'woosh'
A man swung a huge stick in the air.
Nex teleported a few steps back and thought, to hell with it, I have read these kinds of things so many times and it's obvious every single time.
He teleported the stick from the man's hands to his own, then instantly appeared behind him. He hit the man's legs, bringing him to his knees.
Nex threw the stick aside. "Now let's see who this man is," he muttered, teleporting in front of him.
Seeing Nex, the man dragged his body back using his hands, uttering repeatedly,
"Don't… kill me… I am not responsible… please," his face covered in fear.
Nex stood there, watching the man crawl until he hit a pillar.
"Do… don't come close… I didn't do anything," he uttered, his eyes nearly filled with tears.
Nex stood there for a while, then spoke,
"Huff… I won't do anything. But tell me—are you responsible for what happened to my friend?"
The man didn't say anything for some time, then stammered,
"I… I am not responsible… my… my ability… it killed—" tears fell down his face.
Nex sat on his knees, observing the man.
He was in his thirties, with a slightly dark complexion. He had a small beard and was a bit taller than Nex. His body was thin, as if he hadn't eaten for days—his skin stuck to his bones.
Nex moved closer and said,
"Listen, sir… I don't know what happened to you, but I have to know about your ability so that I can bring my friend back to normal."
The man wiped his tears with his hands and uttered,
"My… my ability?"
"Yes," Nex replied.
"I… can't control it. It is a curse. It killed my wife and daughter… they died because of me. I couldn't do anything… I should have died too. My wife got affected by my ability… killed my daughter… so many people died… the army…"
The man kept speaking as his mental state worsened.
This won't work, Nex thought, looking at the man as he kept mumbling.
Nex put his left hand on the man's shoulder and then punched him in the face.
"Sorry, but I am in a hurry."
The man went silent for a moment, then spoke while looking at Nex,
"My ability detects the strongest and makes them five times stronger, but—"
"But what?" Nex said, a bit frustrated.
"But it makes them lose control," his eyes filled with tears again, just moments away from flowing.
"My… my wife was affected by it that day… she… my daughter…"
Nex tried to calm him down a bit, then asked,
"Can't you stop it?"
"No… I can't control it. It only stops when the affected person loses all their mana or stamina. The ability then searches for another host after five minutes…"
The man caught his head and started mumbling to himself again.
Nex stood up and walked toward the stairs, thinking, a buff-type ability that causes others to go berserk.
Reaching the stairs, he looked back at the man. Aghh… I can't leave someone like this.
He stared at him for some time, then said,
"I will bring you something to eat. Wait here."
He teleported outside the building—and froze as he looked up at the sight unfolding where his friends were.
---
On the other side, after Nex teleported away—
"Everyone, don't keep your guard down. Pranidhi, don't let him move," Gaurav said, looking at Mayukh.
"Okay," Pranidhi replied.
"Is he conscious?" Aryan gazed at Mayukh.
"It seems so," Akshil replied.
'Boom.'
A sudden sound came from behind the burnt vehicle, as if something heavy struck it.
Everyone moved their gazes in shock and panic.
"What was that?" Janvi muttered.
"Is someone else here?" Tahira panicked.
"I… I will try to look." Anvit moved a bit closer to the vehicle but didn't go near it. Zero slowly walked with him.
Nobody dared to move an inch—they just kept staring at the vehicle, preparing themselves, but nothing appeared.
"I don't see anything," Anvit looked at everyone in relief.
After some minutes, a sword appeared out of thin air and hit the vehicle, going deep into the metal.
"Pranidhi…" Gautam panicked.
"I am focusing on him," Pranidhi said in worry.
"Then… what is—" Gaurav moved his gaze between Mayukh and the vehicle.
More swords appeared and started hitting the vehicle.
"Why… what is he doing?" Aryan looked at Mayukh in confusion.
But Mayukh lay on the ground, gravity pulling him down and a strange dim blue light holding his body. Even without all this, his body was too exhausted to move.
"Is he making a last attempt?" Akshil asked. "But what is the mean—"
"ANVIT, LOOK BACK!" Akshil screamed—loud enough that he coughed blood.
Anvit looked behind him, but it was already too late. The blazing sword was just a few feet away from his chest. He was too shocked to move, his mind blank.
Pranidhi moved her hands towards Anvit, but her powers failed her—the dim blue light barely missed the sword.
Zero reacted and jumped to Anvit, pushing him by a few inches, barely missing the sword.
Anvit's feet did him no good and he fell—his body suddenly had no strength. But he crawled, crawled using his hands, towards Zero, who was now near the vehicle.
He reached Zero and slowly put his hand on his head.
"Woff," Zero squeaked in a low voice.
Anvit slowly moved his hand along Zero's body—shaking.
Soon, his hand hit a sword.
A sword which was about to hit Anvit.
A sword which was now embedded in Zero's body.
A sword which had nearly split Zero's body in two.
"Zero…" Tears flew from Anvit's eyes. "Please… please no… you can't leave me like this, bro… please."
Zero squeaked again in a low voice, as if trying to calm Anvit.
"No… you can't go… what will I do without you…" More tears covered his face as he kept mumbling.
After some moments, Zero's movement completely stopped—his body slowly turned to dust.
Anvit kept staring as Zero turned to dust and flew away with the soft wind. His hand, which was on Zero's head, fell down and touched the ground.
The others didn't say anything—as if they couldn't, as if they didn't know what to say.
Gaurav wanted to go to Anvit, but he realised he couldn't.
Akshil tried to say something but coughed blood again.
Aryan tried helping Akshil first.
Pranidhi covered her mouth with her hands.
Janvi's eyes filled with tears.
Ridhima tried saying something but couldn't.
Tahira just looked at Anvit helplessly.
A small drop of tear came out of Mayukh's eye before evaporating.
Anvit just kept staring at the place where Zero was moments ago, his heart broken into pieces.
Silence covered the whole place for some moments.
Baam.
Anvit fell to the ground on his back—unconscious.
But before anyone could move to approach him, they felt a sudden change in the air—it felt warmer.
"What is this fe—" Gaurav moved his gaze towards the sky as his jaw dropped.
Not one.
Not ten.
Not twenty.
But more than a hundred blazing swords,
targeted at the ground, waited in the sky—floating,
as if soldiers waiting for orders.
"But he was exhausted…" Akshil said, his voice broken gazing at Mayukh who now lay unconscious on the ground.
Pranidhi fell to the ground, her body supported by her hands. "Why did we decide to meet…"
"We have to run," Gaurav gazed at everyone.
"It's no use," Akshil looked at his hands.
"We can't giv—" Gaurav stopped as the swords started falling.
---
At a distance, Nex looked at the swords,
what!!!… Did he have that much mana left?
He squinted his eyes, as if he might see something.
What do I do… I can't teleport everyone…
He moved his hand through his pockets.
Where was it…
He searched for a bit, then pulled out a small pill wrapped in plastic, like some candy.
Please work.
TO BE CONTINUED...