Nightblade (Darkest night)

Despite being in charge of the paranormal investigations branch of the ‎Praesagius branch of Zolaris, Jeff was a class A-3. Usually, when people found out, they were quite surprised and sometimes downright awestruck, but it was the truth.

‎His more obvious ability was his superhuman strength.

‎Even among other talented individuals with the same ability, he still stood out from the rest. One of his more subtle abilities was his durability.

‎While not so obvious at first, the mother fight progressed, the more pronounced its effect would be on his opponents, but by then it would already be too late.

‎With a grin, Jeff shot forward, violently kicking off the ground.

‎For a man his size, Jeff moved with incredible speed and agility.

‎Within an instant, he was already behind enemy lines, weaving through the startled Talented with ambidextrous ease.

‎A split second later, his fist flashed through the air with the speed of a juggernaut slamming into a Talented that was too late to react.

‎The result was instantaneous.

‎With a sickening crunch, the man was launched back into the distance, flying several metres into the air.

‎He crashed onto the ground, slamming into several other Talented in the trajectory of the blow.

‎Norvax flinched, subconsciously refraining from taking a step back.

‎" Damn. He's a monster..."

‎Without missing a beat, Jeff dashed forward, slamming into another oblivious soul.

‎Norvax shakily fell to one knee, catching his breath.

‎In the next instant, an ominous voice spoke from behind him, the sound rousing him out of his stupor.

‎" Don't you think it's too early to be taking breaks?"

‎With a burst of speed, he darted away, or rather, he tried to. An overwhelming force pressed him into the ground, keeping him squarely in place.

‎Norvax groaned, gritting his teeth in pain.

‎" What the hell is happening?"

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‎[Nano Shroud Power system...0.05%]

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‎[Unable to power ability nullification systems.]

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‎A heartbeat later, the ground where he was standing cracked.

‎" Gravity! Shit"

‎Slowly, Norvax knelt until his palms hit the ground. Despite his best efforts, he was effectively trapped in place.

‎Out of the periphery of his sight, a lithe youth in unremarkable apparel calmly strode into sight, with one arm nonchalantly outstretched.

‎A mocking grin was plastered on his face, his piercing green eyes staring down at Norvax's struggling form.

‎" Fighting Candace must have taken much more out of me than I thought if a brat like this can corner me. Damn it all."

‎His eyes glowed furiously beneath his visor, his muscles straining furiously against the onslaught of the gravity user.

‎"You hurt Candace," the youth said in a measured tone, cocking his head slightly.

‎Norvax felt his breathing felt more strained, each breath becoming more difficult than the last.

‎The youth sneered down at him, clenching his fist slightly.

‎"And you threatened to kill her. And for that you will pay with your life!"

‎The last part was spat out, the hatred and unbridled malice evident in his eyes.

‎" Yes. She's a murderer. I don't know what kind of relationship you have with her, but newsflash, kid, she has killed innocent people in cold blood."

‎The kid glared at him disdainfully, then tried to lift him into the air.

‎Gravity abilities were quite rare, the reason being they were wielded by elemental Talented whose abilities had undergone a peculiar metamorphosis.

‎Changing into something different yet similar to the original.

‎At the very least, the kid standing before him was at least Class A-4, and that was if he was lucky.

‎" This brat!"

‎Just then, an automated voice rang out in the suit's interface.

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‎[Detecting large energy source nearby....]

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‎[Initiating siphoning protocol...]

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‎[Rebooting nullification systems... successful]

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‎With a slight effort, Norvax rose to his feet.

‎Seeing the confused look on the kid's face, Norvax grinned.

‎"You're probably wondering why your power isn't working on the suit."

‎The youth stared at him in shock.

‎" How can this be? It's because it's just not possible. "

‎In the next second, the kid collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily.

‎Their situations had been reversed.

‎Norvax got up with a grin.

‎" See, this suit is quite special, after all. I can't afford to lose to a newbie like you while I'm wearing it, after all. Gregoey wouldn't let me hear the end of it."

‎The nano shroud suit had been further upgraded when Norvax became the commander, and in a full-scale battle like this, its new properties truly shone.

‎With its new capabilities, the suit was not only capable of repelling and even measuring the enemy's level on the Arc scale, but also absorbing a portion of the energy released from the opponent's ability, effectively weakening even the strongest of enemies.

‎The drawback to this was that it could only affect the Talented, and it took some time to activate, time Norvax had been buying while talking to the kid.

‎" I think it's past your bedtime, kid. Night night. A split second later, he was beside the youth, his fist slamming squarely into his jaw.

‎The kid's eyes instantly rolled into the back of his head.

‎"I didn't hit him too hard now, did I?"

‎Glancing in the distance, a large figure could be seen weaving in and out of the opposing Talented's ranks.

‎Norvax blinked, watching Jeff move instantaneously from one part of the battlefield to the next.

‎A split second later, the large man stepped out of the darkness behind an unsuspecting Talented, knocking the man unconscious with one frightening blow.

‎" Sneaky bastard."

‎Jeff's lightning-fast movements weren't because he was as fast as Norvax but simply because of the insidious nature of his third ability.

‎Like Thrain, Jeff had an affinity for the darkness, and while he couldn't manipulate it like Thrain, he could easily move within it, which made it seem like he was teleporting from one part of the battlefield, sowing chaos, confusion, and fear in the hearts of the Crows.

‎Because of how his ability worked, none of them knew where the giant would appear next, and the sheer time they spent trying to anticipate his movements increased the terror in their hearts.

Norvax grinned, watching the large man rip through the enemy's defenses.

In the next moment, a slight frown appeared on his face.

Despite the turn in the tide of the battle, something was wrong, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

" What the hell is it?! Think, think, think!"

Norvax frantically surveyed the battlefield, analyzing the different fights that were taking place.

"What's wrong?" he's slowly replayed the fight in his mind, looking out for seemingly tiny but crucial details.

"What am I missing?"

Then it hit him.

His eyes swept over the battlefield searching for one particular person.

" Where is she?"

Candace was nowhere to be seen, and if the head of the snake still existed, even if they took out the smaller minions, it was all for naught.

Removing his visor and helmet, Norvax inwardly screamed.

"Aisha!"

"Calm down..." A voice resounded in his mind.

" I've got eyes on her."

In the next second, Aisha mentally sent him the coordinates of where she was.

Snapping his visor back in place, she sprinted towards the place in his mind.

It was the giant crater where the vault had been placed.

A few moments later, he arrived at the gigantic crater. All around them, abilities flashed through the air.

Screams rang throughout the wide expanse, mixing into a cacophony of noise and violence.

Taking a few strides forward, he soon came face-to-face with the leader of the small crew of Talented that the Crows had sent to impede the vault's retrieval.

Candace silently cradled her arm, staring down into the gaping hole, an unknown emotion on her face.

Without taking off his visor, Norvax spoke, his voice echoing across the dark chasm that separated them.

"Give it up, Candace...you and your minions have lost this fight."

After a while, she looked up, an eerie, disquieting smile appearing on her face.

Norvax quietly cursed, steeling his nerves.

" Why the hell is she smiling? Does she have another trick up her sleeve?"

At the same time, Candace spoke, her voice firm and even despite her ragged and beaten appearance.

" Why do you think you've won?" she asked.

" What makes you so sure that I've lost? The way I see it, the fight is still going on. And I haven't lost yet. Not yet."

Her smile grew wider, her eyes narrowing coldly in calculation.

" Shit! That's not the look of someone who's been beaten."

Norvax immediately got into a fighting stance, readying himself for the fight that promised to come.

"Focus all power to nullification and siphoning systems..." he whispered.

In the next instant, an automated voice rang out.

[ Affirmative...redirecting all power to siphoning and nullification systems.]

In the next moment, the nano shroud ominously hummed with power.

" This is it, this is where it ends."

Norvax entered a state of battle readiness, discarding all other things from his mind and getting ready to react to the slightest of movements.

Just then, a grey-haired woman descended from the sky, landing on the ground in front of him.

Norvax's eyes narrowed slightly at her arrival.

"Aisha..."

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