Josh had to admit that he still had to work on his interrogation techniques. He had tried mixing his killing intent along with his new mana manipulation skill, and the results were a little bit too effective. 

In front of him, there was now a shell of a man that kept crying while begging for death. He was holding his legs with his arms, as if a human ball, and was spasming all over. The problem was that Josh wasn't even doing anything! 

The man wasn't even tied up anymore and yet showed no sign of recovering at all. Josh had spent about 5 minutes breaking him completely and close to 2 hours trying to make him presentable enough to hand over to Markus. 

Now that he thought about it, it would be hard for anyone to believe that this guy had been the mastermind! But, Josh clearly remembered how scheming he had been at the beginning of the "torture" session. 

The man had been faking all of his reactions in order to lull Josh into a false sense of security and make him complacent. It had been near perfect, but near was the keyword, and Josh had seen through it. 

That's also why he had been convinced that this prisoner would be hard to crack. Except, it had been the complete opposite! Or perhaps it was just mana enhanced killing intent that was just that overpowered? 

Josh could think of many potential explanations. For instance, he had used the handcuffs to remove the poor guy's ability to resist. Then there was the fact that the man wasn't that strong a Climber.

This guy had been the analyst of assassins. His primary role used to be to research adequately and find the flaws in their targets. It just happened that Josh was proceeding in a similar manner. He was using people's overconfidence to take them down. 

Anyway, Josh had to give up. The poor bloke wasn't going to get any better anytime soon. His only consolation was that he had learned a bit about the League of Assassins in the process. For instance, he had been given a tip on how to infiltrate them. 

Josh grabbed Number 3 like a potato sack and hauled him back toward their ships. 

On his way, many gave him very peculiar glances. There was even a woman that blindfolded her son's eyes. What was wrong with a man carrying another man?! The fact that he was shaking and half-naked was irrelevant…maybe. 

Josh has expected people to be pissed about him being gone for 2 hours, but they didn't seem to mind at all. The party was still ongoing, and there was even a large dueling ring that had been created.

In the middle, he could see Kasha and the unknown orange knight that were about to fight each other. The crowd was already going crazy talking about how this would be a fantastic fight! 

Josh remained a distance away. A few people noticed him and showed extreme shock, but no real commotion was created. People were way too focused on what was to come!

Then it started, suddenly, without even a signal. Kasha instantly disappeared in a green glow reappearing behind her enemy and plunging her daggers toward her. 

But that's when the orange knight slapped her direction. The hand and the dagger collided. Everyone expected Kasha to win this exchange, but sparks appeared along with the sound of metal clashing against metal. 

The armor of the knight seemed to be nicked slightly. Seeing this, Kasha smirked. A few hand gestures later, a few illusory Kashas appeared around her target, and they all attacked at once. 

The knight rotated akin to a spinner and tons of CLANG! sounds resounded across the dueling arena. Kasha had probably spent a lot of mana on that one, but she still showed a victorious smile. 

Her opponent's gauntlets were in horrible shape. It was possible to see slender fingers through the open gaps. But, there was no trace of injury as shiny white scales could be seen glistering inside. 

Even with the distance, Josh managed to notice it along with many others. Was that a bloodline?! 

"Go, Pumpkin!!!" 

"Go, Kasha!!" 

Josh couldn't help but be puzzled. Sure, that knight was orange, but pumpkin, really? Who the hell had come up with such a nickname?! 

The atmosphere suddenly changed. Kasha began laughing out loud, softly at first but then loud enough to overcome the EDM music that was being blasted. It was an eerie laugh that made many question their hearing. Was this really happening?!

She began glowing in a green light, but this time it was different. If before she was using that energy now, she was fuzing with it. It seemed like some Heavenly transformation as she looked akin to a celestial being. 

Her hair was floating akin to a shampoo commercial, her steps seemed as light as moonlight itself, and she morphed into a resplendent jade beauty, literally! She had the purest and most extraordinary light green glowing skin! 

Josh slowly approached forward. Partly because of curiosity and partly because this move seemed overly powerful. 

"Oh god! Why the fuck is she using this here?!" AIYA could be heard cursing even from afar. 

"Is it that bad?" Dale showed unease. 

"Just make sure you don't anger her when she's like that...ever," Emsee added. 

Should Josh stop the fight? But then something else attracted his attention. On the other side, the mysterious challenger also seemed to have a transformation ability! Was it that common nowadays?! 

The white scales suddenly turned pitch black. As Josh saw it, he couldn't help but jerk in shock. Somehow, this was the exact same color as the power of corruption! What kind of ability was this, and should they evacuate? 

Each scale seemed to be pulsating with dark energy that wanted nothing more than to break free and contaminate the world. It reminded him of the Gene Corp incident, and this time he would act before it was too late. 

Many shared the same feeling: "They are going crazy with their skills! We gotta get out of here!"

But, some showed the opposite reaction. "This is some crazy shit! I will witness this no matter what!"

A few allies shouted at the fighters to stop, but they seemed to be in their own world. That's when Kasha dashed forward, stepping on the air as if a solid surface, and reached her target faster than Josh could blink. 

But, the dark scales were then angled perfectly to deflect the hit. A mix of green and black energy landed on the plaza ground, creating a vast gash gushing with whatever those powers were. Luckily no one was hurt. 

But that's when they prepared for another clash. Hell no! There was no way that Josh would let them cause damage to the city! What if he got blamed for the aftermath?! All his Credits were already going into his new base! 

"STOP IT, YOU TWO!" Josh shouted as loudly as he could, using mana to try and enhance his vocal cords. 

Instantly all heads turned toward him. The mysterious knight then pointed its hand full of concentrated mana toward him and….waved?! Had peace been achieved?

But, the next sentence brought him back to reality. 

"Perfect, you're back! Now, let's fight until one of us cannot go on anymore!" The knight proposed. 

Josh vividly remembered the extraordinary fighting that had just been shown. His chances of winning were complete shit! 

What did 'cannot go on' even mean? Fight until one is unconscious? Fight to the death?!

How about no!!! 

Help!...

Creator's Thought

As I looked at these special transforming abilities, I felt so jealous! Was my specialty only killing intent? At least it was pretty effective at times and was easy to use. Now, why hadn't Kasha used such a move back during the War? Were there conditions to it or had she just unlocked it? I had to get to the bottom of it...after surviving this mystery knight of course.