Deadlock

“It’s a ghost!” Brigid screamed in fear.

“No! He’s a zombie!” Megan said.

The two men and the maid ran to the side where I was. Brigid threw herself on top of the bed, and Lady Winifred jumped backwards, falling from the other side with her arms on the floor and her back still on the bed.

“Man, I ran through that hell for so long that I thought I was delirious, seeing that twister in the sky. Who would have thought it was true?” he said.

“Who are you, bastard?” I said, backing away and pulling my sword out of the scabbard.

How did I not notice his arrival? I’m really at my limit...

“Huh?! From the others, I even understand the surprise, but you with white hair, you won’t say that you’ve already forgotten me?” he replied by taking off the rest of the hood and showing the rest of his face, dry and lifeless, as well as taking off the robe, showing an outfit that indicated he was a warrior of the Mora Empire.

“You are...”

“I’m one of the two soldiers you and that old man gave an early ride to, remember? My name is Gaius.”

NOTE: Gaius has mastery of three abilities. In addition, he has two ability combinations (Dualism): Vital Energy with Destruction and Destruction with Corruption. He used these two combinations to resist the advance of the technique that is devastating Uire. First Vital Energy with Destruction around the body, but it did not work well, so he instructed to destroy the body’s own body mass to prevent the enemy technique from killing him completely; however, this caused serious damage to his body. Also, using the combination of Destruction with Corruption, he passed through his aura the sensation of death that was received as information by the flowers, inducing them not to proliferate the technique. There is no 100% operating margin in his ability combinations against the technique, but it’s close. However, given his physical state, the risk of his body withering and maintaining active techniques is increasingly higher.

“Yes, I remember,” I replied. He was completely different, thin, and appeared not to have many muscles anymore, practically skin and bone. But a dark energy emanated from his body.

He took two steps forward, and I pointed the sword straight at him.

“Ohhh, finally fresh air. You can’t imagine what it’s like out there.”

Then he watched me.

“You were saying that going to the mountains was the best way, right? But before you said that, you wanted to get to the sea, if—”

I was nervous and impatient with his presence, so I had to step in mid-sentence.
“If you’ve already understood, why not just get out of here and go there? You don’t have to stay here to survive, right?”

He looked at the others carefully.

“Except for this guy I killed, you’re the only user who uses Numen with mastery here, right?”

“…”

One of the two men on my side, who said he had some of the Ability of Vital Force, emanated some of his energy and pulled a knife from his waist.

“So, you seem to be of the Vital Force type, but—” He quickly moved his sword in front of us, and before we knew it, his throat had been cut from a distance just by the slicing motion of Gaius’s sword. “But as I said, I was talking about mastery of abilities. This aura control cannot be considered a domain.”

He fell with his hands on his neck, dying and bleeding. Brigid and the girl with curly black hair screamed.

I took another step back, and the Tornado moved forward.

Then Gaius looked at the tornado, then at me, and looked around him as he spoke, “You interrupted me earlier, but this analysis of yours… I only heard the final part, and it was a very good analysis. I didn’t even consider that possibility until I started to hear... Who are you, huh?” He ended up staring at me seriously.

…

Fighting this guy—no, fighting anyone at that moment with me forced to stay inside the Tornado technique is a tricky situation. Even if it’s a quick fight and he doesn’t seem very well, I’m really tired. I do not have much Numen left, and he managed to get into the Tornado without any problems or attention. His Ability must be problematic for me. Besides, he already defeated two of ours quickly without me being able to prevent it, and I still have many people to protect. Still, right now, the best option is to avoid a full confrontation.

“You’re not in a good situation, are you?” he said as if reading my mind. “I already know one of your abilities just by getting in touch when I went through this maelstrom, and you seem to be right on the edge. You didn’t even react in time when I attacked the guy next to you. A situation of confrontation would be easy for me...”

He took two steps calmly, and I took two steps back.

The man whose throat was cut was also dead, and the other was already behind me, even more so, in fear.

Then his hand went toward an apple, which he took from the basket on the side where I was before. He tasted it and made a sound as if he had enjoyed the fruit.

“Let’s think about it a little,” he said, taking another bite. “A fight between me and you, or you and everyone here against me, wouldn’t be good for anyone. If you died or were to deactivate your technique because of fatigue, it's game over for all of you, and I, I’m alive. Still, I didn’t handle that technique so well, although I am better off than my companions and everyone close to where I was.”

He looked at himself and continued to speak, “I am in a deplorable situation, not even sure if there will be a way to get back to normal, and my Numen is close to 25%. I'm reaching my limit, I won't last halfway to the sea.”

“So... what do you want to propose?”

“Let’s make a deal. I’m not going to fight with you or anyone else here, I promise. In return, you take me with you so that we can all be saved, although it would be better to get rid of the useless dead weights... It’s a joke. No one else needs to die. Let’s be friends, okay?” He finished talking with a fake smile.

“No, not a chance,” said Brigid, changing her stance to a rabid one that surprised me. “…After what you’ve done with two of ours, do you think we’ll accept you like that? Even more, one of the wretches of Mora’s Empire like you!?”

He looked at her, as if he didn’t understand her argument.

“Huh?” he said with a smile. “You already have one from the empire with you, and one more would change what?” He ended by pointing at me.

The part of my garment that hid my empire symbol had already been torn apart without me realizing.

Damn... what now?