The shadow figure fades into the darkness, leaving nothing left but his voice.
"You will die by my hand…"
Ground man stomps the ground, a large piece of rock flies up.
He punches the boulder and blasts it to Blaze's original position but hits nothing but air.
"Invisibility?"
William says.
"Show yourself, coward!"
"You are the coward here."
Blaze's voice echoes through the space, it comes from everywhere, making it hard to pinpoint his location.
The group stands close, back to back, so they can observe all directions.
William is still confident as always, standing alone with hands in his pocket. He scans the environment, hoping to hear the faint sound of footsteps.
But there is no sound but the creepy, unsettling voice.
"Where is she?"
Ground man throws many more boulders to the surrounding area, but none hit a target.
"What the? Can you feel him in the air, Felix?"
Ground man shouts.
Felix is the man with cyclone power. He answers:
"No… Not even in the thirty meters radius. It's like he evaporated from this world."
Ice man's right hand is shaking. His other hand holds onto a pendant on his necklace.
The guy is obviously religious.
"May the Father above protect me from this evil spirit."
Ice man's voice trembles.
William laughs.
"The fuck are you saying? Isaac, bro… Don't let a nobody scare you."
Isaac doesn't answer. His face is pale as paper.
He has seen similar figures in the holy scriptures, the dark spirit who comes for vengeance and takes the sinner to hell.
Isaac knows that he is guilty. He has done many wrong things and dragged many people to misery.
All for his own benefit and selfishness.
"May God protect me from this evil spirit.
I have sinned. I was wrong. But please let me repent, God.
Don't let this spirit take me!"
Isaac's feet shift in tiny, frantic movements. He can't calm down.
"Watch your boy, Dylan. He is scared shitless."
William says.
Ground man, Dylan, looks over to Isaac.
Before he can say anything, a black beam flies over his head, leaving a shrieking sound in the air.
The Destruction Beam hits Felix, the cyclone man, who is still hovering in the air. The dark beam pierces through his chest and keeps blasting toward the sky and disappears.
"Ugh…"
Felix looks down at his chest. A giant hole carves into his ribcage, exposing the flesh and blood inside.
His power gives out and his limbs return to normal. Felix slams on the ground. His entire body withers in seconds.
His skin becomes grey as a dead tree, and his black tongue sticks out of his mouth.
[You have gained 100 experience points!]
[Kill all the members of the Nocturnal Animals (1/4)]
The group gasps.
"Felix!"
Dylan, the ground man, screams out in anger and despair.
"I kill you! I kill you, bastard!
Where are you? Where are you?"
William's expression turns serious. He stomps his feet to the ground, fire sets ablaze around them.
He jumps up, the fire shoots out of his legs and keeps him floating.
He executed a lawless spin kick in the air, sending a fireball from his leg to the source of the beam.
The Destruction Beam didn't reveal Blaze because it is also darkness. But the light from the fire causes Blaze to materialize.
He shoots the Grappling Hook to another building, dodging the fireball. He turns invisible again in mid-air.
William spins wildly, sending several more fireballs from his feet to the shadow figure, but he dodges them all and disappears from existence again.
"Face me, fucker. Don't hide!"
William shouts. He keeps sending fireballs to places where Blaze was last seen, but none reveal him.
Blaze has safely repositioned to a completely different direction thanks to the Grappling Hook. He lifts his wand again, pointing it to Dylan, the ground man.
The Nocturnal Animals are all C-rank heroes. They are professional and have experience in combat, not useless like the loser Jake.
Thus, Blaze uses the Destruction Beam to make sure they are dead.
He only needs William alive. The rest can die.
"Face despair. Face fear. Face it for all your sins."
Blaze's voice echoes in the area.
William groans in helplessness. With all his power, he can't even locate the enemy.
The only one who can do that, Felix, is already a stone cold corpse.
They can't win.
"Retreat!"
William shouts.
"Run to Henry!"
William despises the man with all his being, but he cannot deny that Henry is the most powerful in the school. Only he can save them from this freak.
They all turn and run toward the school grounds. But thirty seconds have passed. Another black beam screams and shoots at Dylan.
Isaac falls to his knee. The ice sword completely disintegrates, he holds the pendant with both of his hands, shaking profusely.
"May God above protect me from this evil spirit! I know…"
"Useless bastard!"
Dylan shouts, he ducks behind Isaac, hoping his body will block the attack and allow him time to escape.
The black beam sharply turns, it zigzags over Isaac and pierces through Dylan's skull. It doesn't stop and keeps on going through the ground, digging out a deep hole.
Dylan's lifeless corpse hits the ground.
[You have gained 100 experience points!]
[Kill all the members of the Nocturnal Animals (2/4)]
Blaze materializes before the naked eye. He looks down at the kneeling Isaac. The boy is terrified to the soul, having no fighting spirit left.
What a despicable sight. Just a moment ago you acted so strong before Alyson.
The Lantern of the Damned appears in Blaze's hand.
On Dylan's corpse, his soul comes into existence and lets out a deafening scream before being sucked into the lantern.
Felix's soul also flies over and joins the poor prisoners in the lantern.
Isaac drops his pendant on the ground. The evil spirit just took his friend's souls and is about to take him too.
This is no mere superbeing. This is a demon.
"Please, please, please…"
He curls into a ball, arms over his head, voice shrill and broken. Snot and tears smear across his face as he is repeating the same word.
"Your soul is mine."
The unsettling voice speaks.
Blaze points his palm to the back of his head. A blue stream of light shoots out and crushes it to a puddle.
[You have gained 100 experience points!]
[Kill all the members of the Nocturnal Animals (3/4)]
Then, Isaac joins their allies as a poor lost soul inside the lantern.
William runs fast. He doesn't even look back. But he can hear all the sounds of his friend dying and begging.
Sweat rolls down on his face, and his heart beats like a drum. He hasn't been this scared for a while. He hasn't been this helpless since he became the leader of the Nocturnal Animals.
And he has never thought that he will face consequences when he chooses this path.
Everyone does it. Everyone is corrupted. So what I'm doing isn't wrong.
Unlucky for him, retribution has arrived.
Thunder roars, and his back feels like burning.
William hits the ground and rolls uncontrollably. Black smoke comes out of his feet but not flame. The fire has left him and will not return.
Then there is the sound of the rope pulling. A shadow covers his entire body.
William looks up, and there it is, the figure with no face, only darkness on its head.
Blaze raises his palm. Another Force Blast to the chest of the leader of the Nocturnal Animals.
A visible palm engraves on William's chest, the sound of bones breaking satisfyingly emits.
William coughs up blood.
"Don't kill me! You want to save the girl, yeah?
I can help you!"
Right then, people arrive. The Pale Harpy and the Liberty Sons show up.
They heard the noise and came to investigate. Accompanying them, there is also the president of the student council, Henry Colson.
"Stop right there!"
Preston shouts, aiming a weird looking rifle at Blaze.
The Pale Harpy stretches her arm, white feathers made out of pure energy appearing around her, they are sharper and tougher than steel.
Henry is the only one standing still, with no action nor words.
William laughs. He looks at the figure directly, no longer fearing death.
He knows it will not kill him. Because killing him means it can never find Alyson.
The Liberty Sons and the Pale Harpy will also not let it take him away.
I am now safe. William thinks to himself.