Zayn was his own worst enemy.Zayn had always been skeptical about the flowery saying, but he had to admit there was truth to the whole thing after all. A human’s biggest enemy would always be themselves—or more specifically, the faults and defects of a person’s character. Slothfulness, greed, envy…Or the demon that rose from the noise and delusions of the psyche.Zayn was fighting his own demon. The more he wanted to channel his concentration into tranquil absorption, the louder the opposing voices raged on in his head. It seemed to have gained a mind of its own.It was talking to him. The demon was talking to him.“F**king hubris, right? You really think you’re going to survive locking yourself in a sealed room! You’ve even placed your life and death in the hands of someone like Sean Wilson. Gotta hand it to you, huh?”“Wow, someone’s panicking, aren’t they? You’re running out of air, man. You won’t survive to see those eleven days; that I can assure you.”“You’re going to di
“Zayn Larson—!”Any and everything the demon was saying was being rendered as whitenoise to Zayn. The feeble ray of light shone brighter until, finally, it pierced and dispelled the veil of darkness. Light engulfed everything around him.The voice was gone.Just like that, Zayn had conquered his demon.And from that came the euphoria of being freed from his shackles and the inhibitions that had previously coursed through Zayn’s vein. He felt alive! His mind had been emancipated. He was granted liberty, and his spirit felt as free as a horse without his reins.His quondam progressed so quickly that it birthed a demon, and now that it had been banished and dispelled, Zayn was a different man now!Had he dismissed the gruelling idea of isolation training—whittling his will to its weakest, baiting his demon to emerge and finally destroying it—it would have come back to haunt him once more. When he attained the perfect class, as he was well on his way to Invincibilis, the demon would
Taio’s apparent poker-face could not disguise the burning rage in his eyes. A casual observer could easily realize that he was here for revenge and revenge alone—and whatever motivated it had to be leviathan.Liam, Holden, and the rest of the Insurgent Trifecta felt Taio’s burning bellicosity and bloodthirst assault on their senses. Understandably, their hearts began to pound against their chests.Taio Cruz was the lead combat instructor of Insurgent Duofecta. The fighter was so powerful, his exact potency was unascertained. At the very least, the man had attained the fourth tier of the superior class. Even Joe lacked the ironclad confidence to go toe-to-toe against Taio, and there was no doubt that he would lose as well. Let’s not discount the fact that there were several powerhouses standing at the ready behind him too.Joe and the others caught on quickly. The surveillance footage Taio provided showed Zayn was the one who killed his people, and that it had to be the impetus behin
Taio let out a laugh. “Oh, is that your confession? The bastard who killed my brother-in-law is one of you Insurgent Trifecta?”Joe took a step forward. “What are you saying?! You have no proof backing up your claims, Taio, so stop spreading misinformation! The Insurgent Trifecta is not a name you can just slander to your liking!”Icy indifference was etched on to Taio’s expression as he nailed Joe with his eyes. “Am I hearing a kind of eagerness to become my enemy, Joe Pennywise?”An intimidating aura emanated from Taio, like a dome threatening to encapsulate the world. The air seemed to have been thickened into a viscous paste. His output of power was so overwhelming that everyone felt the same crushing weight on their shoulders. Even heavyweights like Liam and Holden found themselves gasping for air.The only one who was utterly unfazed was Joe, because he had attained the fourth tier of the superior class. With an unamused sneer, he unleashed his own tidal wave of power to matc
A few moments later, Liam returned from his trip to Squad 4 with a rather disheartening scowl on his face. It was foreboding enough that Joe immediately sprung to interrogate him, “So, did you manage to contract Sergeant Larson?”Liam sighed. “No. Not at all.”“What the hell?” Joe blurted out, his brows rapidly furrowing. “He’s a combat instructor for the Insurgent Trifecta! Of all the damned times he could have chosen—he chose now to go MIA?! God, the Ambrosia Fruit is about to ripen. What kind of irresponsible dimwit would think to ghost his people at a time like this?!”Joe’s tone was angrier than he usually allowed himself to be, but it was not without reason. Joining the Insurgent Trifecta would make one a serviceperson, whose calling to their nation overrode whoever they were as normal citizens. For one thing, a serviceman had to at least be receptive to calls from his superiors!“If I may, sir, Sergeant Larson has been offline since last week,” Liam said.Joe’s brows were p
Even though Insurgent Trifecta and Insurgent Duofecta were equals in name, in reality, Insurgent Trifecta was too weak. It was on a way lower level in comparison to Insurgent Duofecta. As a result, Taio could not be bothered to show Joe any respect. Time passed swiftly. It had already been a week.Throughout the week, Zayn had not shown himself at all. It was as if he had vanished completely from the world. His phone was turned off at all times, and it was virtually impossible to get in touch with him. There was only one day left until the maturation of the Ambrosia Fruit. The members of the Insurgent Trifecta were rather anxious. Besides the members of Insurgent Trifecta, Sean was anxious too. In reality, he had been restless for the past half a month. The mission that Zayn had assigned to him was too important. He laid down most of his other tasks in fear that it would negatively impact the one that Zayn had delegated to him personally. Afterwards, he discovered that Zayn
They walked for a little over ten minutes and arrived at a dimly-lit basement. Gordon looked at the cube-shaped object forged from steel before him. It was as large as a house!Gordon’s eyes were wide in surprise as said to Sean, “Mr. Larson is in there?”Sean nodded and said, “Yes, it’s already been 11 days since the start of his training.”Gordon could not help but cuss despite his old age. “So you’re saying that there’s no food, water or air ventilation in there, and that Mr. Larson’s stayed inside a completely sealed space for 11 days?”Sean braced himself to nod. He could sense the severity of the situation. When Zayn awarded him with the responsibility, Zayn looked completely relaxed, as if he was doing something trivial. In addition, Sean trusted Zayn almost blindly, and that was why he did not think much of the whole situation. He followed Zayn’s orders to carry out the task. However, he had only come to realize how wrong he was after Gordon’s reminder! No matter how powe
Their hearts were racing as they looked into each other’s eyes. They could see the shared worry that welled within them.Oh no, something bad had happened to Mr. Larson!Being scared out of their wits, they were about to charge towards Zayn when he finally spoke. “11 days already huh… Time does fly.”Zayn sounded like he was fighting his emotions. He sounded like he had just experienced the vicissitudes of life.Their movements slowed to a halt upon hearing his voice. They looked like they were feeling every type of emotion all at once. They were astounded and pleasantly surprised. Moreover, they felt a rather peculiar feeling enveloping their hearts, as if the person inside the room was not Zayn at all. It was because the voice they had heard had sounded so well-lived. It sounded like it came from an old man who had lived for a hundred years, and not someone younger than themselves!In the past, Zayn exuded a powerful presence, yet he had never made them feel such a way. It fel