Chapter 12: The Weakest Strikes Back

Chapter 12: The Weakest Strikes Back

Despair. Suffocation.

On the stage, Chen Kong’s eyes refused to meet the Terravaran’s vertical pupils, as if terrified that the beast might notice him.

He knew all too well that within those golden eyes, he was nothing more than something small, pitiful, and insignificant.

Some things could only be understood when experienced firsthand.

From the safety of the sidelines, Chen Kong had known the Terravaran was terrifying. But that had been detached fear—fear without true danger. A cautious respect for its power, nothing more.

But now that he stood face-to-face with the monster, the reality hit him like a tidal wave.

Only now did he truly comprehend what Tendou had accomplished earlier.

To stand under the gaze of this beast and still strike, to wound it with unflinching resolve…

What kind of heart did that take?

Did Tendou… not know fear?

Chen Kong’s legs felt as though they were cast in lead. He couldn’t even take a step forward.

He was afraid. Terrified.

Though he didn’t want to admit it, in that moment he even thought of fleeing.

His sister—someone he had always seen as impossibly strong—had been injured in a single exchange.

Even Tendou, as untouchable as he seemed, had needed Caroline and Jing Liuli aid to land a blow on the beast.

Compared to them, what could he, a mere ordinary person, possibly do?

The answer already weighed heavy in his heart.

He couldn’t. He would never be able to.

His eyes dulled as the thought consumed him. Even the sight of Chen Xing and Rin struggling desperately against the Terravaran blurred into nothingness.

And suddenly, it was as if he had been dragged back—back to the days before the final assessment.

The jeers of his peers in the training grounds. The weary sighs of disappointed instructors. The cold, merciless words from his sister—useless.

Those voices coiled together, weaving into chains of despair, binding him tighter and tighter until he couldn’t move at all.

And just as Chen Kong was ready to surrender, to accept his weakness once and for all—

A voice echoed in his mind.

“When you feel cornered, when there’s nowhere left to run… Ask yourself—why are you still alive now?”

His head jerked up. Almost instinctively, his eyes turned toward the edge of the arena.

And there, Tendou was watching him.

As if sensing his turmoil, Tendou removed his sunglasses, smiling faintly as he pointed to his own heart.

It was a signal, a wordless reminder.

When you don’t know what to do—listen. Not to your doubts, not to the voices around you. But to the answer buried deep within your chest.

Because sometimes, being ordinary—being unnoticed—was a power of its own.

BOOM!

Something inside Chen Kong’s mind shattered like glass.

‘Yes… why have I survived until now?’

‘It’s because… I’m the weakest.’

‘Because I’m the weakest, no one ever pays attention to me.’

‘Because I’m the weakest, no one ever bothers to target me.’

‘The strong live by their own laws. But the weak… the weak also have their own way of surviving.’

‘If I’m destined never to be strong… then why not try surviving in the way only the weak can?’

The instant that thought took root, something awoke within him.

A strange force, one that had always been hidden inside him, unnoticed.

It was subtle. It was quiet. A power whose greatest purpose was—to remain ordinary, to stay unseen.

Even Chen Kong himself hadn’t noticed the power lurking within him.

But now that he had sensed it, the power could no longer remain hidden. Forced into the open, it revealed its nature to him at last:

[Void Mark: Greatly reduces one’s presence and, to a certain degree, nullifies surrounding star energy—blending all into ‘mediocrity.’]

Yet that wasn’t the only force within his body.

Alongside the Void Mark, Chen Kong felt another presence—weak, yes, but fierce and unyielding. There was an unmistakable arrogance, a domineering edge to it.

Unlike the quiet acceptance of the Void Mark, this other power rejected him.

Even when it realized Chen Kong had become aware of it, it stubbornly refused to aid him. Instead, it remained locked in its own struggle against the Void Mark, ignoring him completely.

Though denied that mysterious strength, Chen Kong found something far more valuable in the discovery of the Void’s existence—

A way forward.

A way to survive.

He clenched the pistol in his hand.

He would prove it. That even the weakest had the right… to live.

“Oh? Finally disappeared, has he…”

“Huh? Disappeared? Who disappeared?”

Caroline blinked at Tendou, baffled by his words.

Tendou, already strolling casually toward the exit, answered with a meaningful smile:

“Who else? The disappearance of a certain weakest one, of course. After all, if the weak want to survive in this brutal world… they must learn to use the arrogance of the strong to their advantage, don’t you think?”

“???”

Caroline stared at him, completely lost. What nonsense was he even talking about now?

She might not have understood his cryptic words, but she did realize something else.

“Tendou, the assessment isn’t over yet. Where are you going?”

“Where else?” he said matter-of-factly. “To the cafeteria. I need to replenish my sugar.”

Caroline frowned. “But… isn’t that breaking the rules?”

Tendou waved a hand dismissively without even looking back.

“Rules? Those are for the weak to follow. I, Masamune Tendou, am the rules.”

With that, he vanished into the corridor, leaving Caroline dumbfounded.

Moments later, all she could do was sigh helplessly and turn her attention back to the stage.

What neither she, nor the Terravaran, nor anyone else realized—was that their eyes had already been drawn entirely to Chen Xing and Rin.

So much so that the weakest one on the stage seemed to have completely vanished.

Unnoticed. Unremarked. Unseen.

Perhaps it was fatigue, or perhaps its rage from Tendou’s earlier strike had finally burned itself out.

After mercilessly battering Chen Xing and Rin, the Terravaran decided to end this farce once and for all.

It would crush these ignorant ants and remind them what true strength meant.

BOOM!

The Terravaran stomped, and a tidal wave of oppressive star energy flooded outward, swallowing the two girls whole.

In an instant, the nimble movements they had been relying on to dodge and counterattack were pinned down.

Both of them slammed hard into the icy arena floor.

It was as if a mountain had fallen onto their bodies, weighing them down until they couldn’t even twitch a finger.

Hopelessness. Endless, suffocating despair.

With nothing but sheer force, the Terravaran declared a simple, brutal truth—

Before absolute power, every trick, every flourish, was meaningless.

Of course… There was one exception to the rule of absolute power—a certain brat with sunglasses.

Chen Xing lay sprawled on the ground, sweat dripping from her forehead in heavy beads. Her eyes burned with unwillingness as they locked onto her fallen weapon—Bloodflame—lying just out of reach.

Tendou had wounded the beast.

She had always believed herself not far behind him.

And yet here she was, pinned from beginning to end, not given even a single chance to strike.

‘Not once. Not even once…’

Her heart screamed for just one chance—just one.

And as Chen Xing drowned in her frustration, a figure no one noticed quietly moved.

Chen Kong.

He stooped down, picking up the greatsword that everyone else had forgotten.

Even the Terravaran, towering before them, failed to notice.

His face had gone pale, his heart hammering in his chest like it wanted to burst free.

In his grip, the greatsword trembled violently, rejecting him, ridiculing his weakness.

But even as it scorned him, Chen Kong’s hand did not falter. His grip on the blade was unyielding, steady as stone.

‘One chance. I only get one chance.’

He drew in a deep breath, eyes sharp as he watched the Terravaran’s unguarded back. Slowly, silently, he crept forward like a shadow.

The strong had their own laws.

And the weak… had their own way to survive.

At that same moment, far away in the cafeteria, Tendou lounged in a chair with his legs crossed, savoring a slice of strawberry cake.

As though sensing something, he suddenly set down his fork.

“The weakest strikes back, huh? …Now this could be interesting.”

Smiling, he polished off the last bite of cake, then rose and strolled toward the dormitory wing.

But just as he stepped into the corridor, his voice drifted out, low and meaningful:

“Kong-kun… surviving right under a strong one’s nose is no easy feat. Especially…”

He removed his sunglasses, revealing his signature azure eyes, gleaming with a cold light.

“…when your opponent has already seen straight through you.”

With those words, Tendou’s figure vanished into the shadows of the passage.

And thus, he became the first—and only—participant to return to the dorms for rest before the final assessment had even ended.

If you want to see more chapter of this story and don't mind spending $5 monthly to see till the latest chapter, please go to my Patreon:

Latest Chapter in Patreon: Chapter 100: Obtaining “Overclocked Computation”

Link to the latest chapter: https://www.patreon.com/posts/146986674?collection=1761063

https://www.patreon.com/collection/1761063?view=expanded