“Where is it? I have the crown! I don’t see it!”

A ghastly and disturbing voice came from the mist as it edged closer and shot bullet-like projectiles.

Samuel used his power to protect himself and the others, but it worked only once or twice as he ended up getting hit. While holding his bleeding knee, he gritted his teeth and clenched his left fist.

He literally punched the air, causing a blast of golden light to expand and clash against the mist, momentarily pushing it back. Zeke did not sit idly by either, he used the distraction offered by Samuel to use ‘Voltage Zap’ then ‘Spark’.

The lightning bolt pierced through the mist, from which a grunt of pain could be heard. As for the immobile floating lightning orb, it absorbed what was left of its caster’s Aether then reacted aggressively the moment one of the projectiles struck it.

An uncontrollable and loud torrent of lightning bolts exploded forth, clashing against the mist and eventually overpowering it.

By the end of it, an abnormally thin man with a tall frame and greasy raven-black hair appeared. He was gasping for air and had nasty burnt makes all over his body.

With reddened eyes and a hideous expression, he looked at Zeke and Samuel. He didn’t speak, instead, caressing his bleeding chest while incoherently mumbling to himself.

Zeke calmed his rapidly-beating heart and whispered something to Samuel, who nodded in response.

A second later, Zeke used ‘Life Motus’, teleporting right in front of the absent-minded man; He lifted performed a swift and deadly side-kick, aimed right at the target’s head.

He was met with no resistance as the man, Jonathan Stellar Link, was blown to the side, his body rolling multiple times on the ground.

A magical spinning golden hammer was thrown by Samuel, reaching Jonathan and banging on his seemingly limp body. There was the unsettling noise of breaking bones and the sight of splattering blood, but not even that stopped Jonathan’s inaudible mumbling.

Samuel’s golden hammer vanished as he approached Zeke and stared at the assailant.

Jonathan’s battered body convulsed then he got back to his feet, his broken arms and legs returning to normal. His neck twisted and turned abnormally, his eyes turning jet black as they focused on the three thugs.

“Is it you? It must be you!”

Like a cannonball, he shot at the baldy with stretched arms, planning for an instantaneous kill. However, before he could finish it, Zeke appeared in front of him and used ‘Fists of Furry’.

His fists, glowing with an orange light, hit Jonathan’s chest, stopping him for half a second. Surprised that he dealt no damage whatsoever, Zeke used ‘One-Star Side-kick’, hitting the man’s legs, but it felt as if he hit metal.

While letting out a soft groan of pain, Zeke lowered his leg and tried to dodge the incoming hand but he was too late.

His throat was caught and his body lifted slightly above the ground. Jonathan eyed him for a couple of breaths then was about to crush his neck but, unexpectedly, the thugs attacked in unison.

They used metal pipes they had hastily picked up and swung them at Jonathan’s, distracting him for long enough for Samuel’s magic to strike the back.

Zeke was freed, his body falling to the ground as he held his neck and coughed while gasping for air. The lack of Aether within his body and being suffocated had made him incapacitated, unable to defend when Jonathan roared in anger and unleashed a blast.

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None were spared as they were sent flying to the back; Samuel hit the wall and collapsed, Zeke crashed into a pile of trash, and the three thugs were blown to the back. Unfortunately, one of them was unlucky as his chest was pierced by a wooden plank protruding from the wall.

“Ugh…”

Disoriented, in pain, and exhausted, Zeke pushed his hand against the ground and tried to get up but his body failed him. He saw transform in the black mist and swirl around like a vortex, absorbing anything around it and slowly pulling him and one of the thugs closer to it.

He grabbed onto anything as he resisted the suction, which didn’t last long.

Several loud gunshots could be heard, disrupting the vortex and revealing Jonathan again. The man vomited blood and looked at the gaping hole in his chest, caused by the bullets.

A bearded middle-aged man wearing an old black uniform appeared from the alley, a glistening silver gun in his raised hands.

He swept his gaze across Zeke and co while aiming his gun at Jonathan.

More bullets were shot, but they missed this time as Jonathan leapt to the back, his body turning into mist, which, in turn, went through the wall and disappeared thereafter.

“Sam! Sam!”

The Detective rushed to his son and checked on him, sighing in relief when he saw the teenager shake his head and get up, looking relatively unscathed.

“I…I’m fine, dad.”

Next, the Detective approached Zeke, who already sat up, looking haggard but otherwise unharmed.

“Jim…. Jimmy! Fuck!”

The remaining two thugs were standing next to their friend, who was impaled by the plank. The gushing blood and the limp body were clear indications that he was already dead.

“Can you stand up? We should leave this place!”

The Detective helped Zeke and motioned for the thugs to follow him, which they did. They no longer cared about being caught by the authorities, not after almost dying to a maniacal madman.

…

All four people were taken to the station, both to answer some questions and hopefully receive minor treatment for the sustained injuries.

The good thing was that, apart from the one casualty, the rest were in relatively good physical state. Zeke’s face was as pale as a sheet of paper, but that was the consequence of draining his Life Aether.

He tried his best, and though he disliked the thugs and their shameless methods, that did not mean he would sit by and watched. It was the same for Samuel too… none deserved to die at that man’s hands.

After all, Zeke had seen how brutally murdered the other victims were, and he wished no one such a fate.

“I told you to stay clear of Kethra’s Arms for a while!”

“How was I supposed to know there’s a freak lurking around? Maybe you should have explained it to me in simpler terms!”

Samuel was arguing with his infuriated father. The latter was called to apprehend the thugs but, upon his arrival, he saw the notorious serial killer that had been plaguing the district for a while now.

As the father-son duo was in a heated argument, Zeke was sitting in the corner, absent-minded and breathing irregularly.

“Kid…”

The baldy and his friend came up to him, both still in shock and grieving the death of their friend ‘Jim’.

“Thank you for saving us.”

“...”

Zeke lifted his head and blankly looked at them. He didn’t speak, merely nodded once then resumed his silence.

“Really… thanks.”

Shortly after, the two were dragged by another detective, to be questioned about the incident and their recent ‘illegal’ activities.

Zeke too, had to be questioned, but it wasn’t anything serious and, when done, he was advised to go to the hospital.

However, he knew, better than anyone, his current condition and that he only needed rest, so he exited the station, planning to return home.

“Hey… Zeke, wait!”

Samuel ran after him, grabbing his shoulder and beaming at him.

“I knew you were a good person! If not for your help, I would have probably died.”

“Think nothing of it.”

Zeke tried to pass Samuel but the latter didn’t let him.

“Now that we’ve experienced and a life-and-death situation together, we can be categorized as friends!” He proclaimed with a confident voice and a wide smile.

“What sort of logic is that?”

“Come on! I think we click together, you and I. That serial-killer was strong but we managed to hold our own!”

“He was clearly not in the right state of mind. Plus, we had the element of surprise at first. Anyway, you should listen to your father and avoid that specific backstreet.”

“Yeah yeah, never mind that! We’re cool now, right?”

Before Zeke could reply, Samuel laughed heartily and added, “I expected no less from my rival! Forget about the challenge, I think we can be very good friends! See you tomorrow morning!”

With that said, he ran back to the station.

‘I’m kind of jealous of his nonchalance.’

Zeke watched Samuel disappear into the station, a sigh escaping his lips. Now that the rush of adrenaline subsided and he had time to think, his prior actions were reckless. Still, he did not regret his actions but being overpowered by the man still made him feel slight dismay.

If he were there alone, he would have died too. Samuel’s magic was strong and flexible, which allowed him to act as a support and even protect himself and those around him.

‘But why does he keep targeting the same place? And why wasn’t the place guarded in the first place? It doesn’t feel right.’