Psychic Overlord

Kaizer woke first among his group due to the fact that he sensed that the mark he left on Malek’s mind had disappeared. Initially, Kaizer thought it had been removed through some special means, but when he felt the complete absence of the mark as well as how thoroughly it was terminated, he suspected that Malek’s ’reverse’ infiltration was discovered.

This was not a good thing, as Kaizer was going to operate with the idea that the enemy was aware of his ability to place mental control markers, which meant that they knew about his Telepathy. This was something that he and the Dean decided was best kept secret for as long as possible to maximize his benefits.

As such, Kaizer woke up the rest and got them ready for the operation.

Maria stretched lazily, rolling her neck with a yawn. "So, what’s the rush? You look like you’ve got bad news?"

Kaizer stood in the center of the dimly lit room, arms crossed as his squad gathered around him. He took a deep breath and informed them about the situation with Malek last night, and how he resolved it.

Julia, hearing that she had almost died in her sleep, was shocked and frightened, her cold expression shifting to one of nervous tension. Even Rina and the others were deeply shaken, now realizing how difficult their task was and how careless they had been due to their own great power.

"Damn, but you mind controlled the guy right? So we now have an inside guy?" Rina asked with curiosity after calming down.

Kaizer’s expression remained calm but firm. "Malek is dead."

That made everyone pause.

Julia arched a brow. "Dead? How?"

Sophia frowned. "What happened?"

Kaizer exhaled. "He likely reported back to his group, but they must have discovered he was compromised. My mark disappeared abruptly, completely erased. That means they probably executed him."

Silence fell upon the group as they processed his words.

"So, they know someone messed with his mind," Rina said quietly.

Looking up, there was a hint of worry on her face. "That means they know about your Telepathy, right?"

Kaizer nodded. "It’s likely. Which means they’ll be more cautious against mental interference. We’ll have to assume they’ve taken countermeasures."

Sophia crossed her arms. "That complicates things. What about the intel he gave you before he died?"

Kaizer closed his eyes briefly, then opened them, his gaze sharp. "Malek’s mind provided everything he knew about their forces before he returned. We’re dealing with 12 enemy espers in total, plus a significant number of human insurgents working under them."

He turned and tapped on a portable holo-device, bringing up a rough layout of the enemy manor and key personnel that he had prepared before he woke them all up.

Kaizer’s voice was steady. "First, their leader, Azrael. He has an S-class ability of Destiny’s Sight, a sort of short-term future sight mixed with scrying. He can predict immediate movements of A-Class and below. S-Class is harder for him to read, but not impossible."

Sophia frowned. "So, if we try to hit him, he’ll know exactly how to dodge?"

Kaizer nodded. "Exactly. We’ll have to overwhelm him with unpredictable attacks. But there’s something else, Malek knows that Azrael has a sub ability, but no one knows what it is, just that it suppresses certain esper abilities in some way."

"That’s vague as hell," Maria muttered.

"It is." Kaizer agreed simply.

Kaizer’s expression hardened slightly as he switched the display. "Their second S-Class is called Moira Tenner, her esper name being Purple Moon. Her ability is Searing Moonlight, a powerful ability that allows her to fire beams of concentrated light that vaporize nearly anything. Barriers, high-speed targets... nothing survives a direct hit."

Julia tensed. "Light-based attacks... So she’s like a sniper but worse."

Kaizer nodded. "We can’t afford to stay in one place too long, or she’ll pick us off."

He then moved the screen to the last S-Class. "Then there’s Bjorn, also known as The Beast. His ability is Monsterization, which allows him to transform into a massive, physically overwhelming form. In that state, his strength, speed, and endurance are on another level, likely on par with me at my maximum telekinetic enhancement or higher. Even other typical S-Class espers struggle against him in raw power."

Maria grinned. "A big guy, huh? Sounds fun."

Kaizer gave her a flat look. "He’s not just ’big.’ He’s near-indestructible in that form. If we let him fully transform, only I could possibly combat him."

Sophia tapped her chin. "Then we’ll have to take him out before he goes all in."

Kaizer nodded. "That’s the plan. As long as he remains in his ’normal’ state, I can instantly crush him with telekinesis."

For the A-rank espers, Kaizer was more perfunctory.

Kaizer continued. "Vargas, A-Class. He has Combustion Strengthening which enhances his physical attacks with explosive flames. He basically hits harder, moves faster, and can detonate surfaces with his strikes."

Maria smirked. "Ha, I know him. He was one of those Solaris also invited to become his disciple but like me, he rejected. Never thought I’d be meeting him like this."

Kaizer’s expression shifted slightly at the next one. "Zafira, another A-Class. She’s from the Ancients. Her ability is Death Hex, which means she can mark a target with her will, causing progressive deterioration over time. The weaker or more unstable you are, the faster it kills you."

Rina’s gaze sharpened. "So, she targets injured people to finish them off."

Kaizer sighed. "Exactly, but you counter her."

Kaizer switched the display. "Next is Kain. Shadow Transposition, which means he can swap places with shadows in his line of sight. That makes him nearly impossible to pin down in a fight." 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Julia frowned. "Annoying."

Again, a switch.

"Soren. Hyper Acceleration. Short bursts of insane speed. If he gets close, he’ll hit harder and faster than we can react." Kaizer said succinctly, cutting his words shorter.

Sophia tilted her head. "So he’s a close-range menace?"

"He can be dealt with by Julia who can limit his movement with cold." Rina suggested.

Kaizer switched the display and his expression darkened slightly. "This is a troublesome one, called Elaine. Her ability is Illusion Weaving, which basically means she creates realistic visual and auditory illusions. She can cause confusion, make us attack each other, or mask real threats."

Maria whistled. "Tricky one."

Sophia agreed. "We need to take her out before we engage the main force."

Now, there were only the remaining B-class espers, which Kaizer introduced briefly.

"Ivana. Lightning Manipulation—controls electricity for ranged attacks and electromagnetic disruption."

Julia muttered. "Tch. Annoying from a distance."

Kaizer nodded. "If we let her stay at range, she’ll paralyze us for the others to strike."

"Darren. Corpse Puppetry—he can reanimate the dead as combat puppets. The more bodies he has, the more soldiers they get."

Rina’s expression darkened. "We kill him first."

Kaizer understood that she didn’t like there being other death-related espers aside from her. "He’s a priority target."

"Rocco. Toxic Blood. If he cuts you, his poison will spread through your body."

Maria grinned. "Then we don’t let him cut us."

Julia rolled her eyes. "How clever, no wonder you always got C’s in class."

Kaizer’s tone turned serious in order to prevent the upcoming fight between the two. "Levi. Esper Detection. He can sense esper abilities and rank within a certain radius. He’ll know we’re coming."

Julia ignored the furious Maria and crossed her arms. "So, we need to kill him before he warns the others."

Kaizer nodded. "Exactly."

Kaizer finished with the normal soldiers. "Beyond the espers, there are over 150 armed insurgents. Military-grade firearms, explosives, esper-resistant gear. Plus, an elite squad of 10 soldiers trained for esper combat."

Sophia sighed. "So, we’re fighting both powerful espers and an entire army."

Kaizer’s gaze was sharp. "That’s why we take out key targets first."

Kaizer put the tablet down and glanced at his squad. "That is why the battle plan must be clever and solid, otherwise there will be casualties."

Even though Kaizer did not fear death since Anir could resurrect him and the others, he still did not want people to know about his sister’s tyrannical ability, not to mention Kaizer still had some reservations about her resurrection ability.

Were there really no side effects?

Kaizer then looked at Julia. "You, Maria, and Sophia will eliminate Levi, Darren, and Elaine as the detection, corpse control, and illusions are our biggest problems. You take them out before the main fight starts."

Then he turned to Rina. "You and I will disrupt the insurgents and clear an entry point."

Sophia asked. "And the S-Class espers?"

Kaizer’s expression hardened. "Once we’ve secured the battlefield, we take them down one by one and hopefully together."

Rina smirked. "My brother doesn’t believe in noble duels. He is very happy to jump a person while abusing advantage to his favor."

The room was silent for a moment as the other ladies felt like they had to see Kaizer in a new light.

Then Maria grinned and cracked her knuckles. "That’s just as well since I love jumping people!"

Kaizer’s gaze swept over them. "We move in one hour. Get ready."