'These ants,' Old Zed muttered in frustration, gritting his teeth.
He had been attempting to rest and recharge his powers, but they had assaulted him nonstop, denying him even a brief moment of break.
It was his own error; when he had agreed to the deal, he allowed them to track his energy signature. Now, there was no hiding, even if he desperately wanted to slip away unnoticed.
Faced with this group, Old Zed couldn't deny that he lacked confidence in his ability to emerge victorious. He was old and already weakened. Just the fact that he had held his own thus far was nothing short of a miracle.
Things would have been different if he was in his prime, but now, he could only access a mere 15-20% of his former power. Not only that, but the energy required to use his abilities had grown bigger. His current limitations made the situation far more challenging than it would have been in the past.
"I can't let them to capture me," he muttered to himself.
He still had a mission to fulfill before his time ran out. As his gaze shifted toward the direction of Seoul, he reminisced about someone dear to him.
'He should be 18 now,' he thought, a smile playing on his lips as he remembered the face of a young boy .
'I have to deliver it to him, no matter what,' he thought. He was ready to take whatever steps were necessary to accomplish his mission.
He knew he was too weak now to rescue his daughter on his own, but he clung to one last hope. He had to reach him and reveal the truth. Once that was achieved, he could find peace, knowing that everything would be set right.
"It looks like Cerebrum really wants to stop me," Old Zed remarked , trying to engage in a conversation. He wasn't much of a talker, but he needed a moment to get ready for his next move. He didn't have time to play around, so he planned to finish things with one powerful attack.
However, Old Zed's attempt to fool the Gumiho team did not work. Fully aware of the danger he posed, they quickly surrounded him, launching a coordinated assault. The team closed in, their weapons aimed at him, ready to bring the battle to a decisive conclusion.
*BANG!
"How pitiful, the once "Strongest" now trapped because age caught up to him," No. 5 remarked. He was the towering man who had been momentarily weakened by the earlier exchange but had managed to regroup and catch up with the others.
"Ants these days don't understand the value of respecting a superior being" Old Zed chuckled weakly, struggling to maintain his balance. His words carried a hint of sarcasm as he continued, "Borrowed power made you all arrogant " he added.
"Old man, this 'borrowed power' you're belittling is the future. Quit living in the past, thinking that Gifted are more superior!" No. 5 retorted with a sneer of contempt
"Gifted? Is that what you call those... Defects?" Old Zed began to laugh at No. 5's choice of words. Being labeled as a "Gifted" was amusing to him, knowing that humans were far from comprehending the truth about his true nature.
"Let me impart a lesson to you ants," Old Zed replied with a sinister chuckle. As he spoke, the atmosphere seemed to become denser, suggesting that he held deeper reserves of power yet to be revealed.
"Take him down!" Rad commanded, but before they could react, a brilliant blue light emanated from Old Zed's eyes, instilling in them an impending sense of death.
"Die!" Old Zed raised his finger, and a concentrated blue energy began to gather at his fingertip. The surroundings quaked, and a surge of intense energy saturated the air as he readied himself to unleash a devastating attack.
"No!!!" Rad screamed in panic, a sinking feeling of death consuming him as he realized the strength of this impending attack.
But it was already too late. The gathered blue energy erupted in a powerful explosion, unleashing a devastating shockwave that tore through the entire mountain.
*BOOOOM!
The force of the blast was immense, obliterating the landscape and reducing the once stable mountain to a jumble of broken rocks and debris. The ground shook, trees were torn from their roots, and the earth seemed to cry out in pain as the shockwave spread outward, leaving behind a scene of utter destruction.
As the dust settled, an old and frail man remained at the epicenter of the devastation.
"So this is my limit." Old Zed managed a weak chuckle as his body, drained of strength, could no longer bear the exhaustion. He crumpled to the ground and slipped into unconsciousness