Volume Two: The Youth of a Thousand Faces, Truth in Guise Chapter Seventy-Three: The Art of Explosion

Remy quietly used his crystal brain to scan the distant Karren. Disaster level: 103.

“What’s going on? Wasn’t it 127?” Alice asked.

“I’m not sure, but I suspect it has something to do with his supernatural abilities,” Remy replied. “I checked his disaster level to determine his current strength. If he’s as powerful as before, it means he entered our world first. Now that his power has weakened, it suggests he’s divided his strength. That probably means my big brother and the others are each facing a separate ultimate form.”

Alice stared at Remy in silence, then said, “Remy, you’re so smart.”

Remy blushed, embarrassed.

“Well, I’d better start assembling the bomb,” Remy said, taking components from the storage box and immersing himself in his work.

Alice put on her monocular lens and carefully watched Karren’s movements. But—he was gone!

Just a moment ago, Karren had been there, conspicuous and noisy. Why had he vanished so suddenly? Alice’s combat instincts screamed that something was terribly wrong.

“Move!” Without hesitation, Alice grabbed Remy and dashed out of their hiding place in the ruined building.

Remy was bewildered. What was happening? Why the rush? He’d only just begun assembling a bomb.

But within seconds of escaping the building, the entire structure collapsed behind them. They didn’t pause for a moment, putting distance between themselves and the crumbling skyscraper. Smoke and dust continued to billow, and within that swirling haze, a figure charged ferociously toward them.

Karren leaned forward with all his might, the single horn atop his head like an unstoppable spear piercing through the chaos, aimed directly at them.

“He’s too fast! We can’t outrun him!” Alice shouted.

“The rhinoceros, being a large mammal, has a relatively small brain—only about 400 to 600 grams, not even half that of a human. When injured or cornered, they become incredibly aggressive. Despite their bulky size, they can run at speeds up to 56 kilometers per hour. He’s a disaster entity, so his abilities are probably amplified. Now he—”

“Now is not the time for biology lessons! Think of a way to shake him off!” Alice felt as though her lungs were about to burst; stamina was not her strong suit.

“Turn! The greater the momentum, the harder it is to change direction. Maybe we can slow him down.” Remy made a snap decision—there was no time for hesitation.

“Alright!”

Without another word, the two split at a street corner, each turning in a different direction. To their surprise, Karren, unable to stop, crashed full speed into a wall, unable to even attempt a turn.

Seeing this, they slowed their pace; maintaining a constant sprint was exhausting.

“It looks like he can’t even slow down or turn. We’ve finally found a weakness,” Remy said, wiping sweat from his brow.

“Yes, but does this mean you won’t have time to make the bomb?” Alice asked.

“Probably not. It seems we’ll have to face him head-on. Luckily, he’s less agile than us, and now he’s only at the lowest level of ultimate form. Maybe—I might not win.”

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“‘Maybe’ isn’t good enough. You have to be certain!” Alice said. “My dad and brother always told me that war is a gamble with your life—if you lose, you lose everything. You must guarantee success. Remy, you keep assembling the bomb. I’ll hold him off.”

“What?!” Remy exclaimed in shock. “You? Alice, don’t joke! How could you possibly handle an ultimate form alone? I can’t let you do something so dangerous.”

Alice glanced at him with disdain. “Who do you think you are, talking to me like that? If you want to protect me, you’d better be stronger than I am.”

Remy was speechless. He could not refute her words. It was true—he had no real ability to protect Alice. Even in a fair fight, Alice could easily defeat three Remys. Was he just a burden?

“Alright, alright, I’m just kidding,” Alice laughed suddenly. “But what I said is also true. Right now, you don’t have the skill to protect me in battle. So let me handle it.”

Remy pressed his lips together, then nodded firmly.

Karren emerged from the house he’d just burst a hole through and charged at them again.

“Remy, get to safety,” Alice said.

“You be careful.”

“Don’t worry.” Alice smirked, disassembling her Gat-style pistol into twin guns crossed over her chest. “I may have always trained with my mom, but don’t forget—I’m the daughter of Eddie Hall.”

Alice’s gaze changed, becoming wild and fierce like Hoy, the family’s famous berserker. That savage aura—like a beast unleashed—seemed to flow in the blood of the Hall family, branded on their souls.

Countless magazines spun in the air; with a thought from Alice, her pistols reloaded at lightning speed, firing bullets with various effects.

Karren charged again, rapidly closing the distance between them. His speed was formidable, but against Alice’s quintuple dynamic vision, it wasn’t nearly fast enough!

Meteor Swordfall

Bullets rained down on Karren like a storm. Both siblings knew this supernatural technique, but Hoy used the orthodox Meteor Swordfall, relying on tiny objects. Alice, however, only needed her ability-infused bullets.

The bullets struck Karren’s body, exploding in dazzling bursts like fireworks. Yet they caused no harm; Karren pressed on, shouting as he charged to pierce Alice’s body.

“Tch, such thick skin!” Alice complained, sidestepping Karren’s clumsy but powerful charge, then swapped to another magazine.

If her attack power wasn’t enough, she’d use effect bullets—delay rounds.

When the delay rounds hit, they dissipated instantly, transforming into a faint glow that seeped into his body. His movements slowed noticeably.

Since charging was his only attack method, Alice made the smartest judgment—slow him down.

For some reason, Karren seemed capable of only one attack: relentless charges aimed at Alice’s heart, which she dodged again and again. After several exchanges, his speed continued to drop.

Now, Alice was confident she could easily dodge him—but defeating him was another matter. Powerful bullets required lengthy charging, several seconds of energy infusion and compression, making them too risky to use in this fight. She couldn’t harm Karren at all.

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Remy assembled the bomb while observing the battle. He saw Alice’s bullets had no effect; Karren’s defense was so strong that only Hoy’s Demon-Slayer and Jade Butterfly’s Ice-Edge Dew could hurt him. Remy shouted, “Alice! Rhino skin is thick, but the folds are fragile and prone to parasites. Try attacking those!”

Skin folds? Alice adjusted her monocular lens to maximum power, finally spotting fine wrinkles between Karren’s neck and shoulders—his weak spot.

She understood. Alice loaded a special magazine into her twin pistols and pulled the trigger.

This time, the bullet wasn’t pure supernatural energy, but a tiny pellet, nearly invisible to the naked eye.

The pellet struck precisely into the folds of Karren’s neck. Instantly, a flash of light, and several tiny plants began to sprout from the wrinkles.

Rootgrass—a plant currently used by the Disaster Prevention Bureau. It can instantly root and grow upon contact, forming a stable structure used to support collapsing buildings, giving people time to evacuate.

Alice had infused her rootgrass-seed bullets with a huge amount of supernatural energy. Upon contact with solids, they would immediately sprout.

Rootgrass grew visibly, twisting around Karren. Finding the ground, it violated normal plant growth by growing downward, using its stem as a root, binding Karren completely.

Karren, always shouting obscenities outside, now howled in pain. Rootgrass roots burrowed mercilessly into his flesh. He tried to cut the grass with his sharp horn, but the angle made it impossible.

Karren had to divide not only his power but also his intelligence among his clones. This one was the weakest; both strength and mind were allocated minimally. His already limited intellect, after division, left this clone a mindless brute, easily imprisoned by Alice’s rootgrass.

“Ready? Rootgrass won’t hold for long!” Alice called.

“Ready!” Remy pressed the switch. The bomb in his hand, packed with high-energy explosives, began to emit an overload alarm. Once the heat reached a certain level, Karren would get a big surprise!

“Get clear!” Remy shouted, hurling the bomb to land at Karren’s feet.

Alice rushed behind the cover Remy had prepared, plugged her ears, and gleefully cried, “Fireworks time!”

Karren’s clone screamed in rage, as if he knew what fate awaited him.

Boom!

A mushroom cloud blossomed in the sky, the art of explosion made manifest. Crimson flames churned in the black smoke, heat waves sweeping over half the city in an instant.

Remy and Alice were the first to eliminate an ultimate form clone.

Amid the deafening blast, Alice said, “Remy, this time I bought you time. I’ll wait for you to get strong enough to protect me~”

Sadly, Remy couldn’t hear her at all.