Patrick noticed Raven's eyes quickly shifting to the side before effortlessly pushing him back and holding up his halberd's shaft to block a strike from Amelia's knife.
Her blade began to sway before bending around the shaft.
'Lengthening!' Amelia screamed in his eyes and subsequently caused the knife to shoot towards Raven's left hand. He hadn't expected this, so as he reeled back his hand, he was still scratched by it.
His mind then went blank before being replaced with scenes of the past. His eyes widened and trembled unconsciously.
'Nostalgia's Reminder!'
In quick succession, Amelia had not only used one but two skills. Before their journey here, she requested a spare with Everette, which amounted to her gaining some level of mastery with her knife.
Noticing the opportunity before them, they all dashed simultaneously towards Raven while he was stunned. Just as they were able to connect their strikes, Everette noticed that past all the hair that was dangling in front of Raven's face - his eyes didn't show a hint of worry.
A bad feeling welled up inside him before becoming a reality. His eyes drifted to the side to notice Crow's cold and rageful eyes staring down at them.
Everette saw his mouth move before an oppressing aura fell down upon him, followed by an apparition that appeared and flickered behind Crow.
"Domination..."
Despite all that was going on, it felt like his word was the loudest thing Everette had ever heard. The air around him stilled before forcing down on him. The air around Crow seemed to darken before being completely dyed the colour black.
He even swore that he saw a black feather manifest and glide in the air.
Everette felt something inside him waver, almost as if his Will to go against this man was being crushed as he looked into the eyes of the apparition behind him.
What stood and flickered behind Crow was a distorted figure of a jet-black bird that had its wings stretched out and wrapped them.
The swirling eyes of the bird showed hints of madness yet tranquillity. Everette could feel his legs buckle under the weight. He looked towards the others and noticed they were already either on their knees or collapsed on the floor.
Just as he was about to give up under the weight, the black aura covering them began to morph before converting to a yellowish-golden colour. He was just able to turn his head towards Ada to see she was still standing.
Everette noticed her smirk towards him before hearing the words:
"You dare bow to someone who is not your king?"
Following that was a word that simultaneously removed all the weight off their shoulder and even pushed back the dark surroundings, wrapping us in its clutches.
"Domination...!"
Her struck everybody's ears like thunder. Those unrelated to this who had been caught in Crow's radius were freed from the weight, shackling them to the ground before staring at the owner of the golden aura.
Behind her was an apparition that seemed incomplete, as if it had just only awoken but had not been given time to ready itself. However, the part of it that seems to resemble the head looked high into the sky before roaring proudly and angrily at the darkness, trying to encroach on its territory.
SQUAWK!
Crow's apparition squawked at the incomplete apparition after seeing its black aura being pushed back. Currents of winds blew against the surroundings and swept through countless people's hair, followed by a powerful whooshing noise.
The sounds like that of crackling electricity and noises of impacts resounded in their aura of domination, clashing against each other. Crow's eyes narrowed before taking a step forward and began to break through her defences.
"Geez... I should've probably practised this beforehand." Sweat began to exit through the pores of her face as she felt something inside her straining the longer she kept the skill active.
Until now, she hadn't used the domination skill at all and up against an enemy who seemed more adept at using it; she was outmatched in this area of expertise.
The apparition began to reel back from the approaching enemy but still continued to roar back in defiance. The flickering bird behind the Crow flew towards it.
ROAR!
It ripped a huge chunk of it before circling around and returning to its previous position. Its golden flames hung in the bird's mouth before slowly being converted into darkness.
Ada widened her eyes at this before feeling a sudden impact inside her mind. She clutched her head. Her face wrinkled in pain.
'That affected me?'
Her eyes began to droop before falling unconscious. Just before she collapsed to the ground, she looked at Everette sullenly and mouthed:
"I'm sorry..."
The golden aura surrounding them began to lose its colour before ultimately losing against the black aura. The apparition gave out its last roar against the bird before fading away.
Just as it was about to, it shot a hateful glare at its master before dissipating and being consumed by the darkness.
Everette felt the weight falling onto his shoulder once again before noticing it disappeared once again. The darkness reeled itself back into Crow, and the bird wrapped its wings around him before being absorbed back into his body.
Step... Step... Step...
Crow casually placed each foot one after the other as he approached them with a cold gaze. His eyes were particularly focused on the girl who clashed auras with him before shifting his attention to his attendant.
"Arrest them and take them to a designated holding area." He commanded him and the recruiters who watched the entire thing happen.
Everyone tried to resist before ultimately being convinced by Lynda to remain calm so nothing bad happened to them.
Crow took slow, relaxed steps towards Everette before stretching out his palm and moving towards his face. "Now then... What shall I do with you...?"
Everette watched as the man's hands were covered in what seemed to be brown leather gloves with a grey fur interior, and plated knuckles approached his face - he closed his eyes.
As soon as he closed his eyes, a loud—
—BAM!
Noise erupted near him...