Chapter 216
The Inmate, who had been burned so terribly that he took on the form of charred meat completely unfit for human consumption, was one thing, but what captured their attention even more was the origin of the flames revealed as the door opened.
A man stood with an expressionless face. He was wearing the same white jumpsuit as them, but the aura he exuded was somehow different.
The fact that he had an electronic cigarette dangling from his mouth despite being a prisoner indicated the status the man held in the underground.
Cheonchilbaek recalled the words the veteran model prisoner had said.
“Ace has gone ahead and is waiting in Sector 1. The strongest control user in labyrinth, who once burned down an entire Megabuilding, is waiting.”
That guy was ace. There was no room for doubt.
Given that he burned down a Megabuilding, his control must have been pyrokinesis. It was even powerful enough to turn a person into a pile of ashes in an instant.
His breath grew short as the hallucination of his entire body burning surfaced. Cheonchilbaek could only watch, paralyzed, as ace reached a hand out toward him.
This time it was not a hallucination. It was a real situation. Soon, flames would shoot out from that hand and swallow him whole!
Even though it was a simulation, it hurt just like reality, so would he be able to wake up fine in reality after experiencing the burning agony of his nerves catching fire?
Cheonchilbaek squeezed his eyes shut, as if in prayer.
Fwoosh-
Just grazing it caused his skin to turn red and suffer burns. Cheonchilbaek barely came to his senses at the burning sensation on the back of his neck and opened his eyes.
They called him the strongest control user in labyrinth. So, did he fail his aiming?
Ace’s hand, which had been pointing toward Cheonchilbaek, was twisted. Rather than a mistake, it looked as if someone had forcefully grabbed and bent it.
Veins bulged on the side of his head, which was cropped short like a soldier’s. Ace was trembling in place with his teeth clenched.
Cheonchilbaek realized the troublemaker only after turning to look to his side.
Paradox, with bloodshot eyes similar to ace’s, his hand was trembling as he maintained his concentration.
In a desperate situation, Paradox manipulated his mind with telepathy to block ace!
Sure enough, Paradox had pulled it off again this time.
Seeing ace unable to move from his spot as if paralyzed, Samsao quickly dashed forward and swung his fist.
If Paradox had been able to hold onto ace until the end, Samsao’s fist, which was the size of a pot lid, would have beaten ace to a pulp.
The problem was that Paradox’s physical strength had reached its limit after pushing his control to the extreme to use the model prisoners as bait for the inquisitor, and even engaging in a mental battle with the Monster Monkeys.
Between the two engaged in an invisible tug-of-war, Paradox was the first to stagger as his nose started bleeding. Soon after, ace let out a roar and erupted in flames.
The loud red flames spread out and heated the air. Startled, Cheonchilbaek looked at Samsao, who had been engulfed in the flames without being able to dodge in time.
Could Samsao really be…?
Fortunately, it wasn’t long before Samsao dashed out from the flames. His appearance, with his entire body on fire, was terrifying, but the fire quickly went out as he rolled on the floor and brushed it off.
Samsao had suffered some burns, but they didn’t seem to be fatal injuries.
It was likely thanks to his body enhancement, and also because ace had hastily shot out the fire while trying to break free.
“Urgh!”
Beside him, Osai suddenly collapsed while grimacing heavily. He shook his head with a pained expression.
“Wow, I can’t pierce through that. How did that Yangban Samsao come out of there fine? I tried to launch a Surprise Attack with my clone, but it melted the moment it touched the fire, so I lost my clone without even being able to do anything. What kind of ability is that strong? Isn’t that a cheat?”
As expected, the setting of being Dusk’s strongest control user wasn’t just for show.
Cheonchilbaek kicked and shoved Osai, who was unable to move due to the aftereffects.
Thud!
“Hey, you crazy―.”
Licking flames swept cleanly through the space between Osai, who was about to shout in bewilderment and anger, and Cheonchilbaek.
If he hadn’t shoved him away, Osai would have burned to death right then and there. With a pale face, Cheonchilbaek quickly rolled his body to the side this time.
Another stream of fire narrowly grazed past the top of his head. The smell of burning hair pierced his nose.
His danger sense was pushed to the extreme, putting his mind and nerves on edge. There was no time to wonder about the fact that his danger sense Ability had reacted not only to his own crisis but also to Osai’s.
Fwoosh-
This time, the flames were shot with more precision, aiming for Cheonchilbaek’s right leg. Ace tilted his head as he watched him barely dodge by hopping on one foot while dripping with cold sweat.
Being confident in his own skills, he seemed puzzled to see him continuously dodging by a hair’s breadth.
Cheonchilbaek, who was dodging it himself, felt like he was dying. His head felt like it was going to explode from the various hallucinations continuously stimulating his brain.
‘I’m fucked!’
Cheonchilbaek screamed inwardly.
An image of ace emitting flames in a wide cone shape was drawn in his mind.
If he launched an attack by scattering it like that, there would be absolutely no way to dodge even if he sensed the danger.
The thought, “What are the others doing!” naturally came to mind. If he, the underdog, had withstood this offensive all by himself, shouldn’t they have helped him with something?
As if reading his mind, Samsao charged in while letting out a roar.
Samsao’s heavy weight class must have been threatening even to ace, as he postponed finishing off Cheonchilbaek and reached out his hand.
The condensed red flames were shot with the momentum to melt Samsao down, but… they missed.
Ace’s hand was bent unnaturally once again. Paradox had intervened!
As if irritated, ace aimed for Paradox this time, but Osai rushed in as if to stab him with the Electric Shock baton before running away.
Their movements synchronized perfectly as if they had planned it. Even if he was the strongest control user, with four people combining all their strength to face him, it seemed they could somehow hold their ground.
At least, for now.
Ace seemed to be slowly getting irritated.
To him, it must have felt like moths that he could unconditionally burn to death just by touching them were continuously buzzing around and being a nuisance.
Eventually, he bit his lip and sucked back in the flames he had been emitting. The flames wrapped around ace’s body and blazed.
Ace, covered in bright red flames all over his body, opened his mouth for the first time.
“I tried to save this as much as possible, but… it can’t be helped. Let’s wrap this up.”
With that, he inhaled. The air was sucked in from inside the area and cooled dryly.
The temperature of the entire room rose, and ace’s skin flushed red. He gradually began to emit light, as if he would cause an explosion at any moment.
Even at a glance, he was preparing something extraordinary. Even without danger sense, intuition told him that this would be unavoidable.
They had to stop him somehow. At all costs!
But how? As his thoughts reached that point, the prototype restraint that the Inmate had found immediately came to mind.
Even the strongest control user would be nothing more than an ordinary person if he couldn’t use his control.
When he snapped his head up, Paradox was already throwing the restraint.
True to Paradox, he had thought of it before him and acted immediately.
Because it was so heavy and Paradox was also in an exhausted state, the restraint couldn’t fly far. However, Osai threw his body and caught it.
The problem was that his stance completely collapsed because he practically threw his body to catch it.
He had to toss it to Samsao on the other side, who was charging toward ace right on time, but at this rate, it seemed he wouldn’t make it in time.
‘We’re ruined!’
Just as Cheonchilbaek’s complexion turned stark white, Osai tossed the restraint upward as he fell.
It fell far short of reaching Samsao, and it was impossible for Cheonchilbaek to run and catch it.
He thought it was just Osai’s mistake, but it wasn’t.
Snatch. Osai’s clone, appearing in midair, grabbed the restraint midway and threw it accurately toward Samsao.
Throwing the restraint with his main body and having his clone catch it midway to accurately toss it was a truly extraordinary stunt!
Samsao leaped up, snatched it, and placed it right over ace’s neck.
It was a miraculous achievement accomplished through breathtaking cooperation.
But something was strange.
One second, two seconds, three seconds…
Even as time passed, the distinct noise and red light of the restraint’s activation did not appear.
Ace’s burning body, far from weakening, only grew brighter and more intense.
A situation where anyone would feel something was wrong.
The Inmate had clearly said it would activate immediately once fastened… They had been tricked!
No wonder things felt suspicious; the Inmate must have pulled some bullshit with the restraint.
They had to resolve this somehow, but the problem was that the inmate who had stirred up this shit was already a handful of ashes!
“This son of a fucking bastard―!”
Paradox burst out with harsh profanity for only the second time it had been heard. He had an ominous aura, looking as if he would have torn the Inmate apart if even his corpse had remained.
It was the same for Samsao and Osai. Anger and despondency filled their shocked expressions.
Was it really going to end like this? After putting in so much effort?
It was then.
Cheonchilbaek saw the Inmate, who he had thought was dead.