"I've heard about a Gifted with an ability to split reality before, and I put it together while you were interrogating me. I… didn't happen to say anything else, did I?"
The man stared at Flora for a few seconds, sending a chill down her spine.
"Let's hurry," he replied. "I have things to do."
He led Flora out of the academy and into an opaque car. She felt suffocated in there, unable to collect her thoughts or calm herself. Escape wasn't possible, refusing orders would get her in trouble, and soon she wouldn't even be able to hide her thinking.
She sat facing the man while someone else, whom Flora could not see, drove the car.
"We should be at headquarters any minute. As soon as we set foot in the building, you will be prohibited from discussing any event that takes place there. If you talk to someone else about anything, even the color of the walls, you will be punished."
'The headquarters? I'm going inside?!'
The government's headquarters was a massive black building in the center of the city. It looked like an out-of-place block of darkness; even the public had never recorded a scene from inside. Gifted guarded the only entrance, which was like walking through a portal to a different dimension. No one could even see past the doors.
The car began to decelerate, then jolted Flora back to her senses as it came to a stop.
"We're here."
Flora followed the man out of the car into the shadow of the 70-story skyscraper. A few concrete steps led up to the entrance, where two Gifted soldiers stood motionless.
No one was allowed beyond this point. She peeked at the ground below her, expecting it to look new and untouched, yet it was more normal than she expected.
"Ryan!"
A familiar voice shouted from Flora's side, causing her to look over.
'August?'
August wore a friendly smile, waving at the two of them as he approached. By his side, Greye followed casually, the same indifferent look on his face.
'Why is he here? Is August part of this?'
Flora looked at the man's confused expression and figured otherwise.
'Does that mean he came here to help? Wait… did he call this man Ryan? I thought his name was different…'
"I see you've gotten stronger since we last met… It's been a while, hasn't it?"
August was obviously trying to be friendly, yet Ryan had a cold look in his eyes.
"If you're here to try and stop me, I don't see the point. You failed to gather enough data on that boy. It's my turn now, and I'll start by doing things differently from you."
Surprised, August held his hand up in defense.
"I didn't mean to provoke you! You're right that I believe Flora shouldn't be brought into this, though. Exposing this many secrets to extract information that doesn't exist just doesn't seem wise… especially bringing Flora to that man."
By this conversation and all the events that had transpired today, Flora had a fairly good idea of what was happening.
'Cullen is a very mysterious Gifted who never speaks about his past. It's no wonder that August couldn't gather much information on him! And because of the threat Cullen posed, the government demands answers… it must put August in a terrible situation. And still, he's trying to protect me.'
She also wondered if Ryan was using his ability at the moment. But August has most likely grown used to it and can keep his mouth shut.
"You have no say in this anymore! Leave us now, we're going inside."
Ryan signaled Flora to follow, leaving her no choice. He glanced at August before leaving, but suddenly froze.
Flora naturally looked at August, whose eyes narrowed in confusion.
"Behind you."
Ryan's tone seems different now, more alert than before. Following this change, August and Greye turned around while Flore shifted her focus. Behind them, an obscure figure stood 20 meters away. Covered in a shadowy clock, it was impossible to tell any features of the person besides their intense presence.
"How strong is he?" Ryan mumbled to August.
"94 Tavros."
Flora's eyes widened.
'94? He can kill me before I blink!'
Terrified, Flora felt unable to move without facing death. There was nothing she could do if this mysterious figure attacked.
"Greye, take Flora back to the car and drive away from here. I'll make sure you get there safley, just worry about yourselves."
Greye turned to face Flora, but the shadowy figure immediately appeared behind him.
"Look out!" Flora screamed in shock at the man's speed.
'Can he teleport, or is that just a result of his strength?'
Before Greye could react, the man lifted his right arm and summoned black energy into his hand. It was like an orb that swallowed light, a mass that emitted nothingness.
The attacker swiped his hand to hit Greye with the orb, and then…
'He's gone!'
Just like that, Greye vanished into thin air. As the orb dissapeared, the man took a step back and looked around.
"What happened?"
Flora was not only confused about his disappearance, but also why the attacker appeared confused.
"Don't worry, Greye can transport himself instantly. It wasn't that assassins were doing…"
"So he's an assassin? The government hides the fact that dangerous Gifted exist, so I expected that someone like this exists, but it's still strange to see them make an appearance in public. Will they cover this up as an Abomination attack?"
It was clear that this man isn't an Abomination because he has no core. Even if it was hidden from Flora, he wouldn't be able to trick August and Ryan.
This also meant that Greye was a Gifted! Flora wasn't sure before because he never showed his true strength, but his ability must be teleportation.
"Is this the same one you fought before, August?" Ryan was much more serious than before and seemed to have no problem working with August. "If so, you may be the target of some dreadful people."
August chuckled, making Flora feel a little less frightened.
"Maybe I am! Too bad Mr. Mysterous caught both of us, though; he may have stood a chance if I were alone."
Boom!
The assassin launched himself towards August, the power in his legs sending shards of pavement skittering behind him. He cocked his arm back to punch him, but his fist was yet again replaced with a black void.
August barely dodged back in time, but unexpectedly fell right into the Assassin's trap. The man made a throwing motion instead of punching! The black orb was hurled at August's head at unreal speeds, proving dodging to be ineffective.
However, right before it made contact, Ryan tackled August from the side. Both of them fell out of the way and landed next to Flora, whose inferior perception was struggling to follow the fight.
As they fell to the ground, the assassin was already preparing another attack. But this time, Ryan took the initiative and approached him.
'I don't belong in this fight at all. I need to escape! Maybe Ryan can buy me some time? He has three chances to take the best course of action… but he cannot do them one at a time.'
One crucial thing about Ryan's ability was time. Unlike one might think, he must act in every reality simultaneously. This meant that his consciousness had to handle three bodies at once, and that there was no first, second, or third pathway. For instance, he is unable to wait and see what the assassin will do, then react to it in the next reality. Instead, he has three chances to guess the attack.
This means that if the assassin throws an unexpected orb at Ryan, who didn't expect it in any of the three pathways, he would get hit!
However, this is still one way around this. Say Ryan spent five seconds in his different pathways. If he spent the first four seconds doing nothing in one pathway, yet taking action in a different one, he could use that information! In the reality where he waited, Ryan would have one second left to use what he learned from the other pathway to act.
'Still, he is three times luckier than he average person. I just have to hope he's mastered his ability enough to use it to the fullest.'
Ryan took a small stiletto out of his coat and raised it, taking a stance with his arm across his chest.
"What will you do now?"
Although nobody else could perceive it, Ryan used his ability.
In the three realities, Ryan would attempt to stab the assassin in the shoulder, the gut, or he would retreat. To be cautious, he usually left the last option as an escape just in case something went wrong.
This time proved how useful that was.
When he struck the shoulder, the assassin launched a counterattack that immediately killed Ryan. Although he can feel pain, an instant death cuts off his connection with that reality without much agony. He can still choose it. When he aimed for the gut, the assassin used his fist coated in darkness to block, no, swallow the attack. Ryan retreated to find that the part of his stiletto that came in contact with the darkness was gone—erased into nothingness. This is likely what happened to his head when he attacked for the shoulder.
After five seconds, Ryan's maximum, he decided to choose the option where he retreated, since his head was still attached and his weapon was intact.
'He retreated?'
Flora then realized what had happened.
'He used his ability! Did he find anything out?'
As if reading her thoughts, Ryan spoke the moment he jumped away.
"The black orbs he summons can swallow anything they touch; there's no blocking them. Dodge or you will be killed."