As the story continues, Alissia begins to see the downsides to her power while her group seeks the final two Primordials and builds an alliance with the Watchers to counter Avarice's forces. Meanwhile, Tymon and Za'Fia focus their efforts on persona...
"You'll need a better way to immobilize him, even if only for a second," Avarice advised from behind Trevor and Junichiro. He, Verin, and Wren had floated up to spectate from a distance.
Michael was getting bored now. Since they'd arrived, he'd accessed the others. Regardless of his speed and regeneration, he knew Avarice and Verin were too much for him. Junichiro was skilled, more powerful, and much stronger than him, so getting rid of him would take time and effort. Trevor was also slightly more powerful and stronger but was too unrefined and unfocused. And Wren...she wasn't as powerful as the other two and didn't seem interested in fighting at all. Perhaps she could be more capable than she appeared, but with her power, Michael knew that she wouldn't be able to defend against his if they fought. Maybe she'd show more of what she could do as the fight went on. This meant the first to be taken out would be...
Michael raised a hand over his shoulder and cocked it back as if readying to throw a spear. He gathered light from around him and channeled his spirit energy into a massive, shapeless weapon of light.
Junichiro responded by coating his body with spirit enhancement as Michael chucked it toward Trevor.
Trevor stood wide-eyed like a deer in headlights as the attack raced toward him at a terrifying speed. He started applying spirit enhancement onto himself but wasn't fast enough.
Fortunately for him, just before the attack reached him, Verin pulled him out of the way, allowing the blast to continue past them until it hit the ground below, burning a sizeable hole so deep the bottom couldn't be seen.
Wren stared in disbelief at the abyss just created.
"That would've killed him...I thought he didn't kill!" she said before looking back at Michael.
"I don't kill humans. You're no longer humans," he retorted with a deadly glare.
"Thanks, Verin," Trevor expressed as he started supporting himself.
Verin remained vigilant, keeping her gaze fixed on Michael.
"Stay alert. You've fought him before; you know how fast his attacks are."
Trevor lowered his gaze a bit but remained silent before following her advice.
Again, Michael released a sudden attack, this time aimed at Avarice. However, it was deflected somehow as some sort of barrier protected him for a split second.
Michael sighed exasperatedly. They were at a stalemate. With Avarice and Verin likely to protect the two weaker ones, Michael wouldn't be able to progress much further.
"Just admit you've lost already. There's no way you're getting out of this situation with all of us here," Avarice said, stalling, stating what was on Michael's mind. "Plus, for your precious humans' sake, you won't bring yourself to kill me or Verin, not that you could in the first place."
Suddenly, a purple, bladed cage with a low ceiling manifested around Michael. Michael tried to resist as the ceiling began to lower with him inside. Struggling, he glared at Junichiro, angry at himself for allowing himself to be caught off guard again as the cage plummeted toward the ground. Once connected, Wren used her power to soften the earth below him as Verin increased the gravity around him, forcing his body into the murky earth as Junichiro shrunk the cage. When only his head and neck remained above the ground, the ground hardened again as Verin used her Empath cintracy to make Michael docile.
"I suppose I should be flattered it took each of you to subdue me," Michael said as he gradually grew droopy and weakened.
Once the effects took place, Junichiro released his power as Avarice casually walked up to Michael and injected him with the anti-hematopoietic nanites he'd prepared beforehand.
"Father, what was that power he used earlier?" Junichiro asked, sheathing his sword.
"It's an ability probably from one of his cintracies," Avarice answered as he playfully smacked Michael, who tried to move his head in resistance. "As far as I know, he can temporarily become light itself. Therefore making him indestructible and impossibly fast."
"Then we should get rid of him now," Junichiro suggested. "We may have gotten rid of his regenerative capabilities, but that particular power could still pose a threat."
"No, I have other plans in store for Michael," Avarice gripped Michael by his hair, forcing him to look up, but Michael couldn't focus or resist.
However, overzealous as he was, Junichiro disagreed with Avarice's decision. He saw Michael as too much of a potential threat, sparking a rare occasion of disobedience to express itself within Junichiro. Trusting the certainty in his gut, he pulled out his sword and prepared to cut off Michael's head swiftly.
"Junichiro, stop!" Verin yelled, losing focus. Her mental grip on Michael weakened enough for him to become lucid enough to understand his situation. He immediately entered his hybrid form and burst from the ground, shocking everyone. He stood there in his brilliant glory, emanating warmth and light. His beautiful white wings were spread wide, his skin partially covered in white patches, and his manifested phoenix tail of light whipped behind him.
Michael crouched, suddenly feeling less like a god and more like a cornered animal.
"Dammit, Junichiro!" Verin cursed. Then, her and her allies' holo-bracelets flashed red as they received multiple alerts.
Verin tapped hers, and a holo-screen popped up.
"What the hell is this..." she asked incredulously before turning the monitor off. "We don't have time for this anymore. I'll capture him myself."
Trevor and Wren looked at each other nervously while Junichiro stood determined. However, he didn't try to press Verin on the matter. The ground began to tremble as Verin released some of her power. She stared Michael down intently, clearly ready to fight, but Michael's reaction was one even he would never have imagined himself doing.
Using the same power he did earlier, Streak, he simultaneously focused and layered the inside and outside of his body with intangible molecules of energy that bonded with his own, granting him a temporarily indestructible body of light, and before any of them could react, he vanished from sight, getting thousands of miles away from them in a second.
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Fun fact: Junichiro is a 1,202-year-old, Japanese man born in Tokyo during Japan's Edo era, where he and his younger sister at the time were born into an impoverished family.
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