Chapter Four: The Student and the Serpent

The invisible barrier was pierced by the red snake, and the pebble fired by his ability also passed straight through its body.

After two consecutive failed attempts, the red snake’s fangs were nearly touching the young man’s nose.

Just a moment more.

The hunter struggled to rise from the ground, excitement flickering across his face as he licked his lips. Just a moment more, and the newly awakened divine power would burrow into the youth’s skull, slickly carving a path through his brain, slithering down his throat, destroying his organs, devouring that vibrant heart and blood…

Then there would be hope. The heart of such a powerful psychic! With such a replenishment, he could surely heal these damned wounds.

After that, the hunt could continue—or perhaps it was better to regroup with the others. In any case, once he had the heart, everything would work out! He could escape! Even that woman would never find them among millions of anomalies!

“Kukukapu!” Lost in his frenzied thoughts, he uttered a bizarre cry, savoring the unique pleasure of the rusty taste in his throat—

“Ku?”

He felt nothing.

His mouth was empty.

No sensation of feeding came, as if—

“As if your Void Snake had bitten nothing at all?”

“!”

The hunter’s attention snapped forward. The red snake was darting back and forth in the space where the youth’s upper body had been, unable to seize even a mouthful of flesh.

But humans can’t vanish into thin air—unless he was a Brahmanic Mystic. The youth with glasses clearly did not fit this category. Shaking his head nervously, the hunter searched for his opponent, and when he found the answer, he exclaimed in shock, “Puku?!”

What had happened? Anyone following the youth’s stunned gaze would immediately understand.

The young man hadn’t left his spot. Instead, he stood balanced on one foot, his entire body tilted sixty degrees to the right—suspended in midair in a posture impossible for a normal person, as if frozen midway through a fall.

Gongsun Ce flicked a leaf, which sliced through the air at high speed, whistling like the earlier pebble, but also failed to touch the snake.

“How fascinating.”

“…Void Snake!” The hunter jerked his head to the right, and the red serpent swerved and lunged.

But the Void Snake’s bite again met only air. This time, he saw it clearly: the young man, without moving a muscle, inexplicably floated backward!

“Puku?!”

“Truly worthy of being a Kukakapu alien—even the sound of your astonishment is unique.” As he drifted back, Gongsun Ce straightened his body and adjusted his askew glasses. “Is this really so surprising? I can use my ability to strike you or control other objects—so controlling my own body is hardly a problem.”

“You treat…your own body…as a tool?!”

“At first, it hurts a bit when you slip up, but you get used to it. Really, that’s a remarkably inexperienced reaction—could it be you’ve only ever bullied ordinary people with your ability, and never fought a proper opponent before?”

The hunter fell silent.

He was not incapable of understanding such tactics; from a warrior’s perspective, this was undoubtedly a wise approach.

What truly shocked him was the youth’s attitude.

So utterly ordinary.

No significant emotional fluctuation, no provocative words. This psychic showed not a trace of urgency—even his expression was unchanged from their first exchange.

Fighting him, speaking with him, was no different from “missing the subway on the way to school and waiting for the next.” Nothing to fuss over…

What kind of joke was this?

The hunter panted nervously. Aren’t all psychics supposed to be clueless students? This was nothing like what he’d heard!

Now the battle was locked in a strange stalemate. The hunter whipped his head, guiding the red snake through agile turns in the air, while the youth used his abilities to move about, dodging the serpent’s attacks by a hair’s breadth each time.

Old wounds still ached; the fear that the woman might return at any moment, the pressure of an unpredictable fight—these three burdens combined made the hunter almost tremble.

As a Mystic of the Wilderness Aspect, his confidence in his own “speed” and “strength” was absolute. By his reckoning, the Void Snake should be specialized in speed…

If he faced a Manifested enemy, or a disaster or Brahmanic Mystic, he’d have to accept his fate. But here, he was fighting a mere psychic! Yet this young man was matching him in speed, relying only on his own ability!

“…”

The hunter’s eyes bulged. He wasn’t ready to give up yet. In the brief pauses as he controlled the red snake, he observed the youth’s movements closely.

“Kupupu…kapupu…”

The hunter chuckled.

“And what’s so amusing about that, Kapupu alien?”

“Kupupu…you…have confined the battle to this small area the entire time…You must realize the Void Snake has a maximum range…Why not expand the battlefield, search for its weak point, instead of fighting at such dangerous close quarters…?”

He spoke in the common tongue, but his accent was bizarre and thick.

“Just now, I finally understood…Kupupu…You’re worried about the people nearby!”

Gongsun Ce dodged another lunge. “Is my kindness so offensive to you?”

“Kapupu…Your kindness…hurts yourself! You worry that if you leave the battle zone, I’ll target other psychics…like the residents in this apartment building!”

“I knew it, I knew it…Not every psychic is like you!” The malicious predator rubbed his hands together, as if preparing for a feast. “You must choose! Stand there and let me eat your heart! Or I’ll change targets now, and devour other…psychics! You choose! You choose!”

“…”

Gongsun Ce stopped as commanded.

In the end, just a student! Satisfied with his own cunning, profiting from his opponent’s conscience, the hunter eagerly jerked his head, ready to feed.

But his movement suddenly froze as the student’s next words captured his attention.

“I’ve always wondered—why don’t you have your Void Snake burrow underground, or hide inside a building, launching attacks from unexpected angles?”

“Ku…”

His tone remained calm. “From what I’ve seen, this snake possesses a peculiar property: it is untouched by external forces. Neither my powers nor the pebbles or leaves I threw could affect it. So, hiding in the earth or within structures and launching surprise attacks would suit your needs best, wouldn’t it?”

“No need…!”

Before the words were finished, the red snake shot out again. Gongsun Ce, as if expecting it, shifted aside, letting the attack pass. “I can’t think of any reason you wouldn’t do that. Judging by the range, it’s certainly possible. Is it a matter of vision? Before considering that, I thought of a greater likelihood.”

He narrowed his eyes, pointing at his opponent. “You need to distract me.”

The hunter’s body tensed. The psychic pressed his advantage without hesitation: “I’m no expert. Before I understood your attack, unable to see the snake, I might have assumed your ability failed due to your injuries. In that case, what would a psychic like me do? Just to be safe, I’d hit you a few more times to ensure you couldn’t fight back, wouldn’t I?”

“You…!”

“That’s what you’re afraid of. The two attacks you suffered earlier left you grievously wounded. If I struck again before your snake succeeded, all your efforts would come to nothing.” Gongsun Ce raised a finger. The Void Snake, inexplicably, halted in place. “Clearly, you control this snake through your own senses—every time you attack, you jerk your head, and after the first failed strike, your expression was odd. You must share senses with it.”

“If you’re knocked out, the snake’s attack naturally fails—no, perhaps it would even vanish on the spot?”

Gongsun Ce narrowed his eyes. “Just now, when I raised my hand threateningly, you stopped the Void Snake’s attack. You’re afraid I’ll strike at your true body, so you dare not take risks. Am I wrong, Kukaka alien?”

The green-crested alien’s expression flickered rapidly, finally settling into a look of such forlornness that even a child could recognize it.

If one ignored its earlier deeds and looked only at that face, the youth might almost feel sympathy.

“Half…half…ku…I don’t have enough strength…for precise control…”

So that’s it.

The youth understood.

Wounded, his opponent’s condition had deteriorated, making fine control difficult. If the red snake went underground, it would further draw attention to his true body and increase the risk of a failed attack.

This was intolerable to the hunter. Now that his trick had been exposed and his weakness laid bare, deception and tactics were useless.

From this moment, it was the final confrontation.

The hunter knew it, too. He stared at the psychic, his gaze desperate and determined.

“Earlier, I was…startled by your speed…that’s why I attacked cautiously…that lack of confidence hurt me…pupu…I should have been bolder…! I…won’t drag this out any longer…!”

“Void Snake!”

At the command, the red snake shot out like an arrow, and the inhuman creature lunged at the psychic as well. “Let’s see whose speed…is greater!!”

Perhaps driven by some unknown sense of urgency, the enemy was willing to risk his body to settle things now.

Dodge the Void Snake, and the hunter would bite him.

Strike the true body first, and the snake might tear him apart.

Whom to deal with? The psychic understood—he had to decide instantly, hoping his attack would be faster. Both thought and action had to outpace the other. That was why the hunter called it a contest of speed.

“Hoo…”

Gongsun Ce clenched his right fist.

His grip was amateurish—anyone could see he was no hand-to-hand expert.

The eyeless head of the Void Snake, the hunter’s slashing claws—both were clear in his eyes, even the venom dripping from the enemy’s mouth seemed to float weightlessly in the air.

This was merely the acceleration of perception brought by tension.

Even if one’s instincts could track the attack, the body might not respond in time. Even if danger was sensed, physical frailty could make escape impossible. This awareness of one’s own helplessness—these limitations—was the despair ordinary people felt.

But now, Gongsun Ce did not feel despair.

Because he was a psychic.

“Haa!”

The enemies before him returned to normal speed. The untrained youth stepped forward and punched.

Faster than the hunter’s claws, faster than the red snake’s lunge—his fist was fastest! His clenched fist struck the Void Snake’s belly, bending the untouchable monster double with a single blow!

“Kupu!”

The hunter froze in midair. The psychic pressed on, slamming the red snake into the ground. At the impact’s center, a crater appeared where the Void Snake struck earth!

In the pit, the little snake faded into a phantom and vanished.

A deep bruise appeared on the green-crested alien’s abdomen. He collapsed, staring at the youth in disbelief.

Gongsun Ce shook his hand. “Your Void Snake possesses a remarkable phasing trait, but that’s a double-edged sword. It can’t be harmed—but it also can’t touch leaves, pebbles, or my ability’s shield. So here’s the interesting question: how do you attack me with a snake that can neither be affected nor affect the outside world?”

‘Cross all barriers and devour the sweetest blood’—if I had to guess, anything you call a “barrier” is meaningless to it. The enemy’s blood is its only target.

So, the only things that can interact with the Void Snake are you, the controller, and my physical body, as your enemy. From this perspective, it’s a fair ability—so long as I fight you head-on, it’s just a matter of trading blows.”

The hunter’s face grew even more bewildered.

“Pu…how…is that possible…”

Gongsun Ce tapped his own temple.

“Worried about speed? I can control my whole body, or use my power to accelerate a limb. It’s not as strong as those who enhance their bodies, but more than enough for your little snake.”

Thus spoke the psychic.

There was never any need to compete for speed.

The earlier stalemate had only been to test the Void Snake’s nature.

From the very start, he had already been a step ahead.

The inhuman creature spat a final mouthful of dark blood, knees buckling, eyes rolling back as he collapsed and finally lost consciousness.

Gongsun Ce pulled a pocket watch from his coat and checked the time.

It was now 4:40.

“Encountering a strange alien, fighting, and returning home five minutes later—it sounds like the title of a recent light novel. And this alien never even mentioned his name before the battle ended—whether from haste or rudeness, who can say.”

In the end, he never understood the reason for the fight.

He could only guess vaguely.

What the green-crested alien wanted was the heart of a psychic.

But was that to heal himself, or for some other purpose? In any case, Gongsun Ce had never heard of any medical value in a city student’s heart.

“It’s bad enough to be treated as a ticking time bomb; now someone wants to eat me? Psychics aren’t ascetics, you know.”

What next?

As he pondered his next move, the youth caught something odd out of the corner of his eye.

He saw a small flower bud.

In the shadow cast by the alien’s hulking, collapsed figure, a delicate bud began to grow, silent and unnoticed in the sunlight.

He was certain there’d been nothing there before.

Then, the day’s second bizarre event unfolded.

The bud blossomed in the shadow, opening into a small blue freesia. From within the flower, a tall blue-haired woman stepped out.

She smiled at the psychic and said, “Well done, young man. Hold out your hands.”

Gongsun Ce obeyed.

The next moment, a pair of gleaming handcuffs snapped around his wrists.