“How should we handle the situation now; they have figured out your weaknesses?” Henrik asked while gritting his teeth, “At this rate, instead of being the hunters, we will be hunted.”

“You really don’t need to worry about it,” Anbu reassured him, his tone calm amidst the tension. “So, what if they’ve managed to identify my skill? The real question is whether they can maintain their composure in the midst of chaos. Our main concern should be that man with Thieving Maiden; he figured out my weakness so quickly. Right now, I only have 28 conscious puppets left, and we must utilise them wisely.” Anbu flashed a peculiar smile towards Henrik, hinting at a plan.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Henrik asked, puzzled by the expression on Anbu’s face.

“Why do you think?” Anbu replied with a smirk. “It’s time for you to leverage your social media presence, since you are boasting about millions of followers; you’re the one who can create chaos here. Besides, we might as well gather a few more pure souls along the way as a bonus.”

“Oh! You know, sometimes I think you might be even smarter than Rajiv.” The moment Henrik said this, Anbu’s smirk faded, replaced by a more serious demeanor.

“Just follow the plan, alright?” Anbu instructed firmly, the weight of authority returning to his voice.

They made their way toward the mansion, they passed hundreds of houses. The scene was remarkably ordinary, with people engaged in their daily routines, yet an unsettling silence hung in the air, as if everyone was behaving like robots programmed for specific tasks.

As the four of them walked through the street filled with seemingly mindless puppets, Dhruv spoke softly, his voice barely above a whisper, “If we manage to get our hands on the Soul Box, it would really turn the situation in our favor.”

“Sure, it would, as you can get the pure souls from it and turn them into your black beads later.” Nico taunted, unable to resist a jab.

Dhruv chose not to respond to Nico’s mockery and turned towards Tara, asking, “Should we split up and stealthily infiltrate the mansion?”

“Why are you ignoring me?” Nico interjected, his voice rising above the others. “Why split? Can’t you see the ominous black cloud hovering above us, along with Mia, who is protecting us?”

Why are you involving yourself in what doesn’t concern you? Both of us are not affected by it. Is that clear enough for you?” Dhruv shot back, a light reprimand lacing his words.

“I think I need to conduct another inspection before we make any decisions about splitting up,” Tara suggested, her tone hinting at caution.

“Alright, that sounds reasonable,” Dhruv responded, acknowledging her input.

“Wait, Wait, Wait…. I can somewhat grasp how you aren’t affected, but I’m struggling to understand how Tara, being a White Soul user with seemingly no defensive powers, fits into this,” Nico shouted.

“I also think we should not split up.” Mia chimed in while staring at Nico.

“What’s got you looking at me like that?” Nico asked, clearly bewildered by Mia’s focus.

“I can protect Tara with my skill; you don’t need to worry. We won’t charge into the lion’s den without sufficient preparation,” Dhruv reassured Nico, his tone confident. Internally, he considered Mia’s persona, recognising that beneath her innocent facade lay a sharp intellect capable of manipulating situations to her advantage. ‘This fool probably thinks she’s into him,’ he mused.

Tara crouched down and activated her ‘Treasure Identifier’ skill, her brow furrowing in confusion. “I’ve detected one of the Black Souls beneath the mansion on the streets.”

“Any idea what’s happening over there?” Mia asked hesitantly, a hint of trepidation in her voice.

“Tara shook her head. “I can’t tell, but if we take another right turn about 200 meters ahead, we should be able to see it.”

“Then let’s move out,” Dhruv directed, his voice firm as they prepared to proceed.

On the street, Henrik set up his phone, turned his live stream on in his social media.

“Hello guys! It’s your boy Henrik, today you all are going to be shocked by the scene I’m going to show you. And before you comment ‘nice CGI’ like in another videos, It is the real deal like god’s have descended into the earth.”

He turned his phone and showed the scene of clashing clouds to the public and turned back his camera towards himself.

Viewer: “Wow, face reveal.”

Viewer: “Where the hell are you? and what are you doing?”

“Oh baby! That’s the question I wanted to hear, I’m here with my buddies to help save Patna. I’m sure you guys have heard of the peculiar situation here from other sources. And guess what, I have real superpower.”

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

Viewer Gamerboy123: “Surely you are buffing. Nice set btw.”

Henrik activated his defensive skill ‘Soul Obelisk’ and covered himself in shiny black layer. “Yeah! What were you saying ‘Gamerboy123’.”— For a moment no comments came in.

Viewer Gamerboy123: “Dude, you are serious.”

Shambu transmitted, “They are coming your way.”

“Now then, let’s get this out of the way, I got a transmission from my bud, the villains who caused this problem are coming towards me. So, I need to get ready. Enjoy the show.”

The group of four saw Henrik and were confused, Tara said, “What in the world is he doing?”

“I think he is filming us and isn’t that defense skill of Lord Darik’s son?” Nico replied. “Yeah!” Mia supported his claim.

They went near him while Tara explained his skills to everyone.

“Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome our guests here whom I’m going to fight.” Henrik announces.

“No, you are not. Your work is done get back here right away; military army will be here soon.” Anbu rebuked and instructed.

“Come on dude, I have the strongest defense skill here. Who can harm me? But don’t worry, I’ll just checkout that unknown man’s skill and get back, it will be beneficial for us later if he survives.” Henrik countered while whispering.

Anbu couldn’t deny the facts as he went silent.

“You over there I want to fight you, do you have the guts to accept my challenge” Henrik pointed his index finger towards Dhruv and shouted loudly.

“This must be their tra….”

“I accept.” Dhruv interrupted and went forward.

“He ignored me again, didn’t he?” Nico shouted. “Where did you find this guy ‘Thieving Maidan’?”

“Tara, and he definitely has a reason for accepting his challenge.” Tara spoke in low voice.

“That’s more like it.” Henrik said and played a trap music for viewers.

Both stood facing each other, Henrik is in a healthy man’s body wearing dark blue sport trousers and hoodie, covered in a layer of black fog defense. Meanwhile, Dhruv is wearing sports shoes loose trousers and full sleeve loose white shirt, muscular yet fit body.

Henrik smirks, then rushes forward with surprising speed. He throws a heavy right hook aimed at Dhruv’s face, but he ducks just in time, sweeping his leg out to catch Henrik’s ankle. Henrik stumbles but doesn’t fall, he pivots, bringing his elbow down toward Dhruv’s head, but he rolls to the side, narrowly avoiding the strike.

Dhruv touched his legs. He felt as if he kicked a rock.

Henrik springs to his feet, delivering a sharp kick to Dhruv’s gut. He grunts but absorbs the blow, grabbing his leg and twisting. Henrik yelps as he’s spun around, but he uses the momentum to drive his other foot into Dhruv’s chest, forcing him to release his leg.

Blood started bleeding from Dhruv’s nose as he commented, “Your defense is pretty good.”

“You are not bad either, but why aren’t you using your skill.”

As Henrik asked, he charged again, but Dhruv is ready. He sidesteps, grabbing his arm, and using his own momentum. Dhruv flips him over his shoulder. Henrik crashes to the wall of a house, the impact sending shockwaves through the alley.

They exchange a flurry of blows, each strike more ferocious than the last. Dhruv’s punches are powerful and precise, while Henrik relies on speed and agility, darting in and out, landing quick strikes on Dhruv’s torso. Dhruv catches Henrik’s arm mid-punch and activated his skill ‘Soul Absorb’.

Immediately he lost 40% of his soul power and with a shake he got free and went backwards. They pause, staring at each other across the small distance, each knowing that the fight is far from over.

“You, What? How? Impossible…” Henrik uttered.

“Didn’t you want to see my skill. Now face it.” Dhruv said and smirked with his bleeding nose and bloodstain on different parts of his body while Henrik is pristine clean. But internally he was shocked to his heart as his just now a part of his soul got absorbed in an instant.

Before he can recover, Dhruv drops onto him, pinning him down with a knee to his chest. He raises her fist, ready to activate his skill, but hesitates.

Dhruv struggling with himself, “This isn’t who I am…”

Henrik, seizing the moment, grabs a handful of dirt and throws it in his eyes. Dhruv recoils, blinded, and Henrik shoves him off, rolling away and getting back to his feet. He wipes the blood from his nose, a dark smile playing on his lips.

“How did Mr. D managed to make him bleed, I thought he will get beaten up by him.” Nico gasped and asked in astonishment.

“You can absorb soul; I haven’t heard of anyone possessing this type of skill. Who are you?” Henrik asked.

“Absorb soul...” Nico repeated.

“Yeah, that’s his innate skill.” Tara spoke confidently. “But he missed his chance, now his opponent knows about it. He might back out.”

“That’s a very convenient skill to have for a Black Soul user. So, he isn’t after the souls in the Black Box.” Mia remarked.

“Soul Absorb,” Anbu frowned. “None of us can counter it for now, as we don’t know it’s weakness. Get back here quickly.” He transmitted.

“Yeah! I was also thinking of that.” Henrik responded.

Dhruv cleared his eyes. ‘I estimated 60% power of the skill Soul Absorb would make him unable to move and I can dig out the Soul Box but his defense skill negated most of my skill.’

He looked towards Tara giving her signal to make a change for him and rushed towards Henrik. He wanted to escape but soon his leg was grabbed by Tara’s ‘Tresure Grab’ skill.

Dhruv again activated ‘Soul Absorb’ skill at 100% and grabbed his neck with his right hand, instantly Henrik’s defense broke. He grabbed his head with his another hand and pulled out the Soul Box from his mind.

Henrik felt his soul was tearing apart a sense of death threat loomed over his head. Everything happened in instant, he couldn’t react in time and transformed into a Soul wisp and flew away towards the mansion.

Dhruv loosened his grip as Henrik’s body fell to the ground. Nico reacted in time and threw a ‘Liberty Spear’ towards Henrik. Henrik once again felt something amiss as he looked back a spear came and penetrated his Soul Avatar form, with no choice left he has to leave this world now.

With a low voice he murmured, “Father, I failed you because of my overconfidence. I’m sorry.” ‘At least I conveyed your message to them.’ With that he flew away towards the Boundary hole.

For the first time Dhruv praised, “Nice shot, Nico.”

“Yeah, look at you. Are you in any condition to speak.” Nico didn’t miss the chance to mock him.

“Talk less and treat him we are not out of danger.” Mia reminded the severity of the situation.

Nico rushed towards Dhruv and grabbed him by his waist as they moved towards the nearest house. He leaned on the wall and sat down.

Tara looked at him with a smile on her face. He handed the Soul Box to her and she started treating him. Both Nico and Tara were near Dhruv while Mia was still protecting everyone from Black cloud at a distance.

But good time didn’t last long, Mia got hit in her chest with a sniper bullet and blood splattered everywhere.

Phew! Boom! Splash!