Lines of fire wrapped around Caelan's body, attempting to restrict his movements. However, he reacted immediately, releasing an explosion of Water Magic that broke the restraints. He then raised one hand and created an enormous sphere of water, hurling it toward Enrico and Liam, who were still discussing what had happened.
"Deymon... That bastard! Liam, I need to ask you for something."
Enrico dodged Caelan's attack and, before his companion could prepare another spell, created another line of fire that coiled around his foot. With a quick movement, he pulled the line and hurled Caelan into one of the houses, causing part of the structure to collapse from the impact.
"What should I do? I want to help Caelan too!"
Liam asked, clearly uncomfortable with having to leave his friend in that situation.
"Leave Caelan to me. What I need you to do is go back and help the others. Deymon might have another trick up his sleeve, so we can't leave them to face everything alone."
"Are you sure? You're injured..."
"Don't worry. I'll do my best not to get hurt any further. After all, if I let that happen, Caelan will be pretty upset when he returns to normal."
Hearing those words, Liam nodded. Before leaving, he cast one last glance in Caelan's direction, his expression saddened. He hadn't been able to help his friend much, and that was a great disappointment to him.
"Be careful."
Enrico waved as he watched Liam head toward the others, who were still fighting Deymon. Once he was alone, he turned his attention back to Caelan, his expression becoming serious. He needed to find a way to save him, but before that, he wanted to understand exactly what had happened to his companion.
[Name: Caelan]
[Magic: Water — Circle Three, 14%]
[Mana Quantity: 480]
[Unique Ability: Corrupted — ??????]
[Soul: 71]
'Did he awaken that Unique Ability? No... More importantly, why can't I see what it does?'
[According to what I can identify, there is a seal on his mana heart. Someone deliberately placed it there.]
'Placed by someone? Can you find out who did it and what this ability does?'
[I can try. After all, he's at the same level as you. However, it may take some time, since a Constellation is helping conceal the identity of whoever possibly placed that seal.]
Enrico clicked his tongue, irritated by the possibility of another god interfering with his plans. At the same time, he felt somewhat relieved knowing that the system could still discover something.
The ability's name was Corrupted, which meant it might be directly related to the power Deymon had used. If that was the case, there might be a way to reverse the situation.
'So Deymon and someone else did this to him...'
[I don't know who it could have been...]
"Jago."
Enrico spoke the name quietly. The system remained silent for a few moments, analyzing the possibility. The more it considered that hypothesis, the more likely it seemed. Aside from Caelan's zombie-like appearance, Jago was a rather unusual anomaly.
Disregarding the reincarnated individuals, he was the only other major anomaly to have appeared since Saul took over Enrico's body.
[You're right. I'll try to find out as quickly as possible. Wait a little.]
'All right. For now, I'll try to wake this idiot up.'
While Enrico was talking to the system, Caelan remained trapped inside his own mind. To him, however, everything seemed perfectly normal. He was smiling at the realization that he finally had the opportunity to train with his friend and second leader.
"Why are you standing there? If you don't come to me, I'll go to you!"
Caelan raised his hand and created a water dome, just as he had done during his fight against Liam. The magic surprised Enrico, but he didn't stand still and wait for the attack. Activating Fire Steps, he moved rapidly between the strikes, leaving behind nothing but afterimages as the attacks hit empty space.
"Zero Impact!"
Enrico appeared in front of Caelan and landed a powerful punch, sending him flying. The young man's body crashed through several houses before losing momentum. Without giving him time to recover, Enrico activated Charged Impulse and charged forward again.
However, Caelan reacted. Turning his body, he created a water barrier extremely close to his skin, concentrating his magic to withstand the impact. The protection resisted Enrico's blow, and before he could move away, Caelan counterattacked with a punch to his face, sending him flying as well. Enrico crashed through other structures before managing to regain control of his body.
'Water Healing.'
Placing his hand over his chest, Enrico began treating his own injuries. He had already fought a very difficult battle that day, and now he had to deal with an opponent who, besides possessing a considerable amount of mana, was being controlled by someone else.
'Besides, I need to find a way to free him from this control...'
Enrico created several lines of fire around himself and began using Charged Impulse to leap between them, moving at high speed. Caelan tried to hit him with successive water attacks, attempting to extinguish the lines and prevent him from continuing to use that technique.
'The more I use the lines to move around, the more speed I'll build up. So...'
Enrico stepped onto one of the lines positioned above his head and jumped just as a water attack struck his flames, extinguishing them. As he fell toward the last line, he twisted his body and used it as a trampoline, propelling himself with even greater force than before.
'Lunaris: Blood Strike!'
His hand was enveloped by an additional layer of hardened blood, forming protection over his fist.
Enrico clenched his hand and struck Caelan in the face with a powerful blow, sending him at least forty meters into the air. As he soared upward, the young man began bleeding from his nose and looked down, where Enrico was already preparing his next attack.
The young man's fist began to be enveloped in flames.
"CC Impact!"
Caelan created a seven-layer barrier around his body as he fell. At the same time, he concentrated his Water Magic in one hand, forming a whirlpool within the protection. Enrico charged forward with his flaming fist and combined the impact with Lunaris's blood magic, increasing the force of his blow even further.
The impact destroyed all seven layers of the barrier, but before Enrico could take advantage of the opening, a water hurricane appeared in front of him and struck him directly in the face. The force of the attack sent him crashing into the ground, burying his body in the terrain.
'Multiple Fire Arrows!'
Enrico raised his bow and fired several arrows toward Caelan, who was still in the air. The projectiles struck his opponent's body and kept him suspended for a few moments. However, this time Enrico didn't wait for him to start falling. He used Charged Impulse to pursue him, passing his position by a few meters before preparing another attack.
He aimed his bow directly at Caelan's shoulder.
"Maximum Flaming Shot!"
The arrow hit its target, and Enrico used the impact to close the distance even further. In midair, he fired two more Flaming Shots in quick succession, striking Caelan and sending his body crashing into the ground.
Taking advantage of the fall, Enrico spun in the air and prepared a downward kick, but his opponent managed to dodge by rolling across the ground. Enrico's foot struck the terrain, destroying a considerable portion of its surface.
'Damn... He's using Water Magic to constantly recover mana and heal himself.'
Enrico could observe Caelan's body regenerating. It wasn't just the recovery ability he had acquired because of his zombie-like condition.
There was also a bluish glow that constantly appeared around his wounds, indicating that he was using his own magic to accelerate his healing and recover some of the energy he had spent.
'Recovery and healing... You're becoming quite difficult to fight, Caelan.'
[Enrico, I managed to unlock the information. Let's see what the ability looks like now.]
"Great. Let's see..."
[Name: Caelan]
[Magic: Water — Circle Three, 14%]
[Mana Quantity: 480]
[Unique Ability: Corrupted — By sacrificing the user's life, they become stronger than they normally would upon reaching a Circle. Their body transforms into an undead being that obeys any order given by the person who offered this ability. After seven minutes, the user dies permanently, becoming an empty shell.]
[Soul: 71]
"What the hell kind of ability is that?!"
Enrico's eyes widened as he finished reading the description. For a moment, he was left speechless, trying to understand the true meaning of those words.
'No... Wait. Does that mean...'
[He... is already on the verge of death.]