Chapter 9: My Power Part III

  Ray

  'My mana is low, and my time is up. I don't think I can hold for more than 15 minutes. I'm about to witness for the first time the consequences of abusing my ability.' The exhaustion weighed heavily on me, clouding my judgment. I had countless ideas swirling in my mind, but none seemed viable. I needed to return to my group, but the man before me complicated everything. I needed to outthink him, to manipulate him into teleporting me back to my group while avoiding any further confrontation. Convincing him was my only viable path.

  "They will kill you... No, you will wish for death because they will keep you alive and torture you," the young man said. He lay on the ground, trembling, his desperation etched across his face as I loomed over him.

  "Who’s going to kill me if they’re all dead?" I replied, my eyes narrowing, projecting a menacing confidence.

  "You think you can kill a future king that easily?"

  "What’s that supposed to mean?" I snapped, my voice sharp.

  "You didn’t kill Marshall Elthias, and he will seek revenge."

  I froze, his words cutting through my fatigue. My plan had failed. From the fear in his eyes, I could tell he wasn’t lying. Masking my shock, I countered, "More precisely, he will seek revenge against you and your friend. You killed them with your combined abilities." I ended with a chilling smile.

  His terror deepened. My words made him confront the grim reality—he was responsible for the city’s destruction. No one would believe otherwise. Even if they did, he was still culpable for enabling me and giving me HumanX.

  "You killed them. It was HumanX that erased the city," I pressed, watching him unravel.

  The young man’s trembling worsened. Standing up, he spread his arms wide and said, "I’m ready. Please, kill me. Make it fast."

  I moved my massive hand slowly toward his face. He shut his eyes, bracing for the end. But instead, I placed my hand on his head and said, "Kid, what if I told you that you could live?"

  He opened his tear-filled eyes, looking at me with a flicker of hope. I continued, "One of my friends, the one you fought before, has the power to completely change your identity—your body, your scent, everything. You could start over, no one would ever know."

  "Can he really do that?" he asked, his voice trembling with disbelief.

  "After all, this was my backup plan if I failed to kill everyone and needed to hide my identity. All you need to do is help me find him."

  Relief washed over his face. "Where is that friend of yours? Where can we find him?"

  "First, take us back to where we fought before," I instructed. Without hesitation, he created a portal and teleported us to the battlefield.

  He didn’t realize how little time I had left. My body was breaking down, and I could barely move. I had only ten seconds before my curse would consume me.

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  "Now, where is he?" he asked, oblivious to my condition.

  '9.' I exited the muscular man’s body, and it collapsed to the ground.

  '8.' He ran to check on his fallen friend.

  '7.' I staggered behind him, drawing my sword.

  '6.' Without hesitation, I swung, severing his head in one clean motion. "As you asked, I made it fast and easy," I muttered.

  '5.' My weapon fell from my grasp as I began losing control of my body.

  '4.' Familiar voices echoed from the other side of the field. With my last ounce of strength, I turned my head toward them.

  '3.' I whispered, "Akira, I can’t..."

  '2.' My body froze.

  "One."

  Akira

  We finally spotted Ray after Benjiro alerted us to someone’s presence on the battlefield. Rushing to the scene, we arrived just in time to witness him kill the young man we had fought before. As his voice rang out, "One," his body stood motionless before us.

  But something changed. The dark, foreboding aura that usually surrounded Ray shifted to a bright white. He seemed like a completely different person. To my shock, he ran toward me and... hugged me.

  "Thank goodness, you’re all safe and sound," he said, his voice warm and unfamiliar.

  "Is it really you, Ray?" I asked, wary.

  He released me, laughing lightly. "Are you blind? Or have you forgotten what I look like, my friend?"

  We quickly realized this was his curse. His Grim Reaper ability came with a severe drawback. In this state, he was mindless, friendly, and entirely out of character. Selia and the others seemed delighted to see him so gentle, but Maki and I were uneasy.

  Moments later, a familiar sound snapped us back to reality. The muscular man stirred, coughing as he regained consciousness. We acted quickly, tying him up and hiding his companion’s body. We brought him back to our camp, now serving as our base.

  Ray, still in his cursed state, suddenly said, "He’s waking up. Do you guys know he’ll use his power to escape?"

  We stared at him, dumbfounded. He added cheerfully, "When I was in his body, I figured out his curse. He can’t use his power in darkness, but even a fraction of sunlight is enough for him to use it at full potential."

  Before he could finish, I grabbed the prisoner and locked him in the basement. Ray’s behavior was grating, but I managed to calm down.

  Ray’s antics worsened. While we debated the prisoner’s fate, a loud crash shook the ground. Running outside, we saw a massive hole near the house. Ray emerged, smiling sheepishly. "Oops! Sorry about that! I was just training and didn’t realize how strong I’ve become."

  Even Selia and Taki began feeling unsafe around him. We decided to meet outside the house while Ray was preoccupied with the prisoner.

  "I can’t stand him anymore," Maki said bluntly. "The boss would never act like this. Are we even sure it’s him?"

  Selia interjected, "Yes, it’s him."

  Maki’s eyes narrowed. "How do you know? How long are you going to hide your power from us?"

  "I don’t have a power," Selia insisted.

  Benjiro spoke up. "She’s lying." His tone was calm, but the subtle authority in his voice made it clear he wasn’t guessing. Benjiro’s ability, Wayves, allowed him to discern truth from lies by listening to the unique rhythm of a person’s heartbeat.

  Selia sighed in defeat. "Fine. But my power is useless. It doesn’t affect or harm anyone."

  "She’s telling the truth," Benjiro confirmed, his focus unwavering.

  "Enough," I said, cutting off the argument. "We need to decide what to do about Ray."

  Maki frowned. "You’re not suggesting killing him, are you?"

  "No," I clarified. "But we need to contain him. I’m worried he’ll do something reckless."

  ""How?" Taki asked. "If his cursed form can still use Ray's powers, he’ll be almost impossible to contain."

  Suddenly, Ray appeared, grinning. "First of all, they’re called blessings in this world." His aura had shifted back to its dark intensity. The curse was gone. Relief swept over us—until he added, "Secondly, your prisoner escaped."