Evolving Infinitely From An E-Class Hero-Chapter 104: The Apostle 2

"Pick one," the trio said in unison, their voices echoing weirdly, as if bouncing off invisible walls.

I didn’t hesitate.

My Agility let me close the gap in a heartbeat, and I threw a haymaker at the leftmost Apostle. My fist passed through him, the figure dissolving into golden motes of light.

"Decoy!"

The real Apostle, or rather one of them swung from my blind spot, his fist glowing with that same golden energy. I barely twisted out of the way, the blow grazing my shoulder. It burned like hell, not from heat but from some kind of raw, otherworldly force that made my endurance strain to keep up.

"Nice try!" I growled, pivoting on my heel and launching a spinning kick.

This time, I aimed for the center Apostle, but he raised a hand, and the space in front of him compressed. My kick slowed, like I was moving through molasses, and before I could pull back, he flicked his wrist.

Whoosh!

A wave of force slammed into me, sending me skidding across the warehouse floor till I hit a pile of crates, splintering them into kindling.

"Okay, this guy’s trouble." I wiped dust from my face as my mind raced.

The Apostle’s powers were spatial manipulation, energy constructs, and maybe some kind of matter distortion. He wasn’t as strong as me physically, but his control over the space was insane. I needed to close the distance and overwhelm him before he could pull more tricks.

I sprang to my feet, running forward in a zigzag pattern to throw off his aim.

The Apostle’s duplicates moved in sync, their hands weaving patterns in the air. The ground beneath me shuddered, and spikes of golden energy erupted from the floor, sharp enough to skewer me. I vaulted over them, my body twisting mid-air, and landed in a roll. *

"Too close." I gasped with a pant.

"Getting warmed up?" The Apostle taunted, his voice echoing from all three duplicates. He raised both hands, and the air shimmered again.

This time, a grid of glowing cubes, each the size of a fist appeared around me, forming a cage. The cubes pulsed, and I felt the space inside the cage contract, squeezing the air from my lungs. My endurance held, but the pressure was intense, like being crushed by an invisible vice.

I gritted my teeth, my Intelligence kicking into overdrive.

"Spatial compression. He’s trying to lock me down." I couldn’t break the cubes with brute force—not without knowing their makeup. But my perception caught something: a faint flicker in the cubes’ glow, a rhythm to their pulses. They weren’t perfect.

There was a weak point.

I focused, my eyes narrowing, and spotted it, a single cube at the top left corner, pulsing slightly out of sync. I surged forward, my strength powering through the crushing pressure, and slammed my fist into the weak cube. It shattered, and the entire cage collapsed, the golden fragments dissolving into the air.

The Apostle’s duplicates faltered, and I seized the moment.

I charged the real one—my Perception locked onto the subtle heat of his breath, a huge sign no duplicate could mimic.

Bam!

My fist connected with his chest, and this time, there was no barrier. The impact sent him crashing through the warehouse wall, leaving a gaping hole.

Dust and debris rained down as I stood there, panting and my knuckles stinging.

But he wasn’t done. A low chuckle echoed from the hole, and The Apostle stepped out, unscathed, his t-shirt was torn but his grin was wider than ever.

"Not bad, Reno. You’re as strong as they say." He raised a hand, and the air around him crackled. A massive, translucent cube formed above him, its edges glowing with golden light. It was huge, at least ten feet across, and it vibrated with enough energy to make my skin crawl.

"That’s not good." I braced myself as he hurled the cube at me. It didn’t just fly, it warped the space around it, distorting the warehouse like a funhouse mirror. I dove to the side, but the cube shifted mid-air, tracking me like a heat-seeking missile.

"He’s controlling its trajectory." I couldn’t outrun it, not with that spatial manipulation.

Instead, I planted my feet and met it head-on. My Strength and Endurance surged as I caught the cube with both hands, the impact driving me back several feet.

The concrete cracked under my boots, but I held firm, my muscles screaming as the cube’s energy burned against my palms. It wasn’t just heavy, it was trying to erase the space I occupied, like a black hole in miniature.

"Got you," I grunted, and with a roar, I twisted my body and hurled the cube back. It wasn’t precise, but it was fast, and The Apostle’s eyes widened as he raised another barrier. The cube smashed into it, the collision sending out a shockwave that shattered every window in the warehouse. The barrier cracked but held, and The Apostle staggered back, his breath heavy.

"You’re... something else," he said, wiping blood from his lip.

"But I’m just getting started."

He clapped his hands, and the warehouse transformed. The walls, the floor, the ceiling—they all shimmered and shifted, replaced by a grid of golden cubes stretching in every direction.

It was like being inside a tesseract, an infinite maze of glowing lines and surfaces. I struggled to make sense of it, but I could feel the space itself bending, looping, folding in on itself. The Apostle’s voice echoed from everywhere and nowhere:

"Welcome to my domain, Reno. Let’s see how long you last."

I cursed under my breath. This must be his Supreme Skill, a spatial labyrinth where he controlled reality itself. Every step I took felt wrong, like the ground was shifting beneath me.

I saw The Apostle, or his duplicates flickering in and out of existence, each one launching attacks. Golden spikes shot from the walls, energy beams lanced from the ceiling, and the air itself seemed to twist, trying to crush me.

But I wasn’t just some rookie.

I analyzed the patterns, tracking the real Apostle’s movements, and my agility kept me one step ahead. I dodged a beam, ducked under a spike, and countered with a flurry of punches, shattering duplicates left and right. Each one dissolved, but the real Apostle was still out there, his laughter echoing through the maze.

"Enough games!" I shouted, my voice reverberating through the warped space.

I focused my mind, zeroing in on the faintest trace of his aura.

There—

Behind a wall of cubes. I sprinted forward, my Strength tearing through the glowing barriers like paper. The Apostle appeared, his hands raised to summon another attack, but I was faster. I tackled him, driving us both through the maze’s walls and back into the real warehouse.

We hit the ground hard, the impact cratering the concrete. I pinned him down, my fist raised, but he just laughed, his eyes gleaming with that same unreadable intensity.

"Huh! You win this round, Reno," he said, his voice calm despite the blood trickling from his nose. "But don’t get cocky. The real fight’s coming."

The labyrinth dissolved, the warehouse returning to normal. I stood, catching my breath, my body aching but intact. The Apostle rose, brushing himself off, his grin never fading.

"You’re worth the hype," he said, turning to leave. "We’ll meet again. Next time, I won’t hold back."

Tti-ring.

[New Skill Unlocked: Exchange]

[Skill: Exchange]

Composition:

Allows vessel to switch places with a designated Tactical Swarm Drone. Both vessel and the target must not be within line of sight. The exchange is instantaneous and ignores physical barriers or distance.

Limitations:

Can only be used once every 30 miutes.]