In the car beside him, Madison sneezed loudly. "Damn it — who's talking trash about me behind my back? Could it be that bitch I slapped earlier?"
With no one else around, Madison's true colors showed immediately. Of course, she only acted like this when Damon was present.
She tossed a casual complaint, glanced at the rearview mirror, and subconsciously licked her lip. "Darling Lin, you weren't like this before. I never knew you were hiding such power!"
Through the mirror, Damon could feel her blatant gaze sweep over him as if trying to see right through his thin jacket into the man beneath.
"You're overthinking. I've always been like this; you just paid attention to other things about me before. If it were you, I'd be even crazier." Damon knew what women liked to hear.
Madison smiled, satisfied, though she said aloud, "Well, we can't be that violent. Even if something like that happened, I could handle it myself." She'd always been the one doing the bullying — who would dare bother her?
Damon was about to say something when his brow tightened unexpectedly. He asked, cool and sudden: "Madison, have you offended anyone lately?"
"Huh? No?" Madison looked puzzled by the question. "Let me think… I beat up two thugs yesterday, roasted three keyboard warriors the day before, and argued with two haters for a whole day the day before that. Before that… nothing big."
"Is that so?"
Damon looked at the 3D view. A dozen red dots had formed an encircling pattern. He zoomed in toward the red-dot cluster and saw a man in black staring in their direction.
No doubt about it — those people were coming for them. No — they were coming for Madison.
"Stop the car." Damon ordered.
Madison didn't know why, but obediently pulled the car over to the side. "We're still not at your place yet," she sniffed — she'd purposely rented a place near Damon; it took under ten minutes to get there, so they often went to and from school together.
"Don't talk. Come with me." Damon's face grew serious; he motioned for Madison to follow.
At that moment two men dressed in black strode toward them. As they passed, both suddenly turned and reached into their bags for something.
Before Madison could react, Damon snapped his fingers. From a spot a short distance away, a thick rectangular ridge of rock surged up from the ground. The two men — caught off guard — nearly staggered from the shock of the earth ripping up.
At the same time, two faint brownish-yellow shields formed around Damon and Madison. Rule number one of combat: pull up shields first.
"Talk. Who sent you?" Damon demanded.
The men in black glanced at the jagged rock, then at Damon's unruffled posture and Madison's stunned face. Without hesitation, one of them cursed under his breath and bent to contact his team.
"Situation changed! The target is accompanied by other superpowered individuals! Requesting backup!"
Damon's brow tightened. He raised his right hand; with a crackling sound, a brilliant bolt of lightning issued from his forefinger and coalesced into a lightning serpent that bit one of the men in black. The lightning then arced and struck the second man as well. Both men collapsed almost simultaneously.
"Abort the arrest! All units, be advised — mission parameters updated. Kill the primary target and the other male at all costs!"
The next second, Damon noticed the surrounding red dots almost move in unison. People drew pistols and fired from a distance. Two of them wielded submachine guns — bullets snapped out like fiery snakes, most of which struck the faint brownish shields.
"What the—? These guys are coming after you? What did you do?!"
Madison had never expected that her city high school life would suddenly turn into an unrestricted North American gang fight.
"It's you who did this!"
Damon said as he scanned the 3D view. Apart from one red dot, all the other enemies had already gathered.
Madison's eyes widened in shock. "Ah, they're coming for me? I didn't know!"
"By the way, what kind of magic is this? Full of security… unexpectedly reliable."
She reached out and touched the shield, discovering with amazement that it could extend along her hand and continue to provide protection. Even if she moved away from the original spot, the shield remained around her.
"That… it actually moves!"
"Save the experiments for later," Damon rolled his eyes. He opened his right hand and shouted: "Flood the Golden Mountain!"
Fire magic — Flamestorm!
Suddenly, dozens of water columns shot up several meters from the flat ground ahead, instantly turning into a torrential downpour that seemed to engulf the entire world. The three people closest to the columns were "evaporated" instantly.
"Damn it! What kind of monster is this! Watch out for—"
The leader of the black-clad men cursed under his breath. He saw rain soaking his sleeve but didn't care — until he smelled something burning. Scorch marks appeared on his arm, and his pupils constricted sharply. "Wait… oh shit! This water is—fire?! Run!!"
Originally, the men had intended to find cover, but they didn't expect the water to "ignite" on contact. The liquid flames consumed clothes and hair at astonishing speed, engulfing each person. The two men farthest away quickly turned and ran.
Madison immediately activated her innate telekinesis, dragging the two back into the raging waters. Amid their screams, the liquid fire consumed them entirely.
Afterward, she stared at the rising white steam coalescing into a deadly, forbidden area, her heart still racing.
"You never told me you could do this water magic."
"It's just… a bit fancy," she replied.
"Likewise, you never told me you could use telekinesis."
Damon surveyed the area to make sure no one had slipped through. Then he noticed, about 200 meters away, a man in black hurriedly running down some stairs.
"Also… that's fire."
"You're telling me that's fire? Since when does fire act like water?" Madison gave him a look that clearly said, are you joking?
"My fire can be water, lightning, light, or wind. You'll see eventually." Damon waved his right hand casually.
Nearby, the wall of a small garden suddenly vanished.
Two hundred meters away, the last black-clad man ran down an alley. The next moment, a three-meter-high wall suddenly appeared at the alley exit.
The man froze. Where did such a massive wall come from?!
He knocked on it, confirmed it was solid, and turned to run another way. But just two steps forward, another wall appeared out of nowhere, blocking his path completely.
Looking up at the sky, he saw the blazing sun. Haunted in broad daylight?!
Madison blinked, pointing at the empty garden beside them as if she'd seen a ghost. The area where the wall had been was now perfectly blank, as if erased with clay.
"What did you do this time? I mean… a wall this big?"
"You'll see soon enough."
Damon came beside Madison, grabbed her hand, and waved lightly. A two-meter-diameter blue arcane circle appeared beneath them.
Arcane Magic — Teleport!
"Don't move during the teleport. Stay within the circle, or even a rock shield won't protect you."
Listening to his gentle warning, Madison stared blankly at the deep magical circle. In one day, her entire worldview had been shattered and rebuilt.
Her best friend suddenly revealed, after more than ten years: I'm a magic boy.
Yes. Just that absurd.
Watching the circle brighten, Madison suddenly realized something and turned to the calm Damon.
"Wait… how are you so skilled at this?"
Damon nodded. "You noticed… I'm from Changsha."
"Ah?!"