Kryptonians: Man of Steel

Chapter 1560 Hachiman's Narrow Escape

Boom——!
That wasn't thunder, but a terrifying roar as pure magic was compressed to its limit and then suddenly released! With Hiratsuka Shizuka standing at the absolute core, a magical pressure that was almost visible to the naked eye and felt like a tangible force suddenly erupted!
It did not spread, but rather, like an invisible, raging deep-sea wave breaking free of its restraints, it surged and crashed wildly in all directions with overwhelming force!

The air was violently pushed aside and compressed in an instant, emitting a teeth-grinding shriek.

The fine sand, dust, and even smaller particles on the ground seemed to be seized by an invisible giant hand, and then violently swept up, torn apart, and accelerated!
They spun wildly around Hiratsuka Shizuka, forming a small but extremely destructive vortex of magical storm.

Unstable, eerie blue arcs of electricity flickered at the edge of the vortex, each rotation emitting a low groan that ionized the surrounding thin air, releasing a pungent ozone fumes.

Crack! Thud!

The concrete floor beneath Hiratsuka Shizuka's feet bore the brunt of the impact, groaning as if on the verge of collapse.

The deep, jagged cracks, like a spiderweb, did not spread slowly, but rather shattered instantly at an astonishing speed, like an ice surface struck by a heavy hammer!
The cracks were bottomless, with jagged edges. Broken concrete fragments were swept into the vortex by the magical storm and instantly ground into finer dust.

The spot where her feet landed had formed a shallow, sunken pit nearly a meter in diameter, and the surrounding ground also showed irregular, wavy undulations, as if it had been trampled by a giant foot.

"Hachiman Hikigaya—!!! Stop right there, you bastard—!!!"

This roar had completely transcended the realm of human voices. It was a mixture of piercing magical shrieks, the crackling of sound torn apart by high-speed airflow, and a destructive rage that originated from the depths of the soul and was completely ignited.

The sound waves themselves carried a magical power, like an invisible hammer slamming into the surroundings, causing the dilapidated brick walls on both sides of the alley to crumble and dust to fall, and some loose window frames to groan dangerously.

In that voice, the rationality that belonged to a "teacher" had been completely burned away, leaving only a violent ferocity, like an ancient beast devouring people, ignited by extreme shame!
The figure of the deep blue magical girl—an outfit that might normally be described as "cute" or even "glamorous"—was now nothing more than a shroud for death in Hachiman Hikigaya's eyes—and suddenly kicked out!
It wasn't a simple exertion of force, but rather the instantaneous, explosive surge of magical power within the body, almost tearing itself apart, being injected into the earth through the feet!

boom! ! !
The shallow pit beneath our feet was like a landmine that had been detonated!
Concrete blocks, mixed with magically melted soil and rocks, sprayed violently upwards and backwards in a radial pattern! Instantly, a larger, deeper, and charred crater was formed.

Hiratsuka Shizuka herself, using this terrifying reaction force, transformed into a deep blue death lightning bolt that tore through the air!
"Tsk-!"

The air was brutally sliced ​​apart, producing a sharp, explosive sound like cloth being torn apart in an instant!
Her speed increased to an unbelievable level, leaving behind a fleeting afterimage of energy composed of highly concentrated magic particles.

The afterimage trailed a ghostly blue tail, drawing a deadly light path through the dim alley. Like a comet falling to earth, it charged towards the figure stumbling and fleeing in panic like a stray dog ​​in the narrow alley, with a destructive and overwhelming momentum!

That speed was so fast that it exceeded the limits of human dynamic vision!

On Hachiman Hikigaya's retina, only a blurry, ever-approaching, and destructive blue streak of light remained, like the scythe of death slicing through his vision!

"Teacher! Teacher, please let me explain! I was just passing by! I didn't know anything! I didn't see anything!!"

Hachiman Hikigaya felt as if his soul was about to fly out of his head! Extreme fear, like ice water poured over his head, instantly froze his limbs and bones, only to be ignited by the instinct for survival, driving his body, already on the verge of collapse, forward frantically. His lungs felt like they were being shoved with red-hot irons; each inhale was accompanied by a searing pain. His trachea felt like it was being rubbed with sandpaper; each exhale was filled with the stench of blood and a desperate, piercing sound.

He roared with all his might, his voice trembling and distorted from lack of oxygen and extreme fear. His tearful explanations seemed so pale and insignificant in the face of the tangible aura of death behind him, and were instantly torn to shreds by the violent whistling wind and the shrill screams of magic.

He could feel it clearly!

That chilling, bone-piercing wave of magical energy clung to his back like thousands of poisoned ice blades!
It is not stationary, but is expanding and approaching at a breathtaking speed!

The air in front of it was being compressed and rubbed violently, producing a muffled groan like the growl of a wild beast. The temperature suddenly rose, and the clothes on its back even began to smell burnt.

Even more terrifying was the stench, a mixture of high concentrations of ozone, burning dust, and some kind of pure destructive energy, so strong it was nauseating, like the breath of hell, pouring directly into his nasal cavity and irritating his tear ducts.

The shadow of death had never loomed over him so vividly, so concretely. He didn't even dare look back! A warning rooted in his biological instincts screamed madly: looking back meant certain death!

Even a mere tenth of a second of delay would instantly engulf him, leaving not a trace! He could only judge the distance to death by the terrifying "heat source" behind him that was constantly heating up and the shrill sound that tore through the air.

"explain?!"

Hiratsuka Shizuka's roar, like a leech, ignored the air resistance and, with tearing wind pressure, precisely entered Hikigaya Hachiman's ears.

The voice, distorted and hoarse from extreme anger and the powerful airflow from the high-speed movement, sounded like an ice pick, each word squeezed from between his teeth, imbued with magical power, piercing his brain:

"Keep your lame excuse...go tell it to King Yama in hell!!!"

Finished!

Hachiman Hikigaya's heart pounded wildly against his fragile chest like a sledgehammer going out of control. Each beat was accompanied by excruciating pain, as if it would burst out of his throat at any moment! A chilling despair instantly overwhelmed him.

He felt he had been wronged on a cosmic scale!

That's right, he saw Hiratsuka-sensei's... uh, visually striking magical girl transformation.

That fleeting, inappropriate impression of "cuteness" did make his heart skip a beat, but it was purely a biological instinctual reaction to "abnormal stimuli"!
He swore that before he could even utter a single syllable, before his brain was still in the process of processing "what's going on," the signs of destruction had already arrived!

(End of this chapter)