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Russell stared into Ming's blood-red star pupil, bracing for... something. Mental invasion, soul-crushing despair, instant death—the usual demon eye nonsense.
Nothing happened.
"You..." Ming's confident expression crumbled into confusion. "You're strange. I can't see into your heart at all."
Either Arrogance is blocking him, or it's my transmigrator soul that's immune. Betting on the symbiote.
The logic was simple—Arrogance was a living, thinking creature wrapped around him. Ming's eye was probably trying to read the symbiote's mind, not the human consciousness within. Like trying to psychoanalyze a leather jacket instead of the person wearing it.
Russell had Fubuki subtly separate the team with telekinetic barriers, preparing escape routes. But as he turned to coordinate, he realized his teammates were... changing.
"First... first... first..."
Lucian stood rigid, repeating the word like a broken record. His eyes had gone glassy, pupils dilated, a manic intensity building behind them.
Oh shit, mind control—
"Only under Russell's leadership," Lucian suddenly declared, his voice rising to evangelical fervor, "can Northgate return to the championship throne! Russell is the chosen one! The prophesied savior of our institution!"
Russell blinked. "...What?"
Did the demon eye just turn him into my personal cheerleader?
Before he could process this development, Yuna's transformation began. Her hands flew to her cheeks, pupils literally morphing into pink hearts like some kind of cartoon character.
"Lucian, Lucian, Lucian..." she chanted, swaying back and forth. "I like him, I like him so much! Why won't he notice me? Should I confess? No, that's too forward! But maybe—Lucian!"
Russell's confusion deepened. The Eye of Heart reveals... crushes? Is this a combat ability or a dating app?
Then Jean removed her glasses.
"Oh no," Russell muttered, already sensing where this was going.
Jean's entire body language transformed. The quiet, studious girl began moving with a serpentine grace, face flushed, breathing heavy.
"Yes, that's it..." she moaned, twisting under invisible gazes. "Look at me more! See the real me! Not the good girl, the actual me underneath!"
Her body trembled, back arching, and—Russell politely looked away as he noticed her pants darkening with what was definitely not combat damage.
Are there ANY normal people in this club? We've got a cult leader, a lovesick stalker, and an exhibitionist. No wonder I feel out of place—I'm not perverted enough for this team.
That left Sonny.
Unlike the others, Sonny kept his head down, shoulders hunched. When he finally looked up, his face was twisted with pure, concentrated hatred.
"Lucian. Russell." The words dripped venom. "It's all your fault. Yuna should love ME! The Battle Club should be MINE! You don't deserve any of it! You should all just DIE!"
The temperature around Russell seemed to drop. His eyes went cold, evaluating. The others were dealing with amplified emotions—embarrassing but harmless. But Sonny? That wasn't amplification. That was revelation.
"So that's how it is," Russell said quietly. "As long as I kill you," he called to Ming, "they'll return to normal. Probably. You're all weird regardless."
Ming laughed, the sound echoing off ruined buildings.
"You think the Eye of Heart only reveals truth? Oh, you poor fool. Truth is just the beginning!"
Russell ignored the villain speech, sending Artoria to attack while having Unohana restrain Sonny with binding spells. But Sonny was still a silver-level cardmaker—his cards began fighting back against the restraints.
Great. Now I have to fight the boss AND babysit.
Reality twisted. Monsters materialized from thin air, surrounding his affected teammates. But these weren't random demons—they were specifically tailored nightmares.
Next to Lucian cowered a pathetic creature with slicked-back hair, whimpering: "Why did we lose? It's my fault, always my fault. I'm not good enough, never good enough..."
Around Yuna danced a golden-haired figure, sobbing dramatically: "Don't abandon me! Please don't leave me alone! I'll do anything, just don't go!"
And Jean was being circled by a pale, naked version of herself, screaming: "Don't look at me! Don't see what I really am! I'm disgusting, I'm wrong, I'm—"
He's manifesting their deepest fears. Lucian fears failure. Yuna fears abandonment. Jean fears exposure of her true nature.
"But why isn't there anything around Sonny?" Russell wondered aloud.
The answer was obvious. Sonny wasn't under the eye's influence—he was cooperating. His hatred was real, his betrayal genuine.
"No mercy then," Russell decided.
Meanwhile, Artoria had reached Ming. Caliburn, cloaked in wind, swept toward him with enough force to split mountains. Ming smiled, materializing a scarlet blade from pure energy.
CLANG!
The impact created a shockwave that shattered windows for blocks. Ming's feet cratered the ground, sinking six inches into solid stone, but he held firm.
"This is why you cardmakers disgust me!" he snarled, his left hand already forming another blood-construct. The crimson light swept outward in a devastating arc, catching Artoria mid-dodge and launching her through three buildings.
Thank god for the Silver Arm's enhancement. Without it, she'd be paste.
"Neliel, handle Sonny. Then support Artoria."
Reddish spiritual pressure erupted skyward. "Sing, Gamuza!"
Neliel's Resurrección form materialized—half-human, half-divine antelope, all predator. Sonny's face went white with terror. He'd seen what she could do in this form. But desperation and jealousy drove him to fight back, his cards manifesting to slow her advance.
Russell kept one eye on that battle while monitoring the others. His teammates were managing their manifested fears, barely, but Ming was the real problem.
"Why are these outsiders so strong!?" Ming's face contorted with rage and disbelief. "The Eye of Heart should be supreme! Lord Koth proved that!"
Lord Koth is decorating the sky as a corpse, genius. Maybe reconsider your life choices.
"I'll show you TRUE POWER!"
Ming's eye exploded with light. Blood-red energy poured out, coalescing, growing, taking shape. In seconds, a giant stood before them—fifty feet of crystallized malice and power, with Ming somewhere inside controlling it.
"Behold the Form of the Spirit Lord!" His voice boomed from within the construct. "This is divinity made manifest!"
Russell studied the giant, mind racing through options. This just went from hard to nightmare mode.
Then Sonny, still dodging Neliel's attacks, made his move.
"Lord Ming!" he screamed. "Russell has a one-shot kill technique! Massive damage but only once per battle! Watch for the golden light!"
Neliel's lance punctured his chest mid-sentence, but the damage was done. Russell watched emotionlessly as Sonny collapsed, noting how even unconscious, the boy's face was twisted with resentment.
"Complete betrayal then. No coming back from that."
Ming's laughter shook the ruins. "How DELIGHTFUL! Such pure hatred from such a weak soul! He despises strength he can never have!"
Neliel retrieved her lance and hurled it at the giant. The weapon broke the sound barrier, aimed perfectly at where Ming's heart should be. But the giant moved with impossible grace, catching the lance through its palm. The weapon pierced through, lodging deep in its chest, but not deep enough.
"So close!" Ming taunted. "Just a bit more and you might have—"
The giant raised both hands, forming a massive crimson blade that pierced the clouds above. It descended like divine judgment, aimed directly at Russell.
Fubuki bit her lip hard enough to draw blood, pouring everything into her barriers. The blade met her telekinesis with the sound of a world ending—metal on metal, reality on reality, will on will.
"Incredible!" Ming boomed. "You actually blocked it! But what about the next one? And the next? How long can you—"
Golden light split the sky.
"THERE!" Ming screamed with triumph. "The killing blow! Thanks to your friend's warning, I'm ready!"
Russell had used the same tactics as against Wade—Neliel for distraction while Artoria charged her attack under Fubuki's concealment. But Sonny's betrayal had ruined the surprise.
The two attacks met in the space between heartbeats. Gold and crimson, holy and profane, justice and madness. The collision created a new sun, too bright to look at directly. The ground liquified, buildings vaporized, the very air screamed in protest.
When vision returned, a crater dominated the landscape where the town center had been. And still, impossibly, the giant stood. Dimmed, damaged, but standing.
"I really must thank your companion," Ming said, fear bleeding through his bravado. "Without warning, even I would have died from that."
Russell began calculating escape routes when Artoria sent him a mental message. Not words—just pure confidence, absolute certainty.
Trust me.
He did.
"If it weren't for that trash," Russell said loudly, "you'd already be dead."
"Surrender to divine power!" Ming roared, but his next attack was interrupted by Neliel's lance finding his chest again. This time he didn't bother blocking, letting it pierce through. The wound sealed almost instantly.
"Pathetic! These pinpricks mean nothing! My next attack will—"
A white-armored figure leaped toward the giant's chest. Artoria looked impossibly small against the massive construct, a mouse attacking a mountain.
Ming's laughter was hysterical. "A TOOTHPICK! You're going to tickle me to death? Please, make my victory complete with your stupid—"
Golden light, tiny compared to the giant, pierced its chest dead center. Nothing dramatic, barely visible.
Ming kept laughing. Russell held his breath.
Then a voice rang out—not quite male, not quite female, but something between and beyond:
"[Flash of the Silver Arm]!"
Light erupted from INSIDE the giant. Not an external attack but an internal detonation, golden fire consuming it from within. The blood construct's upper half simply ceased to exist, vaporized in holy light. The energy Ming had been gathering detonated prematurely, adding to the destruction.
When the smoke cleared, nothing remained of the giant or Ming except a single eye hovering in the air, still pulsing with that sick red star pattern.
Material drop? From a boss we shouldn't have been able to beat? This training session just became profitable.
Russell felt the fear constructs around his teammates dissipate. Lucian blinked, confused. Yuna turned red and looked away from everyone. Jean quickly put her glasses back on and tried to pretend nothing had happened.
And Sonny...
Russell approached the semi-conscious betrayer, Arrogance's tentacles writhing with anticipation.
"R-Russell," Sonny stammered, attempting a smile that looked more like a seizure. "You can't blame me! I was controlled! The eye made me—"
"People always have to pay the price for their actions," Russell said softly. "Don't they?"
The tentacles reached for Sonny's throat.
"Russell, wait."
He paused, turning to see who dared interrupt justice.
"What?" His voice was flat, dangerous. "Are you going to plead for him?"
(End of this chapter)