The green sigil that was drawn on the ground was almost completed and the area was filled with a dreadful aura that brought about gloom and dread. Very slowly, the green blood squirmed like a bunch of carnivorous worms moving onto their prey. They crawled and slithered in unison towards the center of the sigil to connect the last line required.
Fright was still standing in front of Fear to protect her from the enemies' attacks. He stood there in a defensive stance, ready to deflect anything the enemy threw at them.
The two men in front of him were still occupied by the tiny snakes whose number had gone down tremendously. It was just a matter of time before they were all completely decimated. The blood chakram that the woman in a black coat was controlling was spinning wildly on the ground, shredding apart any creatures approaching it.
"The enemies are still busy. How much longer will your curse be ready?" asked Fright without taking his eyes off his enemies. He held his commando knife tightly with his right hand.
Whoosh!!
Suddenly, there was a giant fireball shooting at the spot where the sigil was being drawn. It came from the dumpster ahead of Fright and moved at such terrifying speed that he had no time to do anything about it. His clothes caught on fire because of the massive fireball and suddenly, he became distorted and disappeared into thin air.
"Shit! The sigil!" he shouted as he reappeared several centimeters from his original spot.
The fireball had hit the ground where the sigil was being drawn and the moment the green blood came into contact with it, it caught on fire and violently burned.
Crackle!
The green 'worms' were twitching and writhing as they burned and they seemed to be screaming. There was a faint cry of pain coming from the blood as it burned dry and evaporated. Just in a matter of seconds, the blood sigil had been erased from existence and in its place, the fire was blazing fiercely.
"Arghhh!!" shouted Fear.
She stumbled back and held her head tightly with both hands. She seemed to be suffering because of the interruption of her ability just a moment before its activation. The backlash caused her great pain; Her body was hunched and she was banging her head in the air frantically.
Fright had quickly rushed to her side and placed both of his hands on her head, right on top of her two hands.
"I, in the name of the Deity of Deception and Hidden Thoughts, hereby hide the pain that you are feeling from your memory!"
Fear slowly stopped banging her head and she started regaining her composure. It was still painful, but she wasn't as affected as before. Fear quickly got back into a battle stance and looked at the enemies in front of her while paying her partner a glance.
"Thanks, Fright," she said shortly.
The raging flame was still burning in front of them without any sign of stopping despite having no apparent fuel sustaining it. The snakes had also been all killed, so the enemies were now free to move again.
Bang!
The man in the black sweater fired a shot at Fear. The bullet pierced quickly through the air but the moment it was about to hit the target, Fright had managed to protect her with his own body. The bullet drilled a hole on his right shoulder but he suddenly turned twisted and disappeared.
"I'll be really out of illusory substitute at this point," he said as he reappeared next to Fear like a spot of ink that emerged to the surface of the water.
Bang!
Another shot was fired while Fright was still in the process of reappearing. Fear couldn't move faster than a bullet, so she was hit in the shoulder. There was a hole there from the bullet and blood came gushing out.
"Fuck!" she shouted while pressing the wound with her left hand to stop the bleeding.
Suddenly, Fear realized the situation she had been put it.
"I can't move! It's a paralysis bullet!" she shouted.
Fright looked at his immobilized partner and then at the enemies. The blood chakram was flying in the air in her direction so he quickly got in front of her and deflected it. The impact made his right hand a little numb for a second.
"The situation is not looking so good. We need to retreat," said Fear. She was slightly surprised that Fright hadn't said it first because usually, he would be the level-headed one. Fright should have said the order to retreat much earlier when he noticed the situation was only getting worse for them.
"You escape. I'll hold them back," replied Fright seriously.
The man in the black sweater had rushed towards them with a sharp dagger in his hand. The moment he got close enough, he uttered an Order.
"I order you to stand still!"
Fright once again fell under the enemy's control. He couldn't move his body at all despite all his effort. He was a sitting duck there. However, he could feel that the control that the man had over him was slightly weaker than before.
The man with the sweater was coming closer and closer while the man with the mask was following closely behind. Meanwhile, the woman with the tight black coat was controlling the blood chakram with her slender right hand and shot it towards Fright.
Fear hastily slit her wrist with her curved dagger that was already full of bloodstain at that point. Before letting her blood drop to the ground, she sprinkled a black powder on her wound. The moment the black powder touched her open flesh, a stinging pain coursed through her body.
After getting in front of her partner, she quickly splattered her blood on the flame that was still burning and shouted.
"Explode!"
Kaboom!
The blood that she splattered created a violent bloody explosion the moment it touched the fire. The fire then spread and burned everything it touched, including Fear's blood. The two enemies stopped in their tracks because of that, which gave Fright some time to recover. The heavy blood chakram was also thrown back by the impact and got stuck on a wall.
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"Shit! I've used too much blood!" she cursed.
Fear took out a pouch containing a blue powder and quickly inhaled it. The moment the fine grains entered her body through her nose, she felt revitalized at once, and the blood that she had lost was also gradually replaced by the fresh one.
"Let's escape now while we have the chance!" shouted Fear.
Fright, who had recovered from the enemy's control, looked at her and shook his head.
"As I said, you escape. I'll buy you some time!" he replied without any hesitation.
The tone of Fright's voice sounded very serious, but Fear could feel the abnormality in it. The normal Fright wouldn't have chosen to sacrifice himself like that, especially since it was still possible for the two of them to escape together.
The man with the black sweater had stood up and he muttered something that the two of them couldn't hear.
Whoosh!
The flame that had been spread by the blood explosion suddenly shot tiny fireballs at them.
Fright and Fear only managed to avoid some of the balls of flame, but since there were too many of them, they still got burned by some. The flame that came in contact with their cloak started burning it and they quickly took the cloak off to avoid being burned alive. They used their already burning cloaks as a shield against the incoming barrage of fireballs.
"How many tricks does this fucker have up his sleeve?!" exclaimed Fear in frustration.
Her now exposed face showed an expression of anger and hatred. The two of them were in a precarious situation and if they didn't get away soon, their life would be in danger. However, her partner strangely kept refusing to escape.
"If you still refuse to escape, I will!" she said finally while blocking the barrage of fireballs.
"Please make it to safety!" said Fright, whose expression showed genuine concern.
"Then good luck!" she said shortly.
Fear backed off and began running quickly towards the entrance of the back alley, leaving her partner all alone against the assault of three people. They had not expected the enemy to ambush them with a greater number nor did they think the enemy had a gun. It wasn't something anyone could easily get a hand on, although bullets were readily available. Even among the members of the Pale Society, only a couple of them had guns.
Their other miscalculation was how their abilities were too incompatible to be used against the enemies. Fear's Curses were potent but they took too long to prepare. The enemy had a Gore who could disrupt her preparation any time, and she couldn't have prepared them long before the fight because she needed a target for her Curses to work. She also didn't expect the enemy to be able to control fire to completely erase the ritual sigil.
She could only hope that Fright could buy her time to escape although she knew his abilities were not suitable for fighting those kinds of enemies either. He was a Deceit and his strength was information manipulation, not direct combat. If he had only fought two enemies and they had taken the enemies by surprise as they had initially planned, the fight would have gone very differently from now.
Fear thought about all those while running away from the fight without even looking back.
"Don't let her escape! She has seen our faces!" said the man in the black sweater while gesturing at the woman with the blood chakrams.
The woman quickly gave chase but her path was blocked by Fright. There was a smile in his face despite being outnumbered.
"Not so fast, Ma'am. Now that she's gone, I can freely use all of my abilities," he said meaningfully. The glasses that he was wearing reflected the raging flame in front of him.
Fright slit his wrist and splattered his blood all around him. The woman tried to find an opening to slip past but he didn't give her any. Fright then quickly chanted while letting his blood keep flowing to the ground.
"I, in the name of the Deity of Deception and Hidden Thoughts, call forth an illusion that covers this whole area!"
The blood that he had splattered and the blood underneath him rose in the air and dispersed. The smell of iron penetrated their noses as the blood was carried by air. There was suddenly a translucent orange curtain descending from the sky above them. It covered a small area around them and there was an aura of confusion and distortion coming from the translucent curtains.
Once the curtain was set, it swayed gently in the air, covering everything beneath it. The enemies suddenly started behaving in a strange way. It was as if they were seeing things that were not there. Their whole senses were covered and controlled by the illusory curtain.
"This ability will create an illusion to everyone in the area except the caster, be it friend or foe. That's why I couldn't use it before when Fear was still here," said Fright. His freckled face showed a distorted expression.
Fright kept the blood flowing from his wrist because that was the only way to maintain the illusion. The moment he stopped supplying his ability with it, it would stop and the illusion would disappear. He quickly took out a pouch from his left pocket with his right hand and inhaled the blue powder inside to recover his health.
The man with a mask looked like he was fighting against something. He stabbed the air and then looked around until his attention was locked at the woman with the tight black coat. He carefully approached her with his dagger in hand, ready to attack.
"Die, you monster!" shouted the masked man, pouncing at the woman. His voice was full of anger and arrogance. It seemed that the curtain also had the power to control emotion.
The woman saw the masked man approaching and controlled her chakram with her right hand and shot at him.
Swoosh!
Clank!
The chakram glided through the air quickly and aimed at the masked man's neck. The man was fast enough to protect his neck, but he wasn't strong enough to completely parry against the attack. He was thrown back and his right hand was badly injured by the blood weapon.
"Fuck!"
The woman then raised her right arm, ready for a subsequent attack.
Bang!
Suddenly, there was a gunshot that broke the silence that the curtains brought. The bullet had pierced through the air and hit Fright, who was watching the fight between his two enemies, right in the head. His body then quickly became distorted and he reappeared several centimeters behind his original spot. His expression showed disbelief and confusion.
Because of the attack, the curtains had been dispelled and it quickly rose back to the air before vanishing completely. The effect of the illusion had also been canceled and now the man with the mask returned to his original self. The woman also regained her senses and stopped her attack at once.
"How is that possible?!" asked Fright in frustration. His strongest ability had been foiled by the enemy so easily.
He looked at the source of the gunshot and there was the man with the black sweater. Although his appearance was still the same, the aura that he gave off was completely different. He seemed colder and more dangerous.
"Attacks that target my consciousness won't work on me," replied the man coldly.
Bang!
He shot another bullet right at Fright's forehead and the man with the red hair became distorted and disappeared again.
Bang!
The man with the black sweater once again shot at Fright who had just reappeared and he disappeared once again.
"You cannot keep disappearing and reappearing like that, can you?" asked the man with the gun with a sinister smile.
Fright's expression suddenly showed a hint of fear. All this time, he had never been cornered by his enemies like that. He had always been careful and would always choose to escape even if it meant failing his mission. Although he was not the strongest in the organization, he was one of the most careful and calculating. He couldn't understand why he chose to play hero and make Fear escape on her own despite her several disapproval.
"I'll let you in on a secret. Your mind has been corrupted by our ability. That's why you suddenly chose to be a little 'hero'," said the man coldly. He was walking closer and closer towards Fright, who was holding his dagger tightly with his right hand.
Fright now understood why he had chosen to stay back despite the odds being against them. If he had escaped together with Fear, they would have had a better chance of survival. However, despite knowing that, he still thought that his choice was the right one. It seemed that the enemy's ability had taken root in his brain. He knew there was no escape from the situation now; he was greatly outnumbered and he was still weak from losing much blood from his earlier ability.
"I'm sorry Mr. Tenebrosity, I cannot fulfill my duty. I hope you and the rest can successfully bring back the Pale Lord," he said weakly. His blue eyes had lost their light and he was standing there motionlessly. The grip on his dagger became loose and he was accepting defeat.
"I wish I could be with you guys longer to see the descent of the Pale Lord, but I don't think it's possible now. I'll be together with our Lord and will be watching over you,"
Bang!
Another bullet was shot and it hit Fright right on his forehead, pushing him back to the ground with the impact. There was a hole drilled by the bullet and this time, he didn't become distorted. Fresh blood came pouring out of the wound and his blue eyes became lifeless soon after. However, there was a smile of happiness on his face.