New ability

The smoke was normally green, now it is black. It was usually nine meters in radius, now twice as large.

'Ignoring all defenses and harming the enemy from the insides.' That must be the best definition for [Unavoidable direct damage effect]. Applying this buff to an AoE attack, especially one that is based on poisonous gas, resulted in extreme effectiveness.

That can be seen indisputably in the two men who continue to crawl to the edges of the clouds.

If Sebastian wished, he could modestly sit over one of them and let them die without any effort. Or in a crueler scheme, using the same ropes they used to tie him to tie their feet, forcing them to only use their hands… Their arms would be bloodied as they get forced to scratch themselves on the small stones and gravel of the road.

Can he do that?

Absolutely.

Will he do it?

Sebastian already leaned down and picked up the ropes.

Why not, this is just an act of small revenge… Everyone praises equality, right? Why can't he take it on them?

He's being fair.

Tedd killed him while he only wants to make him suffer a little.

Sebastian giggled.

What a kind person he is.

"Willie! Tedd! Are you two in there?"

The sudden voice coming from outside the toxin curtains interrupted Sebastian's decision as to whether he should also tie a stone to add more fun.

"Here… coff-coff-coff!"

"Coff… help! Coff-hhhgggg."

The two of them could barely say a word. Sebastian even doubt if the two people outside could hear them speak.

But, his mood also improved. If Jessica and Odell enter here too, he could settle the accounts in full.

Soon he knew it was maybe too naive of him.

If the two of them already heard the yell of help, why would they use the conventional methods to rescue?

Plants inside of the circumference came to life, in their short life span, these yellowish herbs pushed the two half-dead people outside with a wave. Plants from the exterior also became ropes to drag the bodies faster.

Sebastian, who remained on guard of possible attacks, could do nothing to stop them.

Annoying, it was Odell's ability again.

…

A bit mad, Sebastian had no choice but to make do with what he could enjoy. The people outside seemed to not have lost their interest in him.

So after making sure that all plants in the terrain had died properly and were unable to be used against him, Sebastian sat down, taking his phone out.

He won't forget the notification of the system and his need for mana.

This is a bit awkward. Since he hasn't practiced the 'Absorption technique' given by the MDW, his only method to recover mana at common speed is by playing games.

And speaking of which, Sebastian opened the little dragon game where he got [Triple Continuous Fireball] from. Beginning to play.

As for why he chose an already mastered game instead of an opportunity to get a new skill, everything falls into Sebastian's consideration that today, the skill that saved his ass the most was not [Summon weapon - pan Lv.1], nor [Triple Continuous Fireball Lv.1], not even [Viper's pit. Lv.1].

The true savior was no other than [Dager mastery Lv.2], its reflexes were what uncountable occasions from the beginning to the end had helped him counter the most lethal attacks.

So, if one level 2 'Neutral skill' could do so much, how will it be with a leveled up offensive 'Mana skill'?

His expectations lie on the next level of fireballs being able to penetrate through the gray layer of protection these four Manifesters have been using.

Make them bleed. Sebastian thought.

…

…

"They are both poisoned."

Outside of the toxic dome, the two objectives of Sebastian's future revenge plans discussed the state of the 'first sufferers'.

"Because of this weird gas?" Odell pointed to her side, the word "weird" referring to the fact that no matter how much the wind shook the dome, those clouds were still trapped in the same area.

"What do we do now?" He continued to ask… to himself or to Jessica? It was questionable.

The man had lost direction.

From the beginning, before stepping into the mysterious forests of Clericland, the four of them took lessons of survival in the wild. And he, as an amateur of these kinds of things since years ago, put his soul into it. That was the main reason why he was chosen leader by the three of his mates.

But the reality was cruel, none of those classes, lessons, or tutorials taught him what to do in case of facing chemical weapons.

And it is not his fault for not knowing enough. But the only kinds of poison he knew how to deal with were from snakes, insects, and plants. Contaminated air needed something more than knowledge to deal with.

Fortunately, Jessica had the refined qualities of a modern person, if she can't figure something out, then let the people who know the job take charge.

"Let's get them to the nearest hospital as soon as possible. Come on, carry them to the car."

"Wait, it would be faster if I drove the car here, I can-"

Jessica interrupted him with a sign of 'quiet' using her index finger, then pointed at the dome. This meant that the danger hasn't ceased yet.

"Quick, let's get them to the car, their skin color looks weird." She pretended that the secrete conversation did not happen.

Feeling observed, Odell frowned. Here and now, they had no other option than to let Sebastian escape.

If he was only hiding inside the poisonous clouds, and none of his friends had fallen into his trap, they could simply surround the perimeter and wait until all his mana is consumed.

But now he has no time to waste on him, or his friends will run in danger.

That was what Odell thought.

Unfortunately for him, that was only an optimistic view of the situation. Odell doesn't know that [Viper's pit] was an ability that does not require more mana to be maintained once it's activated. It exists as long as Sebastian is inside.

"Let's go."

"Back to Zhreta?

"No, to the Clericland base, they have better equipment against wounds caused by abilities."

"Okay."

Odell carried Tedd and walked backward, to prevent that Sebastian from suddenly jumping out of the smoke to attack them in an oversight.

But such a thing did not happen, according to Jessica, he wasn't even moving from his position.

'Maybe he couldn't untie to ropes?' Odell tried to make sense of it.

…

…

Sebastian noticed that his sanity was not normal.

Even though he was found playing a game that could steal all his attention, in his head there were replays of all what happened in the past hour.

The sensation was like regret, but the portion of blaming others was bigger than the self-blaming. Not to mention the sour feeling of sadness every time a flashback of him being hurt hit, he was the absolute victim in all the scenes of his memory.

Sebastian can recall that the reality was not like that. But still, there was this voice in his head saying without words 'why can't I be treated better, I suffered.'

It must be [Sentimental (S)] what is doing that, everything indicated that this was the only answer.

The night that… that night, his head was also filled with uncontrollable emotions in this way, remorse and fear mainly, and then two and a half abilities born.

Concluding that this was the normal thing inside the spectrum of the abnormal, Sebastian continued playing the game, absolving mana, and guiding that newly collected energy to be devoured by his unique S-class ability.

After a while, Sebastian saw what he wanted:

[ Ability creation by [Sentimental (S)] completed ]

[ New ability: ]

[ Aggrievement - I'm telling the truth! (E) ]

[ Symbolization: It is the destiny of the expresser to be misunderstood, and so it is the listener's duty not to misunderstand. ]

[ Synopsis: Makes people believe in what the user says by hypnotizing with frequencies of echo created with Mana. Only activable when the user says the truth. ]

…

I'm ready!

Other than his mana pool filled to the top, the [Triple Continuous Fireball] becoming level 2. This newly created non-combat ability gave Sebastian huge confidence. It was the best thing he could get and the perfect to solve this confusing problem.

Do I just walk out like this?

Pretty sure that Odell and company were outside waiting to ambush him with a trap, and he did not have the vision to see through the now green smoke, Sebastian decided something.

Deactivating [Viper's pit. Lv.1] to take them by surprise.

This way, everything will be revealed and negotia…

"Drop your weapons! Hands up!"

"?????"

"You're under arrested under the 'Supernatural Ability Laws' by breaking the Second Amendment of prohibition of use against any citizen with or without abilities!"

"Hands up! On your knees! You're under arrest!"

"?????"

Seeing at least thirty guns pointing at him, Sebastian considers that he had a lot of things to say.

Starting by…

"Where are you, Odell? I miss you."