‎Everything was frozen, eerily still.

‎Thrain's dark figure hovered in the middle of the street, frozen in the process of projecting a tide of pure darkness at the fleeting figure of the masked assassin.

‎Liu Zhen was frozen mid-leap in the motion of lunging towards Annonymous.

‎Norvax and Alissa, too, were frozen still, resembling life-like mannequins next to Darius's still figure.

‎"Now for the next part," Darius murmured.

‎Darius stretched out his hand, manipulating the flow of time around Thrain and Liu Zhen.

‎In the calm that followed, Liu Zhen and Thrain were the first to move.

‎" Finally, about time."

‎Thrain materialized next to the frozen figure of the masked man, then, with some effort, hurled several spikes of pure darkness at the figure.

‎The spikes froze in space the moment they left his hands.

‎Liu Zhen made several cuts around the figure before jumping back.

‎Darius manipulated the flow of time so that the spikes and the tears in the fabric of space would flow into the future moments of the masked figure.

‎Darius grunted from the strain of the strenuous effort required to maintain the delicate control over the flow of time, then deactivated his ability.

‎The flow of time resumed.

‎The projectiles of darkness and tears in space sped up, accelerating towards Annonymous within the normal flow of time.

‎" What a neat trick you have," the Annonymous bit out, grunting from the strain of weaving through the multiple attacks on every side.

‎" Truly bothersome."

‎The masked figure narrowly dodged a few of the projectiles, but the rest hit home, driving through his arms and abdomen.

‎Norvax's eyes widened slightly at the scene unfolding before him.

‎"Best not to get on Darius' bad side."

‎He cast a furtive glance at the large man who was panting heavily, leaning against one of the pillars for support.

‎" Darkh, get to Victoria and heal her wounds. Alissa, get ready!" he barked.

‎One of the squad's support healers immediately dashed away.

‎In the next moment, blood blossomed in the air.

‎The masked man grunted. He had lost an arm, and one of his legs was impaled, pierced clean through by one of Thrain's dark spikes.

‎" Alissa! Now!"

‎The petite woman next to Norvax raised her hands, and a cage of pure energy appeared around the man, several chains latching onto his limbs.

‎Alissa Thorne's primary ability was energy manipulation; her specialty was capture and containment.

‎With a mere thought, she could manifest malleable beams of green energy, shaking them into any shape she so desired until the energy took in a tangible form.

‎Thrain silently materialized next to the cage, coldly gazing down at the dark figure.

‎" Who sent you?"

‎Then, the man laughed coldly, his voice eerily echoing through the empty street.

‎" You think you've won? This is only the beginning, " he rasped.

‎" Look at you all, blindly resisting like lambs being led for slaughter."

‎ Liu Zhen frowned, turning his head.

"‎Thrain, move back. Something is wrong. "

‎Then Thrain noticed it, the figure in the cage wasn't bleeding.

‎The man they had been fighting was an assassin and a powerful one at that, probably a maestro, possibly even stronger, but even the assassins were undoubtedly still human.

‎And so they could bleed.

‎But unnervingly, the captured figure wasn't bleeding despite the grievous wounds they'd inflicted upon it.

‎A cold chill ran down his spine.

‎In that moment, a haunting realization dawned on him.

‎" It's a lie. It's all an illusion."

‎Thrain shuddered slightly. He felt something click in his mind, and suddenly, it felt like he was waking from a deep slumber.

‎Thrain cautiously took a step back, and the figure in the cage began to fade, dissipating into sparks of darkness.

‎Alissa's cage had contained nothing.

‎Norvax's eyes narrowed, his face twitching uncontrollably.

‎" What the hell?"

‎" Thrain, over there," Liu Zhen uttered quietly, with a subtle gesture.

‎The blind man let out a sigh, taking a few steps back.

‎Thrain calmly turned around, the debris from the ruined asphalt crunching under his foot.

‎" When is this nightmare going to end?" he murmured.

‎Ruined cars and debris lay scattered in the street, the sharp scent of ozone and flammable chemicals permeating the air.

‎Thick plumes of smoke rose into the air from the carnage and wrecks around them.

‎Through the haze of smoke and vapours, a man-shaped silhouette stood still, staring at the two men and the group behind them.

‎

‎A short distance away, the masked figure stood observing the Talented with seeming boredom.

‎The space to his left rippled, then shattered.

‎Liu Zhen cocked his head to the side, spreading his ability outward.

‎A slight frown appeared on his face.

‎"Another one?"

‎The cracks in space spread outward and then merged into a long slit then a man stepped out.

‎ Thrain was also able to track the movement of everything within the dome of darkness he'd formed.

‎Yet despite the power he wielded within the dome, he'd been unable to detect the masked figure until Liu Zhen pointed out the illusion.

‎With the appearance of a second masked figure, an oppressive pressure washed over the street.

‎All of Norvax's instincts screamed at him, telling him to run.

‎The newcomer wore an intricately curved mask fashioned to resemble a snarling beast.

‎The man was clad in similar dark garb with a flowing dark cape adorning his shoulders.

‎He promptly ignored Thrain and Liu Zhen, turning to the other masked figure.

‎" You were supposed to bring the girl and the man. What took you so long?"

‎The man spoke quietly, but Liu Zhen and Thrain heard him clearly.

‎A faint smile appeared on Liu Zhen's face.

‎" He's ignoring us. Should I be offended or worried, Thrain?"

‎Thrain silently shook his head.

‎" Where are the reinforcements? One maestro was bad enough, but two of them at the same time."

‎Anonymous respectfully fell to one knee, bowing his head.

‎" I'm sorry, my Lord. I couldn't help but test them out for myself."

‎In the next second, the kneeling man grunted in pain, and blood flowed down his shoulder.

‎Anonymous had withstood the combined attacks of the four Videntis, but with seeming nonchalance, the new mysterious newcomer drew his blood.

‎ " Do not waste the master's time with such trivial things."

‎Norvax instinctively took a step back, breaking into a cold sweat.

‎" This is bad. Shit! I didn't even see him move."

‎Norvax's ability allowed him to observe the world in extremely slow motion, but even his enhanced sight failed to track the man's movement.

‎" What the hell are we dealing with?", he inwardly thought.

‎His gaze shifted to the approaching figure.

‎Darkh had returned, gently carrying Victoria's unconscious form in his arms.

‎"I managed to heal a bit of her injuries, sir, but much as I hate to admit it, the damage is beyond what my powers can deal with."

‎Norvax's face darkened more.

‎" Damn it, if only Lord Raymond were here."

‎Victoria kept slipping in and out of consciousness because of the blood loss.

‎Her eyes moved feverishly beneath her eyelids, small rivulets of sweat running down her face.

‎Her eyes fluttered open.

‎"Set me down," she quietly whispered.

‎Darkh delicately set her on her feet, but she reeled, latching onto him for support.

‎She quickly noticed the new figure that had appeared.

‎" That's him, Victoria gasped," but somehow he feels different.

‎" He's stronger than he was at the aspirant ceremony. I can feel it."

‎Norvax suppressed a curse, biting his lower lip in frustration.

‎"Great! Just great! Now he's even stronger. What the hell?!"

‎" Lady Victoria, despite how callous it may seem, I must ask. Can you use your ability in your current state?" Norvax hesitantly asked.

‎" I can give it a try."

‎Victoria's eyes glowed, emitting a burst of violet light.

‎In the next moment, a wave of blinding pain threatened to cleave her head in two. She nearly blacked out from the intense pain.

‎ A low groan escaped her lips.

‎" I can't, something's interfering with my power."

‎" Damn it all."

‎Norvax inwardly cursed. Despite his efforts to remain calm, his mind was in turmoil.

‎" What do I do? What do we do? Think, think damn it!"

‎Darius' gaze shifted to his friend. Despite his cold exterior, he could tell that Norvax was feverishly trying to find a solution to their current predicament.

‎But then what could mortals like themselves do if even demigods were falling like flies?

‎"There's one thing we can do."

‎" Norvax..."

‎" Hmmm"

‎" I can buy you all the time to get out of here. The way things are now, we don't stand a chance."

‎Just then, the newcomer slowly turned towards them.

‎He let out a dramatic sigh.

‎"I guess I'll have to bring an end to this myself," he muttered under his breath.

‎" Move!" Norvax barked, activating his primary ability. Darius took a deep breath, activating his ability as well.

‎Thrain instinctively hurled a tide of shadows at the approaching figures, but the shadows harmlessly parted, allowing the man to pass.

‎Liu Zhen lunged at the newcomer while simultaneously tracking the kneeling maestro's movement.

‎Darius suddenly collapsed, landing on the ground with a resounding thud.

‎" Get yourself together..."Norvax started to say, but the words died on his lips.

‎His eyes widened in disbelief. It felt like someone had dumped a bucket of ice-cold water on his head.

‎His mind struggled to respond to the scene he was beholding.

‎The mysterious man stood behind Darius, limp form, nonchalantly rolling his neck.

‎" That's enough out of you, Talented," the sinister voice whispered.

He let out a quiet sigh.

"One down, one to go."

‎

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