Adrian's vision returns to the present.

I should talk to Michael about this. He should be able to deal with the rest.

Adrian opens the door into the hallway. Loud and rapid footsteps quickly approach him.

Oh fuck, I forgot about her. I really don't have the time to answer questions, but I have to stick by my word even if I don't want to.

The Viscount's daughter runs up to Adrian, ready to ask him as many questions as she can.

"Do you have any other abilities besides creation?"

"I can see the dead's final moments."

"What other types of powers have you seen?"

"I've seen someone be really physically strong, I've seen powers that make you blend into the darkness, and I've seen powers that allow you to use guns really well. And that's all of them for now. Look, Miss Claire, I understand your curiosity, but I have work to do, so you get one final question."

"How do you become a Revenant?"

"By consuming a core that gives you powers."

"How would I go about getting a core?"

"Miss Claire, the only legal way of becoming a Revenant is joining the PRF, and I doubt you're asking a police officer how to commit a crime."

The girl pouts and looks down, disappointed, before leaving.

Adrian walks through the huge guest room. Servants move about, doing different tasks, coming in and out of different rooms. He refocuses on the case and ascends the stairway, looking around to find Michael.

...

He opens the door to the Viscount's room and sees the Viscount with his nose buried in a book as always, and Michael standing, bored out of his mind.

"I investigated the body. The gun turned and fired in mid-air. A Revenant is definitely involved, and I doubt they've managed to make it out of the manor."

"Why are you here then? My job is to protect the Viscount. I can't help you investigate. Go find the Revenant."

"How do I find the Revenant?" Adrian asks, confused.

"The best way to find a Revenant is to make them use their power. A Class 2 Control-type Revenant has amazing control over their body. They're acrobatic and agile. They can also possess objects, allowing them to see, hear, and move through them. Their control gets stronger the closer they are to the object. Make them use one of these powers," Michael says in a robotic tone.

"How am I supposed to beat him?"

"A gun. Control Revenants aren't that strong in close quarters. A gun should be enough to put them down," Michael says while gesturing a punch to Adrian.

Adrian contemplates how to catch the Revenant while standing there.

"Don't just stand there, get to work," Michael says.

Why is he acting so weird? He's speaking like a robot, Adrian thinks as he leaves the Viscount's room.

If I was the assassin, what would I do? Since the manor's on lockdown, he's still in this house. So, how would he react to us showing up here? I mean, it's not like the PRF can tell who's a Revenant and who's not. He has no reason to be scared of us and run. The rational thing to do is hide in plain sight and wait for us to leave, and that’s what he should do. But if he has a brain, he would've been using his powers to keep tabs on Michael and me, meaning he's heard everything I said and knows that we found out about him. I won't be able to catch him off guard since he knows we won't leave. The guy's probably planning to kill me since I'm only a Class 1 and Michael has left me alone. I have to make his attempt backfire on him, but how? What if Michael was acting weird on purpose to clue me in on what I should do? He said to use a gun while gesturing a punch, meaning that using a gun is a terrible idea since the Revenant would possess it, and I should surge punch him instead.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

The Revenant will try to kill me using my gun. I need to make it backfire on him. "I need a smoke," Adrian mutters under his breath, making sure the Revenant hears it.

He leaves the manor and goes out into the garden with a water fountain in the middle. The garden is entrenched in complete silence. It's serene and peaceful, allowing Adrian to relax, if only for a moment, before coming back to the reality of danger.

He reaches for the revolver by his side, pulling it from the holster. He opens the chamber and, one by one, removes every bullet in the gun, sliding them into his pockets. I need to make it seem like I don’t know about him. If I took Michael's advice at face value, the best way to find him would be to get him to use his control over his body.

Adrian puts the gun back into the holster and steps back into the manor, looking around for a servant. His plan is to make it seem like he's looking for the Revenant using Michael's advice.

A servant walks past him in the hallway. Adrian turns around, puts his arms out, and pushes the servant.

Thud!

The servant falls over. "Sorry, didn't see you there." Adrian reaches out his hand to help the servant up.

"It's fine, officer."

Adrian waits in the hallway for more servants to walk past. He pushes down every servant he comes across. They all fall without managing to balance themselves. The Revenant hasn't revealed himself yet.

"This isn't working," Adrian says, as if talking to himself, making sure the Revenant hears it.

Adrian opens the door and steps into the study, pretending to investigate more.

He walks towards the body and stands over it, looking around as if trying to find clues.

Click!

The sound of a gun trying to shoot without bullets cuts through the silence of the room. Adrian looks towards the holster to see his gun taking flight and trying to shoot him.

This is exactly what he's been waiting for. Adrian sprints as fast as he can toward the door, forcing as much spirit energy as he can into his right arm.

Using the momentum from his sprint and the surge of energy, he throws a punch toward the door.

Bang!

The punch lands on the door with the force of a grenade. The door crumbles into pieces as fragments fly into the hallway. A shockwave emerges from the punch, throwing back anything behind the door. Smoke fills the doorway, blocking Adrian's vision. His right arm is in severe pain, but he pays it no mind, instead focusing on the door. The smoke clears, and Adrian sees an injured man in servant clothes lying on the floor, his back clinging to the wall.

The man looks as ordinary as any other servant. Adrian would've never suspected him to be a Revenant. Upon seeing Adrian standing there, the man swiftly jumps up and looks Adrian in the eyes with pure hatred. Adrian's punch has left the man's left arm and face heavily injured and bleeding.

The man rushes into the study hall and throws a punch toward Adrian's head. Adrian barely manages to block it before it reaches his head. The punch makes his left arm shake and quiver with pain as if it had been hit by a sledgehammer.

Before Adrian can go on the offensive, the man throws out a kick toward Adrian's right side. Adrian instinctively tries to move his right arm to block it, but he can't. The arm doesn't even budge.

The kick lands on Adrian's stomach. Intense pain rushes through his body. He recoils and shudders from the pain for a moment.

The man takes his opportunity and throws a flurry of punches and kicks toward Adrian's right side. He's realized that Adrian can't use his right arm.

Adrian manages to block a couple of hits, but most of them get through his defenses. Sharp pain courses through his body. His insides feel crushed, and he's bleeding from his mouth. This is a feeling he's felt once before. Impending death.

His vision fades between the world of the living and the dead. He can't last much longer. He crumples to the floor, barely managing to stay conscious.

The man stands over him, ready to finish the job.

His vision is fading, his heart beating fast. Is this how it ends? He clenches his fist, desperate to stay awake.

"Oi, dickhead!" a man standing in the doorway shouts. The man is wearing a white buttoned-up shirt, and he has messy hair. Michael Thatcher.

The Control Revenant turns around to face Michael. He's confident and cocky after beating Adrian.

He closes the distance between them and throws a punch toward Michael's face. Michael blocks it. The man goes for a kick to Michael's stomach, trying to take him down the same way he beat Adrian.

The kick is stopped in its tracks by Michael's hand, grabbing it firmly. Michael channels spirit energy into his arm and, with a powerful throw, sends the man flying across the room.

THUD!

The man hits a bookshelf with incredible force. Wood and paper get flung across the room like shrapnel. On the man's face, there is only one emotion: fear. He thinks of using his agility to run away, but before he can finish that thought, a fist comes flying toward him.

He barely dodges. The fist flies right by him and hits the bookshelf. The area where it hit has been completely destroyed like a gorilla punched it.

Michael punches the man's gut. Pain washes across the man's face. His body recoils in agony as he opens his mouth. Michael takes this chance.

A flurry of gut punches comes toward the man, completely locking him in place and destroying his insides.

Michael's hand glows with blue energy. He grasps the man's skull in his hands and slams him down to the ground.

BANG!

The slam sounds like an explosion. A small crater is left in the wooden floor of the study, with the man at its center. He is left all but dead as Michael stands over him. This is the last scene Adrian sees before succumbing to his slumber.