Strongest Superhuman System - Chapter 386

Chapter 386: The Sin of Pride
“Being a hero is not by virtue of your power; it is by virtue of how you use it. Kill, maim, rule, save—I care not what you use my power to accomplish, but I swear to you this: I shall abandon you in a moment should you fail to live up to my expectation. I shall consume your soul and drag you down to the Styx myself should you attempt to fool me. Do you still wish to have my help?”

James swallowed in fear as he turned to Talia and Selina. Pride had seen right through James. James planned to just use the demon to his advantage once. He would make the contract and use it to save Talia, and once that was done, James was going to abandon it again so that he would still become a hero. James didn’t want to make this contract, but if he didn’t, then Talia would be taken.

At that moment, Mark’s words from earlier came back to James: It doesn’t matter how hard you worked; you’ll never be able to become a hero if you don’t use what you have properly.

James knew that using his blessing was the only way he could become stronger.

“I’ll do it!”

Pride stared down at James contemplatively, and James could tell that Pride was judging him to see if James was worthy of the power or not. But after some time, Pride put out his hand.

“Very well then. Take my hand, James. I shall grant you my power.”

James grabbed the demon’s hand with his one free hand and immediately felt a massive amount of power surge through his body. James didn’t recognize the feeling at first, but after a moment, he could tell that this was his mana.

BOOM!

Both Selina and Talia turned around when they heard the sound of something being thrown into the distance. Selina’s eyes widened for a moment before narrowing, and she clicked her tongue while turning around and pulling out her SMG. This was going to be a hassle. Since when were kids this damn strong?

James stood in the middle of the flames defiantly. His clothes were tattered and dirty, but there were no injuries on his body. The contract that James made with Pride gave him far more than just mana. After making that contract, Pride embodied James, giving him some of his power and allowing James to fight in a way he would normally never be able to. Therefore, James also took on some of Pride’s personality in the exchange. Now, instead of the furious desperation James displayed at the start of the fight, there was only a calm, prideful smile stretched across his face.

In his right hand, there was a bo staff that glowed with a black hue, crafted from his mana. This was the weapon given to him by Pride after they signed the contract, and James could somehow feel that he knew how to use it. Even though he had never touched a bo staff before—James believed that a hero only uses a sword, after all—he felt like the staff was an extension of himself that he already knew how to wield.

The clearing was silent for a few seconds until, all of a sudden, James exploded forward! He raced towards Selina like a bat out of hell, and Selina brought up her SMG and pointed it at James. She was about to open fire, but she cursed as she remembered that she didn’t have many bullets left. She had to preserve what she had! She reached behind her, pulled out a grenade, and then used her teeth to drag out the pin before tossing it at James!

Clink!

Boom!

The grenade exploded right beside James, but it didn’t stop him as he ran right through the flames and reached Selina in less than a second! James spun his staff around and lashed out at Selina’s stomach! Selina grabbed Talia by the shirt and jumped back before James could hit her, and James threw the staff like a javelin!

WOOSH!

Selina contorted her body perfectly before she kicked the staff away, and it flew to the other side of the clearing. James continued to run towards Selina without a weapon, and Selina pointed her gun at him at point-blank range!

Even while staring down the gun’s barrel, James never stopped. With his mana flowing through him like this, James felt like he could do anything! This was so different from when he was fighting without his mana! It was almost like he could fly!

“Why do you keep coming back!? Just die already, you damn cockroach!”

Bang!

The smile on James’s face never faded as he reached out to the side, and his bo staff rematerialized in his hand. The staff was a construct of his mana, so no matter how many times he lost it, he could always call it back as long as he had mana. James twirled the staff around, and a ‘clink!’ resounded through the area as he managed to deflect the bullet to the side!

BOOM!

“Fuck!”

Selina cursed as the bullet exploded beside her throwing both her and the two children away. Selina’s grip on Talia loosened, and Talia used that opportunity to grab Selina’s hand, bring it to her mouth, and bite down hard!

“MOTHERFUCKER!!”

Selina screamed in pain and drew her hand back, allowing Talia to get out of Selina’s grasp and run towards the side of the clearing where James had gone! She was holding her fractured shoulder in pain, but the pain was only an afterthought as her worry for James showed on her face.

“James! James, are you okay!? You were under the log for so long! Did you get burned? What happened to you!?”

James stood up calmly and put the staff on his shoulder as he turned to Talia proudly.

“I don’t need you to worry about me, girl. If you have that much time on your hands, use it to preserve your own paltry existence instead.”

…

Name: James Keith

Race: Human

Rank: A

Potential: S

Affiliation: Chaotic Good

…

Name: Talia Dragonheart

Race: Human

Rank: A

Potential: S

Affiliation: True Good

…

A large question mark appeared over Talia’s head as if most of the words James just used were completely unknown to her. What in the world was he talking about? James saw the look of confusion on Talia’s face and clicked his tongue at her condescendingly.

“Are you going to keep standing there uselessly?”

“Eh?”

What in the world happened to James? Talia couldn’t even begin to understand why James was standing and talking like that. He seemed so proud of himself for some reason, and Talia felt like this was the complete opposite of his usual personality.

James frowned.

“Did you not hear what I said? Make yourself useful and provide support for my brilliance, this fight is not over just yet.”

An angry blush rose on Talia’s face as she heard James speaking to her in such a pompous manner, and she couldn’t stop her hand from lashing out angrily and smacking James on the back of the head!

Smack!

“OW!”

“Who are you talking to like that, you idiot!”

Talia screamed at James angrily and James roared in anger as he felt his head throbbing. This midget! What the hell is wrong with her!? James glared at Talia, and Talia didn’t back down as she glared at James as well!

“I’ll smack you again if you talk to me like that!”

Talia shouted up at James in annoyance, and James thought about explaining to Talia that this was happening because of his blessing, but he decided it wasn’t worth the trouble of explaining anything to Talia right now. He frowned in irritation and turned away while telling her to get ready.

“Here she comes.”