Wooosh...
Feeling a sudden influx of wind from behind his head, Cane quickly turned round and was met with the sight of a wide open, gaping maw.
And a great deal of teeth.
F*ck!
He swung upward, and barely managed to make Susie's phantom dog explode from the impact of his knuckles. Seeing the dog dissipate, he turned around to face Susie once more.
"Is that all you've got?"
It was definitely a mistake to plant a flag so early into the fight, as Susie quickly followed up with a hand motion.
From the shadows of the night, more than 20 phantom dogs were appearing, led by a wolf huge enough to overshadow Cane's height. The pack stopped in front of Cane, staring him down.
Damn! I thought Susie could only have 1 summoned dog at any given time!
"Let me guess what you're thinking... "Damn! I thought Susie could only have 1 summoned dog at any given time!", right?"
"... How did you know!"
Instead of answering, she simply smiled in response. Then she changed the topic.
"Actually, I've been hiding this secret all along. Did you really think an Apprentice Warrior's abilities could ever be so weak!"
Oh, villain monologue time? Good, I can use this to my advantage.
Also, since when did Susie become an Apprentice Warrior? Is this the same for everyone else?
Cane stealthily put his hand behind his back, materialising a Plasma Pistol from his Hiding Spot, using Steal. Meanwhile, Susie continued with her monologue.
"My real ability is called Dog Pack. I can summon an Alpha Wolf to lead a certain number of phantom dogs. When not in use, they're simply stored in my mind... I only ever summoned one phantom dog at any given time, specifically to fool other people."
"For so many years, I-"
Bzzt! Boom!
Cane cut her off mid-sentence, firing a large-calibre energy bolt into the Alpha wolf's head. It directly roasted off the fur, knocking the Alpha Wolf's head backward far enough to snap it.
"Sh*t, I was still talking! Kill him!"
At her command, the rest of the dogs leapt toward Cane. He put on the Mask of Truth, and his perception of the world began to speed up, making the dogs appear to leap in slow motion.
It was Cane's first time using the Dynamic Vision function, and it seemed to be quite useful. Additionally, he used Steal to take out something from Hiding Spot - an item he hadn't used in a long while.
The Time Pills.
Much like the Mask of Truth's Dynamic Vision function, Time Pills could also double the user's perception speed for 5 minutes, with the downside being that after 5 minutes, there would be a 3 minute period where the user's perception would slow by two times as well.
With Cane's ability to clone pills and dissipate them using Steal, he could effectively circumvent the downsides of Time Pills, as long as he kept a good sense of time.
Now at this point, it seemed like the exposition had already gone on for a very long time, and by all rights, the phantom dogs should've reached Cane!
But, having both taken Time Pills and activated Dynamic Vision, the dogs now looked as if they were trying to move through honey. Coupled with the fact that Cane's speed pretty much outmatched everyone around him, he was now in an extremely safe position.
If I was in a movie, some sort of slow-paced song would probably begin playing in the background right now.
Cane used Steal, and his dagger appeared in his hand. Walking forward casually, and occasionally dodging, he slashed each dog in the throat as he passed them by. Each time he did so, they disappeared, likely because they were only phantoms to begin with.
By the time they were all gone, which only took a few minutes, Cane had reached the final target.
I'm sorry, Susie. Ehh... actually, not really.
To spare her a bit of the pain, he shot her in the head with the Plasma Pistol, killing her instantly. Just a few seconds after, the drawbacks of the cloned Time Pills kicked in, and Cane thus dissipated them.
Cane shrugged. "Well, that wasn't too difficult at all."
He turned around, and stopped. Facing him was Rake, who'd been woken up by the commotion.
"Rake. I want you to know, this isn't what you're thinking."
"I'm thinking that you just killed Susie a few seconds ago???"
"... Well, yeah that's true, but it's not for any fun reason, trust me."
Cane attempted to get closer to Rake, but he moved back in response. Seeing this, Cane could only continue talking.
"The truth is-"
"GUYS! WAKE UP!!!"
Before he was able to continue mirroring the exact same scene as the previous chapter, Rake suddenly yelled out loud.
Then, he turned, activated Rush, and sped away.
As each person quickly awoke, they saw Cane, holding a dagger and Plasma Pistol.
And Susie's dead body right behind him, with a bullet wound in her forehead.
"... Cane, what the f*ck am I looking at?"
That was from James. He knew exactly what he was seeing, but he didn't want to believe it.
Cane opened his mouth to speak, but-
Wooosh!
A large torrent of black mist funneled past the Mask of Truth, and into his mouth. Nick wasn't nearly as nice as James, and upon seeing the scene before him, he'd already determined that Cane was the one who'd killed Isaac.
Sh*t, he's inside of me! How do I get him out???
Seeing Nick already take action, Cassidy knew there were no other options but to attack. Even if she did nothing, Cane would retaliate against everyone. That being the case, she decided to activate Nightmare.
Nightmare!
In the meanwhile, Dalton had already activated Battle Song, buffing everyone except Cane. Rake came back around, rushing in from behind. James had reluctantly pulled his arm back for a full-powered swing, and from inside of Cane's body, Nick's Light Explosion was on the verge of releasing.
Then...
Poof! Cane had disappeared.
Instead of smashing his fist against Cane's back, Rake was met with a full-force Light Explosion, making him fly backward while sizzling. Likewise, James' fist, which should've landed on Cane's face, was instead burnt severely by the Light Explosion.
Cassidy's nose began to bleed from backlash for failing to lock onto her target, and Nick reformed visibly more transparent.
In one move, almost everyone had been injured by Cane!
A moment later, Cane reappeared. He had simply used Hiding Spot the way it was originally intended to be used.
BOOM!
James slammed his foot on the floor, creating a crumbling effect that reached Cane! They were on the second floor, and so in the next moment, Cane was falling.
Although James' arm was completely burnt, under the effects of Desperation, he was actually the most combat-ready among all of them. James quickly jumped after Cane, with Cassidy Teleporting after him. Nick followed as well, almost as fast.
Bang!
As James passed through the hole, the first thing he was met with was Cane's fist! His head tilted backward from the impact, but he simultaneously swung his uninjured arm into Cane's chest.
"Sh*t!"
Cane flew backward from the Desperation-filled punch, and he even felt his ribs creaking from the impact. Just as he was stabilising himself, a fist landed on his head from behind!
It was Cassidy, who'd used Teleport to sneak up on him. While not as powerful as James, she was still an Apprentice Warrior - though only a new one - and this strike had impacted the back of Cane's head! He was instantly put into a daze.
Nightmare!
She tried to drag Cane into a Nightmare once more, and faced backlash again. This time, it was for forcing her ability on someone higher ranked than her.
"Nick, do it!"
While Cane was still frozen, Nick turned into mist again, funneling toward Cane's face in preparation to enter him.
"Achhoo!!"
Don't underestimate a Warrior's sneeze.
Having felt something tickle his nose, Cane involuntarily sneezed as an instinctive response! The power of it simultaneously dissipated Nick and blew him backward, while making Cane recoil so much that he woke up.
He turned around, grabbing Cassidy by the neck and lifting her up. He squeezed, and a creaking noise was produced. He was only moments from crushing her neck when she once again used Teleport.
Meanwhile, James had finally shook off the daze that a Warrior's full-force punch had induced in him. Seeing Cane lifting up Cassidy at that moment, his body already leapt off the ground and tackled at Cane from behind.
Crash!
The force of the impact almost bent Cane backward, like the shape of a shrimp. He cursed and turned around, sending a knee to James' face, before driving his dagger deep into James' shoulder!
"AHH! F*ck!"
While James was still in pain, Cane pressed the button at the base of the dagger, making the blade shoot into his body and pierce several organs! With this, James was definitely going to die. However, the situation was even more dangerous now...
Because on the verge of death, Desperation's buff became exponentially more powerful! And with each passing moment, it'd only become more and more powerful - until total bodily failure.
Previously, James' right arm had been completely burnt, and now his left shoulder was completely pierced through. Because of the blade in the left side of his body, he switched back to using his right arm.
BOOM!
The punch landed on Cane's cheek, leaving behind a bit of burnt skin and flesh from James' knuckles. Cane was also knocked sideways, tumbling through the air!
He flew through a wall, crumbling it, and landed outside - rolling a few times before coming to a complete halt.
James almost buckled to the floor, but he was held up by Cassidy just in time. She was in bad shape too, having taken the backlash of Nightmare's failure twice.
A moment later, Nick reformed next to the two of them, almost completely see-through. It'd taken quite a while for his body to reform, especially because of the Light Explosion usage. Dalton also came over, supporting Rake over his shoulder.
The five of them had a staredown with Cane, who'd stood up once more.
After a few tense seconds, Cane lifted his arms and aimed at them! In both hands, Plasma Pistols had suddenly appeared-
Bzzt! Bzzt!
The Plasma Pistols began rapid-firing, and Dalton released Battle Song.
While not nearly as helpful as Susie's "Healing" would've been, a buff was still a buff. James straightened up, and Rake stood on his own. Nick became more corporeal, and Cassidy felt that she could use Nightmare one more time. But just one.
Supporting 4 people at once, especially injured, was exceptionally difficult. Dalton would've been able to use Blind, if this hadn't been the case - and Cane was glad for that fact.
Regarding the incoming energy bolts, James once again slammed his foot into the ground, causing it to rise up and block them! Following that, Rake activated Rush and Hook, using the raised ground as a platform to jump even further - straight at Cane!
In response, Cane aimed towards Rake, intending to shoot at him mid-air. Before he could pull the trigger, Nick had turned to mist before flying over and covering his hands. Then, he turned back to solid form - effectively trapping his arms.
Bang! Pattapattapatt!
Rake landed on Cane's head, shoes first - before pummeling Cane's torso at high speeds. His arms moved so quickly that they blurred, and if Cane hadn't been wearing clothes at the moment, any viewer would see his skin constantly rippling from the impact.
James also exploded forward, cracking the ground beneath his feet. He was in the worst shape, and all he could do was ram his body into Cane's. However, the impact was still too much for Cane to bear, causing him to fly upward into a building wall.
Due to the force, Nick was knocked off of Cane's arms once more. Meanwhile, Cane - embedded in the wall - shoved his fist through the special concrete and ripped out a piece of rebar. He pushed off the wall, making it crumble even more, and fell towards Dalton.
Currently, the 5 were barely holding on, only due to Dalton's Battle Song. Without it, Cane would be able to tire them out and win easily.
As he got closer and closer, he could even see himself being reflected in Dalton's fearful eyes.
Squish!
The rebar found itself firmly embedded into Dalton's throat, and the teen collapsed. He pulled the rebar out in a fluid motion, and threw it at Cassidy, who had been beside Dalton - and still looking for an opportunity to use Nightmare. The rebar was thrown with such force that it directly smashed through her skull, making her head explode.
"Sh*t! Die already!!"
Nick and Rake, the fastest of the 5, were too late. They could only watch Cassidy die, and hopefully get revenge. But without Battle Song, they could feel themselves slowing down already.
Steal!
In Cane's hand, a taser suddenly appeared. This taser... Nick remembered, it was the one he'd used in the previous tournament.
... Oh, f*ck.
ZZzzapp!!
Nick began to deform and writhe, losing his body shape. Sometimes tentacles would form, hundreds of golden eyes, looking entirely like an eldritch entity, an Extraterrestrial Demon!
All of this happened in a span of a moment, before his deformed body collapsed and turned into an electrically-charged cloud of mist.
One that enveloped Rake, who was behind him, still rushing forward.
"AARRGHHHH!"
The two began to convulse, and Rake slowly became more and more blackened inside of the cloud. He was being cooked alive by the electricity. Before long, Rake's dried husk of a body was left.
Nick didn't fare much better. With every second that passed, more and more of his body was evaporating. Soon, only a dark core was left, which Cane picked up.
Could this be Nick's core body?
He crushed it between his fingers.
Cane finally sat down, looking at James. Without Battle Song, James would've long died - barely being kept alive. The moment that Cane killed Dalton, James had already collapsed, unable to move.
Cane slowly watched James bleed out.