The crew of General Chandler began to work like worker bees. Michael flew around the hall, trying to better understand how the mirrors worked. They looked like some kind of hybrid of magic and technology.
Michael noticed every mirror had a glass cube with a bright light glowing within.
"What kind of energy source is this?" Michael asked himself. He also saw wires running into and out of the glass cube to a copper box with several components and a complex web of wires inside.
"General Chandler," Michael stopped hovering around when he heard a loud mechanical voice echoing through the hall,
"Hand over Fergus to us,"
Michael saw the crew looking flustered, trying to free their systems from the hacker. He didn't know this world was familiar with the term hacking, but they were undoubtedly hacked by someone.
Everything happening in front of him piqued his curiosity to the next level. It was kinda relaxing to sit back and watch the chaos someone else had been creating. Instead, he was excited to see what would happen next while pondering why the shadow realm teleported him to Etheria.
"That's not going to happen," General Chandler calmly said,
They all waited for the hacker to respond, but they simply didn't.
Thud!
Suddenly, the ship jerked as something just hit the ship from above.
"The ship's defense systems have been deactivated…"
Michael heard the mechanical voice of the ship resonate in the hall. He could feel his excitement rising within his heart.
"Captain Ivy, go" General Chandler ordered IVy as she rushed out of the hall,
"Everyone" After sending Ivy away, General Chandler called out his crew,
"Go to the hangar bay,"
The crew members immediately stood up from their seats. They left for the door on the other side in an orderly manner without raising any objection to his word.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"General Chandler, what's happening here?" the tall, muscular guy asked, bewildered,
"You idiot. Don't you get it? He's here!" Fergus snapped,
"Let me go!" Fergus had no courage to stay with the UFH's recruits anymore. When he decided to surrender, he thought UFH would send him to the super prison or the Supreme ones. However, he never expected General Chandler would ask a bunch of amateurs to guard him.
Fergus had better chances to survive alone than with the newbies. Thus, he made up his mind to get the hell out of the place before the reaper could reach him.
Michael flew back to the elevated platform where he saw Captain Ivy returning to General along with a group of white armored soldiers carrying crossbows and spears.
"Harry," General Chandler turned his gaze to the youngster wearing sleeveless latex armor.
"Escort Fergus to bay fifteen. Captain Ivy-"
Boom!
The ship shook again, and they all heard a loud explosion coming from somewhere in the ship.
"GO!" General Chandler raised his voice as the group quickly turned around to leave the command center. However, they didn't even take a few steps toward the door when the door shut closed automatically.
"We are trapped," Fergus panted. His breathing turned heavier and heavier as he looked pale. Michael noticed Fergus kneading his hands nervously.
The soldiers behind Captain Ivy climbed down the stairs on each side of the platform to surround the hall.
The room was lit with red light, giving an eerie feeling to Michael.
Boom!
Yet again, they heard another sound reverberating in the hall. Though this time, it wasn't the sound of an explosion but sounded like someone banging the ceiling above them.
"Prepare for battle," General Chandler gravely said. Michael could see the dark frowns on his face. He seemed confident and calm, but his voice had a tinge of concern.
The more Michael saw their reactions, the more curious he became. He wanted to see who the reaper was and how they fought in Etheria.
Bang!
The ship trembled yet again, and the mirrors flickered until they turned black. The room turned gloomier and darker after the mirrors went off.
Afterward, the banging sound finally stopped. The eerie silence haunted the room, making every passing second a daunting experience.
"Let's see what makes this reaper a big deal," the muscular guy cracked his knuckles,
"Harry, do you think your team is ready?" General Chandler asked Harry without turning back. He still looked at the empty command center before him.
"I think we are gonna find out," Harry sounded a little bit nervous,
"We are all dead," Fergus just collapsed to the ground. There was no fight left in him. However, Lenora was several times more powerful than him, and she was a gifted one. She not only possessed the power of charm, which puts people under her influence, but also the power to make plant life do as she wishes.
She could kill anyone with a single kiss by sending the deadly toxins in her body into her prey. She was one of the most feared supervillains in all Etheria, yet Fergus saw The Reaper slaughtering her like cattle. She stood no chance against him, none at all.
BANG!
The ship trembled violently as a huge chunk of the wooden ceiling came down, crushing several mirrors under and creating a cloud of dust in the center of the room.
Captain Ivy and her men immediately surrounded the cloud of mist as Michael vaguely saw a silhouette standing in the mist. Ivy and her men slowly approached the center when they saw the shadow of wings appearing in the wall behind the mist.
"The man with the wings," Michael recalled the engravings on the wall he saw. The wings and the silhouette of the figure looked precisely the same as the engraving. Now Michael wondered who the other person in the drawing was, the one who was watching the man with the wings battling a lady with hundreds of arms.
"The Reaper,'' Fergus mumbled, and when Michael looked down, he noticed a wet spot enlarging on his brown pants. Fergus had literally pissed himself just by looking at the reaper.
It was apparent to Michael that whoever the reaper was, he put the fear of gods in his enemies' hearts.
Boom!
Ivy and her men were just a few meters away from the reaper when he flapped his feathery wings. The next moment, a powerful shock wave created by the flap of his wings sent Ivy and her men crashing onto the wall behind them.
Although Michael was not in his physical form to feel the shock wave, he could guess the force by looking at the trembling platform. The youngsters and General Chandler had to hold onto the rails to avoid stumbling down.
Michael looked around to see Ivy and her men lying on the ground without any movements. Some even bled because of how badly they hit the wall before falling onto the ground.
"Dang," the girl chewing a gum stick blew out a bubble and exclaimed.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmThe shock wave cleared the cloud of dust, revealing the reaper to everyone in the hall. As soon as Michael's gaze swept the reaper, he was hit with a familiar feeling. The Reaper wore a long black coat and a suit of armor that seemed like it was made of kevlar and some metal plates underneath.
His raven black hair, how he dressed and the cold murderous look in his eyes reminded Michael of himself. Besides, Michael had a feeling that he had seen him in life before.
To be honest, Michael thought the reaper would be old or at least a middle-aged man after seeing how they acted. However, the reaper was a young man. At most, he would be twenty-five or twenty-six, definitely not more than that.
"Give me Fergus and no one has to get hurt here," The Reaper's voice sounded like a death bell, clear, loud, and dossed in full of killing intent.
"Except you," the tall muscular guy leaped from the platform and landed a few meters away from The Reaper.
"Carl!" Harry shouted, trying to stop him, but it was too late.
Carl walked towards The Reaper, cracking his knuckles.
"Get ready to taste my knuckle sandwich," Carl snickered.
When Carl got a hand reaching distance to The Reaper, he closed his fist and threw a punch. Regardless of his size, Carl surprised Michael with his speed. However, The Reaper surprised him more by easily evading the punch with a sway of his body.
Pulch!
The next moment, Carl caught up blood,
"CARL!" his team shouted as they saw a black sword sticking out of Carl's back.
Harry and the others were stunned beyond words. Their minds went blank as they had never seen Carl bleed until now. Carl was the team's defender whose power was super strength and impenetrable skin. His powers made Carl a feared superhero among the young generation of heroes.
Carl's legs became weak and as a result, he fell on The Reaper. The teammates were still shocked while The Reaper twisted the sword sticking through Carl's back.
"Trintium Blade," The Reaper patted Carl's back and sent his sword deeper into Carl's gut. As a sword expert himself, Michael could tell that a stab would not take Carl's life but immobilize him. The Reaper could have easily bent his back and swung his sword across Carl's head. But The Reaper chose not, which showed Michael that The Reaper spared Carl's life when he could have taken his life without breaking a sweat.
Finally, the teammates snapped out of their shock and leaped at The Reaper with uncontrollable anger and fury. Michael looked at each youngster closely to see what their superpower was.
The one wearing a tiger suit leaped into the air with such finesse and ease, showing her acrobatic skills. Then, Michael noticed Harry dashing at The Reaper with superhuman speed, followed by the youngster with the eagle emblem on his chest. The young man's fist lit up as lightning bolts crackled around his wrist.
The last one in the group was the young girl chewing a stick of gum. Instead of following her teammates, she remained on the platform. Michael wondered what her superpower was, and his question was soon answered when a golden bow materialized in her hands.
"You had sent them to their death," Fergus mumbled with all of his six hands on his head. He seemed to have already accepted his death because he didn't even try to escape.
Meanwhile, the wings just disappeared from sight as The Reaper drew his sword out of Carl.