章節 37: Meet The Reaper
The hunters began to walk away from the battlefield, leaving behind a landscape littered with the bodies of their fallen comrades. The ground was painted crimson with their blood.
Capitan Adam Grayson stood still before the wounded gifted. With a resounding thud, the armor fell to the ground, blood splashing in its wake.
Then, he grabbed the white shirt that lay underneath his heavy plate armor and tore it from his body, revealing his bare skin.
His skin was pale, almost ashen white, but instead of scars that one would expect from a hunter captain, it was filled with cracks that ran across his body. The man looked like someone who was moments away from shattering into pieces.
The four gifted stood still, their eyes fixed on the man before them, ignoring the hunters who walked away from the bloody battlefield.
The man before them did not wield a weapon. Instead, he put his hands in his pockets to retrieve something—a brass knuckle.
And just like its wielder, the weapon itself was peculiar, instead of its usual brass color, it was pristine white, its material could not be guessed from its color, and instead of usual spikes on weapons such as this, it had spikes that were closer to claws.
"Do what you need to do. I won't attack until you do. So, I advise you to say your goodbyes. I have done so myself. Or fight until the bitter end. It's your choice." Said the Capitan, his tone was monotone, he found no joy in the things he had to do.
Talon crouched down in a hurry the ring from his finger was already taken off, held to Thorn first, then Orion, making their wounds close in a moment.
Because Thorn was in the better state out of the two, her injuries healed in a moment while causing minimal damage to the ring.
Now the remainder of the ring's power could be used to heal Orion before swiftly removing the daggers buried in him. Talon extracted the daggers as quickly as possible, causing immense pain to Orion, who winced with each movement, his consciousness fading by the second.
By his side, Quinn could do nothing but watch his brother suffer, his heart pained just by witnessing his brother's agony.
Thankfully, the ring did its work before shattering into pieces, making Talon feel conflicted as he knew the person that just now, after dying at the hands of the hunters, saved their life.
'You were a piece of shit, Zachary. But I don't think that anyone ever deserves such a thing happening to them, not even trash like you.'
In moments, thanks to the effect of the ring, Orion and Thorn could make a safe recovery, both of them weakly standing up from the ground with slight help from Quinn and Talon.
Rokara and Talon stared at the hunter captain, their gazes filled with fear, and as Thorn looked at where they were staring, she joined them in their terror. Quinn, observing their reactions, questioned, "He's the only one left, so why aren't we just attacking him head-on? He pulled back his hunters, so we have the advantage."
"You don't understand Quinn." Said Rokara, her usual aloof attitude was nowhere to be found as she continued to stare at the hunter standing before them.
"When I was trained at the stronghold… this man was there, he was the one that caused the fall of that stronghold. I felt that something was off about him, but that weapon, that cracked skin, yes, this is him. No mistaking it."
Every word that came out of Rokara's mouth shocked Aria and Quinn. Their expressions darkened, while Talon continued to stare at the Captain with a hardened gaze.
"Thorn and I already met this person, we were in a group with some other gifted that were hiding from the hunters… that man was there, he slaughtered them, slaughtered them all!"
"We survived because we were lucky… luck won't save any of us this time." Said Talon with a hardened gaze, the grasp around his spear only growing firmer.
As Thorn was staring at the hunter, tears began to form in her eyes before she began to take deep breaths in an attempt to calm herself.
In a hurry, she attempted to reach for her daggers, but they were nowhere to be found on her. Without a choice, she began to search for a weapon, and as luck would have it, a pair of daggers lay just next to her on the ground— the vampire daggers of Derek.
The moment she picked them up, a deep harsh voice reached her ears, but she was the only one who heard it.
"Prove yourself, child, let the blood flow!" Screamed the dagger inside Thorn's mind manically as it wanted nothing more than to bathe in blood.
Without saying a word, Thorn held the twin daggers in her hand, focusing her attention on the hunter standing before them.
"We need a plan against him if he is that dangerous." Said Quinn while the three who met the hunter before looked at Quinn with despair clear on their face, the first one to speak up was Rokara.
"You really don't understand Quinn. That man slaughtered everyone inside the orc stronghold that I stayed at, he slaughtered everyone there with a straight face. There is no plan against him…"
"No matter what, we make it out alive. We've survived until now, and we won't give up. Not now, not when we're this close to making it out alive!" Orion shouted in anger, his side still hurting. His voice was filled with determination, unlike his usual meek tone.
"He's right... we're not about to give up, not now!" said Thorn, her expression lighting up as she took command. "Let's get into a defensive formation!"
Without arguing, everyone's face turned serious but full of hope and defiance against the odds, ready to make one last stand against their strongest enemy yet.
Rokara stood at the front of the formation, the first vanguard against the monstrous hunter. Her new hatchets were tightly grasped in her hands, held on her side with determination.
On her left side, Aria held her cracked morning star mace with a defiant expression, prepared for the impending battle.
To Rokara's right stood Talon, his flaming red spear tightly gripped in his hand. "Come, Grayson! This time, I won't run away. Let's settle this!" thought Talon, his grasp tightening on the spear. Flames began to flicker around the tip of his weapon as if responding to his emotions.
Behind Aria, Thorn held the vampire daggers in her hand. Despite their bloodthirsty whispers, she paid them no mind, her focus solely on the upcoming confrontation.
Orion stood behind Talon, his white longsword firmly in his hands, ready to clash with the hunter.
The farthest back was Quinn, his bow poised to unleash a flurry of arrows at the captain.
"I suppose you don't plan to go out without a fight…" Murmured weakly, Grayson. "So be it.
With one final word, Grayson appeared in front of Rokara, his speed was too fast for any of them to follow with their bare eyes.
Grayson's white brass knuckle went straight to Rokara, the vanguards of the gifted's formation, crushed with one simple strike from the hunter.
Rokara was suddenly sent flying away from the formation, her large, burly frame soaring through the air next to Quinn, leaving him speechless as he watched her unexpected flight. With a resounding crash, she collided with one of the dead trees nearby, coughing up blood in the process.
"Rokara!" Talon's cry of anger echoed across the battlefield as he thrust his spear towards the captain who effortlessly dodged the attack with minimal movement, countering with a swift punch that sent Talon hurtling in a different direction.
Quinn released his arrow without a second thought, the arrow was aimed directly at the throat of the captain.
To his despair, Grayson caught the arrow with his left hand, not even bothering to look at Aria as she attempted to smash his head in with her mace. Before anyone could even register it, both Quinn and Aria were sent flying in different directions.
'This doesn't even make sense, how is he both strong and fast for someone of his age?!' Panicked Thorn while her mind raced, but without coming up with a proper plan, she rushed at the hunter with her vampire weapons.
"Are you seriously coming at me with the weapon of my deceased right-hand man?" Questioned Grayson with his monotone voice.
Suddenly, Thorn was struck in the stomach with the pristine white brass knuckle, much like the others, sent flying away. However, her abdomen was now bleeding from the impact of the claw-like brass knuckle.
The only one left from the now-crushed formation, Orion unleashed his gift at full power, creating a blinding white light even more intense than the previous one he had unleashed on the elite hunters.
The intensity of his gift began to drain him at a rapid pace, but instead of blinding Adam Grayson, the monstrous captain did not even blink as he stared at the white light and kicked its source in the stomach.
The formation was shattered in a single moment, leaving only Capitan Adam Grayson standing amidst the chaos, known among the gifted by another name, The Shattered.
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