The Pale Man's Identity

Louis bared his sword upright, ready to face the pale-faced man.

"Oh. And who might you be?" The man asked.

"It doesn't matter. Get prepared because I won't stop once I begin attacking."

"I planned on keeping you alive for my entertainment. But you're bad manors will not be forgiven!"

The man swiped his hand through the air and the giant hammer smashed down onto Louis's position.

Smash! Crackle!

A cloud of debris covered the air as the sidewalk had been blown apart. It was the very ability that previously slaughtered many guards with ease.

"There! You got the death you wanted!" The man shouted.

While the debris slowly cleared up, the shadow of a figure emerged from the dust.

"Don't get your hopes up so fast. I know you're strong but, I won't go down that easy." Louis said with a smirk.

His face was confident but he didn't like how he had to be the one to this.

While he is supposed to be fighting, the other's along with Asher are observing the pale man's abilities.

Since Asher has the ability to see information like that, his part of observing the fight is valuable.

The pale man grinned while clapping his hands.

"You managed to tank such a powerful attack from me. How did you pull such a deed off?"

Louis waved his hand back and forth, explaining with confidence.

"It was really simple. I dodged it."

"My hammer is humungous. There's no way you dodged a giant attack like that. Tell the truth."

"I did. Your attack just didn't hit me. It's one of my abilities to dodge any attack I desire." Well, for the most part at least. Even with an ability like that, in specific cases, Louis can still be struck.

The pale man touched over his heart before speaking with a grin

"You somewhat interest me. So I give you permission to know who I am. I'm the very man you've been seeking."

Louis poke his sword into the ground, relaxing his elbow on it, then replied.

"Be more specific. I can't read minds. Come on, do you have a woman's brain or something?"

"Quite prejudice are we?"

"Woah, hold on. I never said I was prejudice but, sometimes women expect you to read their minds, from what I've experienced."

The man snarled, "Fine! I'll go through the trouble of explaining. I am the very one who's been trying so hard to put obstacles to stop you. Yet, you keep finding ways to make it through! I hate your skill. First, Cruz's bandits fail to stop you. Then I go through the trouble of getting Jack and his group to raid that village because I knew you'd be there. But no, you made it through that too. Then I send The Slaughterer to kill you but you survive that too. Last but not least, I tried to frame you and Stella for being assassins that were supposed to kill Jess. I figured those three S-rankers could've put you down. But yet, you came out on top."

Louis's hunch from the very beginning of accepting the mission was right. Someone had been anticipating his moves to put him down. And the very obstacles were people manipulated by the pale man's actions. But, going by everything that's been said, Louis knew exactly who the pale man was.

"Faust. You've done a hell of a job manipulating everyone's movements."

Faust swiped his hand through the air while explaining, "I was born with intelligence many times greater than a human's. Thus, my ability to predict outcomes is great. When you overcame every obstacle, I knew it would come down to us fighting. I don't know anything about your abilities, but I am confident that I can best you. You've yet to see anything else I have up my sleeve."

Louis agreed with a sure frown, "Yeah, I thought so to. That's why I don't plan on fighting right away."

From the side, hiding behind a bush, Asher shouted.

"Now Louis, fall back!"

A black smoke formed around the area to aid Louis's escape.

He quickly turned back, running inside the mansion, followed by Asher.

Faust's eyes grew in anger and he chased after them. He came within inches of them, before running against the barrier and was blocked out.

Bmp! Slam!

"Aghhh. You mice are so skilled in running!"

__________

"So, what did you learn?" Louis asked.

Everyone gathered at the table, hovering their gazes above the page of notes, written by Asher. He was able to gain insight on every one of Faust's abilities.

[ Active Ability: Murderer's Weapon- Faust will controll a giant hammer, controlled by how Faust moves his body. The ability's dmg is equal to Faust's current amount of mana. This ability can only be used once every five minutes.

Passive Ability: Life Drain- Whenever Faust makes contact with an opponent, their life will be instantly drained and Faust will completely heal from damage.

Active Ability: Faust is Immune to damage from Magic Attacks.]

Diane was fascinated by the information learned but, one thing still needed to be answered, "We understand his abilities. Now how do we counter them?"

Asher's eyes went over the notes as he poked his chin with a pencil.

"I have a few ideas but none of them are completely easy to pull off against Faust's abilities."

A hard opponent to fight against. His immunity to magic practically forces them to come up with a melee-based plan but Faust's life drain made that way too risky. Getting touched by him would mean 'Game Over'

One set of details still bothered Asher's conscience.

"When I heard about the plans of the attack, I only heard that 2 mercinaries were going to be here, but the only one who's shown up is the mastermind himself."

Remembering that as well, Louis nodded.

"Yeah, I remember you telling me that. Since they haven't shown up yet, we should hold off on our plan to fight. It would be bad for us if they arrived while we're mid-battle."

Leo walked over while his heavy sword rested on his shoulder, "Alright, I guess it's decided, then. We'll wait for those two mercinaries to show up."

Everyone was getting relaxed as they knew it was going to be a long wait, but the atmosphere grew a sinister feeling. Time in that very second felt like it was barely moving while an unfamiliar girl's voice spoke from above.

"Why wait? We're already here!"

A figure dropped from the ceiling, swinging a flashy dagger across Leo's back!

Slash! Thump!

As his blood flew into the air, he fell against the floor.

His arms were trembling while trying to lift himself back up, but a foot pressed on his back, stopping him, the foot that belonged to the red-haired girl in front of them.

"Done already? I was excited to play. How sad." she said while her purple pupils grew small.

This girl was not alone and had someone accompanying her.

A man with brown hair and red eyes. His expression was utterly demented.

"It's a shame the barrier is keeping Faust outside. Looks like you'll have all the fun your yourself, Ella."

"What, you're not going to get help? But, Lucius, You promised."

"You'll be fine on your own. I'll be trying to open up and get into the vault while you kill them. Take your time."

The man named Lucius left the room with no worry.

Leo managed to get up and sprinted after him, before the one named 'Ella' blocked the path.

Spinning her flashy dagger around, her eyes widened and she bared a corrupted smile.

"I won't let you do that. If any of you ran off, I wouldn't have any fun."

Everyone jumped to the floor to avoid Ella's rampage of slashes, obliterating the table in front.

Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash! Crackle!

The girl shouted in a child-like manner, "Dodging my attacks?! No fair!"

Leo lifted his heavy sword, slightly glancing at Louis and the other's.

"She's fast and doesn't intend to let us pass. But don't worry, I can hold her off long enough for you guys to escape the room."

"She's strong. We can deal with her now that we're whole as a team." Louis insisted.

"Just go! We've been partners for years. Haven't you learned that I can hold my own. Have faith in me and my blade. Now Go!"

Leo's body shined orange as he charged at the Ella, tackling her through a set of walls.

Slam! Smash!

Indigo, Diane, Asher and Louis, they all took this chance and fled from the room, trailing after Lucius.

"Will he be okay against such an opponent?" Asher asked.

"No. I think he'll be slaughtered in no time." Louis replied.

Everyone tried not to let their surprised reactions slow them down.

"You don't think so?" Diane asked.

"Do you really mean that?" Indigo asked.

"Then one of us must go back and help him." said Asher.

Louis took a stop to catch his breath, while wearing a sure smirk.

"That's what I would've said if I didn't know any better. But I've known him a long time. He's different from your run of the mill S-ranker. Honestly, I say with confidence that his feats are touching a little bit towards a Royal Knight's level of power. If anything, he'll last no less than 15 minutes."