"7... 6... 5...

"

Ryder continued the countdown as he turned back and watched the Thirteenth King come close. The Thirteenth King was getting close and closed to the attacking range.

Just when he was twenty-two kilometers away, Ryder threw the Water Trident Towards the masked man.

The Trident flew towards the man, attracting his attention, but it was again stopped by the invisible wall and fell down.

"Is that all you got?

" the Thirteenth King said mockingly as he raised his gaze, but a frown appeared on his face as he saw a bag coming towards him.

After throwing the bag, Ryder continued running away, but he didn't stop his Countdown.

"3... 2... 1.

"

Just as Ryder said one, the bag was only one meter away from the Thirteenth King.

Unsure of what was inside the bag, the Thirteenth King used his invisible wall to stop the bag, unaware that the bag contained something he could never have expected Ryder to possess— the live bomb.

Only the Thirteenth King knew the codes to activate the blowup function of the bombs. He was about to insert the Codes in the bombs after the sync was completed. That's why he had personally come here to this building.

He didn't know that in a different timeline, he had already activated the bombs, and Ryder had already stolen one of those bombs. That was what he was using against the man.

The bag hit the invisible wall exactly one second after Ryder said one. Ryder hadn't stopped running away for even a second.

The bag hit the invisible wall, and immediately it blew up, creating a large blast. The force of the blast was so powerful that it tossed the Thirteenth King far away. His invisible wall wasn't able to protect him either. He flew back like a missile and crashed on the window of the building that was behind him.

Ryder also suffered the same thing. He was propelled forward because of the blast that happened in the air.

His clothes were burnt behind him. His flesh was also badly burnt as well, making him cry in pain as he was tossed forward.

He flew uncontrollably and crashed into a building that was ahead of him. Fortunately, he hit the window as well and not the wall.

Breaking the window, his body crashed on the concrete floor of the building. His body laid on the 12th floor of the building as if he was a burnt body. His mask was still intact as his back was facing the blast. His body was less injured from the front. On the other hand, his body was almost ruined behind him.

Still having some consciousness, he used the Ruler of Nature and watched his body heal. His body started healing slowly as his flesh started recovering. His visible backbone was once again covered in the flesh, which started getting better.

He laid on the floor for five seconds before his body healed completely. He placed both his palms on the floor and pushed his body upwards as he stood up.

Standing up, he took off whatever remained of his clothes, feeling relieved that no one was here. He still didn't take off his mask since he wasn't sure if there was any camera here.

Bringing out his clothes from the inventory, he started getting dressed.

"My car is still in the building. I can't go that way, but I still need to leave faster before his fellow mates come after me. Hopefully, they'll be occupied with saving that guy,

" Ryder muttered as he started walking towards the lift. Leaving the lift, he arrived on the ground floor. Finding the door locked, he broke a window and stepped out that way.

Taking off his mask, he casually started walking towards his home.

He brought his phone out of his inventory and called Shu.

He could hear police sirens in the background. Apparently, the cops were here after the explosion in the sky.

"Shu? Yeah, can you send a car for me at Sixteenth Street near South Block?

" he asked Shu.

"Ah, no. It's nothing. I'll tell you everything after I return,

" Ryder replied after hearing Shu's barrage of questions.

He disconnected the call and continued working towards the Sixteenth Street where he had called the car.

He was wearing casual clothes previously, but now he was wearing professional clothes as if he was an employee, going to the office. He also held a bag in his hand like an official employee.

Far away from him, the Thirteenth King was lying on the Tenth Floor of a building. He had lost his consciousness. His eyes were closed as he laid unconscious.

The Twelfth King appeared beside him and sighed, looking down at him.

"So that person got the best of you. I told you not to be overconfident, didn't I? Whatever, looks like we'll both be punished when we get back,

" the Twelfth King muttered.

He glanced back at the five Subordinates of the Thirteenth King while hearing the sirens downstairs.

"You take him back. I'll go and try to find the guy,

" The Twelfth King muttered, walking towards the window.

"In an explosion of this magnitude, he should be injured as well. I'll try to find him,

" he added as he started walking towards the broken window.

****

Ryder had changed his direction multiple times as he reached the Sixteenth Street and started waiting for the car.

While waiting, he glanced at his phone and wondered if he should call someone.

Ultimately, he decided to call Ray.

Ray was sitting in an urgent meeting that was called to talk about the explosion that took place some time ago. Even though no one died, the explosion was a serious matter, and they needed to investigate it. The teams were being selected to be sent to NJ for this mission right now.

Ray's phone was as silent, so he didn't know and didn't pick up Ryder's calls.

Ryder disconnected the call and placed his phone in his pocket.

" I'm doing his work, and he's the one who's busy,

" Ryder muttered as he rolled his eyes.

****

The Twelfth King arrived at the location where Ryder had crashed. He could see spots of blood on the ground

He looked around and frowned, not finding anyone.

"It seems like he was badly injured. But no blood drops can be seen in any direction. He definitely didn't drag his bloodied body. Did someone take him, or did he heal and walk on his own? Could he be that undying hero who killed out people in DC? He can heal like our people and fly. He even has the wits to defeat the Thirteenth King to unconsciousness. Interesting, very interesting,

" The Twelfth King muttered as he smiled.

He walked inside the window and went to the ground floor.

Stepping out of the lift on the ground floor, he looked around. A smirk formed on his face as he saw a broken window in the back. He stepped out of that and looked around. There were a few people walking on the road.

The Twelfth King shook his head as he casually started walking North.

****

A black sedan stopped in front of Ryder. He recognized the car as the car inside the Maxwell Estate. Opening the door, he entered. The car started driving away, taking Ryder straight to the Maxwell Mansion.

****

The Car stopped straight inside Shu's Mansion. Stepping out of the car, Ryder watched Shu sitting on the couch. He seemed to be looking at the News about the blast.

"You're back. You're fine, right? The blast happened where you were standing,

" Shu asked Ryder as he stood up after seeing him.

"Yeah, I went to see the work at my building in the south block. It happened when I was coming back,

" Ryder replied casually.

"Wait a minute; I'll be ready in a few seconds. We can leave after that,

" he told Shu as he went upstairs.

He went to Alice's room first to see how she was. She was wearing Divinity Glasses. She seemed to be immersed in the game.

Closing the door, Ryder went back to his room and dropped to his bed right away.

"It was so tiring,

" he muttered, closing his eyes.

"Janus, how does it feel to lose?

" Ryder asked Janus as he smiled lightly despite being tired.

"One on Ten Thousand Chance, finished in two tries. Thanks for the help, though. If you hadn't helped me with advanced points, I wouldn't be able to do it successfully at all,

" he told Janus. He knew that Janus' help played a big role in it.

'If I hadn't taken the bomb from the first timeline, it wouldn't have been possible either. If I hadn't fought that masked guy in the first timeline, I wouldn't have known that he was faster than me even under the rain's effect. Everything seemed to fall into place,

" he muttered, remembering how everything happened for the end moment.

" As for your words about someone dying,

" he let out suddenly.