Selpe's face darkened, sweat running down her temples. Her heart beat faster as she realised she couldn't move even a millimeter—she was frozen right where she stood, staring silently at the Lord of the Plague in complete awement.

'I-impossible…? How? How could he do that?'

Was it a barrier he used on her? Or some other mysterious power he wielded? What was he using?

A lot of question lingered in her mind that she couldn't answer

Then another thought flashed in her mind—something she had once done by mistake, not really a mistake but she did it with her choice . Back when the Servants of Will first arrived at the Iron Knuckles' gate, she had used her Judgement Step without thinking and had broken through the barrier they had set, breaking a law of reality that wasn't meant to be broken so easily.

So she considered using it again—the Judgement Step—to break through whatever power or force Brahmi was holding her with. It was risky; it could harm him. But then again, he was the Lord of the Plague, the only person in the State of Heaven who had reached the Grandmaster Branch. It wouldn't hurt him much. At best, only slightly.

As she released this power of hers, mark energy surged through her back, crawling through the mark veins across every part of her body, and with an exceptional, exertional force, she vanished into the thin fabric of reality.

Just then, the Lord of the Plague's eyes widened in surprise as he noticed her appear again a few metres behind him. A small wound formed on his shoulder joint, making it ache sharply, though it healed in an instant.

Selpe's eyes widened too, a hint of surprise flickering in them as she realised she had really broken through the power of Brahmi De Forge. A wave of excitement rushed through her heart as she thought about it.

However, she had cut him on the shoulder, which she assumed would be harmless enough—just a friendly strike. She hadn't gone for his hand because that would look too dumb and soft, and she hadn't aimed for his neck because that would look even dumber given the situation. And she already knew he would heal the wound instantly—and he did.

After seeing his reaction, Selpe didn't hesitate and rushed in again without slowing down.

Twisting her torso, she charged at the strongest man in the State of Heaven, swinging her arm from behind and aiming a straight punch at his face.

Meanwhile, the Lord of the Plague shifted his right leg in a smooth arc, turning toward Selpe. Her punch shot forward with a speed that could rip an awakened person's head clean off—or at least snap it out of place and leave them half-dead.

But that wasn't going to happen. Not even close.

A smirk formed onto his otherwise expressionless face, and in a blur he bent into a slanted bend, dodging with ease—letting her punch hit nothing but the thin air hanging in front of him.

He twisted his arm, forming his loose hands into a tightened hand filled with some anger, the nails dug up into his palm, as if bearing a force that would blow the whole training room into nothing but fragments.

Yes, you guessed it right—he was going to strike back. An action always brings a reaction, and Selpe's move would be met with one just as sharp. Was he heartless?

No. Not at all. He simply treated everyone the same, even in something as simple as training.

And even then, it wouldn't do anything too serious to Selpe—just send her flying into the ceiling. Nothing more.

Selpe's excitement vanished instantly, replaced by a shock that felt like lightning striking her bare heart. Her eyes widened as she realized, just in time, that Mr. Brahmi's punch, coming from the side, was aimed straight at her torso.

Before she could react or defend herself, the punch slammed into her with tremendous force.

She flew off the ground, striking the ceiling in the same instant, a sharp pain shot through her body.

However, it wasn't that deep. She instantly regained control of her body and smoothly landed back on the floor.

She didn't waste time thinking, Oh, what the hell happened? Oh, my reputation is ruined now? No—why would she? Honestly, she didn't really care.

And recalling what she had been taught, Selpe remembered why she had decided to use her ability on the Lord of the Plague—to bolster her reputation. Yet, she immediately refused to use any of her powers in front of Brahmi De Forge, whom she didn't trust. She had no intention of exposing her abilities; if one day they stood on opposite sides, it would take mere seconds for him to kill her, knowing her strengths and weaknesses.

She also noticed that the Lord of the Plague hadn't even used a single one of his powers—except the first one he had used to freeze her movements—which made her realize that even the strongest man in the State of Heaven wasn't daring to reveal his full strength.

Which made her conclude that even he didn't trust her.

She stepped back with her left foot and lunged at him again with tremendous speed.

Swinging her leg at a complete angle toward Brahmi's legs, she forced him to jump into the air, his eyebrows twitching and arms spread wide.

Twisting her body, she struck her right foot against the ground, channeling tremendous force upward. Rounding her body, she lifted her leg and, at another complete angle, struck violently at Brahmi's head.

And the strongest man of the State of Heavens slammed to the floor with tremendous force, bouncing back uncontrollably. Yet he rose to his feet again, twitching his bloody lips. "Better!" he said, wiping the blood from his mouth and giving Selpe an awkward smile.

Meanwhile, Nimoo sat expressionless, observing the scene unfold nonchalantly beside Selpe's black cat, Nima.

The cat had been silent the entire time Selpe practiced with Brahmi—not a growl, not a hiss—which Nimoo found absurd. But he didn't care; he regained his composure and focused on the scene.

Brahmi's stomach let out a strange growl as he continued, "Alright, you win. My stomach is about to start a war."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.