The Sovereign Veil Chapter 10: Chapter 10: The Ironclad Alibi

Read chapter 10 of The Sovereign Veil by GodEmperor on NovelPedia.

The silence on the track was absolute. Then, the club members erupted into an uproar, their faces cycling through shock, confusion, and awe. "Since when does a Tier 1 Aether-Forged have that kind of kinetic output?!" "Didn't he say he just Awakened? That's impossible!" "How could a glorified meat-shield do that to a multi-million-credit aero-car?" Julian, who was nursing his shattered ribs in the corner, stared at Lucian with eyes wide enough to fall out of his skull. He prided himself on the nobility of his Arcanist discipline and actively despised the Aether-Forged. The heavy blow of reality made his blood boil. He spat out a mouthful of blood he hadn't even coughed up blood when Marcus hit him. The downed Zenith Interceptor lay crumpled on the asphalt, sparking wildly and swaying slightly. Fortunately, the primary plasma cores hadn't breached, so it didn't explode. Lucian secretly breathed a sigh of relief. If he had detonated the car, there was no way he could afford the liability. "You bastard! How dare you smash my aero-car!" Marcus roared, his face twisted in absolute rage. "Hey now, you didn't lose out on this exchange," Lucian coughed, trying to smoothly defuse the situation. "Let's bury the hatchet. Best not to mention compensation." "Didn't lose out?!" Marcus's veins throbbed, his eyes almost spitting fire. "My Interceptor costs more than several of your analog junkers combined! How is this a profit?!" He had just purchased the vehicle and hadn't even shown it off for a full week before Lucian cratered it. "You smashed my ship... I'll cripple you!" Marcus's voice turned lethally cold. Whoosh! Marcus flickered out of existence. Activating his Augmented Catalyst Aether-core to its absolute limit, he burst forward with even greater speed than he had used against Julian. He threw a devastating punch, the sheer velocity generating a faint sonic boom. The kinetic force behind the strike would have instantly liquefied the skull of an ordinary human boxing champion. To an ordinary observer, Marcus was just a blur. But to Lucian's True-Qi perception, the strike was telegraphed and clear. Clap! Lucian casually raised a hand, activating the Kirin Ascendant Protocol . Azure True-Qi condensed in his palm, effortlessly catching Marcus's fist mid-air. To Marcus, it felt like he had just full-force punched a reinforced titanium bulkhead. Hiss! A sharp, stinging pain shot up Marcus's arm. The kinetic rebound violently shook his body, throwing him back several meters like a discarded ragdoll. He barely managed to stay on his feet. "He's just an Aether-Forged... how is this possible?" Marcus was internally shaken. Catalysts, especially his specific biological-enhancement type, dominated the early-tier power scales, usually effortlessly crushing Aether-Forged of the same rank. "Haha! The second young master of the esteemed Vance dynasty, an Augmented Catalyst, can't even touch an entry-level Aether-Forged!" The club members openly scoffed and mocked him. "Activate!" Marcus screamed, his face contorting in furious humiliation. He pushed his Aether-core past its safe operational threshold. Creak! Crack! Marcus's musculature violently expanded. His bones cracked and reset as his torso and limbs stretched, adding nearly a foot to his height. "He's pushing into his Enhanced Form!" Chloe's expression changed. Augmented Catalysts could temporarily double their kinetic output by entering an Enhanced Form, though the biological side effects were usually severe. Roar! Marcus exuded a terrifying, explosive pressure, looking like a feral, bipedal apex predator. The air hissed as he vanished from his original spot. A split second later, he materialized directly above Lucian, delivering a thunderous, downward strike. The sheer speed actually startled Lucian. Reacting on pure instinct, he flooded his right arm with True-Qi. Whoosh! Lucian's forearm swelled slightly, instantly covered in a dense layer of faint green Kirin scales. An ancient, oppressiv