Chapter 58: Spreading pacifism
Chapter 58: Spreading pacifism
The Vanguard couldn't understand what happened.
He looked at his right hand and saw that the original four meteors that were rotating around his wrist now became only three. He used up one of the meteors in his attack, which meant that his punch should have destroyed any defense it came across.
So then how did Atlan catch his fist?
Did I misfire my LifeSkill?!
He quickly withdrew away from Atlan, jumping back until he could feel the walls against his back. He reached down deep in his Soul System and tried to figure out why his Crashing Meteor Punch didn't pack as much power as he thought. Atlan shouldn't have been able to catch his attack.
Meanwhile, the Quill looked at Atlan, who was walking towards him with an indecipherable look on his face.
The Quill took the initiative and rushed towards Atlan. His blue battle suit buzzed with high-voltage electricity arcing through the air.
With the momentum he had, the Quill jumped up and did a side-kick aimed directly at Atlan's chest.
But surprisingly, the unknown youth simply turned his whole body away at the very last second. The Operator didn't think that Atlan had the reaction skills to even see through his attack. But he did.
How? That's a kick from a taekwondo master!
With his back to Atlan, the Operator was vulnerable to any attack. Atlan raised his hand and positioned it to grab the Operator's shoulders.
Ha! The Quill's battle suit was charged with enough voltage to incapacitate 2nd stage Students and even some in the 3rd stage. It was an impenetrable defense that deterred any attackers.
The Operator smiled when he saw Atlan grab his shoulders. He couldn't wait to see Atlan's entire body shuddering from a thousand volts coursing through his body.
But the smile on the Operator's face faded once he felt Atlan tighten his grip on his shoulders.
Huh?! How's he able to touch me?
He looked at Atlan's eyes and saw that it was filled with clarity, as if the electricity coursing through his body didn't affect him.
That's impossible!
Atlan's entire body should be fried inside out by now, with his muscles seizing and unable to move. The Operator thought that his battle suit malfunctioned, but then he saw electricity arcing through Atlan's body, and one even streaked through his eyes. He was getting electrocuted! Yet, why did it seem like he wasn't affected at all?
"Hurting will only cause further suffering," Atlan said.
"??? What are you talking–"
The Operator didn't know what Atlan was talking about. But then, he suddenly felt a sharp, cramping pain in his stomach that took all the breath out of his lungs. Atlan gave him a swift punch in the gut that made his brain feel hazy.
As a man who hadn't been through a lot of physical training, this was the first time he felt true pain. It was excruciating. The Quill fell on his knees and passed out in a fetal position.
If he didn't know what suffering was, then he certainly felt it then.
Meanwhile, the Vanguard looked at Atlan with confusion with a tinge of fear in his eyes. He started to wonder who he was facing. Was this unassuming youth actually an S class Tank talent?
Atlan then turned towards him, and fear gripped his heart.
The Knife shook his head and tried to focus. He reactivated his LifeSkill again, with four meteors floating around his fists. This time, he'd make sure to keep his grip on his LifeSkill so that it wouldn't misfire again.
He rushed towards Atlan with both hands in front of him. With double the power of his LifeSkill, there was less chance of Atlan getting lucky and avoiding the full brunt of his meteoric punch.
This was a punch that could disorient a 1st stage difficulty Canzer! He used this power to deal tremendous amounts of damage to a Canzer and kill it with his team in just under half an hour!
Atlan should be feeling the heat by now. As the attack came towards him, he should have been trying to find a way to escape.
But instead of running away, Atlan stood still and only muttered a few words.
"I'm only spreading pacifism," Atlan reminded himself. He wasn't causing violence, he was stopping it.
And with that resolution, the Vanguard's double meteoric punch whistled through the air, leaving only a trail of embers behind his fists. And instead of slowing down, his attack seemed to get faster and faster as it reached Atlan's chest.
This was the last moment to escape. But instead, Atlan closed his eyes!
He tried to remember how the Operator moved his body. He recalled how his waist moved to efficiently muster as much power as he could to his legs.
And as he visualized it, Atlan moved his body in turn. He raised his left leg and left it bent, until at the last moment, he flicked his foot directly at the Knife's ribs.
"GUAAHH!"
The Vanguard felt a few of his ribs crack, leaving him gasping for air. His whole body was cast aside till he crashed onto the wall, unconscious.
He didn't even know what happened.
He didn't see Atlan's swift kick because it was covered by his own two fists!
With just a few moves, Atlan knocked both the Operator and the Vanguard unconscious.
Wemby's mouth was wide agape. He was left speechless.
Is this how powerful a Porter really is?
Wemby knew the Vanguard personally, and he knew that the guy was an experienced fighter in the 2nd stage Student realm. That meteoric punch of his could take out 1 year off a person's SoulTime! Yet Atlan tanked that punch like it was nothing.
Not only that, he knew that the Quill's electric battle suit was used to paralyze some criminal Saviors. It wasn't something that anyone could just shrug off.
Yet Atlan did.
Here he was worried that Atlan would get accidentally injured, not knowing that he should have been worried for the other two!
Atlan walked back to Wemby.
"Wow! You beat those guys bloody."
Atlan tilted his head and looked confused. "I'm a pacifist…"
Wemby was speechless. Is he serious?