Chapter 39: Red Lion

Gunshots rang out, the top hat fluttered wildly through the air.

What exactly happened? To unravel this mystery, one must rewind the second hand five grids... Time returns to five seconds prior.

Three hundred meters from the negotiation site at the heart of the bustling street, a yellow-haired thug crouched on the rooftop of a skyscraper, clutching an old-model pistol.

He was aiming—not a sniper rifle, no scope, merely the muzzle of a small handgun leveled at the target three hundred meters away, his stance as awkward and presumptuous as a child's play.

Could he see clearly? No problem! Both eyes had been replaced with high-tech artificial vision, granting him dynamic acuity far exceeding that of eagles. He could discern not only a person's position but even the tips of hair stirred by the wind!

"..."

He waited in silence. Lion and the Big Brother were in negotiation; he did nothing. When the Big Brother stepped back, Lion passed the phone to the target; still he did nothing. When the Big Brother raised his hand, activated his ability, the target vanished, and a streak of fire arced behind Lion's arm, hurling an unseen figure aside—

Right now.

"Explosion Bullet."

He squeezed the trigger. Boom! The bullet streaked from the muzzle, piercing Lion's body! In the same instant, the casing buried itself into the ground, then...

Boom! Boom! Boom! Deafening detonations erupted in rapid succession—three blasts total. A single round triggered triple explosions, billowing black smoke and searing flames that swallowed the street whole, a top hat hurled skyward by the shockwave.

Was it a high-tech round? A weapon altered by the white coats? No! Moments earlier, it had been nothing but an ordinary mass-produced bullet. The power came not from the weapon but from the shooter's own super ability—the ability to reinforce bullets!

"Element Bullet."

The yellow-haired gunman sprang to his feet, the pistol recoiled three times in quick succession, unleashing three rapid shots. The howling wind scattered the smoke, birthing a dozen razor-sharp gusts of blade-like force; lightning flickered, icy gales surged, and the elemental energies of the detonating rounds rained merciless destruction across a vast expanse, even claiming the skeletal head.

The Dragon of the Sky descends!

The once-thriving street lay in ruins, unrecognizable, a scene of devastation worse than any bombed battlefield. One man, four bullets, had wrought this—mere superpowered without even a name.

How terrifying a power, how formidable the wings of death, how fearsome a force!

Red Lion's strength was formidable, yet it belonged to a mortal frame. Pierced by bullets and then struck by such wide-area devastation, not even a scrap of ash would remain. The onlookers cowering in the distance, many harbored exactly these thoughts. Yet how did the perpetrator, the gunman himself, regard it?

"..."

No words. No triumphant gesture. No curses. Not even time for a deep breath! The high-tech artificial eyes transmitted every detail on the street with crystalline clarity to the nervous center. Realizing the opponent lay dead, the gunman knew its meaning all too well.

A bead of sweat traced down his forehead, the body's temperature-regulating mechanism serving as the final warning. He planted his feet, vaulted from the rooftop. Almost simultaneously, a colossal column of crimson light erupted from the earth, like a miniature volcano bursting through the entire skyscraper!

Was this Red Lion's counterstrike upon discovering him? No! No! No! Just as the gunman's aftershock had razed the street, the force that spared his life in this moment was the aftershock of an attack itself—flame pillars ascending from the base of every building, ancient stakes that had once pierced prisoners. The molten fire flowed backward, engulfing the street, flooding every alley and side road near the main thoroughfare, tinting all with scorching hues.

Heat consumed the world, flames swept all before them. Twisted air, melted structures, seething ground—everything obliterated, the human hell.

"30, 29, 28, 27."

A cold, ruthless female voice rang out without warning, accompanied by four screams. Four human figures burst from the alleys, their clothes and skin aflame, becoming living torches of light.

The four elite Death Wings members accomplished nothing—reduced to blackened charcoal by aftershocks they could not even strike—and collapsed to the ground.

But... oh, heavens! Dragon's calamity descends! These four still breathed, still alive!

Escaping the inferno capable of melting buildings to lava, a thread of life remained—far beyond mere fortune. The sole explanation both sides could conceive was—

"Ha, go rest in the hospital."

Spare me! For a warrior, this was a greater insult than any humiliation!

Though the attacking superpowered bore no warrior's pride, the superpowered did it nonetheless! She performed the act with effortless grace, her tone casual and indifferent, as if this gesture declared to all:

You are no match for me!

Thirty black lights vanished in the sky, four of them. The gunman dropped hastily, tumbling across the burning pavement, his clothes and hair catching fire from the heat.

Flames and magma obliterated all visibility. Red Lion found no other targets; the scorching energy, under some controlling will, surged toward the clash's origin, coalescing into a gleaming humanoid form—white shirt, black grid skirt, golden short hair, and a confident smile.

She reached out, caught the top hat descending from the heavens, and pulled it onto her head once more.

Calderia Spencer reformed from the flames into a human shape.

"Explosion Bullet!"

Three hundred meters away, the gunman pulled the trigger. The bullet had not yet reached its mark when it met a streak of flame and detonated prematurely.

Boom! The explosion bullet erupted mid-air, unleashing fresh waves of light and heat. The flames born of the blast condensed into a razor-thin beam, splitting in opposite directions—one striking the fire pile beside the street, thickening into a fiercer line that finally reached Red Lion's feet; the other racing toward the building's ruins, merging into the dying embers!

Calderia stepped onto the fire line. Her body melted instantly into burning crimson, then, connected by the "line," she hurled herself into the distant blaze.

"!"

The yellow-haired gunman twisted aside to face the ruins—too late! The girl's body emerged from the flames, fully formed, wearing the beloved top hat, identical to her appearance moments earlier.

"I've been fighting for ages..." A small flame flickered at her fingertips. "I didn't even have time to ignite the hat just now—it nearly burned."

What had transpired? Such words would enlighten any student versed in superpowers with the truth. Calderia Spencer had turned her body and attire into flame to evade the initial sniper!

Yet how much real-world time had elapsed during this cascade of chaos?

The answer: five seconds! In mere five seconds, Red Lion had vanquished the four Death Wings elites, now poised to fell the fifth. This explained why Calderia Spencer, armed solely with her flame-based super ability, had become one of the city's calamities—lacking any weakness in destructive force, speed, or control: a peerless superpowered being!

"..."

The yellow-haired gunman remained silent.

Red Lion sighed helplessly.

"Even college students brawling in the streets—are you insane?"

The gunman lifted his pistol.

"Sorry, Lion." His voice was low, free of regret, "I want to go out."

The title he used for her shifted to Lion.

"Element Bullet!" The gunman fired. A faint blue light lanced from the muzzle toward the girl's head. The fingertip flame surged violently, the skies ignited, incinerating the final bullet.

Flames engulfed the gunman, the handgun melting into molten iron. He collapsed with a heavy thud. The yellow-haired man whispered, "Sorry..."

"Still dreaming of leaving? Stay in the city, thug—you'd do everyone a favor, don't you dare."

The fifth black light faded, twenty-five feathers remaining. As the hat girl responded indifferently to the foe, a purple-black shadow erupted from the collapsing ruins!

"Death Charge!"

Incredible—the sixth assailant charging from outside the blaze zone! His speed surpassed even a race car's top velocity!

Superpowered reactions possess limits; turning into flame is no omnipotent state. This straightforward strike, if it landed, would strip the girl of all resistance.

Even if you don't die, I'll leave you half-dead! The black-clad thug roared in his heart, but Red Lion merely thrust a fist sideways.

"Flame Sphere."

Raging fire burst from the fist; a four-meter inferno swallowed the enemy whole. The black-clad giant's body ignited and soared skyward. Such merciless reality: the foe who gloried in violence lay defeated in an instant by purer brutality!

Another black light vanished. Glancing back, the skeletal head had long since melted into the flames, leaving only mechanical fragments—the speaker to Calderia was a high-precision android, how insidious!

Superpowered beings felt no anger; if the skeletal head had been a simple, direct man, his abilities would have been far easier to counter.

Twenty-four feathers remained. Only when all black lights dissolved would the true battle begin. Yet the minor disturbance was not over—dozens of attacks came from afar. While Calderia handled the burly man, the Death Wings launched another surprise assault.

"Red Lion."

Flames coalesced behind her into a mane of crimson beast-head form. The flame lion gazed upward at the black lights, unleashing a thunderous roar. From its maw erupted a million streams of fire, incinerating every incoming threat.

"Wow wow, come on, hurry up."

Calderia shook her hand; the back that had struck the attacker flashed with purple-black light. She raised it indifferently, pressing the brim of her top hat.

"Who's next?"

·

At this moment, whether fresh recruits or seasoned veterans, every Death Wings member involved felt an emotion they could not voice.

They wanted to scream, to flee, to surrender. These emotions merged into a fear etched forever in their memories.

So strong. Too strong.

She and I... are not even on the same level!

This was one of the superpowered existences: the strongest energy-release type superpowered being—the Flame Red Lion, Calderia Spencer!

You are a genius. Remember in one second: Red Lion: