Miche’s loud roar echoed a few more times, enough for lower-level monsters to collapse. If there was any nearby.

At some point, she had already gone too far from them. They did not stop her. Once she was already in this form, she could only rampage. And every one of them had faith in her.

"Wait..." Troy paused and stopped them. He looked at his comrades, expression solemn. He continued to observe their surroundings as they ran and felt something was amiss.

He only realized something now. And it seemed it was too late now.

"They are leading us on. It’s a trap!"

The others stiffened at this.

"Say that again?" Finneas was angry, but he had not lost his rationality yet.

Just as Troy was about to answer him, loud laughter rang out. Everyone quickly turned solemn and put on their combat stance, preparing for defense and counterattack.

"You are good, dude."

A loud voice spoke, almost like a roar, followed by wild laughter.

They frowned and looked in the direction from which the voice came. The darkness and the shadow of the trees shrouded most of their vision.

Slowly, the man was revealed as he stepped out of the darkness. There was a huge grin on his face; there was an amused expression on his face. Clearly taunting them.

Troy and the others frowned heavily, with Finneas almost about to attack if not for Troy holding his wrist.

They could not help but look up to him. The man was like a giant, towering over them by a full head or more. His pectoral muscles, portruded with veins, were quite intimidating.

One word could barely describe him: a barbarian. A massive one.

"You’re perceptive. What’s your name?" His voice was loud, pointing at Troy.

Troy did not have the time to answer. Finneas glared at the giant.

"Where’s Paula?" he clenched his jaw, rage clearly seen in his fiery pupils.

The man’s grin faltered slightly; he glanced at Finneas.

"I’m not talking to you."

Finneas’s eyes flickered. Troy stepped up. He could feel a presence around them. He became wary and stopped Finneas.

"What? Fuck. Why are you stopping me?" His anger quickly became directed at his comrade.

Troy’s temple throbbed; he was not one with a good temper either. Otherwise, how could he bicker with this dumbass all day?

Instead of answering him, Troy turned to the giant.

"Who are you?"

Based on appearance alone, the giant should be a famous esper. However, he had no recollection of him.

The giant grinned. "You have to survive first to know my name."

Troy furrowed his brows and was about to respond, but Finneas was not having it anymore. His patience had run thin, and he had ignited.

"Where’s Paula?" Finneas yelled and immediately attacked the giant with his fiery fists. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

This idiot! Troy cursed inside of him.

They also prepared to attack and support Finneas. But only a second had passed, and they had to pause again. Their eyes widened.

Why so hotheaded?" The giant grinned, arms stretched in the air as he held Finneas’s neck. Finneas groaned; his legs, which were suspended in the air, flailed.

He gripped the massive arm with his fists, hoping to burn him. However, the hand remained unharmed. They all realized why.

His skin was far too thick!

The giant did not immediately break Finneas’s neck and turned to Troy and the others, and noticed their stance.

"Come on, attack me. With all your might." There was an indescribable amusement in his eyes.

Troy and the others felt insulted. They were all A-class espers. Why did this newcomer act superior?

"Let go of him."

"What if I don’t want to?" The giant played along, his hand gripped tighter on Finneas’ neck.

Finneas turned red, and he struggled harder, his breath leaving him.

Fuck it!

Troy and the others exchanged glances; they would attack the giant all at once. Troy was wary of the others in the woods, but if they did not do something, Finneas would die.

That was when their thinking slowed down, and they felt sluggish.

No. There was a psychic here!

This time, they finally felt an unprecedented crisis.

"Now, don’t kill him." A seductive voice rang. "The mission says capture all of them."

Then another laugh.

"Well, he is a muscle for brains, after all."

Voices from different directions. Soon, they also appeared. They stood in an encirclement to them, looking so casual.

Troy frowned.

What was this? Who were these people? He could not understand.

"Let go of him. If you kill him... Leader will kill you. Choose."

At the mention of Leader, the giant paused, clearly affected.

He sighed.

"Fine!" He let go of Finneas, and his body fell limply on the ground. "This dude attacked me first."

The woman in their midst rolled her eyes.

"Leader won’t care about your explanations. The mission comes first."

"Who are you?" Troy finally recovered from the shock of their arrival. "Why are you targeting us?"

He felt indignant. Only a few knew of this mission. As part of the institution, they always took pride in being the ones behind the scenes.

And now, there was this group that ambushed them. Was there a traitor?

This time, it was not the giant who answered his question. It was a man with white hair and also his pupils.

"Before we tell you, why don’t you... come with us first?" The oddity of his white pupils and his strange smile sent goosebumps down Troy’s spine.

The danger level he felt was even higher than on the giant.

"Bullshit!"

The other espers, his comrades, could not take it anymore. They were proud espers, and being threatened did not bode well for them.

"Let’s just fight, Troy!"

Troy did not answer. He was calculating. What were the odds of winning? Strictly speaking, there were the same number of people.

Yet, he could not stop this tugging feeling that they might... lose.

"Who cares what Troy says! I’ll fucking kill you." The other esper could not wait any longer and moved; a sword appeared in his hand, and he pounced on their opponents.

The man with white pupils and hair smirked.

"Wrong choice."

The giant laughed and cracked his knuckles.

"Leader said to capture and not kill them. He didn’t say we’re prohibited from injuring them, right?"

The woman rolled her eyes. And did not argue.

What he said actually made sense. Her lips also curled, and her pupils turned into a slit. A massive shadow of a snake appeared behind her.