"One of the strongest people in the world is here. He is sitting right beside you."
"...Huh?"
"One of the X-tier Heroes is sitting right beside you."
"H-huh…?"
[Ismail, the Pressure Pirate.]
Ismail, despite his Hero moniker, had never once felt pressure in his life. Both physically and mentally. His father was a wealthy governor in Indonesia, who also happened to be a Tier-A Hero.
He got into piracy due ot his friends, however, but it was more them having fun and terrorizing the poor people of South East Asia, and then, when his ship was taken down, and he was about to drown, he was luckily summoned to the Game.
He survived the next few games, being reborn into a Hero that could withstand extensive amounts of pressure, cold, and being able to hold his breath for hours on end.
No amount of pressure would cause him to fold. Well, until now.
He slowly and carefully sat back down, as if afraid he would disturb the person next to him. It was… humiliating, and the only thing he could really do was bite his lip.
As for Adam, he had his head fully down, sighing as Beatrice called him out out of nowhere. He was already at the back; if he had known this would happen, then he would have definitely chosen to just wait backstage.
Sylvie, who saw Adam shrinking in his seat, lightly giggled at the sight. It was unfortunate, but there was no way someone of his status could actually hide away in a crowd of people who would definitely recognize him.
Well, kudos to him, as he was able to hide for a good half an hour. Right now, however, all the eyes inside the room were on him.
Adam lifted his head, closing his eyes for a moment and letting another sigh escape him before he slightly raised a hand.
"It… it really is him."
"Did you see what he did to the Defense Secretary? Is he faster than him?"
"Is it really him? Americans all look alike."
"He doesn't even look American."
"Why is his hair so long?"
"Is it true he's like fifty years old?"
"Is he here because of the Duelist of Rose? Aren't they an item?"
And just like that, the strongest warriors Earth had to offer started whispering and gossiping like teenagers.
"I thought he was the weakest of the X-tier Heroes, but after what he did to the Azure Traveler… I don't know anymore."
"Where is the Defense Secretary?"
"I heard he ate him. That's how he stays young."
"That's true. I heard people from his Church get sacrificed monthly and—"
Some of the whispers died down after that. Some. Most were still leaning close to their neighbors as they whispered about him. And so, because of that, Adam chose to leave his seat and join the people on the stage instead.
The walk there, however, was quite… eventful.
He could feel it.
Although most avoided making contact, some were trying to gauge him—or more specifically, his strength.
A dozen of them, exerting their powers and focus on him all at once. And judging by the way they looked at him, they were fully aware that the others were doing the same.
And if there was one thing Adam had grown tired of over the past decade, it was this—people testing him.
It certainly didn't help that John had done the same just a few days ago. This was something Adam no longer tolerated.
And so, he returned it.
Not by releasing aura, nor by projecting killing intent. He simply let the gentleness leave his face. The inner corners of his brows lowered ever so slightly, barely a millimeter, and his breathing slowed.
And that was it. That was all he needed for the entire room to physically shut down. Even the insects that managed to slip past the hundred layers of security all dropped to the floor due to the sudden change.
All of the S-tier Heroes who were trying to measure him all dropped to their seats, as if the hand of god himself pushed them down with his pinkie finger. The one who got the worst of it wasn't someone who was trying to gauge him, however, but Ismail.
How could he not feel the pressure when he was sitting beside him all along and even almost started talking trash? Fortunately, he knew when to shut his mouth. Unfortunately, he couldn't keep them close now due to the foam bursting out from it.
"Kh…"
Naval, who was sitting beside Sylvie, was one of the people who tried to test Adam, and she could feel him shaking from head to toe. She couldn't even lean away since the same thing was happening to the person on her other side.
"Are you… okay?" Sylvie asked the person on her right, who, coincidentally, had similar powers to her. It wasn't just that, either, since the two were also being compared all the time since they were also happened to be both women.
[Aima, the Blood Bender.]
Aima couldn't answer Sylvie at all as blood was seeping out from her nose and throat. And it wasn't her losing control of her powers, either—Sylvie would know, since she could sense if she was using her abilities, but she wasn't.
Aima was just puking out blood from the sheer pressure of Adam's sudden change in mood.
Sylvie wasn't immune to Adam's intent, but it had a completely different effect on her entirely. She covered her nose, trying her best not to catch a whiff of his scent as it did… things to her.
As for the one who was causing all of this, his expression finally lifted as soon as he got onto the stage, releasing everyone from the invisible hold he had on them. This was all thanks to Sisa, who moved away from the podium to meet him, holding his hand before giving a deep smile.
"Thank you for what you did for my people," she whispered.
Adam shook his head, waving her off.
"You've thanked me enough," he muttered. "The battery we received from your people has been really helpful."
"I was told you're not even using the new technology your people have concocted."
"My phone still works."
"Very much like you."
"...I guess that's one way to look at it." Adam motioned for Sisa to walk to the back of the stage with him. And while the two were in their own world, Beatrice continued the briefing.
"Based on our calculations, the ship will be in Earth's orbit in twenty-two days," she said. "But as Sisa said, the first thing these aliens will do would be to destroy our moon—we will not let that happen. Defense Secretary John would've been the one to address this situation, but he is currently in jail. So, I will be the one who will be making decisions…
…unlike what Sisa stated, we will not defend the planet from the bellethers."
"W-what?! Are we going to surrender and—"
"We are going on the offensive before they even reach Mars' orbit…
…we will meet them there."