Chapter 110 Red light

Words : 1289 Updated : Sep 17th, 2025

The tunnel was silent except for the steady hum of ventilation systems. The emergency lighting cast long, sharp shadows against the metallic walls, giving the space an eerie, artificial glow. Lucas remained still, his stance measured, but his pulse hammered beneath his skin. Jayden took a slow, deliberate step forward, hands in his pockets, exuding the same effortless arrogance that had made Lucas want to punch him back when they were still under the same roof. "I have to admit," Jayden said, his voice smooth, amused. "I thought you'd be harder to split up." Lucas's fingers curled into fists. "We're not here for games, Jayden." "Aren't we?" Jayden leaned casually against the wall, tilting his head as if Lucas was some interesting puzzle to solve. "You dragged your team all the way from School 12 just to walk straight into an ambush. And why? Retaliation?" He scoffed. "Predictable. You never were much of a thinker." Lucas's jaw tightened, but he said nothing. Jayden's smirk widened, sensing the hit. "Come on, Lucas. We both know why you're really here. You're still carrying that grudge, aren't you?" His voice dropped into something lower, taunting. "Is this about the little party I threw at your school yesterday? You should be thanking me. The first-years needed to toughen up." Lucas exhaled sharply through his nose. "Yeah, well, I have little tolerance for predators." Jayden's eyes flashed with something colder. "Ah," he murmured, voice stretching the word as if savoring the weight of it. "So we're back to that." Silence settled between them, heavy and charged. Jayden finally sighed, pushing off the wall. "Still so righteous. So obsessed with being the protector. Tell me, Lucas—what exactly do you think is going to happen here?" His smile sharpened. "You walked into my backyard, with a team that's already scattered, with no exit plan. Some leader you are." Lucas didn't flinch. "Funny. You seem pretty eager to convince me I made a mistake." Jayden chuckled, shaking his head. "That's because I don't want this to be over too quickly. I want to savor it." He took another step closer. "After all, I did promise your sister I'd take good care of you." Lucas's fists clenched, breath steady but lethal. "Careful, Jayden," he said softly, his tone a razor's edge. "You remember how that ended for you last time." Jayden's smile never faltered, but something in his posture shifted—a barely perceptible flicker of tension. Then, he exhaled, shaking his head. Noah's muscles strained against the invisible force, sweat beading on his forehead. Each trembling attempt at movement only seemed to amuse Diana more. She circled him with the practiced ease of a predator, her footsteps echoing in the strangled air while he remained frozen in her trap. "Fascinating, isn't it?" Diana's voice carried the precise, measured tone of a lecturer. "The complete nullification of kinetic energy at a molecular level. Every particle, every atom in your body—all trying desperately to move and finding... nothing." She paused, tilting her head. "Tell me, Knave, in School 12, did they ever teach you about Brownian motion? The constant, random movement of particles?" She reached out, running a finger through the air near his face. Noah felt the pocket of dead space shift, following her gesture like an obedient pet. "Right now, even that fundamental motion is being suppressed. The air molecules around you, the blood in your veins—all of it slows to a crawl in my dead zone." A small smile played at the corners of her mouth. "That's what I call it, by the way. My dead zone. Poetic, isn't it?" Diana began pacing again, her uniform crisp and perfect while Noah's clothes were damp with exertion. "You know what's truly remarkable? This is basic physics, really. The kind they teach in elementary school way before they even let you into the military academy. Well..." She shot him a sideways glance, dripping with mockery. "At least at my school. Perhaps School 12's standards are still catching up? How embarrassing for you." She leaned in close, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. "And do you want to know the best part? This—all of this—is just my warm-up. A little preview for the competition." She straightened, smoothing her uniform. "Consider it a courtesy, really. Now you'll know exactly what's coming when I face your team in the arena. Not that knowing will help." The air grew even heavier, and Noah's knees began to buckle. Diana watched his struggle with clinical interest, like a scientist observing a particularly amusing experiment. "They say we should be focused on the Harbingers, don't they? Unity in the face of extinction and all that." She waved her hand dismissively. "But really, how can humanity hope to evolve, to become strong enough to face them, if we don't push each other to our absolute limits? So in a way..." Her smile widened, showing teeth. "I'm doing my patriotic duty. You should thank me." Noah wanted to respond, to fight back, but in Diana's dead zone, he could barely manage to stay standing. And through it all, she kept watching him with those calculating eyes, as if measuring exactly how much pressure it would take to make him collapse completely. 'Momentum,' Noah thought, forcing his racing mind to slow despite the panic trying to claw its way up his throat. 'Mass times velocity. The measure of motion in a body. She's not stopping motion entirely—she's dampening it. Reducing it to a crawl.' His heart labored against the effect, each beat a struggle. 'The smaller the mass, the easier it is for her to affect it. Air molecules. Blood cells. But larger masses...' He tried to focus through the growing headache. 'Larger masses require more energy to control. Basic physics. Conservation of energy. She can't be nullifying momentum everywhere equally.' The sweat refusing to drip from his brow gave him pause. 'Surface tension. Even that's affected. Which means...' His thoughts raced faster as pieces started clicking into place. 'She's creating zones of varied effect. Concentric layers, maybe? The strongest point must be...' He would have frowned if his facial muscles could cooperate. 'No, think. Don't assume. What did she say about Brownian motion? About molecular movement?' The memory of her condescending lecture burned, but it held crucial information. 'If she's affecting motion at the molecular level, there has to be a pattern. Has to be a structure to it. Nothing this complex can be maintained uniformly.' His lungs burned with the effort of breathing. 'The dead zone. Her dead zone. Why call it that specifically? Zones have boundaries. Edges. Everything has a weak point, even powers that seem perfect. Especially powers that seem perfect.' The pressure seemed to increase, and Noah felt his knees wanting to buckle. 'Got to find it. The edge. The boundary. She's showing off, trying to prove her superiority. People always overextend when they're showing off. Even prodigies from elite schools make mistakes when their ego's involved.' His vision started to blur slightly. 'Can't lose here. Not just because of the competition. This—this is the kind of power that could matter against the Harbingers. Understanding it, finding its limits... that's bigger than school rivalry.' The weight of the air pressed against him like a living thing. 'Stay calm. Observe. Analyze. She thinks she's giving me a science lesson?' A spark of defiance flickered through his dulled nerves. 'Then I better be a damn good student!!'

Chapter 110 Red light

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