Genesis Code: The Genetic Awakening-Chapter 124: Why? (1)

Oliver’s gaze shifted over to his men as he heard them scream in pain. The catwoman was ruthless in her assault, flinging her men all over the place.

The sight was heartbreaking to the crime boss. After the failure of the Disintegration spell, he knew it was over for his men. Only he had the best chance of escaping alive.

But that had to be put to the test first.

"You should focus on me, Oliver?" The crime boss focused his gaze on Caleb the moment he heard his name.

This was the second time Caleb called his real name. The funny thing was that there weren’t many who knew his birth name. This got him curious.

’Jetro reported the same thing.’ Oliver pondered with narrowed eyes. ’Does he have some kind of appraisal skill or something?’

The crime boss didn’t dwell too much on his thoughts. Ignoring the explosions happening behind him in the distance, he passed the shield to his left hand and got into a fighting stance.

"Heh~ I guess I can play with you for a while." Caleb chuckled as he also took a combat stance.

If he ended every fight with his vast number of abilities, he would never have the kind of fun he was searching for. That also meant missing out on lessons in combat situations.

His abilities were better served in situations where he was facing an overwhelming number of opponents. For now, he would engage in hand-to-hand combat.

Oliver made the first move as his figure flashed and disappeared in a burst of speed, appearing above Caleb in but a second. His right hand gleamed with his mana as he dove downwards.

BOOM!

Caleb leapt out of the way as the crime boss’ strike ripped into the earth, sending dust and debris flying. He knew his strike was nothing impressive and Caleb would have no issue evading that strike.

RUMBLE...!

The ground shook violently as earthen spikes shot out of the ground, travelling straight for Caleb who was about to land a couple of meters away.

"Nice spell..." Caleb chuckled, skillfully somersaulting around to dodge the earthen spikes. "But it’s going to take more than that to defeat me!"

A left swing of his leg tore through a bunch of the spikes the moment he landed on his feet, shattering the spikes into pieces. Without delay, he bolted towards the crime boss, destroying whatever spikes Oliver sent his way.

The crime boss, of course, did not stay in one place, constantly shifting his position to prevent Caleb from closing the distance. Realizing the spikes were doing no damage, the crime boss turned things up a notch.

’Huh?’

Caleb’s eyes widened in shock when the earthen spikes suddenly transformed into flexible tendrils that abruptly clung to his feet. Before he knew what hit him, he was flung around before being slammed into the ground.

BOOM!

’Fuck!’

Caleb cursed, utilizing more physical force to leap out of the small crater he found himself in when a rain of mana spikes fell from above.

"Alright, playtime is over."

The crime boss was slightly out of breath when he heard Caleb’s words. In a flash, Caleb appeared right before Oliver, making his heart thump in fear.

"Ack!"

A strike to his stomach connected before he could even react to the sudden appearance. A second strike followed, connecting to his jaws with a sickening crunch, bending his head backwards.

The final strike was a kick to the chest that sent the crime boss stumbling across the ground, disoriented and bleeding from his mouth. The crime boss could barely follow what happened.

The shield he had brought to defend against his target was all but useless if he couldn’t follow Caleb’s speed. In truth, he was delusional to think he stood a chance.

"You know, learning from my opponents never turns out how I expect." Oliver heard Caleb say as he struggled to get back on his feet. "They’re always too weak to keep up or I get annoyed that they were able to land a blow."

This was something he had come to realize about himself. After clearing the dungeon solo, every opponent he faced was a disappointment.

’I guess I hate the idea of losing.’ Caleb realized with a soft sigh, watching as Oliver stood back up. ’And this is not even fun.’

He looked over to Jess, noticing how she had a grin on her face while putting the assailants to the ground.

’It will only be a waste to take on weaklings... I should be leaving this kind of fight to Jess.’ At least, the catwoman would enjoy the thrill of the fight.

"Why...?"

"Huh?"

Caleb turned his focus to Oliver, wondering what he meant by that. The crime boss wiped the blood from his lips, glaring at Caleb with deep hatred in his eyes.

"You’re clearly stronger than me..." Oliver said. "So why play around with me?!"

The crime boss roared in outrage and closed the distance, aiming to strike Caleb with his shield. With calm and composed movements, Caleb deftly manoeuvred around the attacks, not making any attempts to strike back.

"Who knows~"

Caleb replied with a soft grin, sidestepping a launch and delivering a blow to the stomach. He stepped back, not choosing to do a follow-up, giving the crime boss time to recover.

"But I can tell you what I think," he continued, as if he were not in a fight. "Your time as a crime boss is over. You knew this the moment that spell failed to kill us. Choosing to stay only confirms that you realized running was out of the question for you. "

"It’s why you aren’t in a rush to go save your men. You know this is the end, but you don’t to get arrested or die a coward; that’s why you’re putting up this farce of a fight."

"If you know all this, then why are you not killing me?!"

BOOM!

Oliver slammed both hands into the ground, causing the earth to tremble. Suddenly, the ground in a 20-meter radius around him and Caleb turned molten as lava spewed out of the earth.

The spell was meant to trap an opponent while causing them extreme discomfort. If their fire resistance were low, they would be severely burned.

"Die!"