'Again?!' Hisha was internally facepalming, disturbed by how easy it was to trigger Kritz in such life-changing or threatening situations.
Making up his mind to have personal training with Kritz, he needed to step in before he went on a rampage like how it was described by Loid.
He could easily defend himself, but he couldn't say the same about others.
"Stand down, Kritz!" He commanded firmly.
At first, Kritz was hesitant on complying, but when he felt a chill run down his spine from merely the glare of Hisha, he deactivated the glow and exhaled.
"What is it? Too scared to face your fears?" The voice snickered and echoed all around them.
Before more could be said to taunt Kritz, there was a gasp for breath before a ripping sound could be heard.
Whoosh!
Jumping at the top of the late Merchief's monument was Gregg, he had one of his eyes closed and held onto his shoulder, using his Sux to clog the profuse bleeding.
Kritz stared wide-eyed in shock, realizing Hisha dropped right back beside him.
'When did he–'
[60 Sux exhausted]
"You should be the one scared to face me–your new fear!" Hisha raged with a glint in his eyes.
He had recalled how the Sux that seethed off the figure was all too familiar and merely a diversion from the true mastermind behind the puppet illusion.
[You have to love my combat features]
HTC prided itself in its method of deducing the exact location of the perpetrator, immediately teleporting and enabling its host to access combat mode which overrides inhibitions that would have naturally stopped the host from achieving.
Kritz immediately went down on his knees, stricken by awe and the seething Sux that burned off Hisha.
[70 Sux exhausted]
Easing up on his Sux expulsion due to unintentionally coating himself with it, he exhaled but locked his gaze on him.
Looking over his shoulder, he commanded all within the vicinity to take shelter and away from the scene.
Gran yelled to the other guards, alerting them to the need to heed the warning.
Kritz on the other hand maintained his position and never bothered to look up. "Let me fight by your side, my lord."
"Not today," Hisha replied with a grim look.
Forcing himself to his feet, he walked back, not intending to turn around just yet like the rest, instead, he watched as Hisha jumped onto the roof of a building, ready for a faceoff with the strange male.
"Go! Go! Go!!!" Gran yelled out for the rest, seeing this as an opportunity to finally have the overlord himself take down the source of what had plagued them.
Feeling a push at his back, Kritz hissed as he was given a booster and lost sight of his lord.
Looking behind at who had done that, he snarled and was faced with Gran.
Raising his hands in surrender, Gran looked scared but had to explain why he had done that.
"You would have stayed and ignored the direct order of the overlord. Our one chance at finally ridding ourselves of one problem would be gone if lord Hisha decides to sacrifice his chance to help possible collateral damage."
"I'm collateral damage?!!!" Kritz flared at the assumption.
In a bid to peacefully settle scores, Gran gulped and pulled on his collar. "It's an order we have to follow and you aren't an exception!"
Feeling those words hit like a rock, he eased up his anger and shook his head. Turning off to wait alongside the others until Hisha was back.
*****
"We meet a second time," Hisha said.
Gregg groaned and observed his surroundings knowing he had an unfair advantage since he had no one to hold hostage nor a body to manipulate.
"You seem to have lost your partner, by any chance, do you need a hand?" Hisha taunted, raising the ripped left hand and waving it around to irk Gregg.
[That was smooth host, real smooth]
'Why, thank you, HTC.'
[It wasn't a compliment!]
Gregg furrowed his brow, there was no way he was going to confront the overlord, nor was he going to risk losing his life for some silly duel.
Seeing an opening after noticing the crack made in the barrier by Hisha's wind strike, he hid the grin that had threatened to spread across his lips.
[An attempt at escaping in progress]
'Oh no, he doesn't!'
Making a huge limp to propel himself enough to crash the barrier, he felt a water whip hold onto his leg and drag him back down.
Crash!
Letting out a yell in pain as he temporarily lost control of his Sux and had blood gushing out of his severed hand.
Wiping the corner of his lips, a wide grin flashed on his face, "why do I feel your little escapades were done without the knowledge of your teammates?"
Gregg used his right hand to push himself up and groaned through the whole process.
Without being told, he could tell that Hisha was playing with him and was intentionally not using any dangerous moves or strong-contending actions.
'I need to escape, Yoru wouldn't be pleased.' Gregg gritted his teeth, feeling his body stagger due to feeling lightheaded.
"I know what you are, and I have to say, I am disappointed at how weak you make your race seem." Hisha spat.
[Ability: Telekinesis]
Crrk!
Gregg hissed at the tug at his shoulder and moments later he felt himself being pulled up.
Hovering due to the hold Hisha had on Gregg, he screamed out in pain as Hisha had his palm wide and fingers in a crooked vertical manner and the other palm over it like a lid.
"You had tried to seal me?" Hisha cackled, slowly losing his restraints, and had a wicked grin.
Gregg on the other hand felt his arm and legs forced into an invisible cornered space that was closing in on him.
"Tell me, what do you plan to do with Kritz?!" Hisha barked, enraged by the weak smile Gregg flashed his way.
Ignoring the question, Gregg attempted to spit in Hisha's face, knowing it would meet the barrier like glass and slide down.
At the sight of the failed attempt at a gesture, Hisha's patience was thinning and so was his desire to make a tight fist that could instantly kill his opponent.
'Is it my time to die in such a way?'
The blood that began to soil Gregg's clothes was a little disturbing for him and for his final act to save himself, he let out an ear-piercing scream which sent a wave that swept through the whole of Mertac, and escaped through the crack into its destination.
Gregg let out a peal of maniacal laughter, knowing what would come next in a matter of seconds.
Feeling something was off, Hisha made a clench his hand without thinking much about it anymore.
A splatter of blood congealed inside the space and covered any trace of Gregg's remains.
Exhaling, Hisha let go of the hold that still kept the corpse hovering and a puddle of blood dropped before the remains of the body dropped to the floor with a thud.
With a cold stare, he stared at the crushed corpse, with what was left being the bones protruding outside the designated location of each limb with some broken and piercing into other parts of the body.
Spitting on the corpse, Hisha rolled his eyes, disturbed he felt no satisfaction from ridding himself of one of the nuisances that had been a pain in the ass.
[You just killed two problems with one strike]
'I did.' He let out a sigh and turned around to see Yoru behind him.
She stood frozen and in a state of shock with her head tilted and still staring at Gregg's body.
'I knew there was something strange about that yell!' Hisha made claims to his suspicions.
Silence prevailed for a while as he stared at her, curious as to what she could do being alone and losing an essential part of her team.
A tear strayed down her cheeks and she dropped to her knees. "I was too late."
Punching on the ground repeatedly until it bled and healed repeatedly.
'HTC, what the fuck do I do now that she's vulnerable?' Hisha inquired, hoping not to make a mistake and risk losing his immortality.
[Warning host, she is not alone and there is something odd about her Sux]
Upon the warning, Hisha could already guess the other partner must have been lurking somewhere with a cold gaze on him.
[Be on guard, this isn't like the first time you encountered them]
'So much for my plans to make fun of Mich on my first official visit.' Hisha deadpanned, disappointed by the spiral of crazy events.
*****
A/N
¶ An image of Gregg is up in my discord channel if interested to seek how he looks before his demise.
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