Somnus wasn't it? I'm curious, what's a man like you doing leading a group like this?"
The Captain's words were calm, yet they carried a hidden authority.
Somnus kept his hand in his pack, pretending to be looking for another can of synth beer as he looked up with a questioning expression.
"A man like me?"
Raising his free hand to his chest, a look of shock and joy stretched over his face.
"Well now, I'm flattered by your kind words, Sir, but whatever do you mean?"
The Captain's face tightened as he felt the oppressive attempts to lure him to sleep grow heavier by the second.
"You know exactly what I mean, boy! Now answer me before I beat it out of ya"
Suddenly, Nyx shot up and placed himself between his son and the suddenly aggressive awakened.
"How dare you speak to my son that way, mister! I oughta teach you a lesson myself!"
Nyx used all his strength to push against the Captain, hoping to knock the man to the floor. However, the Awakened stood unfazed as he reached his arm forward towards the older man, shouting.
"I don't have time for you, old man! Move!"
Shoving the older man to the ground as he stepped forward, the Captain reached within his soul as the sparks of his memories began to manifest themselves around his body.
Somnus Watched as his father was flung to the floor by the Awakened.
Before his father hit the floor, however, he was already on the move, pulling his hand free of the pack, he raised it against the Captain and let off two thundering shots from his handgun.
which seemed to echo off the now quiet walls.
The Captain raised his arms to protect his head as the bullets broke through the sparks, and the memories formed around them.
A suit of bronze halfplate with dark blue leather underlays manifested as the bullets broke through the armour, embedding themselves slightly within his flesh.
His armour had taken the majority of the damage.
Despite this, he still staggered back slightly as he peeked from behind his guard, his face fully visible.
Sudden movement filled the room as Mundane people turned on the awakened, using concealed arms to deliver swift blitz attacks on their prey.
Some of the awakened managed to summon their memories in time to avoid the sudden attacks, while many were not so lucky.
'What fools we are. How could we have let our guard down this much?'
The Captain already knew the answer, of course.
He had simply never considered the mundane population to be a threat to an awakened, despite being one himself only a year or so ago. He had grown accustomed to the newfound power he and his men had, disregarding other ways to fight back against the onslaught of Nightmare Creatures.
The hall was a mess of movement and in that chaos the battle between the Captain and Somnus had finally begun.
The Captain stepped forward, launching one of his hands forward like a missile in hopes of breaking the younger man's jaw.
Yet despite the effort Somnus easily moved himself backwards to avoid the strike. Yet the Captain smirked as a projectile of water erupted from his fist. His Aspect allowed him to create and direct high-pressure water at his enemies, which carried the weight of his attacks.
He watched as the man's neck craned backwards as he stumbled for a few steps.
However the muzzle of the handgun suddenly flashed as a bullet soared through the air. On any normal day, he could have dodged it from this distance, but the tiredness clouded his thoughts and made him slow to react.
As a result, he felt a sharp pain in his side, causing him to stagger back.
In that same moment, he watched as Somnus planted his feet before suddenly charging forward.
His head flipping back into position, the Captain could now see how little damage he had done to the man. Merely washing away the dirt from his now overly handsome face, his eyes not even containing a hint of ever having been tired in his life, as a wicked smile painted his face.
The Captain oriented himself as he readied for a fist fight, knowing he didn't have the time to summon his weapon as he had planned.
It would take more than a few bullet wounds to stop an Awakened.
Pouring his essence into his muscles, he went for a right hook, performing the action faster than any human had before.
However, the young man ducked down long before the strike ever arrived and retaliated with a shockingly powerful blow to the Captain's abdomen.
The half plate held its shape but the force of the impact still made his body tremble.
Before he could regain his balance, he saw a wicked smile twisting Somnus's features as he fired off another shot.
The Captain crumpled to the ground as he felt one of his kneecaps shattering, and tears filled his eyes from rage.
As he looked up to face his foe, all he saw was the barrel of the gun pointed at his face as a sudden pain echoed through his skull.
A calm voice spoke out to him as his vision went dark, only accompanied by the sound of endless fighting and death.
[You have died, Awakened Markus. Sleep Well, your Nightmare is Over.]
Captain Markus's body fell to the floor with a pathetic flop as his blood spilled out over the Concrete Floors.
Somnus, meanwhile, was enjoying the chill which ran up his spine every time he took the life of those around him. He had been hungry for this sensation before the spell ever appeared, but its interference had only made the hunger grow into full-blown gluttony.
He needed this sensation, it was his reason for living after all.
Looking around, he could see the carnage his group had created. Awakened and mundane were being killed all around him in a beautiful cacophony of destruction.
Despite his desire to listen to this tune forever, he had other matters to attend.
His father had stopped him before, but he wasn't about to let that woman get away with her betrayal.
He quickly left the room to where she had been taken before.
The room was nothing of dire importance, just a storage area for old farm equipment.
However, the ones who had taken shelter in there were gone by now.
He would have known if they were trying to hide from them. Instead, his attention was drawn to a hole in the backmost wall.
He walked towards it as he stepped out into the night, the moon shining brightly overhead, as desolate fields of long-dead crops surrounded him from all sides. He looked around and quickly found a fresh footprint leading away into some hills topped by trees.
As he stared into the hills a glint suddenly caught his eye as a sudden pain tore through his shoulder, forcing him to drop his weapon.
He quickly ducked behind the shattered wall as bullets rained from above. After a few minutes, however, the bullets stopped. A few had managed to break through the wood forcing him to move a couple times to avoid being hit.
His body was damaged, he cursed as he sat for he knew what this meant. He would need to take some time to recover and maintain appearances to the others.
He swore to hunt down that woman and make her pay some day.
That was a promise.
As he sat, he looked over to his side and smiled, however.
'Nearly there. Just a little more.'
As he read something which no one else but him could see.
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Soul Saturation: [879/1000].
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