Chapter Forty-Eight: Clang!
The scene rewinds a few seconds.
The battle between the Demon and Dustburst shifts in a blink. Kirra, relying on her keen perception, catches every move, while Myles watches in a daze, overwhelmed by the rapid changes.
Dustburst is injured... lands... the Demon pursues. The two stand locked in a silent standoff on the rooftop.
The Demon’s hand points toward their direction. The gray-haired young man flicks his hand, seemingly twisting the white pistol he seized. Is he taunting Dustburst—or is there something more?
“Big sis, your eyesight’s sharp. Can you see the gun in the Demon’s hand?” Myles asks anxiously.
“Yes! Gongsun Ce raised the gun—and then crushed it—oh my!” Kirra exclaims.
They both shout in surprise as Gongsun Ce’s body is suddenly enveloped in purple smoke, followed by a bizarre explosion.
“Unbelievable! That gun was just a decoy?!” Myles fumes, frustrated and confused. He doesn’t understand Dustburst’s ability or the Demon’s intentions. Could the Demon be hoping for their help? But what could they possibly do? Anyone caught in the blast radius would be instantly finished. All they can do is watch helplessly.
Just watch... watch...
“Big sis, did you see clearly?” the middle schooler nervously licks his lips. “Before the explosion, did the gun shatter first, or did the smoke appear first?”
“...”
Kirra, usually so precise in her observations, falls silent, recalling for a long moment before uncertainly replying, “It should be...”
Myles removes his hat and grips his hair tightly. A faint clue seems to dawn on him.
---
The purple blast strikes with overwhelming force. Gongsun Ce barely manages to control his body as he is hurled away, pain like a truck hitting him radiating through his frame. His right arm, shielded by white matter, has gone numb.
The rooftop shatters into fragments, crumbling under gravity. As the broken concrete gives way, Gongsun Ce glimpses the building’s interior layout and widens his eyes in realization.
At this moment, regret washes over him. He should have tried to shift the battlefield first, before engaging Dustburst. He had overlooked this critical point...
They stand atop the teaching building.
This is a school.
Setting aside all concerns, Gongsun Ce unleashes his full psychic power.
Dustburst cautiously changes position, dodging attacks while preparing for the next explosion.
But Gongsun Ce’s counterattack never comes. The purple-haired woman looks surprised, then incredulous and almost absurdly so.
“Hey, Demon, are you out of your mind?” Dustburst points at her feet, astonished enough to hold back her assault.
“Using precious power to protect the environment when you’re cornered?!”
As the smoke clears, the truth becomes apparent. The teaching building remains intact. Gongsun Ce uses telekinesis to hold the broken rooftop in place and repairs the damage with white matter.
If he had focused solely on protecting himself, the psychic might not have suffered such severe injuries. This is the source of Dustburst’s astonishment.
“...There’s a rule that battles between psychics cannot affect schools. It’s an unspoken law everyone in this city respects.”
In the clashes involving Caldesia and the Death’s Head gang, as well as Dustburst himself, nearly half the central district was affected, yet no innocent bystanders were harmed. This is the invisible order governing the chaos.
Ordinary people seek refuge in the nearest schools. Psychics in battle never target these sanctuaries.
Whether it’s Caldesia’s flames or the Death’s Wings’ bullets, every attack conspicuously avoids schools, respecting the untouchable safe zones protected by rules.
Dustburst frowns.
“You’re telling me about rules?”
The other’s gaze is condescending, like an elder scolding a wayward child, a look that makes her deeply uncomfortable.
“Even when the Death’s Wings were at their most rampant, those punks never attacked schools. Because there are former classmates, old friends, things even they can’t abandon! Schools are refuges for this city. Many who fled the streets during our fight have taken shelter right under this very building!”
Gongsun Ce’s calm voice burns with growing fury.
“Think about who you are! Whether strong or weak, all psychics are ‘students.’ Do you understand what that means? The school is the sacred ground of Sky Capital, the only place where people here can live their daily lives in peace!”
Even during the city’s wildest days years ago, Sky Capital maintained this fundamental order for this very reason.
There exists an absolute safe zone.
Not every home has a reinforced safe room. Most ordinary citizens rely on schools for shelter during conflicts. Teachers protect students; street battles never spill into schools. Even the ruthless White Coats at most send agents to coax students, never openly attacking psychics on campus.
If even this minimum safe zone is destroyed, the fragile balance is likely to collapse entirely. When ordinary people, backed into a corner, go mad and flood the streets, Sky Capital will lose all order.
No one wants to see that—the big shots of Dragonhead District don’t, ordinary citizens don’t, and even the thugs in the alleys don’t.
Dustburst is reckless. The aftermath of battle inevitably risks damaging school buildings.
He knows this. Yet when the woman questions him so bizarrely, Gongsun Ce’s long-suppressed anger finally erupts.
“How dare you mock my actions? Do you have even a shred of sense, Dustburst?”
Dustburst clutches her forehead and stumbles back two steps, dizzy and leaning backward.
Then, she bends over and laughs loudly.
“You’re an idiot!”
Her shrill laughter sounds as if she’s just heard the most ridiculous thing.
“School? Sanctuary? Rules? Ridiculous! Why would I follow such broken rules? Why should I care about those useless civilians?”
“Can’t even destroy a single building! Can’t even beat a nimble ordinary person! A waste who only knows a few tricks—what right do they have to call themselves ‘psychics’? If a thousand or ten thousand of them die, what does that have to do with me?”
Dustburst shrugs dismissively at the youth’s words.
“Demon, Demon sir, you don’t really think all five hundred seventy thousand people are your kind, do you? Don’t be foolish!”
“Rules exist to bind the weak. Such things mean nothing to someone at the pinnacle like me. What if psychics without powers swarm me? Even if I destroy this school today, no one can do a thing!”
Gongsun Ce reclassifies Dustburst from “ignorant novice” to “brainless fool,” refusing to waste more breath on her. The gray-haired youth grits his teeth, manipulating his body like a puppet with telekinesis, charging toward Dustburst. Invisible spears and white matter shards rain down, striking the air all around!
“You can’t hit me!”
Dustburst twists midair, using the blast’s recoil to leap out of range. Again! Except for the one ambush where she used a white matter decoy to distract, every attack so far has been narrowly dodged!
“How disappointing! I had high hopes for the famous Demon, but in the end, you’re just a reckless child throwing power around.”
Dustburst bounces through the air, purple sparks flickering beneath her feet. Gongsun Ce lands back on the rooftop, his body battered beneath the white matter armor.
“A guy like you—what right do you have to be compared with me? Your mouth? Or your few years’ seniority? Does this place have some unspoken seniority rule?” She sneers. “Demon sir, you’d better find somewhere to announce your retirement. Say, ‘Gongsun Ce feels inadequate and chooses a good day to retire, giving up the title of one of the strongest.’ I’m sure everyone will understand!”
“...”
This time, Gongsun Ce neither retorts nor attacks.
He removes the white helmet from his head and pulls out a tiny black device from his ear—a communication earpiece he wore since leaving home that morning.
An excited voice from a middle schooler crackles through.
“Demon sir, Pink-haired big sis saw it! The gun broke first, then the purple smoke appeared!”
“Well done, Myles.” He raises the earpiece so the purple-haired woman can hear. “Say it louder. Let even the top psychic Dustburst hear your discovery.”
The middle schooler hesitates briefly, then summons courage.
“The purple blast’s true nature is—”
Dustburst’s expression shifts dramatically. She activates her power at full speed, trying to simultaneously destroy the earpiece and Gongsun Ce.
Yet,
The ubiquitous purple smoke does not appear this time.
---
Something’s wrong.
Dustburst leaps away first, riding the purple explosion toward a distant building.
Her instinct is infallible: for some unknown reason, the purple blast did not activate!
The Demon gained insight into her ability through the middle schooler’s understanding? Even so, he couldn’t have devised a countermeasure so quickly! The ability failed on the rooftop but now works again—could it be a coincidence?
Her mind in turmoil, Dustburst grits her teeth and steels herself.
The Demon must have hidden tricks. There’s no time for a one-on-one duel now. She must quickly take the test subject hostage.
Within moments, she stands before Kirra and Myles. She makes a swift decision: before the Demon arrives, she will severely injure the useless middle schooler to slow him down, then escape with the test subject to the lab.
Dustburst grabs Kirra by the collar and fiercely points at Myles.
Under their terrified gazes, she shouts—
---
The purple-haired woman fails to utter a sound.
Thus, no purple smoke appears.
Time seems to freeze at this moment. The gray-haired youth silently descends beside the three.
In his hand lies a white rune, a sharp point piercing itself.
Silence.
---
What exactly is the mechanism behind the purple blast?
The smoke seems to arise from nowhere. But Dustburst’s use of the pistol disproves this theory. Gongsun Ce tried to disperse the purple smoke with wind; instead, it increased. Explosions add more smoke; every time she dodges in advance, telekinesis fails to catch her body...
All this shrouds the true nature of her power in mystery. So Gongsun Ce conducts a small experiment:
Destroying the pistol to trigger Kirra’s observation.
The gun shatters first, then the smoke appears. The destruction fulfills a prerequisite. The blast’s activation conditions include firing, wind, explosions, and preemptive dodging—all met by her actions. There is only one explanation he can conceive.
《Stepping on Stars》
Sound.
The wind carries noise; explosions create blasts; attacks stir air currents that produce sound; crushing the pistol emits a sharp crack. The invisible bullets she fires with the white pistol are likely ultrasonic waves beyond human hearing...
Dustburst’s ability is, in essence, the creation of explosive purple smoke through sound waves.
Her power is tricky. Before today, even understanding the mechanism wouldn’t help Gongsun Ce much. But now, after reading half a letter...
Dustburst is weaker and more fragile before him than those ordinary citizens she despises.
The gray-haired youth raises his hand, and white letters appear in the air.
“[It’s not uncommon for psychics to consider themselves superior based on their powers.]”
“[I often argue with these people, telling them there are things more important than powers—responsibility, justice, kindness. Of course, some won’t listen, and I’m helpless.]”
He summons a white brick of white matter, incredibly hard.
“[Sometimes I wonder: if a proud psychic loses their power—]”
Gongsun Ce tosses the brick up and down.
“[Do they still have the right to swagger before the ordinary people they despise?]”
Dustburst’s face pales.
She hurriedly pushes Kirra aside and decisively rushes toward the rooftop edge. To escape this dreadful man, she must first distance herself from the Demon!
Myles genuinely feels sympathy for her.
Having experienced this once, he can already imagine what will happen next. He watches without surprise as Dustburst freezes stiffly, as if bound by invisible ghosts.
“[At the same time, I’m curious: if a proud psychic is defeated by their own powers—]”
“[Would they then understand the feelings of those they looked down upon?]”
“—!!!!!”
Dustburst screams fiercely. Is it a struggle before defeat or a furious curse? None can hear her, nor care what she says. On the rooftop, a ridiculous silent play unfolds.
Gongsun Ce breaks the brick into two pieces, placing one in Kirra’s hand, the other in Myles’s. He points to Kirra’s hand, then to Dustburst’s purple-faced countenance.
Myles suddenly understands. This girl is kind at heart; he cannot bear such violence. He hides the brick behind him, silently cheering on Pink-haired big sis.
Kirra’s reaction is different: she truly hurts.
Usually gentle, Kirra’s expression shifts rapidly, vividly embodying the saying “rage boils from the heart, wickedness rises near the gall.” With fierce momentum, she raises the brick and without a word, smashes it down on the wicked woman’s head!
Clang!
Gongsun Ce disperses the silence rune, mercilessly following up with several invisible heavy strikes.
He applauds his “audience” encouragingly and adds mercilessly,
“Looks like you’re not as noble as you think, Miss Dustburst.”