After Kai stands up with Teon's help, his legs give in again, and he falls to his knees. Teon catches him, managing to soften the fall.

  "FUUUUUCK!!!"

  As Nova walks through the hallway, with Dane and Fenrir following them, a shiver runs down her back the moment she hears Kai scream. Dane notices it, moves past her, and turns around to speak with her while walking backwards.

  He looks surprised as he sees the expression on her face.

  "Nova, are you alright?"

  "I don't think I would've won if he had made better use of his ability and been well rested."

  Dane looks even more surprised and stops in his tracks, forcing Nova to stop as well.

  "Are you sure? It looked like you had the upper hand most of the fight."

  Nova shakes her head and walks past Dane.

  "Not at all."

  Days later Lucius stands, as so often, alone inside the control room looking down at a screen. The doors to the room open silently, and Rumi steps through the threshold.

  "What are you doing here all alone?"

  Lucius waves her over and points to the screen. It shows a picture of a security camera at the training field. On them Kai is sparring with Nova again, with Dane, Teon, and Fenrir sitting on the side.

  "Ever since Kai lost to Nova a few days ago, he challenges her every day again."

  His eyes move from the screen to Rumis.

  "I watched it every time. Each time he gets faster, more precise, and closer to winning. It's somehow much more effective training than with you.

  Rumi looks skeptical at the screen and crosses her arms in front of her chest. The pose emphasizes the muscles on her forearms.

  "If you say so."

  Suddenly the eyes of the two widen in fear, and both of them start to bleed from their noses as an incredibly high soul-pressure hits them out of nowhere.

  "No... god please no... he can't be here! Why now?!"

  "Why not, old friend?"

  Both the adults look scared around, trying to find the origin of the deep and threatening voice that just spoke to them. Rumi speaks up, her voice quivering under the pressure.

  "W...where are you?"

  "Be quiet. The strong ones are talking. Sit down and just listen."

  As if moved by an invisible force, Rumi walks towards the nearest chair and sits down, teeth tightly pressed, unable to open them even a single bit or even mutter a thought. Lucius watches her; the knowledge that he can't do anything to help her lies heavily on his mind.

  "What do you want, Lucius? Where are you?"

  "I just wanted to take a look at your precious new recruits. I got to feel the Soul-Pressure of three of them already some time ago. Those are some real prodigies you got yourself there. As for where I am..."

  The big screen on the other side lights up. It shows a man standing in the middle of the training field. The four that were on the field already were all kneeling next to each other on the side.

  "How about you come here so we can talk face-to-face?"

  A wide grin spreads over the man's face.

  "And bring Rumi and the other recruits with you. I want to get to know them."

  The screen turns off again, and Rumi gasps out as she is able to move again.

  "He is fucking terrifying!"

  The two leave the room hastily and gather the three others. As they all walk towards the training field, Lucius's expression grows more and more worried.

  "That's worse than any nightmare! Why now?!"

  As the five step through the door to the training field, Julius comes into view, his presence commanding attention.

  "Ohh... isn't there one missing?"

  "Y-yes... But he is not in the country at the moment."

  "That's too bad."

  Kaia runs past Lucius towards her friends. At first Julius pays her not more attention than an elephant would give an insect, but as she stops in front of Teon and asks why they are kneeling there, he grimaces.

  "Be quiet, girl. Can't you see that I'm talking to someone?"

  The girl winces at the sound of Julius's harsh voice and tries to say something. But to her terror, Kaia is unable to open her mouth.

  "What's going on? Why can't I speak?!"

  "Back to what's important. Who is the weakest of them, Lucius?"

  Before Lucius can answer, Nova manages to speak up.

  "S...sir...am I allowed to answer this question?"

  "You are."

  Able to move her arms again Nova points at Max.

  "From pure physicality she is the weakest, but this one..."

  Her finger moves to point at Kaia, who is still trying to open her mouth.

  "Is the only one who has no confirmed innate ability."

  Julius nods pleased and commands her to be quiet again. Then Julius walks up to Lucius and Rumi before looking past them to muster Max. He smirks down at the girl.

  "You have, without a doubt, the least Soul-Energy here."

  Max just glares up at him. His expression caused Julius to smirk even more.

  "You seem to have grit; not everyone dares to look at me like that. I want to test you. Everyone else, go sit down with the others."

  Unable to fight against Julius's command, Lucius and the others walk to where Fenrir lies, sleeping as always, and kneel down. While she kneels down, Rumi thinks to herself.

  "Where is my good-for-nothing husband when we need him?!"

  Julius turns his back to Max and walks a few steps away before facing her again. The girl is still glaring at him.

  "So, how does it feel to be the weakest of your group?"

  As Max remains quiet and stoic, he gets angry.

  "I asked you a question, so answer!"

  "It doesn't matter. If you underestimate me, you'll lose."

  Her words cause Julius to laugh for a few moments. While holding his stomach, he wipes a tear from his eye.

  "That's funny."

  Suddenly his expression flips, and he stares at her seriously.

  "I won't even need to get physical to beat you."

  "No? Why not?"

  "Sit down, and I'll show you."

  As her body starts to move on its own, Max's expression turns confused; she tries to stand up, but her body won't budge a single bit.

  "What the fuck?!"

  "Confused? That's my power. Everything I command is absolute, and no one can resist. That's why you'll never be able to beat me. No one can!"

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  "I know one who can."

  Rumi whispers in the background. Julius winces and slowly turns around.

  "Who allowed you to talk? Be quiet."

  He turns back to Max and walks up to where she sits before crouching down.

  "Do you understand, little girl? No one can beat me."

  "I don't know what you're talking about; all I can see is that you're my equal."

  Julius starts laughing again while standing up straight again, but his laughter quickly dies down as he sees that Max follows his lead in standing up.

  "What's going on?"

  The next moment a burst of weakness overtakes him for a moment, and he struggles to stand straight. Max walks up to him before hitting him straight in the guts. He coughs up and holds his stomach.

  "Well, that's my power. Your soul energy is dragged down to my level, while your ability is blocked."

  Julius looks at the girl in front of him, whom he believed was a weakling, as he realizes that as it is right now, she could one day become the second biggest threat to his absolute power. Smirking, Max takes a step back before taking on a defensive stance.

  "I'm waiting, Mr. Absolute."

  Just as Julius manages to straighten up, she dashes forward, swinging for his chin. He barely manages to dodge the attack, but before he can counter, Max buries her foot in his side, sending him down to one knee and coughing out again.

  "You stupid brat!"

  Taking a step back, he also goes into a stance.

  The two engage in wild hand-to-hand combat; neither of them has the visible upper hand. The fight is on truly equal footing. Then suddenly, Julius manages to grab Max's fist and twists her arm. She yelps out and kicks Julius in response against the head, causing him to let go and stumble a few steps backwards.

  While watching, Lucius is impressed by how long Max manages to hold on to her ability against this opponent.

  Julius rubs his chin, spits out some blood, and a tooth falls to the ground.

  "I have enough of this bullshit!"

  "Yeah, same."

  Max reaches behind her back and wraps her hand slowly around the handle of a karambit. The knife's blade is unsheathed with a silent click. Slowly her hand comes back into view, and a smirk spreads over her face. On the side, Nova grins.

  A shimmer of fear appears in Julius's face as his eyes lock with the sharp edge of the knife. As her opponent just stares at her knife, Max takes on a defensive stance and waves him closer. Julius steps cautiously towards her. As he is just in reach, Max bursts forward and swings at him. Once again the two engage in fierce combat, but now Max clearly has the upper hand. Then suddenly, after taking a kick to her stomach, Max changes her grip on the knife and throws it. His eyes follow it, surprised, as Julius dodges. This bit of distraction was enough for Max; as Julius looks back in her direction, the only thing that comes into view is her fist, which connects with his face.

  Julius stumbles backwards and holds his nose with one hand. Without giving him time to gather himself again, Max delivers another blow, this time aiming for the chin, and another to the right side of his torso. Julius goes down on one knee, gasping for air. Max tries to kick him in the face, but he manages to grab her leg and hold it tight in place.

  "Shit, I can't pull my leg away. Please, I have to hold on a little longer!"

  Julius locks eyes with her, and to her terror, his broken nose starts to heal.

  "You're running out of time..."

  He stands up, still holding on to her leg, before throwing her off her other foot and causing her to land hard on her back. As the girl is just about to stand up, he places his foot on her chest and presses her down again. Gasping in pain, she grabs his ankle with both hands and tries to push him off. But without any success.

  "Time's up!"

  While still holding her pressed to the ground, Julius turns around and looks at the others who are still kneeling on the side.

  "I'm surprised you didn't interrupt as you had the chance to."

  After hearing these words, Teon and the others realize that they were able to move ever since Max used her ability, but all were so captivated by the fight that no one noticed.

  "Time to end this."

  Julius takes his foot off the girl's chest. Max tries to breathe, but Julius gives her no time for that. He stomps on her head a few times.

  Teon's face contorts in terror.

  "NO!"

  Julius slowly takes his foot off Max's face, a cocky grin decorating his face. But it's quickly wiped away as he sees that the girl has not even a single scratch on her face.

  "What's going on?"

  Julius murmurs confusedly.

  At the same time, Teon feels something warm dripping from his nose and down on his clothes. Looking around at the others beside him, he sees that everyone is having a nosebleed. His attention is brought back to Julius and Max because of the sound of Max coughing up blood. Her gaze is directed at Julius, who is bleeding out of his nose, ears, and eyes.

  "Stomping on the face of a defenseless girl—shouldn't that be beneath the Hyper-Lethal number 1?"

  Out of nowhere Ragnar stands right next to Julius, arm draped over his shoulders. Julius winces at the contact, his face showing signs of fear.

  "How about you leave now, Julius?"

  Without saying a word, Julius nods and slowly makes his way to the field's exit. After he left everyone who was forced to sit on the side could move freely again.

  Ragnar smiles down at Max before reaching out to help her up.

  "Be proud; you did something not even Lucius would be able to."

  Max smiles slightly and thanks Ragnar. Rumi walks up to her husband and slaps him on the back of his head. He winces slightly and holds the spot.

  "What was that for?"

  "Why didn't you intervene earlier?!"

  "It was interesting to watch. Besides, I could ask you the same. You could've intervened as well."

  Rumi looks down and takes a step back.

  "Y...you're right. Sorry."

  Ragnar just smiles before giving the weak and tired Max to her friends, who quickly bring her back to their room to rest.

  Ragnar turns around to Lucius.

  "What did he want?"

  "He said he wanted to meet the six."

  "That's all? How odd."