Jelo launched another Dragon Claw, aiming low. Mark jumped with explosive speed. The moment Mark was airborne, Jelo burst forward with Wing Burst, appearing above him, both hands ignited with flames, drawn back for a devastating strike.

But Mark's reflexes were inhuman. Even mid-air, he twisted, his silver eyes finding Jelo's for just an instant.

The world fractured.

Jelo found himself facing multiple Marks, all with those silver eyes. They surrounded him from every angle. He spun, disoriented, launching flaming Dragon Claws in every direction, setting everything ablaze, but none of them connected. The Marks kept multiplying, their voices overlapping in an endless echo. The fires he created seemed to consume everything, yet touched nothing.

This isn't real," Jelo whispered, squeezing his eyes shut. "It's just a simulation."

He focused inward, feeling for his own energy, his own reality. His enhanced vision—it could see through illusions, couldn't it? He forced his eyes open, filtering through the false images, looking for the truth beneath. He ignited his hands, using the real sensation of heat as an anchor to reality.

There.

The real Mark stood several feet away, eyes still glowing silver, maintaining the simulation. Jelo roared and thrust his hand forward, a massive Dragon Claw erupting from his palm, wreathed in the hottest flames he could muster. Mark's eyes widened—he hadn't expected Jelo to break through so quickly—and he barely dodged, the burning energy projection grazing his shoulder and searing his skin.

The simulation shattered.

Mark touched his shoulder, wincing at the burn, then looked back at Jelo. For the first time, there was something like respect in those silver eyes.

"Impressive," Mark said.

Then he moved.

Jelo had never seen anyone move that fast. Mark closed the distance before Jelo could even activate Wing Burst. Jelo desperately released a burst of flames from his body, but Mark's reflexes let him weave through the fire. This time, when their eyes met, Mark didn't just trap him in a simulation—he held him there with absolute focus.

Jelo's body locked completely. He tried to activate Skilled Guard, tried to summon Dragon Claw, tried to ignite his flames, but nothing responded. Mark's silver eyes bore into him, and suddenly Jelo wasn't standing anymore. He was falling through an endless void, watching himself fight Mark over and over, losing every time. In the simulation, his flames consumed him instead of his enemies. Each defeat was more brutal than the last.

In reality, his body stood perfectly still, frozen by the Dead Eyes. The small flames that had been dancing on his fingertips sputtered and died.

Mark circled him slowly. "You had power," he said quietly. "But power means nothing when you can't move."

Jelo tried to scream, but his voice was trapped in the simulation. He watched helplessly as Mark positioned himself, calculating angles with those merciless silver eyes.

Mark struck.

The first blow shattered Jelo's right arm. The sound of bone breaking cut through the air like a gunshot. The pain was distant, muffled by the simulation, but Jelo felt it nonetheless—a white-hot agony that would have dropped him if he weren't already frozen.

The second blow took his left arm. Another crack. Another wave of pain.

Mark moved to Jelo's legs with the same methodical precision. Right leg. Left leg. Each break was clean, efficient, devastating.

Only then did Mark release the Dead Eyes.

The simulation dissolved, and Jelo collapsed. The full weight of his injuries hit him all at once. He couldn't move, couldn't defend himself, couldn't even summon a spark of flame. His enhanced vision showed him everything with cruel clarity—his shattered limbs, Mark standing over him, the silver fading from those eyes as they returned to brown.

"It's over," Mark said simply.

Jelo's vision blurred, consciousness slipping away from the pain. The last thing he saw before darkness took him was Mark turning and walking away, leaving him broken on the ground.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Everyone was surprised—both the Class 1 and Class 2 students. Two things, in particular, caught them off guard.

The first was realizing how strong Mark actually was. They knew he was powerful, but they hadn't expected him to be that strong. What shocked them most was that his battle IQ completely exceeded their expectations.

The second surprise was that there was someone in Class 1 who could put up such a fight against Mark. And they definitely never expected Frank to be the one to stand against him.

Master Steel, who stood at the sideline with Olmo, was very surprised.

"What was that technique he used?" Steel asked Olmo. "His pupils suddenly disappeared. What happened to him? What technique did he use?"

Steel repeated his questions, trying to understand Mark's ability better.

Olmo replied calmly, "Well, not everybody understands his ability. Even I don't fully understand it yet, but I do have some knowledge concerning it. He possesses a set of eyes called the Dead Eyes."

The Dead Eyes are a pair of eyes possessed only by the Mileor Clan. They are passed down from parent to offspring, making the clan the only one in existence with such eyes.

These eyes grant their wielder a variety of unique abilities, such as

Nikegami, an unending illusion that eats away at the mind of anyone trapped within it. Those placed under Nikegami become confused and easily manipulated, their perception of reality slowly breaking down.

In addition to its mental effects, Nikegami grants the user incredibly fast reflexes.

The Nikegami also enhances the user's reflexes, making them exceptionally agile and swift in movement.

Whenever the user activates the Dead Eyes, their pupils disappear, replaced by a dull silver hue. As the user grows stronger and gains greater mastery over the Dead Eyes, that dull silver can intensify—glowing into a bright, radiant silver when the power is fully unleashed.

They were called the Dead Eyes for that very reason—the pupil vanishes, replaced by a dull silver glow.

That's about all I know regarding the Dead Eyes. Anyone who possesses them becomes significantly stronger. From the very beginning, Mark was never on the same level as his peers. He has the potential to surpass them all and become one of the strongest individuals on the planet". Olmo explained.

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.