Late at night on Knight Road, outside number 26, accompanied by a series of gunshots, the conflict, which should have subsided, instantly erupted under the manipulation of a deliberate person, making a fierce battle unavoidable.
Provoked and thinking the Hunters were going to wipe them out, the gang thugs picked up their weapons and howled as they charged towards the surrounding Hunters.
Knight Road was not wide, and the distance between the gang thugs and the Hunters was very close. The Hunters had just fired a round of bullets and hadn't had time to reload yet when the gang thugs charged up, howling. Helplessly, they had no choice but to draw their sabers and engage in close combat.
Although it was close combat, the Hunters were not afraid of these thugs. Hunters were generally excellent individuals selected from the police force and possessed high combat skills after professional training, far superior to these gang thugs. Even though they were outnumbered, the Hunters were still confident they could cut down all these thugs.
Under normal circumstances, the Hunters would unilaterally slaughter the thugs, but the current situation was not normal...
Those eerie, invisible Ghosts acted up in the Hunters' bodies again. The Hunters were astonished to find their movements becoming sluggish again, completely unable to deliver sharp counterattacks against the charging thugs, and could only passively defend, being forced back step by step. They pulled back their battle lines back-to-back to avoid being surrounded by the numerically superior thugs.
"Haha! These guys are just for show! Brothers, kill them!"
Seeing the enemies they originally thought were formidable being forced back step by step, the thugs' momentum grew even stronger. They wielded their crude weapons and hacked at the Hunters haphazardly. Several Hunters, struggling to parry due to the Ghosts' influence, were wounded by inferior weapons. Fortunately, their uniforms were specially made, lightweight yet providing some protection.
Standing behind the window on the fourth floor of a street-side building, Geffrey manipulated his Ghosts to disrupt the battle below. He wanted the thugs to defeat the Hunters, threaten Anna, and then force a potential Extraordinary behind Anna to make a move. That Extraordinary might be the target he was looking for.
"Just hurry up and die, Black Dogs... If that kid isn't truly threatened, the one behind the scenes won't step in..."
Looking at the scene below, Geffrey muttered, hoping and anticipating that some kind of "Stone" Extraordinary power would descend upon the scene.
The melee continued, and the Hunters' situation was far from optimistic. Just then, a swift Shadow rushed into the battlefield. Wearing an iron mask, Grego wielded his sharp blade, cutting down three thugs in a few moves. The blade, attached with "Shadow," easily severed the thugs' bodies. Blood spurted out, nearly causing the thugs, who had been arrogant moments before, to stumble in fright.
Originally, seeing only some petty thieves, Grego did not personally step forward, letting his subordinates handle these thugs. However, he did not expect his usually capable subordinates to perform like this, so he had no choice but to immediately take action.
'Something's not right... This battle is very strange... Something must have gone wrong, but never mind, I'll just cut down these guys first.'
Thinking this, Grego continued to advance and slash with his saber, and his actions were seen by Geffrey, who was hidden upstairs.
"A Stealth Shadow? Heh, it's normal for an Apprentice to lead the team, but they are just Apprentices..."
Muttering, Geffrey waved the bone artifact in his hand. Immediately, three Ghosts drilled out from the bodies of the wounded, fallen Hunters and all drilled into Grego's body.
Suddenly, just as Grego was about to swing his sword and split a thug's head in half, he suddenly felt his body disobey him. His entire body's movement stopped abruptly, freezing there motionless. Grego wanted to move but felt a sharp pain in his muscles.
'This is...'
Facing this situation, Grego couldn't help but widen his eyes in astonishment. And the thug who was nearly cut to death by him, seeing Grego suddenly unable to move, his expression turned fierce after a moment of stunned, and he charged towards Grego with a small knife. Grego, controlled by the Ghosts, was completely unable to move against this attack and could only watch with wide eyes as the small knife he could easily dodge on a normal day stabbed towards him unimpeded.
"Thud!!"
Just then, a large iron hammer smashed fiercely into the face of the thug holding the small knife from the side, cracking his skull, knocking out his teeth, and sending him spraying blood as he fell to the ground beside him, completely losing his life.
The saved Grego looked at this scene in astonishment. He turned his gaze to the owner of the iron hammer, seeing a thug covered in blood, with a robust build. He held the hammer, stained with blood and tissue, with lifeless eyes. After glancing at Grego, he picked up the hammer again and smashed it fiercely at his companion beside him, directly splitting open another thug's head.
'What's going on? Are, are these guys killing each other?'
Seeing this scene, Grego thought with some astonishment. He scanned the chaotic battlefield around him and found that there were indeed a few thugs covered in blood suddenly attacking their companions.
"Damn it! Barry, what the hell are you doing!"
With some thugs suddenly attacking their teammates, other thugs began to curse and fight back. For a time, thugs started fighting among themselves, and the scene became even more chaotic.
...
'What happened... Why did those people suddenly start killing each other? Did the one behind the scenes make a move? No... This doesn't look like the Extraordinary ability of'Stone'.'
Looking at the new situation on the field, Geffrey thought, and then he drew two more Ghosts from the Hunters, possessing a thug who was attacking his companion, preparing to slow down his actions. However, after possessing him, he discovered the problem.
"This is... a Flesh Puppet? It wasn't'Stone' that intervened, but 'cup'...?"
Geffrey muttered, now able to feel that another hidden Extraordinary power was influencing the battlefield below, manipulating pieces and confronting him.
...
At this moment, on the other side of Knight Road, on the rooftop of another building, Dorothy was standing here, also looking down at the chaotic battlefield below.
Through the Corpse Puppet Ring, Dorothy quietly raised the corpses of the thugs who had died in the melee and began to constantly stab the thugs from within, and incidentally saved Grego. Relying on the Corpse Puppet Ring, she also began to secretly intervene in this chaotic battle.
"An Extraordinary who manipulates Ghosts? As expected, working overtime still yields results..."
...
The gaze returned to the battlefield. At this point, the battle situation had begun to undergo a major turning point. The thugs, who were originally full of momentum, were thrown into disarray by the inexplicable attacks from their companions. In contrast, in order to seal Grego's actions, Geffrey had infused three Ghosts into his body, and then infused two Ghosts to stop the Corpse Puppets. Geffrey could only control a maximum of five Ghosts, so the Hunters were instantly no longer disturbed by the Ghosts.
With their wounds, the Hunters gritted their teeth and immediately counterattacked. Several thugs were instantly cut down. Seeing a large number of companions starting to die around them, the thugs' originally arrogant momentum disappeared instantly. Already in disarray, they screamed and scattered, no one wanting to continue fighting.
"Hmph, useless things..."
Looking at the scene below, Geffrey snorted coldly and then waved the bone artifact in his hand, withdrawing all the Ghosts from the possessed individuals. Grego's actions instantly returned to normal.
'Don't think it's over just like that... My goal hasn't been achieved yet...'
Thinking this silently, Geffrey waved the bone artifact in his hand, directing five Ghosts to quickly float towards the same direction.
The direction the Ghosts floated towards was a flower bed, and in the grass of the flower bed was a briefcase, which Geffrey had hidden beforehand.
Under Geffrey's manipulation, the five Ghosts all poured into the briefcase, and then the briefcase automatically opened, revealing its contents under the light of the street lamp.
They were five half-meter long, serrated bone blades made of white bone, without handles.
Now, the five Ghosts were respectively attached to the five bone blades, and then the five bone blades floated up out of thin air, pointing towards the battlefield not far away.
"Witness... the power belonging to a Bonecrafter..."
Muttering, Geffrey remotely controlled the five floating bone blades within his sight and rushed towards the Hunters and Grego.