‎A thunderous explosion rippled through the building, rocking the hotel.

‎A human body slowly rolled down the wall of hardened air.

‎" Ah, sneaky old woman... what'd you do that for?"

‎Jamil staggered to his feet in a daze. In the next moment, he violently coughed.

‎Aisha calmly dismissed the invisible wall in front of her, walking forward.

‎"You see, there are two ways to break an artifact. The first is to use the traditional and more conventional artifact breakers," Aisha said, raising a finger.

‎"The second and less time-consuming message is to simply overwhelm the artifact's capabilities with overwhelming Force.

‎ She smiled gently, slowly walking towards him.

‎"For this kind of situation, I usually prefer the second. Of course, option two depends on the strength one can output. but you can see..."

‎She came to a stop a few feet away from him, her coat fluttering slightly in the gentle breeze that was sweeping through the now gaping hole in the building's side.

‎"It does not pose a problem for me."

‎Jamil stared at her, coldly scrutinizing her for a few moments.

‎"Damn, I knew she was strong, but what the hell is this strength..."

‎Inwardly shivering, he straightened from his slouching posture, facing her head-on.

‎"She's a monster. But then, I've met other monsters..."

‎ In the next moment, his easy-going smile returned.

‎" Now that's more like this, let's get this party started!"

‎A heartbeat later, his eyes ignited, glowing ominously with ethereal light.

‎With a shout, he hurled a focused beam of condensed flame at her.

‎Moving slightly, Aisha calmly deflected the beam through the hole in the building's side.

‎A terrible explosion widened the already massive hole in the building's side.

‎With a shout, Jamil charged forward, instantly materializing and then launching a series of focused, white hot, flaming projectiles at Aisha.

‎"Not bad," Aisha murmured

‎The older woman calmly wrapped the plasma bullets in air and hurled them back to their sender; in the same moment, Jamil detonated them.

‎" Oh shit!"

‎With a roar, he redirected the flaming wall of flames back at Aisha.

‎A secondary explosion ripped through the smoldering wreck, ripping away large chunks of concrete.

‎With a flick of her hand, Aisha parted the sea of roaring flames, walking through them like it was the most ordinary thing in the world.

‎Jamil stared at her, his face wrinkled in shock and disbelief. A split second later, his expression turned to one of ecstasy and joy.

‎"Pretty impressive! For an elderly woman, you've certainly not fallen behind with the times."

‎Aisha calmly stared at him, relentlessly pressing forward.

‎" I don't need to keep up with the times to beat the likes of you. You're just a weak coward."

‎Jamil's smile grew wider at the comment.

‎" Now that you mention it..."

‎Several planks of splintered wood from the damaged floorboards and concrete rose into the air, swirling wildly around Jamil's obscure form.

‎Nonchalantly pressing on, Aisha stared at them with cold contempt, her eyes boring into Jamil's glowing russet ones behind her sunglasses.

‎"This weak coward managed to kill your niece."

‎With a violent gesture, Jamil directed the flaming projectiles towards her.

‎With a flick of her wrist, Aisha expressionlessly stopped the barrage if debris in the air.

‎Countless jagged shards of metal and shrapnel trembled erratically in the air, trapped between the pull of the two Talented.

‎Jamil grimaced slightly, veins popping up all over his face from the immense strain of battling Aisha's ability with his own.

‎The debris trembled violently, then slowly, almost imperceptibly at first, started moving back towards Jamil.

‎The large man's eyes widened slightly, then narrowed in concentration.

‎" Ah shit! How is she so strong at her age? And how is the gap in our abilities so huge...It absolutely doesn't make sense!"

‎With a groan, Jamil mentally pushed back, roaring from the tremendous mental strain.

‎It felt like he was trying to physically lift a mountain with his bare hands.

‎And like in that theoretical scenario, the task felt impossible.

‎Gritting his teeth, he continued to resist the incoming projectiles.

‎"Ahhh, aargh! "

‎Staring at the stoic expression on the woman's face, for the first time, Jamil felt a sense of dread.

‎" It's almost like I'm arm wrestling a guy thrice or four times my size."

‎Aisha smiled faintly, pouring more of her ability into the telekinetic battle.

‎"You know, that sense of despair you're feeling, and the thoughts running through your head right now...your lack of understanding about why the gap in our abilities can be so vast...some of your victims must have felt the same way, wouldn't you agree?!"

‎Jamil's eyes widened slightly at the comment, his eyes glowing brighter with renewed intensity.

‎With a furious scream, he sent out a powerful disruptive psionic wave, the force rippling throughout the building.

‎" Get out of my head, you hag! What do you know?

‎Without missing a beat, Aisha calmly deflected it and redirected the remaining energy harmlessly into the sky.

‎"Oh, I now know a considerable bit about you, Jamil Al Quassim, quite a lot. For a small, bitter man, you've caused quite a lot of pain and grief."

‎The projectiles trembled a few inches away from the straining man.

‎"You know nothing..."

‎Aisha leisurely cracked through the mental barriers in Jamil's mind, scanning through the man's thoughts at a frenetic speed.

‎" I see..." she murmured.

‎With a scream, Jamil fell to one knee, violently resisting the telepathic onslaught.

‎" You'll regret this! I swear!"

‎For the first time since the beginning of the confrontation, Aisha laughed. The older woman laughed heartily, then stopped, regarding the kneeling man in cold amusement.

‎" I've done very many regrettable things over the course of my life. But this...I don't regret a single bit."

‎Invisible bindings crept over Jamil's arms and legs, locking him in place.

‎In the next moment, Jamil's eyes widened comically, his mouth falling open in surprise.

‎"Wait a minute now..."

‎In that moment, he rose into the air, immobilized completely.

‎Aisha regarded him emotionlessly, observing him almost clinically.

‎"Like I said before, you're a weak little coward."

‎With a gentle flick, the projectiles in the air surged forward.

‎The barrier artifact thrummed with power, barring the wave of incoming projectiles.

‎"I wonder how long it's going to last," Aisha casually murmured, almost like she was discussing the weather.

‎"You see, what we have here is a unique chance to test the limits of your barrier. Your handy artifact barrier against the might of my abilities."

‎Aisha took off her sunglasses, a brilliant white light piercing through the flames and smoke.

‎A crushing pressure descended upon the barrier around Jamil's body.

‎He gasped at the terrible onslaught, getting his teeth.

‎ For a few moments, the prismatic barrier held, shimmering with translucent light.

‎Jamil warily watched the terrible tug of war with apprehension at first.

‎After a while, his confident smirk returned in full force.

‎"For all her talk, she can't do squat against an artifact of this caliber... it's simply impossible!"

‎Wth a sneer, he scoffed

‎"You can't..."

‎A split second later, the words died on the lips. A myriad of cracks formed in the surface of the shimmering barrier.

‎In the next moment, the barrier shattered with a sickening crunch, dissolving into thin air.

‎In the next moment, the assortment of debris slowly impaled the struggling man, ripping through his arms, legs, and torso.

‎Jamil shrieked in anguish, struggling against the invisible bindings holding him in place.

‎Dark splotches of blood bloomed, staining his dark apparel, dripping rhythmically to the ground.

‎Jamil stared at her with bloodshot eyes that gleamed with hate and fear.

‎The struggling man opened his mouth to say something, but instead coughed a mouthful of blood.

‎Gasping slightly, he stopped struggling, hanging limply.

‎After a few moments, he quietly chuckled, muttering under his breath.

‎Aisha stared at him for a few moments, then sighed.

‎"Good riddance..."

‎Pulling her jacket around her, she calmly stepped back through the wreckage.

‎Lifting the man's body into the air, she elegantly moved through the burning room, blasting the door of its hinges with her ability.

‎"Now to get you back to HQ..."

‎In the next moment, chilling laughter rose from behind her, stopping her in her tracks.

‎Frowning slightly, she turned silently regarding Jamil's mangled body.

‎"Even in this state, you can't help but babble on and on...what to do with you?"

‎On closer observation, she pursed her lips, stopping completely.

‎"Who are you?!"

‎In the next moment, Jamil's eyes snapped open, glowing with a chilling green light.

‎"Who I am is none of your concern, Aisha Lorke..."

‎Aisha raised an eyebrow, silently staring at the new anomaly.

‎The wounds on Jamil's body began to heal at a speed visible to the naked eye.

‎"All you have to know..." the voice continued speaking," is that you can't stop what's coming. Not even your precious Videntis can. And once we take over, even the Brotherhood of Shadows will be powerless to stop us!"

On the ground, the fire department secured the damaged building, sealing the area off from the public.

Automated drones zipped to the top floor, drenching the burning building in water, but despite the drones' efforts, the flames continued raging fiercely.

In the back of one of the trucks, the chief of the firefighting department and his assistant stared at the scene transmitted through one of the drone's cameras in shocked silence.

" What the hell?!"

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