The Fallen Star Squad drew their weapons and casually swatted the incoming skills apart like they were brushing away sparks.
Then they surged into the crowd.
Boom. Boom. Boom…
Heavy impacts rang out one after another. Bodies either exploded on the spot or got launched into the air like they'd been hit by a truck.
Tier 9 Enhanced—monsters in anyone else's eyes—looked no different from ordinary people in front of them.
"What?!"
"How is that possible?!"
Charles, Dominic, and the others stared, eyes wide.
Sure, Tier 9 wasn't supposed to beat Tier 10. But even Tier 10 fighting Tier 9 shouldn't look like this—one hit, one kill.
A dozen-plus Tier 9 Enhanced working together could absolutely bring down a Tier 10 Awakened.
They'd deployed over a hundred Tier 9 Enhanced. They'd thought this was a guaranteed win.
What was happening now smashed everything they thought they knew.
"Don't tell …" soone whispered, voice turning dry. "Maxwell was right. Are they really Tier 11?"
Charles and Dominic exchanged a look—and both saw the sa shock in the other's eyes.
Then they got their answer.
A Tier 10 Enhanced from the Caldwell side suddenly moved—no warning, a straight sneak attack. He shot toward Emily, clearly having decided she was the softest target in the group.
His dagger was a breath away from Emily's back when—
Emily moved like she'd expected it.
She spun and slashed in a clean backhand arc.
Blade t dagger with a shriek of tal.
The Tier 10's weapon clearly wasn't cheap; after a collision like that, it didn't break.
But the hand holding it did.
Even Tier 10 strength couldn't compete with Tier 11—especially not when the Fallen Star Squad had spent forever using the Body Refinent Technique thods from that book to harden themselves.
Emily had joined later than the others, but she'd still trained with it for a long ti. Her raw physical power was already above what most Tier 11 Enhanced could manage.
The Tier 10 Enhanced retreated fast, face twisted with disbelief.
"Tier 11…!"
"Trying to run now?" Emily's eyes went cold. "Too late."
Maybe it was just the ti she'd spent with Fallen Star Squad, but even gentle, usually-soft Emily had picked up their one rule—no rcy once it starts.
You tried to assassinate her and failed, you didn't get to turn around and walk away.
The Tier 10 backed off quickly, but Emily was faster. She closed the distance in a blink and drove her sword forward in a straight thrust.
The Tier 10 flicked his arm.
A wall of earth erupted between them—an earth-type ability awakened at Tier 6.
But the wall had barely finished forming when Emily's sword pierced through it like paper.
The tip punched straight into his chest.
A heartbeat later, the earth wall dispersed, and the Tier 10 collapsed to the ground.
That brief exchange hit the onlookers like a sledgehamr.
A Tier 10 Enhanced—killed that fast.
There was no more "maybe."
They were Tier 11. At least.
A suffocating pressure settled over the battlefield. People who'd been shouting a second ago suddenly couldn't find their voices.
Charles's shoulders sagged, like the weight of his own decision had aged him on the spot.
"…We were wrong," he said hoarsely. "We made a mistake."
Dominic still looked like he couldn't accept it, his face stuck in disbelief.
Only Maxwell managed to stay calm.
From the first ti he'd t Ethan's group, he'd felt it—they weren't just Tier 10.
It was hard to explain. The kind of gut certainty only ca from soone who'd crawled out of enough life-and-death situations to recognize the shape of danger on sight.
Too bad nobody had believed him.
And now they were paying for it.
"Stop. There's no point fighting anymore." Charles let out a heavy sigh.
"No!" Dominic snapped, eyes bloodshot. "Since we've started, we can't stop now. We haven't lost yet. So what if they're Tier 11? Use the laser cannon—we can still blow them to hell!"
"You want to destroy the compound?!" Maxwell barked.
"At this point, who cares?" Dominic shot back. "Atlas City's compound can't let outsiders act this wild. If we don't deal with them today, how will anyone respect us if we let them just walk away?!"
Maxwell's face went ice-cold. "Hmph. The laser cannon is under my jurisdiction. Without my approval, who's touching it?"
Dominic's gaze sharpened. "Then I move to remove Maxwell Kane from his position as Commanding General, and transfer his authority."
He turned to Charles, pushing hard. "Whitaker—back ."
Charles's expression tightened. He exhaled and shook his head. "Dominic, you're losing it. Drop it. End this."
Then Charles turned to Maxwell, voice turning awkward. "General Kane… we acted too rashly. Can you… step in and help smooth things over with them?"
"….."
For a mont, Maxwell seriously wanted to start cursing.
He'd told them not to make a move. They insisted on making a move. Now it had blown up in their faces, and they wanted him to clean it up?
But whether he liked it or not… there was no dodging it.
The other families had already taken a swing. They were the last people who could credibly "diate" now.
And these were the compound's core combat assets. If they got ground down too badly, Atlas City would pay for it later.
Maxwell pinched the bridge of his nose. "First, have your people stand down."
"Alright." Charles didn't hesitate.
He turned toward the battlefield and shouted, "Everyone—stop!"
The Whitaker Family Enhanced pulled back imdiately, retreating to the rear.
"Stop!" Gabriel called out just as fast. The rcer Family forces also disengaged without argunt.
That left the Caldwell and Hale forces staring at each other, uncertain. Their front line was already getting shredded—retreating now felt humiliating, but staying ant dying.
Dominic and Benjamin exchanged a look.
In the end, both n clenched their teeth and pulled their people back.
Only one problem—
The Fallen Star Squad had never been the type to stop just because the other side decided to stop.
In their words: You stopping is your business. Us killing you is ours.
So the Hale and Caldwell people who were slow to withdraw… got punished for it.
Whether it was intentional or not, the Fallen Star Squad—who'd mostly been fighting with pure physical force up to now—suddenly started using skills the mont only Hale and Caldwell were left.
Big Mike dropped another [Rain of Flas], and Tier 9 Enhanced fell in sheets.
Garrick's earth ability had evolved into sothing terrifyingly efficient—dig, trap, bury. Half the ti, it didn't even look like a battle had happened. It even saved cetery space.
Sean's hands went full tal. With a burst of speed, he beca a human battering ram, plowing through bodies like he didn't weigh a thing.
Skinny Pete's [Wind Cutter], Henry's [Void Beam]—they all ca out.
Hale and Caldwell numbers started evaporating at a horrifying pace.
"..." Dominic and Benjamin's faces turned green.
"General Kane!" they shouted at Maxwell, voices cracking. "Make them stop!"
Maxwell snapped back, "What do you want to do? You think I can control them?!"
He sighed hard anyway and stepped forward, turning to Ethan with a strained look. "Ethan… can you pause for a second?"
From within the chaos, Ethan's voice drifted out, maddeningly calm. "General Kane, give a mont. Let finish wiping these guys out, then I'll talk."
"….."
Dominic tried to back away, but Charles grabbed him and blocked the path, forcing him to stay put. Everyone's eyes swung back to Maxwell again.
Right now, the only person who could possibly get a response was him.
Maxwell felt his scalp go numb. He forced the words out anyway. "Ethan. I'm asking you—stop. Call them back, alright?"
He didn't have much hope. He'd only t Ethan once.
But to Maxwell's shock—
Ethan actually answered.
"I respect General Kane," Ethan said clearly.
Then, louder: "Everyone, stop."
Imdiately, the Fallen Star Squad pulled back. Skills cut off mid-cast. They regrouped behind Ethan like a switch had been flipped.
Maxwell froze for half a beat.
Then, involuntarily, he straightened. For the first ti since this ss started, he felt… weirdly powerful. Like his words actually mattered.
With the killing stopped, the leaders on the other side all exhaled at once, like they'd been holding their breath for minutes. When they looked at Ethan's group now, it wasn't anger anymore.
It was pure fear.
Charles stepped forward, face stiff with embarrassnt. "Ethan… can we find sowhere to sit down and talk?"
"I don't have ti for that." Ethan's voice was flat. "I stopped because of General Kane. That doesn't an this is over."
Charles swallowed. "Then… how do you want to resolve this?"
"Simple." Ethan lifted a hand and pointed—straight at Dominic and Benjamin.
"They die. And the Hale Family won't exist after today."
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