didn't look like he had any feelings.

On the contrary, Miles was extremely shocked.

'No way! Telekinesis is one thing, but… Flight?! With its high Faetality requirement, Flight isn't even an ability possible for the Epsilon level! Which means this man is using telekinesis on himself to float. And there's only one Faehuman in all of Capital City that I know of, who can do this…

But why would he become a robber? It's impossible, right? And why does his face look so different? Could this person really be an imposter? Could he really be... '

Miles couldn't help but mutter out the name, "Sir Xavier Jones, General of Capital City, the Knight of the Sky?"