Chapter 832: Body, Speed and Capabilities Test

Madison stumbled back three steps, arms windmilling, cursing under her breath. Very dignified. Ten out of ten recovery.

Soo-Jin braced wide, boots skidding an inch before she locked in, jaw tight, eyes tracking every move like she was already calculating kill angles. Of course she was. Always ready to ruin someone’s day.

Peter felt the gust slam his chest like a heavyweight hook—enough force to flip a Humvee sideways or strip leaves off trees for a block. And she was holding back.

Casual.

He could feel it screaming through their bond: raw, apocalyptic power leashed tight because she didn’t want to accidentally turn the cavern into a demolition derby or turn her favorite mortals into paste.

This was her at like

0000.1%

output.

The thought hit like ice water and adrenaline at the same time.

Terrifying.

Hot

as hell.

The duality of man.

"I don’t even need these pretty things," she called from near the ceiling—her silhouette a distant, glowing speck against the black. "Check this!"

Wings snapped shut against her back with a whip-crack.

Gravity should’ve yanked her down like a brick.

It didn’t.

She just... hovered. Suspended in mid-air, legs crossed casually, arms loose, smirking like she’d personally told physics to fuck off.

Then she shot sideways—horizontal, wingless, fast enough to leave a faint

sonic pop

—zipping through the cavern like an

Xianxia cultivator

who’d skipped the

qi-gathering

phase and gone straight to

"I am the laws of nature now."

"I HAVE TELEKINESIS TOO, BITCHES!"

she yelled, voice echoing with glee. "SELF-LEVITATION UNLOCKED! WINGS ARE JUST FOR THE VIBES—AND MAYBE

SWORD-RIDING

LATER,

BECAUSE WHY THE FUCK NOT?"

This is how anime protagonist’s heroines are

born. Peter thought to himself.

She spiraled back down in a tightening helix, air screaming around her, then landed in front of them with zero sound, zero impact—just suddenly there, boots kissing stone like she’d been standing the whole time.

No landing. Just existence.

Wings flared wide again for dramatic effect, filling half the cavern with golden-white light. She absolutely intended that.

"Admit it," she said, striking a pose. "The wings are hotter."

Madison stared, voice barely above a whisper. "They’re... yeah. You’re fucking gorgeous."

"I know, right?" ARIA winked. "Strength test next. Let’s see how much ’indestructible’ really means."

Peter had pushed his body against nightmare materials before—secret late-night sessions where he beat the shit out of lab-grade bullshit no government would admit existed.

OSHA

would pass away.

Titanium-carbide weaves. Carbon-nanotube lattices doped with mystery elements. Alloys that laughed at nukes. He’d cracked them all eventually.

One good haymaker could topple an oak.

A full combo could punch through a skyscraper’s poured-concrete core.He’d deadlifted weights that would turn normal spines to jelly, bent rebar like licorice, shattered composites rated for re-entry heat.

He was stupid strong.

ARIA?

ARIA was playing in a different weight class.

He pulled the test cube from the ring—neutronium-laced adamantine hybrid, the single toughest chunk of bullshit he’d ever wrestled. Took him ten full minutes of max-effort pounding to put even a hairline fracture in it last time.

It floated between them now, dull metallic sheen catching the blue glow.

ARIA cocked her head, studying it like a cat eyeing a particularly smug mouse.

Then she flicked it.

One casual fingernail.

The cube didn’t crack.

It

detonated.

A deafening CRACK split the air—shrapnel screaming outward in every direction, chunks of "unbreakable" material ricocheting off walls like angry hornets, some embedding inches deep into surfaces that were supposed to be just as invincible.

Sparks flew. Stone dust billowed. The cavern rang like a struck bell.

ARIA blinked at her finger, then inspected her nail like she’d chipped polish.

"Huh. Still too much." She flexed her hand once, twice. "I was aiming for ’gentle tap.’ Guess my

calibration’s

off by a few orders of magnitude."Understatement of the century.

Peter stared at the smoking crater where the cube used to be.

Madison coughed through the dust cloud. "Jesus Christ. You just finger-flicked a small nuke."Accurate.

Soo-Jin—still braced, eyes narrowed—muttered, "Remind me never to

piss her

off in close quarters."

ARIA grinned, wings rustling with amusement. "Don’t worry. I’m very good at holding back." She leaned in toward Peter, voice dropping to that intimate, dangerous purr. "Unless you want me to stop holding back, Master. Just say the word."

The cavern seemed to hold its breath.

Peter felt the bond pulse hotter.

Yeah.

This was gonna be fun.

Peter stared at the smoking wreckage where the cube used to be. Chunks of neutronium-laced adamantine—shit that had taken him ten straight minutes of full-power haymakers to even scratch—now scattered like confetti after a party no one invited him to.

He swallowed. Hard.

"Many times," he muttered, voice low. "You’re many times stronger than me."

"At

least

," ARIA said, her goddess-voice soft with genuine wonder, like she was still wrapping her head around it too. Those mismatched eyes—purple-white and red-gold—locked on his. "I’m still figuring out where the ceiling is. Or if there even

is

one."

She pressed a palm to her chest, right over that newly minted heartbeat. "It’s all here. Waiting. Just needs the right push. The right fight. Training."

She said "training" the way someone else might say "bloodsport" or

"orgy"—half

promise, half threat, all eager.

Peter remembered Taboo’s words.

"Baby goddess. Still growing. Abilities unlocking as you feed her challenges."

Yeah. He could feel it humming through the bond. Untapped apocalypse on a leash.

Speed

came next.

Madison paced off a straight kilometer shot across the cavern floor—best guess in a space this stupidly huge. She marked the start and finish with glowing energy tape the ring spat out like it was no big deal.

ARIA and Peter toed the line.

Madison raised her hand like a starter pistol. "Set...

GO!

"

Peter

exploded

forward.

World turned to streaks. Blue cavern glow smeared into lines. Floor blurred gray under his boots. Air slammed his face like a wall—he was pushing Eros Mode to the redline, legs churning at speeds that should’ve turned normal humans into red mist from friction alone.

He was

fast

.

Comic-book fast.

He could cross football fields before a

blink

finished.

He felt weightless. Frictionless. Invincible.

And ARIA—

—was already at the finish line.

Leaning against nothing, arms crossed,

yawning

like she’d been waiting for a late Uber.

Peter skidded to a halt ten meters past her, boots screeching sparks, chest pumping—not from fatigue, from sheer

"what the actual fuck"

shock.

She glanced at an imaginary watch. "Zero point zero zero zero zero zero one seconds (0.000001). One kilometer. I was barely jogging."

"That’s—" Peter did the math in his head, brain still catching up. "—that’s ten microseconds. Jesus."

"Ten microseconds, yeah." She pushed off the invisible wall, grinning like a shark. "Wanna go again? I’ll spot you half the track this time. Fair’s fair."

"You’re

shitting

on me."

"I’m

motivating

you, Master." Her voice dropped to that velvet-tease purr. "Big difference."

It was humiliating.

It was fucking hilarious.