With limited information about who were in front of them, the three boys thought it would be better to wait for the other side to act first.

All they knew was that the winged monster could escape from the others and a simple message about its friend.

[Error: Users cannot be identified!]

None of them had to fight one of their own but based on what they knew about themselves and each other, it wasn't going to be a pleasant experience. Thankfully they could already guess two of his abilities. One of them was the creation of the annoying red substance they've had to deal with recently, the other was probably the monster beside him.

That guess was based on what they knew of the investigation and the fact that the interface was being uncooperative when trying to examine it.

[Entity class 10.]

[Abilities: ]

The only other time it was this secretive with abilities specifically was with Sarah's zombies. However, there was a key difference in that, they knew for a fact that their rotting acquaintances didn't have any, not yet anyway.

Peter wanted to make an observation, but then he saw the boy move in the distance and a flash of moonlight being reflected on an object in his hands, so the only thing he ended up saying was ...

"Dodge!"

Suddenly, something red flew past where Drake's head was just a moment ago. A blood red knife embedded itself in the side of the van and it didn't seem like they could remove it without also tearing the door off.

With the possibility of negotiation becoming all but non-existent, all that could be done was to prepare for a fight and hope for the best. Peter was the first to act. He gathered his shadow and started running toward the horned boy.

His choice of opponent was made with the consideration of his companions. Drake was too weak at that moment to be in a direct confrontation with anyone and Manda, while being the strongest between the three of them, was unarmed making the red blades disproportionately effective against him.

Of course this didn't mean that his own chances were particularly high. He guessed that even with the enhancement of his abilities he was at a disadvantage in terms physical power. Some of his injuries still remained and he didn't have much experience with his only ability that was useful in direct combat.

[Health: 82%]

[Stamina: 68%]

[Heart of night: 50% effective]

When he reached his opponent he used his momentum to swing the Asteri's blunt end forward like a mace. The attack was blocked by a red knife, slightly longer than the one thrown at them, but its wielder did end up momentarily losing his footing on the sand.

The boy staggered back a few steps but, based on his facial expression, wasn't too fazed by being hit with a lamppost. He stood still for a bit, making Peter unsure how to proceed, then started speaking to no one in particular ...

"It's just my luck to have to fight another user."

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"We don't necessarily have to fight. You could just give yourself up. If you're doing this for the game, you know you don't have to participate."

While Peter took the opportunity to talk things out, a bunch of white feathers flew by, signifying that Manda also started his own fight, and with a more successful opening attack.

"I don't know what game you're talking about but I can't stop even if I wanted to, you can probably guess why. However, feel free to run away, I won't chase you."

Indeed, he could guess why they had to fight. The observation he wanted to make earlier was related to his adversary's clothing. It was a Muntenian military uniform. He was most likely ordered to fight and didn't want to risk the consequences of disobeying orders.

The two's fight continued. Peter seemed to have the advantage until a second knife was revealed. Defending against two weapons was hard even for an experienced fighter, let alone for Peter whose experience consisted mostly of bare handed brawls and sneak attacks.

Inevitably, a few attacks got through the Asteri, which meant a ghastly tear in the skin every time it happened. Peter was resilient enough to not bleed too much but he was gradually being worn down.

[Health: 73%]

[Stamina: 57%]

Manda also seemed to have gotten into a standstill but thankfully they had a great advantage in the fight. Sheer numbers.

[Shared message:]

[You have consumed 0.3 kg of blood steel.]

[Result: STR +0.18, END +0.06, STA +0.12, MGC +0.06, EXP +60]

[Temporary result: STR +0.9, END +0.3, STA +0.6]

[Time left: 35:55:08]

Drake flew up high into the air and started throwing his hardened feathers around. He wasn't the most accurate and his feathers didn't do much damage to either of the enemies, but they served as the perfect distraction for those still on the ground.

Peter grabbed his weapon by the end and prepared to repeat his opening attack, hoping that his opponent would try to block it the same way as before, allowing Peter to catch him off guard.

[Night Star activated.]

[Heart of night: 75% effective]

He still didn't know how to control the ability properly but he thought "Why should I?". The idea was that if he didn't even attempt to control the flame then it would just spread out all over the place, potentially hurting him as well. But the Asteri was so long for a reason.

The attack was blocked once again but then everything turned dark around the two of them. The increased force of the attack forced the horned boy to his knees then suddenly, the darkness was washed away by an explosion of radiant light.

Predictably the explosion ended up hurting Peter as well, quite badly in fact. His front side was littered with burn marks, his clothes were all ruined and parts of his black hair were still on fire.

[Health: 56%]

[Stamina:51%]

His opponent, however, was barely alive. His entire body was charred as he was lying motionless in the sand. Peter painfully made his way towards him then lifted him up. He didn't want to actually kill him, nor did he want to leave him to die in the desert.

The boy reached towards his face with what little strength he had left. Peter was ready to drop him the moment anything suspicious happened, since he was sure the boy had at least one still unseen ability. And he was right, it was just nothing like he had anticipated.

[You have received a benevolent curse.]

[You gain 1.50 Strength and 1.00 Endurance against enemies related to light. Light based entities are inherently hostile towards you.]

[Time left: 167:59:56]

"That's all I have left. You beat me."

Meanwhile, Manda also won his fight. He grew claws on one of his hands and was holding the feathered monster's heart in it.

They won the fight so the three of them were walking back to the van, that was now missing a door, in silence. They really just wanted to rest and let Anthony figure out what to do with their defeated foe.

Suddenly the quiet night was interrupted by the sound of a gunshot coming from behind them.