"I do wonder if it is your intention for all of you to continue interrupting me?" He said with an inhuman smile.
Gregory raised a hand signalling for the nuns to remain outside the room.
The man slowly rose, his eyes firmly fixed on Gregory. The debris that was suspended in the air slowly descended to the ground.
"Well, I would say that depends on what you're trying to accomplish here," Gregory said, taking a step forward, even as his instincts screamed for him to flee.
His battle sense had been honed through numerous life-and-death battles.
He was quite confident in his ability to determine the threat levels of his foes, and right now, his instincts told him the man in front of him was very dangerous.
He'd only felt such an overwhelming feeling of danger in front of the Videntis. No, perhaps it was much greater.
"Who are you?" He asked carefully. He calmly reached into his pocket and pressed a small device. He grabbed a cigarette, which he calmly popped into his mouth, igniting it before inhaling deeply to calm his nerves.
The man before him stared at him in amusement.
" My name is Asterix, though I do go by many other names, from another time. You've probably heard of me. This girl, Emily, belongs with me." His smile grew even wider.
"And you must be part of the Praesagius, yes?"
" And what makes you say that?" Gregory asked, as he studied his adversary. He was stalling for time as the reinforcements he'd subtly alerted arrived. He slowly puffed out a stream of smoke from his lips.
"You don't move like my former brothers from the Assassins corps. You lack the grace, the stealth, and your unique powers gave you away. You wouldn't be trying to stall for reinforcements to arrive, would you? Because, as I believe you've realized, you alone are not enough to stop me on your own. That is, if you intend to stop me from taking the girl with me, as I think you do."
Gregory kept up the calm facade.
Inwardly, he was anything but calm.
His eyes slowly moved around the room, mapping out an escape route.
He silently cursed.
"Shit, he's onto me. And he is right. Worse, the kids could turn into casualties if we clash here; he'd hold them hostage even if I somehow managed to get to the girl and make a break for it.
" Why don't you entertain me for a while as those reinforcements of yours arrive? I know you, Praesagius agents rarely move alone, and for me, the more of you, the merrier." Asterix said as he rolled his shoulders, then subtly cracked his neck from side to side.
"And while you're at it, let's make it more interesting. For every blow of mine you're able to evade, I'll spare one person. Of course, you do know what happens if you fail. I'll try to hold back, so please make it interesting for me."
In the next moment, Asterix vanished from the spot where he had been standing.
Gregory cursed vehemently.
His eyes glowed as his ability activated, his eyes darting around the room looking for any sign of his opponent. A barrier of air appeared around the children, shielding them from the carnage that promised to take place.
The cigarette in his mouth disintegrated, and a long scythe made of white flame manifested in his hand. The temperature in the room instantly spiked several degrees as he masterfully spun the scythe around himself. The scythe split the air as he swung at Asterix's lunging form, cleanly bisecting the man. It turned out to be an afterimage.
"You know, if you stand still like that, you leave yourself wide open. Gregory spun towards the sound of the voice and found nothing.
He manipulated the air around himself to create a barrier as he spun on his heel, trying to determine the enemy's location.
" I could start with this one," Asterix said as he patted the head of a kid he'd randomly appeared next to him. He vanished and reappeared next to another child. " Or this one," he said in a mocking tone. Gregory felt his frustration grow, but he kept moving as he twirled the scythe, trying to pinpoint Asterix's position.
" It's not that he's teleporting, it's just that he's moving so fast that even my enhanced eyes can't keep up with him."
Asterix's fist suddenly materialized in front of his face; he barely had time to dodge as he pushed off the ground with his toes, falling backward.
He conjured an air shield as the fist inescapably followed him. He raised the scythe in front of himself, bracing himself for the impact.
The fist shattered the air shield like a hammer on an anvil, taking the brunt of the blow. His eyes widened slightly as the impact shattered the bones in his right wrist.
He grunted, nearly blacking out from the pain. The flaming scythe dissipated as he hit the ground. He continued with the fall, letting the momentum of the blow carry him out of the way. He quickly rose to his feet, his arm uselessly hanging at his side.
He barely managed to get his bearings when he glimpsed another lightning-fast jab barreling towards his solar plexus. He compacted the air in front of him as he dove to the side.
His eyes widened in disbelief as his body collided with another fist mid-motion, which shattered the ribs on the left side of his body. His lungs burned as he gasped to breathe.
His vision blurred as he weakly crawled towards the wall, wheezing for air.
" Shit, shit, shit, he got me good, what kind of monster is this? I'm going to die here." The kids' screams sounded muffled to him as he slowly struggled to get on his feet.
" The children, Claire, I can't die just yet, I have to hold on until they're safe,"
His eyes burned with determination as he tried to peer into the future to see what Asterix's next move would be.
With his remaining good hand, he conjured a shield of white flame and air, using the air to fuel the intensity of the flame. As Asterix lunged forward, Gregory closed his eyes, relying on his ability to detect even the tiniest of motions through the vibrations in the air.
He felt the air current on his right shift sharply, but he didn't budge from his spot. " A feint, probably to throw me off and target a more vulnerable spot," he thought.
His eyes flew open as he concentrated the flaming shield in front of him. He condensed it to a point as Asterix's fist collided with it. A small explosion rocked the room. A web of cracks formed running from the floor to the walls.
A sonic boom emanated from the impact, throwing him back." The children," he thought in horror.
Turning midair, he saw the wave collide with a spherical barrier, effectively protecting the kids from the harrowing impact. The floor shattered as the very foundations of the building were rocked to the core.
The smell of burnt flesh permeated the room. Gregory hissed in pain as he struggled to stand once again, his remaining arm emitting tiny whisps of smoke.
"I was almost impressed," Asterix said with a smirk.
Unfortunately for you, I have other things to attend to. So I'll have to end this here."
Everything happened quickly after that. Asterisk materialized behind him, brutally kicking him into the air, as the world spun around him, a harrowing impact that he realized was a punch, sending him flying to the ground.
A small crater opened where he had landed. As his eyes slowly opened, he saw Asterisk's gauntlet barreling towards his head like an executioner's blade. " So this is how I go out," He thought, closing his eyes. A sharp pain passed through his shoulder, and a warm liquid sprayed his face. His eyes flew open, then widened in disbelief.
His mind refused to accept the sight before him. He screamed helplessly as the reality of what had happened in that split second set in. Claire was sprawled across him, with a clawed hand sticking out of her chest.
She gasped as the hand was violently pulled out with a sickening squelching sound, eliciting another mouthful of blood. He struggled to get into a sitting position, holding her with his charred arm.
" Claire, no, you can't die. Why would you do such a stupid thing?" He asked, with palpable anguish in his voice. He brushed back the hair that had covered her face.
" Brother,"
Blood bubbled from her lips as she smiled weakly at him. Slowly, the light in her eyes started to fade. " This was supposed to be simple, damn it. Why did a monster like this have to show up?"
He looked up in rage at Asterix, his vision clouded in red. The man's scarlet eyes bore into his calmly. He looked...unbothered, that he had just slain an innocent woman in cold blood. Gregory's body trembled violently. He let out a desperate, anguished scream that cut through the night.
Asterix was bored as he looked at the miserable man before him. The kids were wailing loudly, a bother; they'd make a good meal for his hound. It was the stupid woman's fault for getting in the way of the deathblow.
He could have stopped in time, but then he wouldn't have granted her wish. Besides, he had made a wager with the poor fool, so to remain true to his word, someone had to take the fall. She merely happened to fall neatly into his jigsaw puzzle.
"Dust to dust, ashes to ashes, and all that. Well, now then, let's end this farce, shall we?"
Gregory looked into the monster's scarlet eyes; his entire being burned with fury.
His entire body was enveloped in white flames that turned black. He slowly rose, his very steps melting the solid rock on the stony floor. He lunged forward
" Well, isn't this a pleasant surprise? Sadly for you, you're still a few centuries too young to dream of killing me." Asterix side-stepped and chopped through the flame, knocking Gregory unconscious, his black flames dissipating as he fell to the ground.
A strong psionic wave suddenly pulsed through the area. Asterix's eyes narrowed, turning his head towards the source.
" More interference," he sneered." It doesn't matter." He walked up to Emily and grasped her hand. She let out a shrill scream as a small draconian marking was etched into her palm.
" There, there, now I'll know where you are at all times.
With that, he turned on his heel and walked into the fissure, the abominable creature following closely behind. The crack in space started to slowly mend itself, leaving no trace of its existence. The sound of the kids and nuns wailing filled the night.