Gens stepped forward the moment Pulchra left the battlefield.No smile. No greeting. Only a flat stare that made the atmosphere feel heavier.
Gens stopped exactly five meters from Steve.
His hair drifted slightly in the wind.
Steve:(strange… why doesn't he have any ability like the others!?)
Gens: "Heh… I'm surprised you managed to turn Pulchra into that, but… this time, I will test how worthy your intelligence truly is in a fight!"
Steve:(you wanna fight him or not?)
Unknown:(just fight him first. I want to see how that dumb brain of yours works.)
Gens: "Let's begin."
Gens raised both hands, his fingers forming a circular pattern.
"Positive… negative… stack!"
The air vibrated, blue-white sparks flashing like nerves being activated.
Gens: "Ion Rift Burst!!!"
A blast of light erupted, a shockwave shaking the ground.
The compressed ions collapsed into a single point and expelled a brutal energy wave.
BOOOMMM!
The explosion sent Steve flying several hundred meters.
Black smoke slowly faded as Gens prepared his next attack.
Gens: "You see that, Steve!!! That wasn't an explosion created by power! That was the function of a brain being used to its fullest!!!"
Steve:(what just happened… how did that even explode!?)
Unknown:(That wasn't a normal explosion. It was an imbalance. That weirdo forced positive and negative ions too close. When the charge collapsed, it released energy which caused the explosion.)
Steve:(ehhh… okay.)
Gens shifted his feet slightly. Only a little, but his whole posture changed instantly.
A micro-space distortion rippled like shattered glass.
Gens: "This isn't teleportation. I just reduced my inertia!"
In an instant he appeared in front of Steve, as if skipping through space.
But
Steve: "You talk too much!!"
BWHACK!!
Steve's punch crashed into Gens' face so hard it sent him flying.
Gens struggled to land but Steve instantly chased after him at full speed.
Even so, Gens managed to land, quickly setting his plan into motion.
He lifted his palm, aiming it at the ground beneath Steve.
Gens: "Local gravity field… down fifteen percent."
Dust rose, pebbles floated.
Gens: "Then increase… one hundred seventy percent."
The ground beneath Steve curved downward, as if pulled by an invisible core.
Gens: "Graviton Pulse Crush!"
Krek! Boom!
The curved ground lifted upward, trapping Steve at the center of the gravitational core.
Gens: "Hah… hah… hah… this drains too much energy…"
Buk! Bak! Buk!
Heavy impacts echoed from within the compressed mass until
DUARRR!!
The structure shattered into pieces.
Steve shot forward, ready to strike. His fist was already inches from Gens' face.
BWAKK!!
Steve landed a second blow.
BUKK!!!
Gens staggered. His breath hitched.
The pressure from Steve's previous punch still throbbed through his skull.
His feet pressed into the ground, but the ground itself cracked as if unable to support him.
Steve moved again.
A small step very small but enough to make every nerve in Gens' body scream that danger was approaching.
In the split second before Steve's next strike connected, Gens' world suddenly slowed.
His eyes widened.
All surrounding sounds vanished.
Only a low hum remained, like resonance in his old laboratory.
And suddenly, he returned to the past.
Smoke filled the lab.
Small explosions burst from the Phase-3 Field Test machine.
Young researchers ran around in panic while red sirens flashed across the glass walls.
In the center of the chaos, a small boy clutched a thick book titled Principles of Particle Interaction.
It was Gens, age nine.
A senior researcher kneeled beside him.
His body trembled, his left arm injured, yet he still placed a hand on Gens' shoulder.
Researcher: "You're the only one who isn't panicking. You strange little brat. Do you know why you're special, Gens?"
Young Gens shook his head quietly.
Researcher: "From all the experiments we conducted, you were the only one born without the innate abilities every creature in this world has. So you must survive.
And… you don't fight fear. You understand it. You measure it. You calculate it.
You turn it into… data you can use."
Young Gens stared at the cracked screen showing chaotic energy simulations.
Researcher: "One day, you'll fight something that makes no sense. Something you cannot analyze. Cannot predict. And when that day comes… remember one thing."
He tapped Gens' chest.
Researcher: "Science is only useful if you're still alive."
The researcher's face faded.
The laboratory light warped into
Steve's fist, already in front of Gens' face.
Cold sweat ran down Gens' cheek.
Gens (in his mind):(So this is it… a battle that doesn't require intelligence, but absolute power.)
The air pressure around Steve whipped Gens' skin like lashes.
Steve surged forward like a black meteor, dark aura twisting the air.
Time refused to move.
Gens could see his reflection in Steve's eyes.
He looked… small.
Unknown:(what a foolish creature.)
Steve: "Next time don't act so full of yourself! Hutff!!!"
DUARRR!!!
Gens was blasted far away, Steve's punch tearing the arena apart.
Kregt, watching, smiled faintly.He was eagerly waiting for Steve's fight with Fortis.