Lines of fire wrapped around Caelan, who broke free by bursting water magic from his body. Raising one of his hands, he threw a large ball of water toward Enrico and Liam, who were talking about what had happened.
"Deymon, that bastard. Liam, I'm going to ask you for something."
Dodging Caelan's attack, Enrico created a line of fire that wrapped around his foot. Before Caelan could do the same as before, Enrico pulled the line, throwing him inside a house.
"What do I do? I also want to help Caelan."
"Leave Caelan to me. What I want is for you to go back and help the others. Maybe Deymon still has some trick up his sleeve."
"Are you sure? You're hurt."
"Don't worry. I'll do everything I can not to get injured, because if I let that happen, Caelan will feel down when he comes back."
Hearing Enrico's words, he nodded, giving one last sad look at Caelan. He hadn't been able to help much, and that was disappointing for him.
"Be careful."
Waving, he saw Liam go straight to where the others were fighting Deymon. Turning to Caelan, he became serious, trying to think of a way to save him.
Name: Caelan
Magic: Water Circle 3 14%
Mana amount: 480
Unique ability: Corrupted: ??????
Soul: 71
'He awakened his unique ability? No, more importantly, why can't I see what it does?'
[It seems he has a seal on his mana heart placed by someone.]
'Placed by someone? Can you find out who and what it does?'
[I probably can since he's at the same level as you, but it'll take a while.]
That was good, especially since the ability's name was "Corrupted," which meant there might be something he could use, as it seemed to be Deymon's doing.
'So it was Deymon and someone else who did this to him…'
[I don't know who it could have—]
"Jago."
The system went silent for a second, thinking, and the more it thought, the more certain it became that it was him. Besides Caelan, who now looked like a zombie, he was the only real major anomaly that had appeared since Saul took over Enrico's body.
[You're right. I'll try to be as quick as possible, so wait.]
'Alright, for now, I'll try to wake this idiot up.'
While Enrico was thinking, Caelan himself was smiling inside, seeing that he was having his "training" with his friend and second leader.
"Why are you standing still? If you won't come, I'll go to you."
Raising his hand, he created a dome just like he had done with Liam, which surprised Enrico. But activating his Fire Steps, Enrico moved between the attacks that struck his residual afterimages left behind.
"Zero Impact."
Sending Caelan flying through several houses with a punch, Enrico used Charged Impulse to move behind him. With a spinning motion, Caelan created a water barrier close to his body, managing to resist the blow and countered with a punch to Enrico's face, sending him crashing through more houses.
'Water Healing.'
Placing his hand on his chest, Enrico healed himself. He had already fought a tough battle today, so he was undoubtedly struggling.
'Besides that, I have to free him from this control somehow.'
Creating lines of fire around him, Enrico began using his Charged Impulse to jump between the lines at high speed while Caelan tried to extinguish them with his water magic as he aimed at Enrico.
'The more I rebound, the more speed I gain, so…'
Stepping on the line above his head, he jumped at great speed as the magical attack extinguished his fire. On the way to the last line, Enrico spun and used it as a springboard like before, only much faster.
'Lunaris Blood Strike.'
His hand transformed into an extra layer of hardened blood. Raising his fist, he hit Caelan's face, sending him at least forty meters into the air. Bleeding heavily from his nose, Caelan looked down to see Enrico starting to cover his fist with fire.
"CC Impact!"
Forming a seven-layer barrier as he fell, he prepared a spell in his hand, creating a whirlpool inside the descending barrier. Punching the barrier with his flaming fist, Enrico combined Lunaris's blood magic to boost the power. With an upward impulse, the seven layers were destroyed, but he was struck in the face by a water cyclone, crashing into the ground.
'Multiple Fire Arrows!'
Aiming his bow upward, seeing Caelan preparing a punch, Enrico fired several arrows into his body, sending him upward. This time, though, he chased after him, surpassing him by five meters and aiming his arrow at Caelan's shoulder.
"Maximum Flaming Shot!"
Hitting his shoulder, Enrico used Charged Impulse midair to approach with two more flaming shots in succession, slamming him to the ground. Spinning in the air, Enrico delivered a descending kick that Caelan dodged by twisting on the ground, causing his kick to shatter it.
'Damn it, he's using water magic to recover mana and constantly heal himself.'
He could easily see how Caelan's body regenerated, and it wasn't just because he now had zombie regeneration. The constant blue glow on him made that clear.
"Healing and recovery, huh? You're tough, Caelan."
[Enrico, I managed to unlock it. Let's see what the ability looks like now.]
"Great, let's see…"
Name: Caelan
Magic: Water Circle 3 14%
Mana amount: 480
Unique ability: Corrupted — by sacrificing the user's life for minutes, he becomes stronger than he would by reaching a higher circle and turns into an undead body that obeys any order from whoever grants this ability. After seven minutes, the user completely dies, becoming an empty shell.
Soul: 71
"What kind of shitty ability is this? Wait—that means…"
[He… is already dead.]