The Extra Wants Control

But Neveah sidestepped the attack returning with a kick that sent him crashing into his fallen comrade.

"You there" Neveah started sat back on his bed again. "You didn\'t attack. Why?"

The cautious thief, his face pale...he was horrified "Survival instinct," he said.

Neveah thought for a second while nodding

"Okay... Now I want you to hand over your tokens and you\'ll get to live." Said Neveah as he formed an ice basket.

The thieves, their arrogance shattered knew they had to obey. They fumbled with their pockets in fear.

The cautious one, avoiding eye contact, simply slipped his tokens onto the basket and moved backward.

*************

" Fush... Fwaaahh" fists against air echoed through the deserted training yard. Sweat slicked Kai\'s bare chest as he unleashed a combo of punches and kicks, movements honed from years of practice.

Suddenly, a hurried voice broke the training pace. A servant, his face etched with worry, rushed into the training room. "Sir! There\'s a lot of movement in the city," he said panting, struggling to catch his breath. "People are incoming, strong ones, weak ones, it doesn\'t matter they are coming here.

And the strong ones...We\'re talking seven and eight stars maybe with a couple of strong pseudo seven stars in the mix."

Kai stopped mid-punch, his focus sharpening. "Seven and eight stars, you say? This early?" he murmured. "It seems things are heating up faster than expected."

"Indeed, sir," the servant confirmed, bowing his head slightly. "More importantly, there\'s been… trouble."

Kai\'s brow furrowed. "What kind of trouble?"

"Your brother, sir. He, along with a few friends, went to rob someone who arrived earlier. This person was wearing… a black mask."

Kai froze, his body tensing like a coiled spring. "Black mask? You don\'t mean…"

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"That\'s what worries me, sir," the servant stammered. "The rumors about the black masked man who wrecked that street earlier…"

Kai\'s jaw clenched tight, his knuckles turning white as he gripped an imaginary foe. "Go get my brother," he growled, his aura flaring..."NOW!"

"Yes sir... ," the servant said,

" Also...prepare the boys to move. Something big is about to happen."

"Understood," the servant replied, scurrying away with urgency.

Kai remained rooted to the spot, his mind a hurricane of thoughts. The black masked man, the incoming force… these events might be separate, but why did it all seem connected...

"That black masked man may be the one who smashed the street," he muttered, piecing together the puzzle. "And these newcomers… they could be after my tokens, after me… or after that black masked man. I need to be ready. For anything."

He glanced toward the horizon, and Kai took a deep, steadying breath, a warrior preparing for the storm that was about to break.

*********

The stench of blood, piss and sweat lingering after the thieves\' hasty departure.

Neveah watched them disappear into the labyrinthine alleyways, the sound of their retreating footsteps muffled by the city\'s noise.

Before they left, with a sigh, Neveah surveyed the aftermath – shattered glass on the floor, a crimson stain and the transparent liquid on the floor.

"Clean it up," he ordered, his voice devoid of emotion but laced with a power and authority that left no room for argument.

The thieves especially, the cautious one, flinched and scrambled to obey, his eyes darting nervously at the dark-red energy that crackled faintly around Neveah\'s body.

They had already deposited their hard-gotten tokens into a ice basket by the door, their movements nervous and hesitant.

Once the room was presentable, or at least passable, Neveah dismissed them... It now brings us to the current situation.

Alone once more, Neveah collapsed back onto the bed making the creaking sounds.

His eyes closed but he didn\'t go to sleep.

A restless cool wind, carrying the murmur of the city got in through the broken window.

The city\'s noise became softer by the moment then a sudden, unsettling silence.

Neveah\'s eyes slowly opened, sensing an approaching threat.

Before he could react, six feminine figures materialized in the room, their masked faces twisted in malicious grins.

With haste swinging their blades, they descended upon him.

A single, swift movement from Neveah turned the air crimson. A clean line, almost surgical, traced across the attackers\' faces. Yet, instead of cries of pain they were surprised and their body\'s stopped moving, an eerie silence descended.

In a gory display, the top halves of their heads slid off effortlessly, revealing soft flesh and bone.

But Neveah wasn\'t done icy stakes materialized within the hollowed torsos, piercing the attackers\' hearts,\' always make sure they die\' that\'s what he was taught.

Their life extinguished and the bodies crumpled lifelessly to the floor.

Neveah stood, the faint traces of his dark energy flickering like flames around his body. With a wave of his hand the energy spread to the six corpses, they writhed and pulsed with the energy coiling around the fallen figures.

Then from their shadows rose six soldiers. They were back to life again but not quite alive. They were serving Neveah now.

Heaving a sigh, Neveah surveyed the scene through the window.

The glimpse of the outside. People passing by, a mix of weary tavern patrons and curious onlookers, some just walking then suddenly they were craning their necks, their expressions manic and emotionless as if they were puppets. They looked at Neveah as if he was the enemy.

Then among these people Neveah saw a bunch of other people who were dressed like hus atrackers and most likely they were responsible for whatever this was.

"Here we go again," Neveah muttered, a hint of exhaustion in his voice.

He understood what was about to happen.

With another sigh, he walked towards the empty window, and in a blink, he leaped out, falling in the middle of the street.

A chaotic wave of hatred crashing towards Neveah. Men, women, even children who were now out of the buildings, their faces contorted in rage, charged at him with makeshift weapons they could find – rusty pipes, sharpened sticks, even sharpened spoons held with trembling hands, some women lunged at him with their purses.

It was a horrifying display of mass hysteria.

Neveah\'s made an ice domw where he was in, and looked curiously at the attackers. Was this some kind of twisted illusion? Were they all under some sort of mind control? The people outside were banging the dome, kicking, punching, head butting, biting and others were clawing it.

A child, eyes blazing with manic rage, lunged at the dome with a sharpened spoon, only to be flung back by an invisible wave of force. Neveah had enough.

The gravity magic surged within him. A wave of it pulsed outwards, rippling through the crowd.

The weaker attackers, those without any high magical rank, found themselves abruptly pressed against the ground, the sudden shift in gravity made them look like pressed cockroaches wanting to get out of a spoon hold.

But even with half the crowd incapacitated, the remaining attackers, those who were stronger pressed on.

"Are they under a charm? But this large scale? It looks like something I would do, well when I\'m a bit stronger... Maybe Verona can, still to make a quater of the city attack me ...what is happening" he thought, searching for a way to subdue them without causing further harm afterall they were hus future people.

He then called out his shadow soldiers.

A new wave of attackers surged forward, their eyes just looked empty, but at the same time angry.

With a mental command, he addressed his shadow soldiers.

"Target only those at seven stars and above the hostile ones basically! As for the civilians just subdue…" he thought of something for a minute then said. "Just don\'t do anything I wouldn\'t do."

The shadow soldiers paused for a mere second, then their attack patterns shifted. They began attacking the \'hostile\' ones according to Neveah who were the people in masks and uniform who attacked him before, killing a few at the same time Neveah made more soldiers... With every death a new soldier rose.

As for the \'non-hostiles\' they were knocked out, or binded.

Neveah watched this impressed. He wanted this to end quickly...

He knew that couldn\'t afford to be overwhelmed by emotions. That he needed a plan, a way to navigate this twisted nightmare and find a way to save these people, and find out what\'s making them so mad.

With a deep breath, he scanned the rooftops, his gaze searching for any sign of the puppeteer behind this disturbing spectacle.

With all madness that was happening, well somewhere amidst the madness, Neveah knew, there had to be an answer and he had to find it.