Second Genesis

Grey didn’t have a teleportation path to this person. Instead, he simply moved that fast, so fast, in fact, that he didn’t even seem to have the time to drop the six people he was holding. It was like he felt that even that would take too much time, so he didn’t bother.

Instead, he jumped into the air, his foot smashing out right toward the person’s face.

To Grey’s surprise, his heel passed right through as though the person wasn’t even truly standing there at all.

Mauve and the others looked on in shock, not knowing what Grey was doing. Was he trying to assert dominance? If so, he had probably picked the right target, but the timing wasn’t good.

There was more than one of those shadow-shrouded people. In fact, there were 15 of them total.

There were three zones most likely to win and come out on top, but it could be said that almost everyone had their bets on this group. And honestly speaking, even Mauve, Stella, and Brad hoped that it would be the three of them that won as well.

The reason for that was in their number. There were 15 of them, but they highly doubted that one zone just happened upon 15 powerful people who all happened to share the same power.

In a situation like this one, Occam’s razor certainly applied. Meaning, their First Ranker was probably someone who recognized the value of teamwork early on and decided to invest in their Second to Fifth Rankers.

Having a leader like that, someone who knew how to share, would be ideal if they couldn’t hold onto power themselves. But they didn’t know how their luck could be so bad.

The last piece of the puzzle finally slid into place. It wasn’t just that Grey was a silly guy who could have never been the mass murderer they thought he was, but he was reckless as well.

He had just appeared and he instantly attacked the one group that people actually somewhat liked... because of course he did.

Grey landed deftly on the ground despite the unexpected miss and the people in his arms. He wondered if the ability he just experienced would be similar to what happened when he used the new ability of his Shadow Forces.

However, in that brief instant just now, he realized the aura of this person was off. He had slipped through them and a lot of what they shrouded with their darkness became more real and tangible in his senses.

This person wasn’t Amunet.

But he didn’t believe that this person didn’t know Amunet.

"Where is Amunet?" Grey asked coldly.

The figure froze, and then a heavy, dark voice echoed.

"How do you know that name?"

"I’m the one asking questions here, bozo. Unless you want a foot that actually connects this time, I’d advise you answer."

Grey could practically feel the figure sneer, and that was about enough for him.

He jumped again, this time even faster than last. His foot surged forward. The figure didn’t move at all, as though to prove a point.

But then Grey retracted his foot mid-air and pivoted his hips, slashing out a roundhouse kick.

BANG.

It landed solidly and the man went sprawling across the floor. By the time he came to a stop, the shadows that shrouded him had become sparse fluctuations that threatened to give out.

Grey dumped the bodies he was carrying and then walked forward, picking the man up by his neck.

"Now, what have we learned?"

The man’s face flickered in and out, his shadows struggling to keep up. There was a flicker of fear in the man’s eyes masking a defiance, but he couldn’t seem to think clearly enough to pick a lane right now.

"I’ll ask you one more time. Where is Amunet? She has something that isn’t hers."

The man seemed to pick defiance, and then fury after Grey said this.

What Grey didn’t know was that because of their shadow-shrouding abilities, no one knew that Amunet was a woman, and no one knew that she had yet to appear as well.

Amunet had wanted to keep this fact a secret because she felt it would be easier for her to lead if everyone just assumed she was a man. She wouldn’t even have to lead herself, they all looked the same when they were shadows anyway.

Luckily, the man’s brain started working again and he realized that even though Grey was asking for Amunet and had revealed that she was a woman, that didn’t mean others would automatically assume that was their First Ranker.

But... if Grey was so powerful, Amunet might be forced to fight, and then it would be revealed anyway.

They had to deal with this Grey before he could make a real commotion.

A flash of determination sparkled in the man’s eye.

BANG.

Grey smashed his nose in with a forehead. The determination in the man’s eyes petered and swayed, his eyes crossing as he lost sense of which direction was up and which was down.

Those in the bazaar couldn’t fathom what they were watching. There was a point they felt that the shadows were untouchable, a single monolithic group where every one of them was a shocking powerhouse.

Now one of those powerhouses was being pulled and tugged around like a pathetic wimp. They didn’t even know how to feel.

And who was Amunet, exactly? For someone so powerful to be so invested in finding her, who could she be to the First Ranker’s group? 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

The sound of a commotion caught Grey’s attention. He half expected to look up and see more shadows, but that wasn’t what happened.

Instead, there was this behemoth of a man who appeared with a belly as solid and round as a wok and a nearly bald head. But rather than shave it completely down to the skin, for whatever reason he had decided to dot his hair with donut-shaped circles instead, completing what could only be said to be an odd look.

His gaze landed on the two groups of three Grey had made short work of and his eyes flashed with rage.

Grey was instantly annoyed. But hey, it was his fault for asking for their First Ranker. Someone must have gone to get him.