This was due to the disease being related to genetics, and the fact that it is inherent and genetic makes it hard to cure. Due to these reasons, the disease her father was experiencing needed at least 100,000 credits to cure, a sum that her low-cla.s.s, family couldn't come up; especially since there were only two of them left. Thus, even with the so-called Tikbalang roaming around Pasig, she had to buy a symptom diminis.h.i.+ng medicine for her father in the middle of the night, not being able to bear watching her father undergo through this pain.

All throughout the way, she was s.h.i.+vering and was alert. The streets were eerie and desolate, no one in sight. That's when she heard a neigh and the galloping of a horse. The gallop was strange, with it being more irregular than the usual galloping of a horse.

Turning around, she witnessed the most terrifying sight she will probably see in her life. It was a tall figure, half-man, half-horse, with his back behind the moon, his eyes glowing terrifyingly red. As Tikbalang approached her slowly, her feet shook, desiring to run, but cannot move.

Fear flooding her nerves, Jane collapsed to the ground, clutching the medicine tightly on her chest. Soon, Tikbalang arrived in front of her, his towering body overshadowing her pet.i.te body. Tikbalang had a grisly, crazed smile, something that would inflict those who see it endless nightmares.

Tikbalang took Jane's leg and dragged her leg to an alleyway. As Jane was about to scream, she was slapped silly by Tikbalang, causing her to undergo through a state of shock.

"You b.i.t.c.h…" Tikbalang had an enraged face, the smile being wiped away on his face. "You dare scream? One more and I'll kill you!"

With Tikbalang saying that, Jane immediately shut up. She regretted not heeding her father's words. Tikbalang, with the sneer returning on his face, fondled Jane's chest.

"So soft!" Tikbalang quietly neighed, making for a horrible sight. "Oh, little girl! This is your fault for roaming around in the middle of the night!"

Finis.h.i.+ng stripping her down, Tikbalang removed a piece of cloth strapped to his loins and started forcing himself onto Jane, taking her chast.i.ty. While this is happening, she was still holding onto her father's medicine, sobbing silently in the hope of being able to at least return to his side and administer said medicine.

That went on for a few minutes before a figure hopped down the roof from the left of the alleyway and threw a kick towards Tikbalang.

Reacting, Tikbalang stepped back. A man clad in black appeared in front of Jane, standing tall and proud, appearing mighty.

"You dare proliferate fear in the people with your Ability?" Hayden roared, fury overcoming his heart. Such a young woman being subjected to this kind of experience, what the h.e.l.l happened to the peaceful world as he knows of it? "It seems that there's still human trash that shall be cleansed in this land…"

"How dare you interrupt my reproduction!" Tikbalang replied with displeasure. He was on the verge of climaxing! "You son of a b.i.t.c.h… You'll pay for this!"

Hayden infused essence energy into his body, horns sprouting out of his forehead and the holes of the white fox mask he was wearing. The sound of bone cracking can be heard as his body became larger, along with it, the stealth suit stretched. He has long planned for this phenomenon, with the suit exhibiting its elasticity.

"I'll pay? I think not!" Hayden's voice turned extremely deep, akin to that of a true demon's. As he was seething with rage at this moment, he didn't notice this minor change. "Go to h.e.l.l, you f.u.c.king horse!"

Charging towards Tikbalang, Hayden disappeared from his position. This was the first time he would actually release his full power, and had no control over it. As the wielder of Divine Perception though, he still had absolute rein over his body, allowing him to at least stop the moment he appeared in front of Tikbalang.

Brandis.h.i.+ng his claws, Hayden used his right hand to slash towards Tikbalang. Tikbalang, who saw this, was surprised. He was fighting against a shapes.h.i.+fter such as himself! Not daring to put down his guard, Tikbalang retreated backwards.

The moment, Hayden noticed that Tikbalang retreated, he instantly stopped his right hand and used his left hand to stab towards Tikbalang's stomach. When Tikbalang heard the sound of his flesh ripping, and a sensation of pain stemming from his stomach, he was horrified. What sharp claws!

Before Hayden could fully rip apart Tikbalang's flesh, he felt Tikbalang's hand smash to his arm, dislocating his forearm and almost tearing it apart. From this interaction, he deduced that Tikbalang's power was not inferior to his own, becoming more alert than he previously was.

This time, Hayden was the one who stepped back. A cool stream of energy went inside his body and the teared up flesh started closing at a rate visible to the naked eye. Meanwhile, the dislocated bone popped back to place by itself. This was the healing power of Indestructible Devil!?

"Holy s.h.i.+t…. That's incredible!" This was the first time Hayden actually witnessed the regenerative capabilities of Indestructible Devil. If this was the power of a Level 1 Ability, what of its Level 2 form? "No time… Let's think about that later!"

Seeing Tikbalang rus.h.i.+ng towards him at an incredible speed on par with his own, Hayden took out his Black Piercers and jumped 100 meters into the air. Doing a backflip high up in the air, Hayden rained down upon Tikbalang's head.

Through his Divine Perception, Hayden observed that Tikbalang's skin was unbelievably dense, his Black Piercer rounds ineffective, stopping at Tikbalang's skin.

"Tsk." Hayden's face twitched. While falling, Tikbalang appeared in front of him. Not expecting this, Hayden managed to react, blocking Tikbalang's kick with his arms, which weren't enough, not at all.

Falling out of the sky, cracks appeared in the middle of the road. It was a good thing he wore the stealth suit with ceramic plating, otherwise, he would be heavily injured, putting him at a disadvantage.

Standing back up, Tikbalang was already in front of him. Not thinking that weapons would be effective against Tikbalang, Hayden decided to use his fists and inhumane strength in place of weapons. Noticing a right hook thrown at him by Tikbalang, Hayden ducked as he moved forward and countered Tikbalang's blow with a liver shot.

Immense pain budded out from Tikbalang's stomach, making him stagger a little. Following up, Hayden performed a turning kick, but was surprised that he didn't feel anything touching the sole of his feet.

Tikbalang was not in front of him anymore! A sudden premonition struck him as he felt something hit the right side of his torso. Keeping his calm, Hayden forcefully stopped the momentum of the kick with his left foot amidst flight.

Examining his body in a microsecond, Hayden knew there were cracks in his ribs. This injury was not at all life-threatening to Hayden, in fact, he didn't feel anything at all, hence, he turned his attention back to Tikbalang.

"I admit, you're good…" Tikbalang adapted a fighting stance akin to that of brawling. "However, you haven't grown up in the streets unlike me!"

Rus.h.i.+ng towards Hayden, a perceptible red aura seeped out all over Tikbalang's body. If anybody from Puting Araw or Kamay ng Lagim saw this, they would know that this was what made Tikbalang so powerful, the power to enhance himself even further with an aura of a Tikbalang. In other words, Tikbalang's Level 2 upgrade!

Seeing this, Hayden's face turned grave and breathed in air deeply. In his eyes, the charging Tikbalang was moving at a snail's pace. All the small muscle movements, Tikbalang's heartbeat, and everything was perceived by Hayden. A simulation ran in his mind, with the scene where Tikbalang's fist would land.

Tilting his head to the left, the second Tikbalang arrived, Hayden kneed Tikbalang's stomach, sending him flying backwards. The force from Tikbalang's own movement combined with Hayden's strength nearly pierced a hole on Tikbalang's stomach.

"f.u.c.king idiot…" Hayden exhaled the air he breathed in and moved towards Tikbalang who was on the ground, crutching his stomach. "You underestimated me too much…"

Hayden's legs were more powerful than his arms, which was natural, Plus, his Muay Thai skills were absolutely no joke, the force behind that knee would shatter a cement house's walls with a single blow, what more, a puny human-horse hybrid?

"Your physique may be stronger than a human's," Hayden talked in a deep menacing voice, putting Tikbalang in a deep state of apprehension. "But I'm also the same."

This time, Hayden noticed the deep voice, surprising him, albeit, he didn't mind this as it wasn't really that too big of a change.

Tikbalang, feeling cornered, tried to kick at Hayden, who moved towards him excruciatingly slowly, to no avail, adding more fear to Tikbalang. He didn't have any other choice as he was reduced to nothing but a cripple in this instance, with the first liver blow from Hayden dealing such a huge impact, and following up with this kind of knee attack

Avoiding one of Tikbalang's kick, Hayden grabbed it with one hand and flailed Tikbalang around, smas.h.i.+ng him on the concrete road. Tikbalang, severely injured, spurted out a mouthful of blood.

Detecting the desperation in Tikbalang's eyes, Hayden sat down on his chest and pummeled his horse-face. Teeth flew all around the place as Hayden beat Tikbalang down.

"Is… this… the… power… of… a… Level 2…. Wielder?" As he was punching Tikbalang here and there, Hayden said through gritted teeth. He was unleas.h.i.+ng all of his unquenched rage for all those women that Tikbalang raped.

Abruptly, Hayden felt a kick behind his back. This kick was strong, yet, wasn't enough to make him stop. Tikbalang panicked seeing the eyes behind the mask. The eyes appeared blood red, and as if staring straight at his soul, Tikbalang's dread rose up exponentially.

A few seconds of a beat down later, Hayden choked Tikbalang. This was the first time in his life that he felt this amount of anger welling up inside of him.

"Do you promise to not violate women?" Hayden said in a devil's voice. In Tikbalang's mind, Hayden was truly the devil, seeking him out to smite him his punishment.

"I… do…" Tikbalang mumbled weakly. He didn't have enough energy to muster other words, even with the nourishment from his essence energy. "Please… spare… me…"

"Like h.e.l.l I'll spare you!" Hayden coldly said, piercing Tikbalang's eyes with his left claws, ridding him on the face of Earth forever. "Repent in h.e.l.l, you l.u.s.ty f.u.c.king horse… You would have been a powerful ally, tsk."

Throwing Tikbalang's corpse to the ground, Hayden dug out the Origin Crystal and stored it in his s.p.a.ce Ring prior to returning to the woman that Tikbalang violated. The naked young lady was cowering, her back facing the wall. Upon seeing Hayden, as she just underwent through an intense psychological torture, she trembled.

Approaching her, Jane backed away a little, her eyes sending a message of 'get away from me.' Picking up the dirty clothes, Hayden dusted it and threw it to Jane. He had no other clothes in his s.p.a.ce Ring, and how would he even explain the s.p.a.ce ring?

"I'm sorry you had to experience that." Hayden kneeled down the same manner a samurai would. "I was too late and couldn't spare you the horror of experiencing such an event… I only have money… You should accept this."

Putting his hands on his pocket, Hayden took out the phone from his s.p.a.ce ring that he prepared in case he needed to contact Puting Araw through a fake account. This was possible as this phone was new and that communication links were not the sole mode of communication in the modern era.

Similarly, Hayden took out his actual phone and transferred credits to the new phone, which was all of the money he had at hand, a little more than 200,000 credits. Deleting the transaction history, Hayden presented the phone to Jane.

"Take this..." Hayden gave the activated spare phone to Jane. The light from the screen lit up Jane's face and she went into a daze. "This is the only way I can help…"

This was the first time that Hayden has dealt with this kind of situation. He knew himself that being violated like this would leave a deep, deep, mark. Not knowing any other way to compensate the other party, and for being unable to reveal his true ident.i.ty, this was really the one and only way he could think of to help the other party.

"Thank… you…" Jane s.h.i.+vered, tears falling out of her eyes. Even though the other party saved her from further traumas, he actually even apologized for being late. "Can you turn around?"

Hayden heeded her words, but first, he observed what she was going to do. Sensing that she was merely putting her clothes back on, Hayden stopped spying using Divine Perception and let her do her thing.

"You can turn around now, mister…" Jane sheepishly said. The next second, she bowed with deep grat.i.tude. "Thank you for saving me…"

Regardless of being laid hands upon, she was a kind person and would not dare be disrespectful to her savior. Hayden nodded, refusing to speak any further.

"I'll… go now…" Remembering her father, Jane wanted to go back home this instant than any other thing. "Thank you…"

Along the way, Jane ran. Her house was not that far from here, and with Hayden jumping roof after roof to ensure she got home safe, she had a safe trip. Going back to the scene he fought Tikbalang, he ensured the guy was dead, and swept the place up for possible evidence relating to him. It was a fortunate thing he was wearing gloves.

Pouring essence energy into his legs, Hayden returned to Gourmand's Tongue's bathroom through the small window, put his regular clothes back on, washed his hands with soap, and returned to Liwayway Hotel.

Inside his room, Hayden collapsed on his bed. Remembering the woman whom Tikbalang had his way with, Hayden shook his head.

"What if I just straight up accepted the mission…" Hayden thought of the consequences of his actions. "I could've prevented such a situation from occurring… Forget it…"

Hayden thought that this was the best outcome. After all, with Anthony's att.i.tude towards him earlier, it was impossible that Anthony was going to let Hayden accept the mission. Despite saying that to himself, upon remembering Jane's frightened visage, sadness washed over him.

"Let's just say I can't protect everyone…" Hayden murmured, inhaling and exhaling deeply. "It can't be helped… Even if I was allowed to accept the mission, I'll still be alone. And I would still have needed to track down Tikbalang. On top of that, I wouldn't be able to use Indestructible Devil in any way shape or form, including the strength and speed augmentation as those feats of physical prowess would definitely not belong to a Level 1 wielder."

Hayden thought of a few reasons why this was the best-case scenario and outcome. Reasoning to himself, his mind was put at ease.

As it was 12:00 AM, Hayden woke up at 5:00 AM. Subsequent to taking a shower and eating breakfast at Liwayway Hotel, he checked out and hailed a jeepney-bus without the bags from last night.

At 7:00 AM, Hayden arrived at Scholar Academy. Settling his bag down, Hayden put on wireless earphones and read. A few seconds of reading later, his cla.s.smates started showing up one after another.

Getting bored out of his mind, Hayden started to a.n.a.lyze the fight last night. 'I could defeat a Level 2 wielder by using my two Abilities… I wonder what will be my evolution?'

Letting his mind wander, unwittingly, it was time for cla.s.s. As aforementioned, there were not much to do as it was a week of completing requirements for the absentees and submitting projects. Hayden has already done everything, not missing any days for school, for those not in the know, they definitely considered Hayden a model student. Consequently, Hayden slept through or read when there was no important event happening.

The next few hours of Hayden's Wednesday were pretty much uneventful. Hayden simply did his usual routine of cooking and eating when he gets home, record some videos, watch a few series, and as such.

…..

During the time that Hayden was in school, California, December 11, 2057 (In Philippines it's December 12, 2057, don't be confused of the time difference). At about 11:00 AM, in a certain forest, a man wearing a full-black suit wearing black sleek shades and a patchy beard could be seen. The man also sported neck-length black hair.

"Is this really what you want?" The man stood in front of a brown grizzly bear, talking to it with a deep alluring voice. "I can turn you into a more powerful animal, what do you say?"

The man smiled, stretching his hand towards the grizzly bear. The grizzly bear was not thrilled and attacked the man using its paws.

Sighing, the man caught the paw without flinching, puzzling the bear. Abruptly, countless creatures appeared behind the man, wolves, tigers, lions, and as such. Witnessing this, the bear lost its will.

"Are you ready now? See? All of those are your friends, more powerful than you!" The man kept the smile on his face, patting the bear on the shoulder. The bear didn't resist any longer, intimidated by the man's face. Succeeding that, the bear dropped on all its fours, with the man backing up to not be crushed by the weight of the grizzly bear. "Good boy! What a cute bear!"

Pinching its face, the man smiled from ear to ear. Then, the man put his palms on the bear's forehead, a beam of light rose up to the sky, the bear disappearing.

"Get out." The man muttered, the previous grizzly bear appearing in front of him once more, kowtowing, a red crystal in the middle of its chest. "That's a good bear."

"I serve you, milord." The bear responded in English. Satisfied, the man recalled the bear and walked out of the forest.

"I really need to start shaving my beard." Touching his beard, the man uttered. Taking off his shades, the brown eyes hiding below it was revealed. "I guess I'll never be able to become a superstar again, or people would be too suspicious with my similarity with my former persona, Keaton Rivera… I was too popular, tsk."