Abruptly, the room's white light turned into red buzzers. Something passed by cameras, leaving only a blur on screens.
"An unknown is detected within the domain." The system kept repeating its feminine voice, alerting and drawing everyone's attention. Impulsively, everyone's eye was locked on monitors after sensing an eerie presence making its way to the hall.
*****
After cornering everyone, Hojo took a few steps towards his initial position. But unexpectedly for him, something came charging at him. The next moment, a tall figure stood behind with a long sword in his hand. For some reason, Hojo's shirt was all torn off.
'I saw him attacking me, but how? How did his sword pass through my infinity?!'
Hojo's eyes widened in surprise; what he just saw was completely out of the blue. He always believed that it was impossible to overcome his invisible barrier or 'infinity.' But someone just broke through his infinity, even tearing apart his clothes.
A shiver ran down his spine.
Hojo had seen him coming right at him, but he didn't try to defend himself because of his unbreakable infinity.
Hojo turned his head behind to see ''him'—who made the impossible possible. Behind, stood a man holding a long katana in his hand. Its single-edged blade reflected the fear and destruction. Brandishing his long katana, he glared at Hojo.
"You aren't invincible."
Smiles appeared on faces except for Hojo's, vanishing the grim expression settled before. It was expected; the person standing in front of them was the strongest sorcerer of the present, before Hojo stole this title.
"Ronnie, he's here! Teach this boy how to behave before seniors!" Dodo shouted from behind, a hope blooming over his face.
'Just as I thought, his invisibility can't stop Ronnie's blade of death.' Oki quickly adapted himself to the situation, a grin appearing on his face with passing time.
Aaida remained silent, staring at Hojo. Meanwhile, Hojo tore apart his shirt completely, throwing it away. His muscles and rock-like abs were clearly visible, filling Aaida's empty face with a little blush. She immediately turned his face from him, only to look again with a bit of hesitation.
"I don't know how you passed through my defense, but it wasn't good of you to tear apart my expensive shirt."
Calm as always with coldness in his piercing eyes, he focused himself on the new member—Ronnie.
"I didn't intend to tear apart your shirt; it's just that I was assuring myself that you are worthy of the strongest. And honestly, you are!"
Ronnie lowered his katana with a warm smile on his face. He wasn't depressed about his title being stolen by someone else but happy for the significant rise in overall strength of humanity, even if it might double.
Seeing Ronnie smile, other sorcerers forced themselves to mimic him. Everyone did a good job except Dodo, who was still uncomfortable with him.
But Hojo wasn't done at his side. Vanishing from others' sight, he instantly moved behind Ronnie to attack him with a swift of his hand. His hand passed right through the air like a sword's blade, slicing air.
"What...?! " There was no one standing before him. His hand didn't touch anything except empty air. Immediately, he turned behind in realization.
There was no one behind. After checking all corners behind, he raised his head to see above. Hall's ceiling was so high that it seemed impossible for a human to reach there. Annoyed, he was about to turn his head behind before a hand landed gently on his shoulder.
"You are pretty fast." Ronnie was indeed where he was supposed to be. Hojo thought that he must be behind him if not in front. He checked all corners, but Ronnie was nowhere to be found until Ronnie himself came and put his hand on Hojo's shoulder like he was always there.
Ronnie deflected back what Hojo tried to do to him.
Hojo was wondering if he himself was mistaken to see him or if he was so fast that his eyes couldn't follow him. Hojo instantly blocked his expression from appearing on his face and calmed himself.
For the first time in his life, he felt what losing to someone meant. He tasted the bitterness of failure after being instantly overwhelmed by Ronnie in speed. No one knew what happened except Ronnie and Hojo himself.
'For a moment, it looked like both of them vanished. They have a terrifying amount of speed.' Oki continued to analyze both of them, his eyes locked on them. It looked like he even forgot to blink amid their actions that were playing in his mind like a movie. He was rewinding each scene and action internally to study the situation.
Oki had the ability to perceive the world through other people's senses, but he wasn't able to use it to its maximum or even for a short duration. Trying to see through another person's eyes would result in instant exhaustion and a complete drain of his energy.
What he could do effectively and efficiently was read others' thoughts. He tried this on Hojo earlier, but he was getting 5x more thoughts from him, which made him feel like his brain was going to explode. So he didn't try it again.
"Hey, can you explain to me what just happened?" Dodo asked Aaida in complete bewilderment. She turned to Dodo for a moment, giving him a deadly glare.
'I don't know. I didn't see anything but felt a wave of cold air colliding with me a moment ago. Even what Lix saw was a very tiny blur lasting for only a few milliseconds.'