Villain With The Absolute Evil Sytem
Chapter 55 - 53 : The Chase

Chapter 55: Chapter 53 : The Chase

The air was thick with the scent of blood and burnt debris.

Shirley’s heart pounded in her ears as she stared at the man standing before them. Reinhardt.

The man who stood as a symbol of unwavering justice, she had seen this man countless times in the NEWS.

His piercing gaze locked onto them, his hands relaxed at his sides, but Shirley wasn’t fooled. That man was like a coiled spring, ready to strike at a moment’s notice.

Her grip on her knife tightened.

Lumian, however, was different.

He simply smiled beneath his mask.

"Well, shit," he muttered, cracking his neck.

Shirley glanced at him. "You got a plan?"

Lumian tilted his head. "Oh, plenty."

Shirley’s eye twitched. "Care to share one?"

"Nah."

Before Shirley could curse at him, Reinhardt took a step forward.

The pressure in the air changed.

A wave of authority, raw, overwhelming presence pressed down on them like gravity had just tripled in intensity.

Reinhardt spoke, his voice calm but laced with finality.

"Surrender."

Shirley scoffed. "Do we look like the surrendering type?"

"You look like a girl who’s lost herself." His gaze hardened. "And a man who should’ve never been let loose."

Lumian placed a hand on his chest in mock offense. "Ouch." Lumian avoided talking too much to avoid a situation whereby Reinhardt would recognize his voice.

Reinhardt didn’t react.

"You’ve slaughtered enough," he said. "If you lay down your weapons now, I’ll make sure your deaths are quick."

Shirley snarled. "Go to hell."

Reinhardt’s fingers twitched.

"Wrong answer."

And then he moved.*

He was fast.

Faster than anything Shirley had ever seen before, but not faster than Lumian.

Lumian was already gone before Reinhardt’s foot even hit the floor.

Shirley barely had time to register his disappearance before a boom cracked the air

And suddenly, Lumian was behind Reinhardt, swinging his fist with enough force to shatter bones.

Reinhardt dodged.

Barely.

His head tilted just enough for Lumian’s strike to miss by a hair’s breadth, the sheer force of the punch tearing a chunk out of the wall behind him.

A flicker of surprise passed through Reinhardt’s eyes.

Then his elbow slammed backward, aiming for Lumian’s ribs.

Lumian twisted mid-air, evading the strike with impossible agility, landing on his feet with a light tap.

Shirley could barely keep up.

The two of them moved at speeds beyond human comprehension, clashing in bursts of sheer destruction.

Lumian struck, fast, fluid, relentless.

Reinhardt countered precisely, calculated, unshaken.

They were evenly matched or so it seemed.

That wasn’t right.

Shirley’s breath hitched as she noticed something.

Lumian seemed faster.

But Reinhardt was stronger.

Every blocked attack from Reinhardt sent shockwaves rippling through the air. Every step he took cracked the ground beneath him. He wasn’t just defending, he was anchoring himself against Lumian’s monstrous speed.

And the worst part?

He wasn’t even breaking a sweat.

Shirley’s grip on her knife trembled.

"Shit..." she muttered under her breath.

This wasn’t just some ordinary opponent.

This was someone who had been built for moments like this.

Someone who had fought against monsters before and won, she had seen clips of. him in action,

I have to do something.

She charged.

A blur of motion, her blade flashing toward Reinhardt’s exposed side.

His hand snapped up like a vice.

Shit!

Before she could react, her wrist was caught, her entire body wrenched sideways.

A devastating knee slammed into her gut.

The air ripped from her lungs.

Shirley’s vision blurred as she was launched backward, her body crashing through a row of lockers. Metal twisted and shattered around her as she landed in a heap of debris.

She gasped, coughing violently, struggling to get back on her feet.

Reinhardt didn’t even glance at her.

His focus remained solely on Lumian.

"You’re fast," Reinhardt admitted. "But speed alone won’t save you."

Lumian dusted off his coat. "And you’re strong." He rolled his shoulders. "But strength alone won’t save you."

Reinhardt’s jaw tightened.

Then he was gone.

A single step and the space between them vanished.

His fist rocketed toward Lumian’s chest.

This time, Lumian didn’t dodge.

He blocked it head-on.

A boom echoed as their fists connected, the floor beneath them exploding outward from the sheer force.

The entire school shook.

Cracks spiderwebbed across the walls.

Dust and debris rained from above.

Shirley shielded her face as the shockwave ripped through the hallway.

When the dust settle Lumian and Reinhardt were still standing.

Locked in place.

Lumian grinned. "That’s all you got?"

Reinhardt’s eyes darkened.

And then his other fist slammed into Lumian’s stomach.

Hard.

Lumian’s body folded.

He didn’t fly backward,

No.

Reinhardt’s grip kept him in place, forcing him to take the full force of the strike.

Lumian coughed, spitting out a glob of blood.

Reinhardt’s expression didn’t change.

"You’re durable," he remarked. "But not unbreakable."

Lumian chuckled, blood dripping down his lips.

"Oh, you have no idea."

Then his hand snapped forward, his fingers pressing against Reinhardt’s chest.

For the first time, Reinhardt’s eyes widened.

It was faint.

Barely noticeable.

But he felt it.

A sudden, sharp *pull.*

Like something was being drained*from him.

"Wha—"

Lumian was about to use [Dark Pilfering]

But Reinhardt immediately shoved Lumian back, putting distance between them.

A sliver of confusion flickered across his face.

"...What did you just do?"

Lumian wiped his mouth.

’Shit, it didn’t work. He’s too perceptive,"

"Wouldn’t you like to know?"

Reinhardt’s fists clenched.

Lumian took the opportunity to launch a large chunk of debris at Reinhardt. A distraction as immediately it crashed into Reinhardt, he sprinted towards Shirley, threw her over his shoulder and bolted.

The world blurred past in streaks of gray and red as Lumian sprinted through the ruined hallways of the school, Shirley slung over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Blood dripped from her knife, trailing behind them like breadcrumbs, but it didn’t matter. Not anymore.

What mattered was the heavy, unrelenting presence pursuing them. Lumian’s ’distraction’ had little to no effect.

Reinhardt.

A force of nature in human form.

His footsteps, each one a deep, earth shaking boom grew closer. Steady. Relentless.

Shirley struggled against Lumian’s grip. "Put me down! I can fight!"

"No." Lumian didn’t even glance at her. His focus remained ahead, dodging broken desks, shattered walls, and bodies, both fresh and long-cold.

Shirley clenched her teeth. "I’ve seen what you can do, Lumian. He’s strong, but with both of us, we can take him!"

Lumian scoffed. "You have eyes but cannot see."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Lumian suddenly leaped onto a set of lockers, kicking off them to propel himself through a window, landing smoothly on the ground outside the school. The second he touched down, he bolted, the wind howling around them as he accelerated.

"Look closely," Lumian said. "Does that look like a man you can take?"

Shirley, gritting her teeth, twisted her body to glance behind them—

And her breath hitched

Reinhardt was gaining.

Effortlessly.

His face was calm, unreadable, but his eyes held a cold, focused murderous intent.

She was just ten percent of Lumian’s ability, and Lumian who had ten times hers struggled to outrun Reinhardt. Shirley put two and two together, and her previous statements sounded like stupid gibberish to her.

Panic crawled up Shirley’s spine.

"...He won’t kill us, right?" she asked. "He’s a hero."

Lumian didn’t answer.

Because even he wasn’t sure.