Chapter 86: Chronostasis
Thrain hovered in the sky, gazing down at the masked man on the ground below, while quietly analyzing his movements.
Victoria lay unconscious on the pavement nearby.
The mysterious man was locked in combat with Liu Zhen.
The man who referred to himself as Anonymous continued to move around the urban battlefield with inhuman speed and agility, dodging Liu Zhen’s blade, with uncanny foresight and precision.
"He’s quite frightening," Liu Zhen thought to himself.
" Even with my unique perception of the world, I haven’t been able to land a blow on his person since the beginning of the fight.
One of Liu Zhen’s abilities allowed him to extend his senses to encompass vast areas in his vicinity.
This increased the probability of his strikes reaching their target, a boon he utilized in tandem with his bladeless ability, cutting through the very fabric of space around him.
But somehow the masked man continued to elude him, managing to evade the fatal attacks of his ability time and again.
His figure was a blur, blinking around the battlefield, materializing like a ghostly apparition at different spots in the narrow battlefield.
His robes fluttered briefly in the wind, just barely avoiding Liu Zhen’s invisible blades in the nick of time.
In such a narrow space, the blind man’s bladeless ability was less effective due to the damage it would cause to the rest of the city.
The bladeless ability’s destructive power, if unleashed without restraint, could level the entire city and kill thousands in the process.
" If Liu Zhen goes all out, I don’t think this dome would be able to withstand the extent of his ability," Thrain quietly contemplated.
The darkness around Thrain roiled, surging outward.
" And that poses a significant problem if we’re going to win this fight."
Javelins of pure darkness materialized in the air.
Thrain coldly observed Anonymous’ movements, the darkness stirring eerily then swirling around him.
" There," he murmured.
A heartbeat later, he casually flicked his hand forward.
In the next second, the spears hurtled through the air.
Shockwaves of force reverberated from the air, thundering through the atmosphere with crushing intensity.
Liu Zhen smirked, skidding to a stop.
" We got him."
A moment later, a long dark blade appeared in the dark figure’s hand.
A slight frown appeared on Liu Zhen’s face.
" Where’d that come from?"
The man casually parried Thrain’s attacks, redirecting the force the javelins had acquired into the surrounding buildings.
But what happened next changed the tide of the battle.
The man’s blade weapon absorbed the darkness into itself, humming with an undeniable power.
Liu Zhen froze for a brief moment.
" That blade..."
The smile on Seth’s face vanished, turning into a frown.
Dark malevolent laughter rolled through the empty street.
" You should see the looks on your faces. It’s simply to die for."
The man laughed, grabbing his sides in unmistakable glee.
A fleeting whisper floated through the air.
" I’m tired of you."
Seth slowly rose from Victoria’s side, approaching the figure.
Victoria coughed, then slowly opened her eyes.
" Seth, be careful, don’t do anything reckless. He’s much stronger than he’s letting on."
The man nonchalantly cocked his head to the side.
"You’re tired? But we were just getting started. "
Seth paused, his hair floating unnaturally in the air, animated by a ghostly wind, his green eyes lit up with emerald light.
" Oh, Victoria, little Victoria, I’m much stronger than I let on as well."
A blade of pure light appeared in Seth’s hand, then his figure blurred forward. His figure blinked in and out of existence around the masked man.
He launched a continuous barrage of attacks at the man from unpredictable angles.
" Oh, you’re right. You’re actually much stronger than her," the figure whispered, his sinister voice echoing insidiously through the clangor of the deadly battle.
Seth grinned, flicking his light blade into the air.
" Oh, but there’s more."
Several swords materialized, attacking the masked figure in sync.
The arrogant youth kept pace with Anonymous, matching him blow for blow, all the while increasing the speed of his attacks.
The battlefield became a storm of light and sound.
Without missing a beat, Anonymous increased the tempo of his attacks
" Well, that’s certainly intriguing, your ability allies you to swap places with inanimate objects and living things."
Jagged cracks ran throughout the ravaged street.
Harrowing shockwaves of power rippled through the air, leveling the nearby structures in their wake.
Behind the daunting mask, the masked man’s eyes darted around, tracking Seth’s substitutions, analyzing the telltale patterns of his technique.
Within the space of a breath, he calmly stepped forward, bashing the light blade away, following up with a thunderous punch to the nose.
Seth grunted, staggering back a few steps, reeling from the fire of the blow.
" This idiot broke my nose!"
With a shout, he lunged forward, aiming for the man’s exposed torso.
A split second later, the elusive figure spun around, ducking under Liu Zhen’s invisible blades.
In the same motion, he grabbed onto Seth’s cloak, his grip indomitable and unyielding.
Seth gasped in surprise, stumbling off-balance from the momentum of his lunge.
" Good riddance," the masked figure whispered.
In the next instant, Annonymous casually tossed the youth into the path of the blade-less ability.
" Crap!"
Seth barely activated his ability, narrowly disappearing from the path of rolling devastation at the last second.
Thrain materialized out of the Annoymous’s shadow, half dragging him into the ground, but the man jumped, as though having already anticipated his move, leaping high into the air.
Dark chains materialized out of thin air, the cold links stubbornly latching onto his legs, holding him in place for a brief instant.
" Round two!"
Seth appeared in front of him, his fists encased in gauntlets of hardened light.
In that brief instant, Seth launched a flurry of lightning-fast strikes to the figure’s mask and torso, ending the chain of punches with a brutal uppercut that staggered the figure.
" Payback’s a bitch!"
He teleported away, landing a short distance away, gently cradling his offending fists with a wince.
He grimaced, fondly examining his fists
" What the hell is that shitty mask made out of?"
The brief moment of contemplation got him impaled, his face turning deathly pale from shock.
" Shit!"
Within the blink of an eye, Annonymous had escaped his bindings, materializing in front of the unguarded youth with lethal nonchalance.
" How’s this even possible?" Seth thought, his eyes widening in disbelief.
Blood bubbled down his lips, his hands trembling slightly as he held onto the dark blade lodged in his abdomen.
" Like I said before, good riddance."
Annonymous brutally yanked out the dark blade, slashing it across the youth’s throat in the same fluid motion for good measure.
Victoria’s eyes widened in horror. She screamed hysterically,, weakly slamming her fist into the pavement.
" That fool! I told him not to be reckless."
Thrain and Liu Zhen circled the masked figure warily.
Annonymous casually flicked his sword in a beautiful arc, flicking off the blood.
He turned to them with exaggerated slowness.
" Now then," he cracked his neck, rolling his shoulders.
" Who’s next?"
At that exact moment, Norvax and Darius burst out of the building, flanked by several kill squad members.
Norvax froze at the sight in front of him, his eyes widening in disbelief.
The battle had barely lasted two minutes, and already two Videntis were injured.
The brat, Seth, looked like he was on the verge of death.
" What a bloody mess! Why do I have to be the Commander now of all times?! Where did I go wrong with this career thing?"
Norvax grimly analyzed the battlefield, his eyes darting around at inhuman speed, tracking the flow of the battle.
Norvax felt goosebumps watching the carnage that was unfolding before him.
Thunderous shockwaves rippled through the air, destroying cars and property.
An explosion ravaged the already devastated street, levelling more and more buildings.
The toll of destruction was simply mind-boggling.
" Monsters, all of them are monsters!"
The remaining Videntis and the attack moved so fast that all the other members of the squad, except for Norvax, only saw afterimages.
The kill squad wore somber expressions.
Every man and woman present was a seasoned veteran, and they were certain there was nothing they could do in the face of the forces unleashed before them.
It was a truly humbling experience.
" Commander, your orders, sir."
Norvax didn’t spare the speaker a glance, inwardly rolling his eyes.
" Good grief, what is it with newbies? Always in a rush to get themselves killed!"
" We wait," he actually said in an authoritative tone.
" For now, we wait. We watch and wait."
The voice belonged to Alissa Thorne, a recent addition to the kill squad.
The young woman had been recommended by Liu Zhen, one of the most mysterious members of the Videntis.
Alissa Thorne had dark hair, dyed green on one side, giving her a slightly gothic look.
The unique hairdo beautifully complemented her heterochromic eyes.
One eye was a bewitching shade of dark brown, almost black, and the other a startling green.
From the reports Norvax had received, Allissa was quite the prodigy; top of the class among the batch of recruits, where Liu Zhen had discovered her.
Norvax threw her furtive glance then quickly turned his attention back to the catastrophic battle.
" What a pain!"
Inhaling slightly, he turned to the muscular man standing next to him in a similar dark uniform.
" Now would be a good time to do your thing, Darius," Norvax whispered.
In the hectic moment, Darius’s eyes glowed a ghostly blue.
Time slowed to a crawl until it came to a complete stop, with every person completely frozen in place.