-bang

-bang

-bang

In the middle of an opening surrounded by tall, ruined buildings, under the rain, two blurry figures exchanged blows at a rapid and tempered pace.

One had the semblance of a suited warrior with a digital timestamp on his chest. With every blow, his body seemed to tense up with energy as the clock on his body went up.

The second looked like a literal shadow, cloaked in a dark cloth — a harbinger of death and a dagger in the night.

Two figures intertwined in the dance of death called battle.

From a distance, it looked like these two were a match, but upon closer examination, the obviousness of who was on top was glaring.

Broken wrist, bleeding from the stomach, a dislocated jaw, and blurry vision from blood dripping into the eyes.

The Deadman's Codex was truly a remarkable thing; it allowed Enzo to systematically break down Kegan's defenses, slowly weakening him.

[228 years and 2 months]

This, of course, wasn't without sacrifice. Enzo had lost a good number of years from his own timestamp while fighting, a testament to the power of Weavetech's talents.

With a twist, Enzo flipped his dagger and stabbed Kegan in the back, then drew him into a knee kick that forced a mouthful of blood to pour out from his stomach.

Enzo wasn't particularly afraid of losing lifespan at this point. This person had murdered his father in cold blood. If nothing, mutual destruction was something he would very likely not regret.

"Fucker!!" Kegan cursed, then with the full weight of his body pushed Enzo to the ground, resulting in a desperate struggle.

Kegan felt very embarrassed and weakened by the situation he was in. Enzo not only seemed to have an inexhaustible well of lifespan that he could tap into, but he was also able to beat him purely based on technique.

This was a lot to swallow, seeing that his family had been training him in hand-to-hand combat since he was born.

'I have to do something!!'

He bit down on his lip and drew Enzo in by his shirt, then head-butted him directly in the forehead, causing Enzo's dagger hand to weaken.

With that space created, Carlson pulled out a transparent pill from his pocket and threw it into his mouth, breaking it in an instant.

The moment that happened, a flood of information came rushing into Enzo's head…..

[You have lost 2 years of lifespan]

[You have lost 2 years of lifespan]

[You have lost 2 years of lifespan]

He was losing lifespan just by being in Kegan's presence, this time at a rapid pace.

Without thinking twice, Enzo phased into the ground and created distance between him and Kegan, watching his time decrease slow down.

[208 years and 1 month]

Looking down at his timestamp, Enzo for the first time felt dread. Losing lifespan after being hit was one thing; he could control that. But just being in Kegan's general vicinity had sucked 20 years in 5 seconds?

What would happen if he had stayed there longer? How long would it take for Kegan's strange ability to kill him?

"I need to be more strategic," Enzo said to himself as he noticed Kegan slowly standing up from the ground behind him.

One strike to end it all — that was what he needed….. No, that's all he could afford.

So as Kegan slowly stood up, he couldn't find Enzo nor his mother in his peripheral vision. However, this time instead of feeling frustrated, he took a deep breath and sighed.

He didn't want to continue this fight; Enzo had proven to be a harder meal to swallow than he expected. If he could get out with his life, it was a win for him.

Naturally, Enzo didn't have the same thoughts. He had already lost a family member to this dreaded person.

Revenge… Kegan's life was the only thing that could satisfy him.

[You have activated a skill: Silent Zone]

Before Kegan could even think further, a wave of darkness washed over him, taking his eyesight, his sense of smell, feel, and even hearing.

He felt absolutely nothing….. until

Grinnn

In the darkness of the void space he was trapped in, a premonition of danger went straight through his mind. It was the feeling one got from being stalked by a predator — the last feeling before a deer was pounced on by a Predator.

In the last moments, all he felt was fear, but as if that was not enough, the feeling of nothingness quickly disappeared as he noticed a dagger rip a hole through his chest.

Weakness, then a sudden pain shot through his body, but he was too weak to even make a move.

Behind him, Enzo smirked bitterly as the timestamp on his hand stopped decreasing at the same time Carlson closed his eyes.

[158 years and 3 months]

One strike — even that had taken so much of his life...

But that wasn't all,

[You have slain a being closely tied to a Demi-God.... you have been branded with a time curse. From today, your time will run at 5 times the pace of normal humans]

Enzo heard this and frowned, a chill running down his spine as he looked closely at his timestamp while taking a few steps back.

It was true, his time was moving 5 times as fast as before. Every second lost was now 5 for him.

"Shit," Enzo cursed his bad luck with a look of frustration on his face. Who knew killing this guy would be such a hassle?

"You killed a talent from WeaveTech, impressive."

All of a sudden, a man's voice resounded from the back as someone dressed in all White approached from the corner with an umbrella.

"Mr. White," Enzo muttered with a smile that wasn't a smile.

He had noticed him a while back watching this fight from the shadows. Even when Enzo was in bad situations, he didn't move a finger to help.

"I'm in trouble, aren't I?" Enzo questioned with a raised eyebrow and a knowing smile.

"Well, it depends on what you mean…." Mr. White said.

"Are you a member of the Dual Moon Institute or are you not?" he inquired.

"I am a grateful member," Enzo replied, clearly understanding the situation he was in right now. The Dual Moon Institute was, in truth, the only entity that could protect him from Weavetech's wrath at this moment.

"Then I didn't see anything. In fact, we left Fort Marie yesterday," Mr. White smiled slyly as he placed his umbrella right above Enzo.

Minutes later, they left the scene, leaving it without a memory or clue of what had happened there.

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