The Preying City

Amelia was watching everything from a distance. It was like she was in a fairytale. A battle between monsters and supernaturals was taking place right in front of her. It still felt surreal to her. Though she had become a supernatural herself, witnessing such a fight firsthand still left a deep impression on her.

She was taking in everything she could and her heart beat with excitement. The sight of dozens of people running around and using magical abilities left her yearning for similar experience.

The young woman was especially impressed by Mr. Collector's display of power. Throughout the entire fight, he had the complete control and he hadn't even used any flashy abilities yet. She wanted to see him use some more of his powers but her wish wouldn't be coming true. She straightened his thoughts and directed her sight towards Big Joe.

The hulky man was facing a troll head on. Everyone else used their agile maneuvers to dodge the troll's attacks but he was different. He welcomed the monster's hits with his body. Punches, swipes, slaps, kicks.... nothing seemed to work against him. The monstrous strength seemed to all but dissipate once the attacks reached him.

The troll however refused to accept the outcome and continued its attacks in a frenzy. Making sure that the troll's entire attention was directed at the big man, Mr. Eagle's companion made her move. She unsheathed two short daggers and moved with incredible speed. Her hands moved with a blur and when she stopped behind the troll, the monster already had deep lacerations below its knees.

With its tendons severed, the monster couldn't stand straight and fell beneath its own weight. Using this opportunity, Mr. Eagle made his move. He stood before the kneeling troll and bit his palm. A big chunk of muscle was missing from the part but he didn't even flinch at his own action. His jaws moved in a rhythmic fashion as he chewed his own flesh.

Amelia cringed as she watched the scene. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. Resisting the urge to look away, she took a deep breath and continued watching. Mr. Eagle chewed some more and spit out a fleshy pulp deep red in color.

The piece of mushy flesh rolled to the hand of the troll and stuck to it. The red piece of flesh seemed to come to life as it started unfolding and growing at a visible rate. Soon, it had grown into a lump of flesh that covered the entire palm.

Alarmed at the unexpected development, the troll used his other hand to try and pull off the tumor. Unfortunately for him, as soon as he grabbed it, it stuck to his other palm as well. Despite his best efforts, the troll was unable to free his hands. Especially since he couldn't use his lower body as leverage as he was in an awkward position.

Mr. Eagle took deep breaths as he mustered his strength once more. He had spent most of his energy when making the fleshy pulp earlier. The fleshy bindings would come undone once it ran out of energy and given the resistance the troll was putting up, it wouldn't be long until it would run dry.

Just as he was about to take another bite from his palm, his companion spoke in a stern voice, "There's no need."

As soon as her words reached his ears, she moved once again and made several cuts on the giant arms. Each cut was made carefully and managed to sever the important muscles. Thankfully, trolls were humanoid monsters and resembled humans in more ways than one. Otherwise her attacks wouldn't have been nearly as effective.

Now, the troll couldn't put anymore strength on its arms as well. Its legs were still healing and the group had a little time until it got rid of its vulnerability. Mr. Eagle was surprised by his companions actions and spoke in a teasing manner. "I didn't know you had such a soft side to you. If only I found out about it sooner, I might have been kinder to you."

The woman glared at her companion and Mr. Eagle looked away and chuckled awkwardly. She was dangerous and had a short temper. He wasn't willing to test the waters. "It's immobile but how do we finish it? I can hold it down maybe one more time. I am not good at offence and you won't be able to kill it with your daggers either. I don't think Big Joe has anything capable of finishing it off either."

Big Joe thought the same and remained silent. Mr. Eagle did say the last part of his sentence in a ridiculing matter but he didn't mind. He was prepared to offend the man or anyone else with the intention to rob Miss Mystique. The money he received from the girl was enough to compensate him for the enmity he had created.

The woman looked behind her and spoke, "I think you have watched enough Mr. Secret. Don't you think it's time you did your part?"

Vincent had been prepared when he had accepted this mission from Mr. Collector. Because the reward was a troll's core blood, he had brought a powerful one use item capable of killing the troll in an instant. It was a rare item but he was willing to part with it to upkeep his image of a mysterious and powerful man. But from the looks of it, he could get by without using it. He was lucky that the three who had come with him were all relatively powerful when compared to their peers of grade two supernaturals.

He walked closer to the struggling troll and spoke in a deep voice, "Get back."

Everyone retreated silently. The person in question was possibly a grade four supernatural. The power he could burst forth with would terrifying and they didn't want to get caught up in it.

Amelia directed all her focus on her masked benefactor. Mr. Collector was powerful beyond what she thought was possible and Mr. Secret was supposed to be at least as strong as him if not stronger. She could barely contain her curiosity.

'What kind of powers will he use? He even asked the others to move back. Must be a super strong attack that will effect not just the troll but everyone nearby.'

She looked at the mask one more time and suppressed her envy. She couldn't really remember any details about the mask before even if she tried. But now that she had turned into a supernatural herself, she could finally look and not forget about it. The clouds that looked as if they were made from dark ink floated idly, always hiding the moon in the firmament partially. Just a glance at it and she was filled with awe and admiration. Now, she was even more excited to see what Mr. Secret would do.

Mr. Eagle, his companion and Big Joe were similarly watching the masked man intently. No one could make out anything about him and the scene to come would be the first clue they would have regarding his abilities. They followed his every action and refused to look away. They didn't want to miss it. Rudy and Toby similarly stopped everything else and focused on Mr. Secret.

More than half the people present were looking his way. Vincent could understand what was going on in their minds.

'I am sorry but I will have to disappoint you. I am just a grade 2 supernatural like the most of you. You won't be seeing anything special.'

Ignoring the slight sense of guilt that arose in his heart, Vincent walked to the helpless troll and pressed the muzzle of his pistol right by the monsters molars. He glanced at the troll who was staring at him with venom in its eyes and pulled the trigger.

Bang!

The bullet tore through the cheek and shattered the teeth behind it. The gun was much more powerful than any normal firearm found in the common market but even its round failed to come out the other end.

A maddening pain transmitted to the troll's brain from its gums and it flailed around mindlessly. Vincent waited for the monster to calm down and shoved two sticks of dynamite through the hole in its cheek. After that, he calmly walked away and aimed at the dynamite after having put enough distance. The troll moved around restlessly but his arms followed the monsters movement perfectly. He could pull the trigger anytime and the bullet would find its mark. His enhanced eyes picked up even the most minute of movements and details. His arms which were impossibly precise because of his supernatural ability. Combined together, they made him into a better marksman than any natural human or trained soldier.

He pulled the trigger once again and the gunshot rang out. But immediately afterwards, it was drowned out by the sound of explosion. After the big flame died out, all that was left was the troll's headless corpse. Even a monster of such endurance and power wouldn't have any chances of surviving if a dynamite exploded in their face.

Vincent casually put his pistol back in its holster and walked to the now dead troll. Everyone else watched him stupefied. They had expected him to show some amazing power and kill the troll. Many had even began guessing about how he would do it. No one..... absolutely no one had expected the mysterious and strong supernatural to rely on a dynamite to get the job done. Why did he even have dynamite on him to begin with?