Chapter 159: The Ideology Of The Strong

Chapter 159: Chapter 159: The Ideology Of The Strong

Ryan’s face twisted with fury as he stepped forward, his fists trembling at his sides. "Why the fuck are you doing this?"

Hoffman looked down at them from the edge of the crumbled rooftop, his cold eyes sweeping over the group like they were insects beneath his heel. Then, without hurry, he jumped. The impact of his landing cracked the already fractured ground beneath his feet, sending webs of fissures racing outward through the rubble. He straightened slowly, brushing dust from his sleeves, and walked towards them with the calm confidence as he held absolute control over the situation.

Every one of them tensed.

Hoffman stopped a few meters away, tilting his head as he studied them. A thin, almost nostalgic smile crept onto his face.

"You see," he began, his voice eerily calm, "for people like us who were originally born with lesser talents — no bloodline, no divine inheritance, limited from birth — do you know how annoying it is to be trapped in the same realm for more than fifty years?"

His aura exploded.

The pressure hit them like a physical wall. Ryan staggered. Iris gasped. Rose’s shields cracked just from the ambient pressure. Clara gritted her teeth and held her ground, but even her Late Core Realm cultivation wavered under the weight of a Mid Grand Core Realm cultivator’s full presence. Wei Chen planted his feet, sword intent flaring around him like a second skin.

Lucian stood firm, but his crimson eyes flickered. He activated Primordial Sight, pushing through the distortion to read Hoffman’s information:

Name: ████████ Hoffman

Race: Human

Age: 145

Realm: Mid Grand Core Realm

Ability: A-Rank Light Manipulation

Lucian’s eyes narrowed. A-Rank Light Manipulation. The same element as him, but wielded by someone nearly three full realms above him.

Hoffman continued, his voice rising with barely contained frustration. "I was finally able to break through my talent’s bottleneck with the help of the Dark Order and reach the Mid Grand Core Realm after fifty years of being stuck. Fifty years!" He spat the words like venom. "Do you know how that feels?"

He paused, his gaze locking onto Lucian. "Of course, you wouldn’t know. Prodigies like you who are born with dual powers, powerful bloodlines —" his aura pressed down harder, making the air itself groan, "— you who have everything handed to you on a silver platter. You who breathe mana like the heavens designed the world for your convenience."

His expression twisted into something ugly. "I finally managed to achieve an A-grade talent forty years ago. And now, seeing an opportunity to achieve even greater heights just by destroying this city —"

An evil smirk spread across his face, distorting his features.

"Why wouldn’t I take it?"

Clara stepped forward, her silver hair whipping around her face as her voice cut through the oppressive aura. "The World Government is meant to protect the people, and you dare — you dare cause harm to innocent lives? More than twenty thousand civilians already lost their lives! Thousands of soldiers also lost their lives! Were they all meaningless to you?"

Hoffman laughed. It was a dry, hollow sound, stripped of any warmth.

"For a cultivator, nothing is more important than power. If you forget your goal, the reason you cultivate, when your heart stops following your path — you are then deemed unworthy of this bloody path." He placed a hand over his chest. "On the path to cultivation, there is no good or bad. There is only the strong and the weak. The weak have no right to exist."

Iris stepped forward, her usually composed face flushed with anger. "The strong protect the weak. Then the weak get stronger and help those weaker than themselves. That is the law of nature! You have forgotten that. That’s what all soldiers swore — even you!"

Hoffman tilted his head, regarding Iris with a patronizing look. "Young lady, it’s survival of the fittest." His voice dropped to a whisper. "I’m truly sorry, but everyone here has to die for my ascension."

He moved.

One moment he was standing five meters away. The next, a blade of condensed light formed in his hand and he was rushing forward, aimed directly at the scientists.

Lucian appeared before him.

Light Steps carried him across the distance in a flash, and Aethon sang as he drew the S-Rank longsword from its sheath, coating the blade in Light Blade. Steel met light with a deafening clash that sent a shockwave rippling through the ruins.

Hoffman’s eyes widened slightly, then curved into a smirk. "A light user too."

Lucian smirked back, his crimson eyes glowing. "While I disagree with your ideology, you’re targeting my friends. That, I cannot allow."

Hoffman’s smirk deepened. With a flick of his wrist, he channeled more mana into his light blade and fired a concentrated slash. The arc of light screamed through the air, striking Aethon with enough force to push Lucian backward across the rubble. His boots carved trenches through the debris as he stabbed Aethon into the ground, using it as an anchor to stabilize himself.

His arms trembled. The difference in raw power was staggering even with his enhanced vampire physique.

Hoffman didn’t pause. He redirected his charge toward the scientists — toward Ryan and Iris. Clara and Wei Chen moved simultaneously.

Clara thrust her hand forward, her SS-Rank Lunar Authority surging through her. A powerful ice attack manifested — shards of lunar frost that screamed through the air like falling stars, aimed directly at Hoffman’s path.

Wei Chen drew his blade in the same breath, his S-Rank Sword Spirit flaring to life around his weapon. He slashed out with the third form of his sword art, a horizontal crescent of concentrated sword intent that carved through the rubble as it raced toward Hoffman.

Two attacks from two Elite-level fighters, both determined.

Hoffman didn’t even slow down. A barrier of light materialized before him — a simple light shield — and both attacks slammed into it. Clara’s lunar ice shattered on impact. Wei Chen’s sword intent dispersed like morning mist. The shield held without a crack.

Hoffman raised his free hand and fired a light bolt.

It was so effortless. A single bolt of condensed light that shot toward the group faster than most of them could track.

Rose reacted instantly, raising multiple Aegis barriers in front of everyone. Three shields stacked one behind the other.

The first shield shattered on contact. The second cracked and exploded. The third disintegrated.

The light bolt continued forward, barely slowed.

Lucian materialized between the group and the bolt. He gripped Aethon with both hands, channeled everything he had, and swung with the second form of the Eclipse Sword Art. The blade of sword intent met the light bolt with a screech of colliding energies. For a heartbeat, they hung in the air, locked together.

Then the bolt dispersed.

Lucian exhaled sharply. His arms shook. So powerful. A simple light bolt from Hoffman — not even a chanted spell — had required the strongest form of his Eclipse Sword Art to stop. If he had been a fraction of a second slower, if his form had been slightly less refined, that bolt would have torn through Rose’s shields and killed Ryan and Iris instantly.

The reality settled over the group like cold water. They were really outmatched.

Hoffman lowered his hand and regarded them with something close to pity. "Stop struggling," he said quietly. "I will make this as painless as possible."

His aura flared again, denser this time, pressing down on all of them. Rose dropped to one knee. Iris fell. Ryan caught her, his own legs buckling. Clara’s fangs bared as she fought to stay standing. Wei Chen’s sword intent flickered.

Lucian’s grip on Aethon tightened.

Then — a chime.

[Quest Generated]

Stop Councilman Hoffman from killing the remaining scientists.

Objective: Defend Ryan Duncan, Iris Langford, and all surviving researchers until reinforcements arrive or Hoffman is neutralized.

Time Limit: ???

Rewards: ???

Penalty for Failure: Death of allies. Loss of critical research data. Potential collapse of New Geneva Safe Zone.

Lucian’s crimson eyes locked onto Hoffman.

"I don’t need a quest to tell me what I’m about to do."

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