Markus swore under his breath while using his left hand to fidget with his collar. He was wearing a suit and a tie, and the latter was constricting his throat, making him uncomfortable. He drowned the glass of wine in his right hand before placing it on a wandering waiter's empty tray.

What a shitty party, He thought as he watched the people dressed in fancy outfits mingle.

As a second-generation nouveau, his father forced him to go to this party and attempt to gain a better connection with the man who sponsored the ball, Mr. Anthony Lockwood. Somehow, his father discovered that Lockwood was or had connections with a Council member, the elusive committee that oversaw the entire city, and sent Markus to participate in the ball.

However, Markus wasn't interested in this sort of party, he wanted to return home and train so he could be stronger than Alina. That way, he wouldn't have to bow to her every time they passed.

Bitch, Markus thought vehemently. I'll beat that goody two shoes and show her who's the boss.

A wave of murmuring passed through the crowd, drawing Markus's attention while the orchestra that was playing in the background slowly lowered the volume. Looking up, Markus noticed that the star of the party, Mr. Lockwood at arrived and was walking through the venue, shaking hands and having small talks with the guests.

Markus froze when he looked over. Cold sweat dripped down his back as he watched Mr. Lockwood proceed, the former's eyes were locked on the space behind Mr. Lockwood, where a hooded and faceless figure draped in a tattered cloak followed closely behind the latter. At first, Markus thought the figure was a bodyguard, but he noticed how no one seemed to pay attention to the figure that seemed to be shadowy despite standing in a brightly lit room. He only realized something was wrong when a person brushed past the ghostly figure and walked right through it.

The fuck … is that? Markus thought as his entire body screamed for him to escape. Unfortunately, his gaze lingered on the being for too long and the hooded figure slowly turned its head, staring back at Markus who quickly grabbed another glass of wine and looked down at it.

Please don't notice me. Please don't notice me, Markus thought as he tried to calmly swirl the alcohol in his glass.

He looked up after a minute but had to force himself not to fall back and scream. Standing a few inches away from his face was the hooded figure. The latter tilted it's head as it slowly leaned forward, studying Markus carefully as though it wanted to see if he could see it. At such a close range, Markus was able to see the hooded figure clearly and bit his tongue to stop himself from flinching. He could see that there was nothing underneath the hood, only darkness that was blacker than the darkest night.

"Tsk, what a boring party," Markus muttered, pretending to stare past the hooded monster and at the crowd, his gaze pretentious and arrogant. After a minute of staring, the hooded figure suddenly vanished from Markus's gaze when the latter blinked; the ghost-like being was back to following Mr. Lockwood.

Oh my fucking god, that was shit scary, Markus thought as he realized that his back was soaked in sweat. Excusing himself, Markus walked out the ballroom and into the men's washroom. He hurried to a toilet and started retching everything he had earlier in the day.

That thing wasn't human, Markus thought as he cleaned himself up. I need to get out of here.

Five minutes later, Markus was walking back to the ballroom when he heard screams. He shivered as every hair on his body rose. The screams were so horrific and he knew it had something to do with the hooded figure. Frantic footsteps full of panic approached his location and Markus swore in his mind; if people were escaping to his direction then the hooded figure might be pursuing them.

Markus ducked into a room and noticed that it was designed like a study room. He quickly vaulted over the desk and his underneath it as the screams and footsteps came closer. Lying down, Markus peered from the bottom of the desk, which that an inch of space between the floor and the board. He saw two pairs of legs run into the room and hurriedly closed the door.

"What was that?!" One voice said.

"Who cares? Help me blockade the door then hide!" The second voice said.

As the two looked for something to block the door with, Markus covered his mouth and stopped breathing when he noticed another pair of feet that were silently approaching the two. He heard the sound of slashing and blood spurted everywhere. The third pair of legs was the hooded figure and he killed the two men that were fleeing.

Markus continued holding his breath, especially when he noticed that the legs were approaching the wooden desk. He leaned further into the bottom of the desk as the Reaper stopped, his feet indicating that he was on the other side of the desk. The wooden desk creaked as the Reaper leaned forward and Markus fainted as he realized that the Reaper was right above him.

***

Raphael grimaced as he looked at the remains of several mercenaries. He tasted bile in his mouth as he forced himself not to retch as forensics studied and bagged the pieces of sliced bodies that were in front of him. The police were the first to arrive but they alerted AEM immediately when they found the corpses; it was too horrific and they realized that this wasn't normal. The mercenaries were sliced clean multiple times, and their innards such as intestines and stomach fluids coated the floor. Raphael turned away and walked back to his team that was standing away from the bodies.

"And?" Raphael asked.

"Looks like - mrph!" Suni tried explained but stopped and heaved. "Same perpetrator - mngh! As the docks."

Raphael gestured at them to distance themselves from the corpses and the others quickly followed him away.

"Any footage or witnesses?" Raphael asked and Junco stepped up while Suni tried to stop himself from retching.

"No footage. But there are some witnesses that are alive. Barely," Junco responded and Raphael grimaced.

"That bad?" Dhole asked.

"Most of them have at least one limb that's been disabled," Junco sighed. "They'll never walk or use an arm again."

"Seriously, who is this guy?" Suni asked speaking quickly so he wouldn't heave in between his sentences again. "The dude sliced people up like the Predator - no seriously, look at it. And the survivors claim he has big sharp teeth. Like - like a monster or something."

"He is a monster," Raphael said while gesturing at the direction of the corpses. "No sane human would slice people up like a meat grinder."

"Oh, now I won't be able to eat meat for a while," Suni covered his mouth and turned pale as Raphael turned to the group.

"This is the third place to be hit tonight," Raphael said seriously. "Each place had a common modus though: the perpetrator was targeting illegal mercenaries that snuck into the city and were hiding in abandoned areas."

Raphael turned to Suni, the team's tech expert. "I need a list of every place, every decommissioned warehouse, every abandoned building, every place that's obscure and send a drone to every one of them!"

"I'll contact headquarters and requisition the drones," Dhole said and both he and Suni moved away, giving space to Raphael and Junco.

"Michelle?" Raphael asked Junco.

"Back at headquarters," Junco answered before hesitating. "Major … sir. Don't you think it's strange that there are so many mercenaries hiding in the city?"

"Yes, I'm concerned about that as well," Raphael turned his head and looked around carefully before saying quietly. "This … this is an invasion. And the perpetrator …"

Is probably one of us, Raphael thought. The cocky look of Jason during the day flashed across his mind. Isn't that right, Jason?

Raphael was now certain that Jason had a hand in the attack at the western pier's dock last night. He had a feeling that this attack was connected to his daughter, Alice, and the mysterious assassin who appeared to be the mother of the girl.

"Uh, Angel? We've got a situation," Suni cane back with a grim face. "A Council member was just killed."

Raphael’s eyes widened as he swore and Junco turned to look at Suni sharply. A Council member being murdered was the same as a world leader like a president or prime minister being assassinated.

“Was it those hooded Practitioners?” Raphael asked grimly. "The assassins from the carnival?"

“Hooded, yeah,” Suni shook his head as he continued. “But no. I - it - it’s better if you see it.”

Suni handed a tablet to Raphael who took it with a grim look. He saw it contained security footage of what happened at the party. At first, everything seemed normal but the screen turned static, like an old television screen, before a hooded figure appeared out of nowhere. Even though he was watching from the screen, shivers went down his spine and he shuddered as he watched everyone calmly proceeding with the party despite the intruder. Minutes later, Raphael watched in shock as the crowd finally saw the figure but it was too late. The Reaper conjured a scythe and began slicing away at the crowd. With one swipe, several people died and soon there was no one standing. The Reaper turned to pursue the people who fled, he disappeared and reappeared behind them before slashing again.

“The Reaper …” Raphael muttered before handing the tablet to Junco and turning to face Suni. “Cancel my previous order. The police can take care of these mercenary attacks, we’ve got a ghost to hunt.”

***

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Fenrir stood atop a crane, overlooking the docks. He couldn’t help but feel amused at the fact that he was back at the western docks just after one night, where he had killed members of a trafficking ring. His mind went back to the children he and Viperess saved and he decided to try and visit them once everything settled down.

Fenrir cleared his thoughts and turned to look at a cargo ship. He had seen this ship last night but didn’t pay attention to it but, after interrogating a high-ranking mercenary, he found that this ship didn’t ship cargo but was a front for a Practitioner base. His blues eyes flickered with excitement as he thought of how he could interrogate the Practitioners for information on the Organization. He jumped down from his perch and flitted through the containers scattered through the docks while concealed in the shadows. He was being cautious because he was certain that the authorities would leave someone to keep an eye here since last night.

He slipped into the ship but paused with narrowed eyes when he noticed how lax the security was. He used his helmet’s vision to try and discern any clues but found that the ship was shielded against infrared vision, confirming the mercenary’s clue that this place wasn’t ordinary. He slowly made his way into the ship, cautiously walking through the narrow corridors while pausing to check for movements with his intuition; he couldn’t rely on his Esper powers since he overworked them and if he wanted to use them again, he’d need to release the limit he placed on his Practitioner abilities, something he didn’t want to do.

As he continued moving forward, Fenrir felt killing intent aimed at him from behind and tried to dodge but failed as he was knocked forward. Flying, he smashed into the wall of the ship as every part of his body screamed in pain. His breather slid to the sides of his face as he spat out blood. Wiping his mouth, he looked back and saw a man dressed as a Confucian scholar with a raised arm. He appeared to be a middle-aged man, yet his goatee was speckled with gray hair.

Sneak attack? Cute, Fenrir thought as he slowly stood up. He studied the man in front of him and took a deep breath. He could feel the strong vitality the man was emitting and his eyes stung when he made eye contact with the ambusher's slanted eyes. Fenrir was surprised even though his helmet was shielding his eyes, he was affected by the ambusher.

Fenrir twisted his head, cracking his stiff neck before the blades on his elbow and knees popped out. His mind was spinning, trying to come up with methods to deal with this strong Practitioner while he spoke to distract the latter.

"A Practitioner sneak attacking a normal human … tsk tsk," Fenrir growled as his breather closed again, the teeth glinting in the dimmed light. He chastised himself inwardly, realizing that he was led into a trap because of his impatience and bloodlust.

"You are anything but normal," the man spoke in Mandarin. "What is it you call yourself?"

At the question, the man's figure glimmered as he left after images of himself when he launched himself at Fenrir, who dodged at the last second and jabbed at the man's left arm. The man didn't even flinch as he continued assaulting Fenrir who could only dodge and return an attack sporadically, all aimed at the man's left arm.

"The Slayer of Gods and Immortals? What hubris," the man sneered as Fenrir jabbed two fingers into his shoulders. The man pulled away and appeared to be surprised at how he couldn't move his left arm. What made him feel astonished was that Fenrir managed to do this, a technique from his homeland, without the use of Qi on his strengthened body.

"Hubris? You're not the first Grandmaster I've fought," Fenrir replied and he advanced, intent on attacking the man while he was vulnerable.

The man used his right hand to block every strike that Fenrir sent, he blocked the relentless flurry of punches and kicks without hiccuping before finding a weak spot and striking Fenrir in the chest.

As he was pushed back, Fenrir had to retreat until his back hit the wall. The man pulled his palm back before thrusting out and a concentrated ball of Qi flew out towards Fenrir who barely dodged. The ball hit the wall and a chunk of the ship was blasted away. Fenrir, who was at a disadvantage, decided to use the new exit. He jumped out and his shoulder-mounted Pivot grappled him to the top of the ship's deck.

This man … Fenrir thought as he landed on the deck. He is a golden core Grandmaster at peak power. Not someone I can fight while handicapped.

Right now, Fenrir was unable to use his Esper ability at full power, he was too weak and his muscles were cramping from overwork. The blood he was coughing wasn't even from the injury the man gave him. Rather, it was from the damage his internal organs had from the overuse of his powers.

Fenrir turned and looked around only to realize that he was surrounded. He wasn't sure when, but an army of Practitioners had converged on the deck. What was worse, Fenrir realized that the ship wasn't docked in the port anymore, it was now out in the ocean. The Practitioners circled around him, preventing him from escaping while the man Fenrir was fighting previously floated up from the damaged hull of the ship.

"You can't escape," the man said while a Master, the one leading the entrapment cupped his fists.

"Sage Yu," the Master said respectively.

Sage Yu? Fenrir recognized the man now. Leader of the secluded Shuixian sect and descendant of the Sage-King Yu the Great … great. Just great.

"Stay back," Yu ordered the Master. "I'll kill him myself."

Fenrir took out his handheld railgun and used it to create spells. Magic circles enveloped the area around Yu and spells of different elements came crashing down on him. Yu ignored them all and charged at Fenrir, his body smashed through the magic circles shattering them as he closed the distance between them. Yu crushed the barrel of his railgun and Fenrir was forced to withdraw it back into his pendant.

Another palm strike hit Fenrir and he staggered backward, using the force of the blow to create some distance again. Fenrir backflipped to balance himself before throwing out a stun bola. He aimed at Yu's neck, his intention was to have the bola constrict the Grandmaster's throat. Unfortunately, Yu raised his left arm to block it. The bola wrapped itself around his left arm and a strong current, enough to fry a normal human, surged out of it.

"Paltry tricks," Yu sneered as he used his right hand to tear the bola off. He clenched his left fist continuously, satisfied that the electrical shock had managed to negate the pressure point attack Fenrir had given him.

Fenrir narrowed his eyes as he went into a combat stance while activating his wrist-mounted flamethrower and freezesprayer. The two rushed at each other and began trading blows. Yu deflected a punch from Fenrir when the latter activated his freezesprayer, freezing Yu's left hand. Yu responded by smashing his frozen hand over Fenrir's head. The ice shattered, freeing his numb hand while Fenrir aimed at his head with his other hand, the flamethrower ready to ignite. Yu grabbed Fenrir's arm and crushed the flamethrower's canister, causing it to explode on Jason.

"Weak," Yu said as he continuously punched Fenrir in the face, each punch sent him reeling downwards until he fell to the ground.

"Pathetic," Yu punched again and again as Fenrir tried to balance himself.

Coughing and sputtering, half of Fenrir's upper helmet shattered, revealing a swollen eye and blood that dripped from his wound on the head; Yu's punch was so strong, it shattered Fenrir's helmet and cut his head. Fenrir who managed to get up fell back to his knees, his hands on the ground supporting his weight while Yu looked down at him from above.

"You are finished." Yu sneered before raising a first again, this time he placed all his strength into the punch; he was intent on crushing this insect in front of him. As his fist came down, it broke the sound barrier and could barely be seen by the naked eye when a palm grabbed it in midair. A shockwave of force erupted when the two collided, sending most Practitioners stumbling backward.

Yu's eyes widened as he expressed surprise for the first time tonight. The raised hand that stopped him was Fenrir, who's head which was lowered now raised itself to glare at him. Before he could react, Fenrir sent an uppercut at him, sending him flying away. At the same time, Fenrir threw a small device at the cabin where the control room was. The small device lit up a small green light when it struck a wall.

Dammit, Fenrir thought as he clenched his fist. When his life was at risk, he unintentionally used his Practitioner's power, releasing the limit he placed on himself and using twenty percent of his powers. Immediately, he could feel the laws of the world pressing down on him, crushing him since his power was more than this world would allow.

The Practitioners around Fenrir pulled their weapons out and prepared to charge at him when a ball of concentrated flames slammed down on the deck, exploding and injuring a few nearby Practitioners while killing a handful.

"Hey there, big guy," a voice above Fenrir said. Looking up, he saw an armored individual surrounded by flames. Her sleek and slim archaic armor covered her body while her face was hidden in a bird-shaped mask. She hovered downwards as her wings of flames slowly faded. "Need a hand?"

The flaming figure landed next to Fenrir and the two stared at each other silently; both recognized each other.

Katherine Rogue, Fenrir thought as he felt that familiar flaming energy that shielded her. I see … flames and a bird. So, she's a Phoenix … how intriguing.

Jason … Kathrine thought as she gave Fenrir a complicated gaze from underneath her mask. After some pushing, Selena admitted the truth about Jason’s interference in RogueTech earlier in the night and Kathrine quickly deduced that he was behind the multiple attacks around the city that was targeting abandoned areas. Without even thinking, she rushed after him but only caught up to him at this moment since he would always leave just as quickly as he arrived.

"Let's talk it out later?" Katherine said as she raised her arm cannon and started firing at the Practitioners who were still surprised.

Fenrir didn't reply and instead brought out his black Tang sword. He began fighting with those that approached them while Katherine thinned the herd. Most Practitioners were Adepts and Fenrir only needed to block and slash once to kill them; he didn't withdraw the strength he accessed after loosening the limit. Instead, he reveled in it, using his increased strength, vitality, and speed to butcher his enemies.

Katherine created a flaming talon on her right hand while firing with her left arm's cannon. She used her talon to disarm a Practitioner before aiming and firing at the Practitioner's chest. The ball of flame pierced his chest and flew out, imploding on another Practitioner behind him.

Another Practitioner came from Katherine's side, intent on flanking her when Fenrir slashed him in two. Katherine vaulted over Fenrir's back and kicked a Practitioner approaching him before moving back. Fenrir and Katherine's back touched and they turned to look at each other. Fenrir was impressed at how seamless Katherine was when teaming up with him and Katherine smiled underneath her mask, feeling joy at fighting together with Jason. To her, it was just like the old times.

The two continued coordinating their battle, both fought so well it was as though they had practiced together for a very long time. Katherine trusted her back to Fenrir and the latter noticed how she would always back him up. It was like she knew what he was thinking and vice versa. Fenrir used his free hand to throw several bolas at Practitioners, aiming at crowds so that he could unbalance the opponents' teamwork when they tripped over themselves. Katherine followed up on his plan by raining fire down at them like a living artillery unit.

"Hey!" Katherine pointed out at Yu who emerged from a bundle of crushed shipping containers.

Fenrir and Katherine looked at each other and nodded before running to the edge of the ship. As they ran, they cut, shot, punched, and kicked any opponent that blocked their way. Flames erupted from Katherine's back and they slowly turned into wings as she flew off into the air. Fenrir used his gauntlets to summon his flying hoverbike and jumped off the ship as it approached, landing on his hoverbike just a few inches above the sea. The bike’s fifth engine, which was an auxiliary engine located at the back, roared to life and the bike blasted away quickly while Fenrir stood on it. The two flew off while Yu looked on, his glaring eyes watching Fenrir with bottomless rage while the latter turned to look at him even as he flew away.

"Argh!" Yu roared in anger as he kicked a nearby shipping container. It flew out like a soccer ball but did little to appease his dissatisfaction. Looking around, he felt his heart bleed when he saw how many men he lost; nearly two-thirds were wiped out in the battle, crippling his army.

"I swear, I will return this humiliation to you by two-folds!" Yu bellowed in Mandarin.

The surviving Practitioners said nothing, they were afraid that they would draw Yu’s ire.

“Inform our collaborator that he escaped,” Yu turned to a Master level Practitioner and instructed him before looking out at the sea. “And tell him to arrange a meeting. I want an explanation as to why I was deceived.”