Don't Go Near Those Brothers

Chapter 34: Don't Go Near Those Brothers

"Ah..."

With a pained groan, Clark felt the strength rapidly draining from his entire body. He collapsed to the ground, covered in ice cold enough to shatter steel. His consciousness blurred as he shivered violently.

"Looking to die!"

David shattered the ground beneath his feet and shot forward like a cannonball, arriving before Sean. With terrifying force like a volcanic eruption, he drove his fist into Sean's chest.

Bang!

A deafening explosion rang out, and a violent white shockwave visibly erupted.

Like a gale sweeping through, it blasted across dozens of meters.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

As if a high-speed train racing at four hundred kilometers per hour had slammed squarely into his chest, Sean felt agonizing pain. He flew backward, carving a long trench through the ground before embedding himself deep in the earth dozens of meters away.

"Clark, how are you feeling?"

David asked quickly, frowning.

Under the sun, and as long as he was still breathing, Clark's physique should have been fine.

"I... I'm okay."

Under the sunlight, the purplish color in Clark's frozen face rapidly faded. His body was still weak, though, as if it needed some time to recover.

Seeing his younger brother worry about him, a warm current flowed through Clark's heart.

Clark suddenly recalled something. In the vision of the future, his brother could fly, had normal skin, and even shot red light from his eyes. Was that really his brother?

Could it be that Cassandra's power had malfunctioned when used on him, an alien, causing him to experience those bizarre hallucinations?

"David, don't kill him, and don't..."

Clark spoke through chattering teeth.

"I'm going to avenge you right now."

Before Clark could finish.

David stomped down hard. The powerful force shattered the tough asphalt, and his body shot forward.

He traced an arc dozens of meters long, radiating a chilling pressure that made people tremble. He crashed down in front of Sean, sending dirt flying beneath his feet.

"Ignorance may indeed lead a man to the grave, but not me!"

"You got powers too?!"

The low voice entered his ears like a merciless judgment. Sean painfully pushed himself up and saw David's changed appearance. Panicking, he scrambled to his feet and threw a punch, which David easily avoided by tilting his head.

Having just seen what happened to Clark, Sean naturally knew what would happen if he touched David's body.

"You can absorb heat to become stronger?"

With a powerful kick, David sent Sean flying. This time, he used even greater force.

With a series of cracks, the overwhelming kick shattered Sean's ribs. He flew back into the pit, striking it like a stone falling into a lake and throwing up waves of dirt. A crater several meters wide appeared.

David looked down at him.

"That's not a bad power. It's wasted on you."

The combined body heat of many powerful Metahumans was not much. Only Clark, whose power came from the sun, was different. If it had been anyone else, they might have died instantly at a single touch.

"Some people can be given great power and still never hide their cowardly nature."

"Shut up!"

Enraged by the naked mockery, Sean sprang out of the pit in a fierce football player's tackling stance. He stirred up a powerful airflow as he slammed into David and wrapped his arms around his waist.

"Get down on your knees and beg me for mercy!"

He drove forward with his legs while growling, activating his power to absorb the heat from David's body.

He had expected David to collapse at the first touch.

Yet David stood there as if nothing had happened. His legs braced behind him, carving two deep trenches into the ground. Without any hurry, he swung his fist and smashed Sean face-first into the ground. As Sean's body hit the earth under that terrifying force, a visible white shockwave blasted the surrounding gravel and blades of grass away.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

The sound of bones exploding rang out.

"My... my back!"

Inside the several-meter-wide crater, Sean screamed in terror as piercing agony tore through him.

His face twisted in pain as his trembling hand reached for his back. He could no longer feel his lower body.

"Don't worry. You'll be free of this pain soon!"

Feeling some of the Universe energy within him drain away, David expressionlessly swung his fist down, carrying the force of a falling hill.

Bang!

Sean's eyes rolled back, and he passed out. With his brain damaged, he would sink into permanent nothingness and darkness.

The weakened Clark staggered over just in time to see this.

"Oh, right, Clark. What were you trying to say earlier?"

David withdrew his fist and tilted his head over the enormous pit.

"I..."

Seeing Sean reduced to a vegetative state, Clark was so furious he nearly fainted.

Creak.

"Excuse me, ma'am."

The door opened, and Kara, her black hair falling around her face, entered the room with slight nervousness. Her hands were tightly clasped together.

"Everyone at this Nursing Home says you can foresee the future. Can you help me?"

Cassandra sat on a stool eating. Facing the window, she listened to the crisp birdsong from the branches outside. With her eyes closed, she chewed every bite slowly, wearing an indescribably serene and peaceful expression, as though she were savoring the finest food in the world, or reminiscing over the lingering aftertaste of life.

"Child, I'm not a gypsy old witch."

She opened her eyes, set down her spoon, and said unhurriedly, "If you want to predict the future, I suggest you visit the Circus Fortune-Telling Tent."

"Besides, let me offer you one final piece of advice, young lady."

She gently shook her head.

"Eavesdropping on others is not a good habit."

"Please give me a chance, Ms. Cassandra."

At those words, Kara's eyes brightened as though she had confirmed something. She could not help stepping forward, excitement hidden in her voice.

Even without transforming, her movements were so swift that an ordinary blind old woman should not have been able to hear them.

"It seems I said the wrong thing."

Cassandra shook her head with some regret. In an aged voice, she said, "Once you get old, your mind truly isn't as sharp anymore."

"There isn't much time left. Can you leave me this last bit of time to depart quietly?"

"There isn't much time left?"

"Everyone dies eventually." Cassandra listened to the clock on the wall, its hand nearly reaching the hour, and smiled faintly. "I saw the time of my death in the futures of the other caregivers."

Some futures could be changed, while others were difficult to alter once destined, such as the natural end of a life.

Nearly ninety years old, she had planned to use someone else's eyes to take one last look at the world this morning before leaving quietly.

"But..."

Death should have been serene and peaceful. This old woman was already living through the final moments of her life, and Kara should not have disturbed her. Kara tightly clasped her hands, guilt filling her beautiful face. "This is not only important to me. It is also important to my people, and even to the world."

"Please."

"I cannot reveal another person's future without permission."

Unable to withstand the girl's pleading, the kindly old woman set down her spoon, shook her head, and suggested, "But I can look at your future."

"My future?"

Kara's face showed conflict as she thought it over. This was also a way.

If Numa had truly appeared in this generation as foretold in the prophecy.

Then according to her people's legends, she would inevitably become entangled with Nama, who had descended alongside Skyfire, and was fated to become his woman.

Then perhaps by looking into the future, she could determine which of the two brothers was Nama, the savior, and which was Segai, the evil one, thereby helping Nama defeat his brother.

"Thank you, ma'am."

"This world is so beautiful. Taking one more look before I leave is good for me as well."

Only seconds remained on the clock. With difficulty, Cassandra lay back on the bed with the girl's support. Smiling, she grasped the girl's hand. After a burst of visions.

She weakly opened her eyes and turned her head toward the anxious, uneasy girl before her with a look of pity.

"Don't... don't go near those brothers, or your fate will fall into misfortune."

"Misfortune?"

"And... your tribe..."

Her words trailed off. Several seconds after the clock hand passed the hour, Cassandra no longer had the strength to finish what she had been saying. She weakly closed her eyes, and her hand fell limp.

"Ma'am?" Kara's expression changed drastically.

I wrote several hundred extra words.

Please keep reading. The protagonist's second template is coming soon, and it will complement the first one. Purple Sweet Potato will also move updates a little earlier from now on. (ω)