Chapter 111: Finding The Culprit 3
The silence stretched between the two. Nicholas’ gaze remained locked on her, while Amara stared back with the same confidence, leaving the crowd watching them in confusion.
"Has Phantom gone mad or something?"
"What’s he doing?"
"Why did he approach her like that. Did they have any issues before?"
Whispers broke out almost instantly, and the cafeteria hall was soon filled with noise and chatter.
From one side of the hall, Tianzun peeked at the two, a small knowing smile climbing onto his face before he closed his eyes once more.
Mercury didn’t seem to care as she merely glanced at the two before continuing with what she was doing.
"Are you blaming us for something we did not do? Please, we should all be civilised here. What proof do you have?" One of the Nigerians next to the lady stood up, staring Nicholas dead in the eye.
"If you feel you can intimidate us because you’re whites, you must be very wrong" A large bulky figure stood up as well.
His massive frame cast a shadow over Nicholas. He looked like a miniature giant.
Standing well over 220 cm tall, his tank top stretched tightly around his bulging muscles. His dreadlocks were tied into a ponytail behind him, and the sharp nose piercing made him look more like a gangster than an actual hero.
"Tank, Yule, calm down. I don’t think that’s the issue here—" Amara’s words caught in her throat as she felt a hand wrap tightly around her neck.
Right before she could finish her sentence, she caught only a brief glimpse of his figure before he appeared right beside her.
"W..what ack—" she struggled to speak through the tightened throat.
Tank and Yule turned, but they were too late to react. Before either of them could reach him, Nicholas disappeared, reappearing in the center of the room with Amara still held tightly in his grip.
"Wrong answer. I’ll ask again, do you want to admit it or would you still love to pretend? My patience right now is thin," Nicholas asked, his voice cold and void of emotions.
"What are you doing?! How dare you!" Tank roared, his about to rush at Nicholas.
But in an instant, a strange energy spread through the entire room.
Everyone in the room felt it in an instant, like a supernatural force had suddenly appeared, stripping them completely of their ability.
’What’s this?... I can’t use my ability?’ Amara thought still struggling midair, her legs hanging above the ground.
Tank felt his strength plummet. His speed and ability seemed to disappear in an instant.
"If you come close to me, I might get scared and mistakenly injure her, so would you mind giving us some space" Nicholas said with a cold voice, returning his gaze to Amara.
"I can’t use my ability"
"Me too... What’s going on?" They all felt the strange energy. Instinctively, they tried activating their abilities, only to realize none of them worked.
"Sir Jackson.... I can’t use my ability" Furry said timidly looking at her hands in surprise.
Mercury stood up with a frown, she didn’t seem as bothered as the rest, but she felt bothered nonetheless.
"What’s the meaning of this? Are the Americans trying to start a fight?" she asked her voice sharp with anger as she stared at Nicholas.
Tianzun sat calmly by the side of the wall, only glancing at Nicholas with a smile.
’Is this the ability of Phantom?’ Jackson thought with a frown on his face.
They had all heard the stories of phantom from their different countries.
Witnessing it firsthand was another tale to tell altogether.
’An ability that allows him to cancel anyone’s ability? They really came prepared this year didn’t they?’
Nicholas stood at the center of the room, everyone stood up in high alert.
Stripping heroes of their abilities was practically a declaration of war. It was enough to put everyone on edge.
No one was comfortable with it and apparently, the one who seemed to be doing this was the man in the center of the room.
But he couldn’t care less.
He had his hands wrapped around Amara’s neck as she struggled to breathe through his strong grip.
"So what will it be? Will you tell the truth, or will you let me do what I want to do?"
’They didn’t give us enough information on this hero... How is he so strong? Can’t anyone stop him’ Fear filled Amara’s eyes as she stared down at Nicholas.
She couldn’t see his eyes, but she felt a cold emotionless chill coming from his voice, like it was the devil himself speaking.
This was no hero.
He was an incarnate of the devil himself and how she found herself within his grasp was a tale she wasn’t sure she’d be alive to tell.
’But if I talk now... That means we’ll be disqualified and if I don’t talk, I don’t know what this monster would do to me...’ Amara thought, gritting her teeth.
She looked from the side of her eyes, she could see the look on her teammates face, and then she spotted the faces of the other heroes and then landed on Dana, a small knowing smile climbed up her face.
’It doesn’t matter, if I don’t admit it... He can’t kill me, if he does the other heroes won’t stand it. This will destroy the hero alliance that has stood for years.. I’m sure she won’t want that to happen’ She thought looking at Dana, she knew Dana’s position, she knew that she couldn’t just stand by and watch a hero being treated that way.
Nicholas actions had a lot of consequences and even if she was the one that actually did it. None of the heroes would stand to watch another be treated in such a manner.
"Supervisor Selena, what’s Phantom doing? The others are getting hostile. Tell him to stop this instant" Dana said standing next to Selena.
Selena paused for a second and looked at Nicholas then a smile climbed up her face. "No Dana, this is good" She stepped forward, her expression calm and unwavering.
"Everyone, please remain calm."
"Our intention isn’t to start a fight or provoke anyone."
She glanced at Amara before sweeping her gaze across the gathered heroes.
"One of our teammates suffered a severe injury earlier today under circumstances that couldn’t be explained naturally. During our investigation, we discovered that he had interacted with Miss Amara shortly before the incident."
"Thanks to Phantom, we discovered the person who did this had a a curse-type ability—one capable of marking a target and bringing misfortune upon them. And we have reason to believe that she is the one with that ability."
A ripple of whispers spread through the cafeteria.
Selena continued without hesitation.
"The rules of this tournament are clear. Any participant who deliberately harms another hero before the competition begins will be held accountable under the laws and regulations of the host country."
"We respect every hero here equally, regardless of their nation. We have no desire to mistreat anyone or create unnecessary conflict."
Her voice hardened.
"But if someone chooses to attack one of our own before the tournament even begins, then we also have the right to investigate and respond accordingly."
She locked eyes with Amara.
"We already know enough to suspect your involvement."
"If you’re innocent, then cooperate with the investigation and clear your name."
"But if you’re guilty..."
"...I strongly advise you to tell the truth before this situation becomes much worse."
Selena folded her arms across her chest.
"So, Witch of the Nine Seas..."
"Will you admit what you’ve done, or would you rather accompany us so we can continue this investigation?"
Comments