The air grew thicker, and Ryan's visibility was reduced as a small mist slowly encompassed them. When Ryan looked ahead, he saw an area completely covered in fog. It was like a cloud descended and made its home on the ground.
Why was there fog? Nobody knew.
It definitely wasn't part of the Lagging Reaper's ability, and no other Abominations have been seen there. Unless the fog itself is an Abomination… but that would be too crazy. It was said that the visibility in fog town was terrible, but other than that, it caused no problems.
'Wait! I almost forgot!'
Sudden realization swept across Ryan as he jerked his head to look at Eric, who was still calmly running towards the town.
'He can control the mist!'
What made Eric's ability so powerful was his ability to control all forms of water. Although he was initially restricted to liquid, he reached a breakthrough and expanded his ability to control every state.
The reason Eric chose to chase him here made much more sense now. He would have an absolute advantage in this place!
'Does this mean he will be able to clear fog town?'
Ryan felt like he was about to witness history, the impossible becoming possible.
"We are almost there. Once we enter, I'll clear some of the fog around us to allow you two to see as we go to the center. There, I should be able to sense every living thing in the town through its fog."
After hearing this, Ryan realized he had been slightly mistaken before. Although it was a hindrance to him and Corva, Eric could use the fog to his advantage in battle, and therefore wouldn't clear all of it.
'At least he's kind enough to get rid of some for us…'
The three of them slowed down to a walking pace as they entered Fog Town, their vision reduced to around 3 meters. But right when their visibility reached the minimum, a sudden clearing appeared around them.
Like walking in an air dome, the fog seemed to be avoiding them and always stayed around 30 meters away from Eric.
Now they could clearly see the ghostly vibe of Fog Town.
Homes with collapsed roofs, stores with windows smashed, and cars that were sliced in half appeared around them. Although animals were common because most Abominations didn't target them, the town around them stood still, as if it were frozen in time. The only movement they saw was the chilly fog seeping in and out of every crevice.
After 5 minutes, Eric told them that they were nearing the center and to stay alert.
He unsheathed his sword, revealing the icy blade dripping with water.
"I can sense the Lagging Reaper about 100 meters away. It seems to have noticed us and is slowly approaching, yet I haven't found the assassin."
Looking around, Ryan felt something was off.
'Since they were this close to the center, Eric should be able to sense most of the town by now. Is it possible the assassin just passed through this place? Or maybe he knew we were coming and left ahead of time…'
"Watch out!"
Hearing Eric, Ryan quickly turned his head and activated his ability. An area in the fog suddenly burst open as a 3-meter-tall ghost emerged from within. Shrouded in a black robe and wielding a scythe larger than Ryan himself, the Lagging Reaper finally showed itself.
'It came here that quickly?'
It picked Ryan as its target and moved in to strike, yet he was able to dodge in three different directions long before that. And in all the scenarios, a burst of water appeared and separated him from the Abomination.
"The assassin isn't here, so you two can provide me backup and we'll kill this thing."
"Oka-"
Before Ryan could react, Eric was already in striking range and preparing to attack the Abomination.
Clang!
The blade and the scythe collided, sending a shockwave through the town and clearing out even more fog. The Reaper was sent flying a few meters backwards while Eric stood where they had clashed.
Swish!
Pointing his sword at the Reaper, a stream of water suddenly burst out of the tip of his blade like a bomb exploding. Eric's weapon was so condensed that he only had to break off a fragment the size of a single grain of sand to release this amount.
The pressure created by this was too great for anything to withstand, so it easily passed through the Abomination. Like cutting into air, a hole the size of a fist was left in the Reaper's shoulder.
Although he aimed for the core located in the center of its body, it was able to shift in time to avoid a fatal attack. But because of its ability, this meant that almost no damage would be done.
Like rewinding a movie, the three of them watched as the Lagging Reaper reversed all of its prior movements in the last 5 seconds, its wound healed like it never happened. And the time this took was only a small fraction of a second, too fast for any of them to stop.
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
Several gunshots were fired from Corva, yet they were either dodged or blocked by his scythe.
Watching this made Ryan want to help, but he was puzzling over how. He was a close-range fighter. Eric and this Abomination were too powerful for him to get involved!
Eric raised his hand, causing the water from his previous shot to respond. It rose and gathered around the Reaper, encompassing him and restricting his movements.
CRACK!
Without the ability to dodge, a single powerful bullet was able to pierce through its skeleton and hit the core. But this was all in vain, because it only cracked the core instead of shattering it.
Only a lethal blow would mean victory!
The Abomination finally broke free of the water restraints, yet they kept following it around. Countless bullets rained down on the Reaper as it simultaneously dodged while escaping Eric's ability. It was too occupied to launch a counterattack at the moment, and Ryan's ability was finally ready again.
He instantly activated it, leaving one pathway behind and attacking with the other two. Ryan would choose the pathway he left behind unless he shattered the core in one strike!
Corva kept firing bullets to keep pressure on the Abomination when she looked at Ryan, who was awkwardly standing in a fighting stance.
'He hasn't done anything yet! Meanwhile, I've fired more bullets in the past 30 seconds than I have in a whole week!'
"Ryan! Help us fight!"
'Tsk!', Ryan grimaced.
Little did she know, he had just been beheaded and sliced in half.
"There aren't any openings!"
Whoosh!
As he turned to yell at Corva, Eric jumped right by him and landed in front of the Reaper. With his sword raised above his head, he took one step forward and brought it down with all his force.
BOOM!
Like before, Eric overpowered the Abomination. He forced his sword down upon its scythe and slowly cut into its skull.
His movement gradually stopped around halfway through, the Reaper somehow able to fight back. It was its unstoppable ability! Now, Eric was the one being pushed away as its skull started to reform.
'Quick!'
Ryan appeared behind the Reaper, risking his life since he was still unable to use his ability. Just when its reverse finished, a different blade entered the Abomination's back and struck its core.
He could feel it pressing against a seemingly unbreakable object, yet Ryan kept pushing harder and harder.
Eric occupied the Reaper and had just forced its ability out, which allowed Ryan to test what they had all been wondering. And seeing that he was still able to keep his stilleto there, they had finally gotten an answer.
'Its ability had a cooldown! If we can overwhelm it, we'll get a chance just like this!'
Finally, Ryan felt the tip of the dagger break a part of the core. But before he could finish it, a strange force pushed him out.
"Three seconds!" Ryan shouted. "There's a cooldown for around three seconds in between its ability!"
Not willing to risk it, Ryan retreated far away from the Abomination. The Reaper jumped back to escape Eric while blocking Corva's shots with its Scythe.
"Both of you stay back!"
Eric charged in, sword aimed at the Reaper, and released another deadly beam of water. This time, though, it saw the attack coming and dodged in time to avoid it. Behind it, a house exploded and sent wood flying everywhere.
Swish! Swish!
Two more beams were sent after, one missing and the other grazing its shoulder. The Reaper healed itself right away, giving Eric the opportunity to get right in front of it. And he was now manipulating four times the amount of water as before!
In a flurry of blows, Eric pushed the Reaper back as it dodged, deflected, and tried to escape the Ruler of the Seas's attacks.
Ryan and Corva stood still while watching the battle from a distance. As their blades collided, water sprayed everywhere and had now almost soaked them.
"Is he going to kill it by himself?" Corva asked.
Even if they wanted to intervene, Eric had taken this battle to a new level and made it impossible to do so.
"Yeah… I guess we were holding him back."
Finally, Eric was able to slice the Reaper and dismember its left arm. Strangely, though, it didn't use its ability.
'Does it feel threatened? It's probably saving its ability for a more devastating attack, which means Eric must be close to killing it.'
Sure enough, the Reaper stood almost no chance against him now that it could only control its scythe with one hand.
"Now you die."
One by one, the Reaper's limbs were suspended midair by chains made from ice and water. Eric extended his blade and pressed the tip against its chest.
Whoosh!
Water shot out, instantly reaching the core and almost shattering it. Obviously, the Reaper activated its ability right before it was killed, delaying its doom for a moment.
Eric pulled his sword away while it was reversing itself and prepared the finishing strike. He twisted his torso, bringing his arms to his side and holding the hilt with both hands.
The Abomination had no time to react, as the second its ability finished, it was cut clean in half. The core broke into a million pieces as both parts of its body fell to the ground motionless.
Breathing heavily, Eric stood over its corpse and sheathed his sword.
"You two can come over now, it's dead."
'No really…'
Ryan and Corva were both still processing the fight and how fast the Triarch suppressed the Lagging Reaper.
"I don't sense the assassin anywhere; he must have left as we were coming. We will head back now, but one of you needs to carry its scythe back."
Since weapons created from standard materials were mainly useless against Abominations, Gifted have relied on three ways to find their own weapons.
The first was to use them from dead Abominations. Like the scythe from the Lagging Reaper, all the materials gathered from defeated Abominations would be reused by Gifted. This retains the strength from before its death and will slowly decrease in battle like any normal weapon.
The second method was through a certain Gifted ability. There was someone in the government with the ability to create weapons from a unique metal much stronger than steel. Right now, these weapons have a durability of around 70 Tavros, and that increases as the person improves their ability. This is how Ryan obtained his stiletto.
The third method is to use their own ability. Some Gifted's abilities directly give them weapons, while others, such as Eric, allow them to create their own. These differ from the second method in that they cannot be distributed to others. If Eric created another sword, he would lose control as it gets further away from him, and it would break easily as a result.
Since most Gifted's abilities don't directly give them weapons, the first two methods are beneficial to prevent almost everyone from using their fists.
Someone fortunate from the academy can be chosen to receive special scythe training and would eventually inherit this Grade-S weapon. Its Tavros may also be tested when they return.
Ryan looked at Corva and sighed.
"I'll carry it."
The trip back went smoothly, and they didn't encounter a single Abomination.
Eric told them that they needed fresh blood to track the assassin and couldn't locate him anymore, so they were dismissed for now. Frankly, while Ryan was relieved to be back in the City, he still didn't like the idea of that guy being on the loose. Being able to slip in and out of the City and avoid the pursuit of a Triarch was no easy feat.
For now, everyone was on high alert.