Rise of the Crusader

Hilario sneered when she heard Jeremy. She wasn’t in the slightest worried about him, and after a second, she assumed a battle stance.

“Pteuh”

Jeremy spat on the ground and then balled his hands into a fist.

He launched at Hilario afterward, and as Hilario saw him coming towards her, she wasted no time and also dashed forward.

With her hands also then clenched into a fist, she replied to Jeremy with a full-force punch of her own.

Bang!

The both of them moved backward as their first collided with one another.

However, after the exchange between Hilario and Jeremy, a light smirk appeared on Jeremy’s face. He stared at Hilario, who. The hand was no more, and a bone-chilling expression emerged on his face.

.....

Hilario was a bit stunned when she saw her hands decaying, it had occurred so fast that before she could even pull herself together the hands had vanished.

“Decay,” Hilario mumbled.

They had been a battle in which Jeremy had displayed several powers belonging to the meta-human in the academy, and this time around, he had gone with absolute decay.

A power that belonged to Raphael.

Suddenly, Hilario shook her hand, and it wasn’t even up to a second after she made that move, and another hand grew back instantly.

And instead of being panicked or concerned with Hilario displaying two abilities, Jeremy’s lips curved into a bone-chilling smile.

He used the same power that had just been displayed by Hilario, and immediately he returned back to his original form.

The blood and wounds which were around his body disappeared, making it as if they never existed in the first place.

Jeremy was only capable of displaying powers or abilities that occurred before his eyes during that moment, and none of the students in the academy so far had displayed self-regeneration of that magnitude.

After taking satisfaction in his wounds which had just closed up, and the blood that was no longer around his body, Jeremy shifted his attention back to Hilario.

“Y-”

What came after Jeremy’s stuttering was an uppercut from Hilario.

And as every punch that was delivered by Hilario was at full force, she had Jeremy flying meters away.

But, unlike the previous time, Hilario didn’t wait for Jeremy to recover or even stand up, she rushed towards him quickly, and delivered a powerful kick that had Jeremy spurting blood in his mouth.

“Pfffttttt!”

The kick to the abdomen was repetitive, and Hilario didn’t stop until she was satisfied with the damage she had caused to Jeremy.

The most infuriating aspect for Hilario was that every time a wound or scar was on Jeremy’s body, it would only last for a few seconds before it disappeared.

She knew he was using her second powers to heal the wounds that were caused, and this made her furious.

Bang!

Followed by that sound was Jeremy letting out a scream of agony.

“Argh~!”

The scream was a result of Hilario heavily stomping his leg. The might of the kick was horrifying as it broke through every bone that existed in Jeremy’s leg.

And to be more explicit, Hilario had just broken Jeremy’s leg.

Throughout the entire time, there was an expression full of shock on the face of the people in the domain.

They had expected the battle between Jeremy and Hilario to be tough enough, but never did they expect it to be this tough.

Hilario was one of the four students that stepped onto the eleventh level, and the way she manhandled the all-powerful Jeremy, it gave the assumption that they had the potential to enter the twelfth level.

“Can someone please explain what is exactly going on?” Aiden couldn’t help but ask.

The battle had been one-sided since the beginning, and despite Jeremy coming out with ‘I will bathe in the blood of your friends and families, he was the one who was beating.

Beaten to a pulp.

Hilario made those who had fought against Jeremy wonder if the person on the stage was a doppelganger and not the Jeremy they had faced.

“What the hell!”

Aiden exclaimed once again, as right after Hilario destroyed Jeremy’s right leg, she broke the leg.

While Jeremy was capable of restoring his broken leg, he wasn’t immune to the pain. And every time Hilario broke the bones in his leg, he felt extreme pain coursing through his body.

“Jeremy hasn’t ever displayed using two different powers at the same time, or a second after. It usually takes a brief moment, before he switches?”

Devon spoke.

And after he spoke, Aiden and Bane thought deeply before saying, “Yes, I think.” Aiden said.

A nod came from Devon, a second after he heard Aiden’s response.

“This explains everything.”

As Devon saw the confused expression that was on Aiden and Bane’s faces after he spoke, he decided to enlighten them about what he realized.

“Jeremy can copy other powers, but once he uses a power or abilities, it usually takes him a while before he’s able to change to another,” Devon said.

“During this moment, Jeremy is very vulnerable to attacks, and I believe Hilario must have learned about this.”

Aiden and Bane began to recall the events of what happened in the fight, and after a bit of a moment, their mouth opened slightly.

“Yes,” Devon blurted.

“Jeremy was using Hilario’s self-regeneration earlier, he was about to switch to another power when she attacked him.” Devon paused, “And the same happened when he used the force field.”

The pieces began to gather and make more sense as they recalled the other battle Jeremy fought.

And as they then stared at Hilario, who was beating the shit out of Jeremy, her mindset of her changed very quickly.

It had to be known that a lot of students had fought against Jeremy, but none of them had figured out the details about him.

Well, of course, Hilario.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Devon, as he informed Aiden and Bane about Jeremy’s major weakness, a light smile hung on Raphael’s face.

Raphael was rarely impressed with people, but so far in the academy, three people had been able to get on his notice.

“Hilario,” Raphael mumbled.

Apart from possessing two different powers, and being exceptionally gifted, Raphael had to admit that Hilario was a threat.

The calculative nature and the mindset that she possessed were something that truly intrigued him.

“I look forward to fighting you.” He muttered.

On the stage, after a few more kicks, and stomping, Hilario pulled the brutally tattered Jeremy from the ground.

She glared at him with an expression full of mockery on her face.

“Now, who is bathing in whose blood,” Hilario spoke.

Jeremy’s face was swollen, and covered in blood. His breathing was rough, and even though he wanted to retort to Hilario, he didn’t have the strength to do so.

The self-regeneration had become slower, and he was unable to heal from the injuries immediately.

“You lost,” Hilario said, and then released Jeremy from her grip.

Jeremy staggered after being released.

He raised his head and was about to stare into Hilario’s eyes when those demonic plants emerged from Hilario.

It wasn’t even up to a second after Jeremy laid eyes on the demonic plants, and they penetrated through his body.

The plants went so deep that they appeared on the other side of his body.

Jeremy’s eyes twitched, and he staggered backward. He seemed to have words to say, but the excruciating pain that was caused by the plants caused him to be completely speechless.

“Ahhhh~!”

Perhaps the loudest scream emerged from Jeremy, and right after he screamed to collapse to the ground.

The demonic plants made him feel like his organs were being twisted and then set on fire. It was the most painful feeling that Jeremy had ever experienced in his life.

And even as he fell unconscious, he was still able to experience some of the pain.

As Jeremy collapsed on the ground, the referee stepped forward and spoke.

“The winner is Hilario from the bandit division.”

Hilario had a very stern expression on her face even after defeating Jeremy, but when the referee announced the winner, there was a bit of a smile on her face.

.....

The smile only lasted for a few seconds, and as she turned towards Raphael, who was also staring at her, her lips curved inwardly.

No words were said between the both of them, but the tension was felt.

“Raphael and Hilario, I wish you both congratulations on getting to the finale,” Kai said.

Kai as well as the other six directors stood from their seats.

There was then a smile on the seven of their faces, even on Vermont as he stared at Raphael and Hilario.

“Hehe!”

And if there was someone excited the most among the seven directors, then it was Wyatt.

The director of the bandit’s division.