Abel was roaming around and searching the shelters when he saw a horde of Netherels marching into the forest. Because of the mark on his forearm, he was fearless of the Netherels and followed them behind to see where they were going. The Orc's laughter didn't help it but revealed its location to Abel.
Standing on top of a branch and hiding within the darkness, Michael noticed Abel approaching the Orc with his spear raised. The distance between the Orc and Abel rapidly decreased but the Orc had no idea of the upcoming danger.
"What's on his forearm?" Michael frowned looking at light radiating from Abel's forearm.
In a few moments, Abel leaped out of the darkness and landed near the bonfire startling the Orc.
"Who?!" The Orc stumbled back in shock and before it could order the Netherels to attack the intruder, Abel's spear tip glowed and let out golden rays of light.
"Holy Blast" the rays of light transformed into a small orb and dashed at the Orc who was still trying to stand on its feet.
Boom!
However just as the Orc was struggling to stand up, the light orb Abel sent blasted the Orc and nailed it onto the tree behind.
"You will pay for all the lives you took, you filthy miscreant" Abel's eyes were filled with rage. He was doing his best to control his anger and killing the Orc on the spot. The golden light soon wrapped around the Orc's mouth as well as its body leaving the Orc with no room to wiggle or even move its finger.
"I'll take care of these later but for now, you're coming with me" Although the Orc was at Body Refining stage level 9 and Abel was at only level 8, the wounded the Orc suffered weakened it to great extent. Coupled with Abel's attack speed and surprise entrance, he was able to capture the Orc without much trouble.
Abel looked at the Orc struggling to move but it could only move its eyes. Those eyes were filled with shock and fury. If looks could kill, Abel would have died a thousand times. Ironically, even with the army of Netherels in its control, the Orc couldn't save itself from getting captured. It desperately tried to open its mouth and gave an order to the Netherels in front of it as without its order, the Netherels literally wouldn't do anything.
"Hmmm hmmmmmm!" Suddenly Abel noticed the change in the Orc's eyes. Previously they were radiation anger and shock but now, they were wide and filled with immense terror. He saw the Orc wildly wiggling its body to escape as Abel could tell the Orc's gaze is not on him but on something behind him.
Puff!
Just as Abel was about to turn back, the bonfire doused out as the surrounding turned pitch black.
"What….?" In the darkness, Able saw a pair of red eyes looking at him. With no control over his body, he began to shiver and feel overwhelming fear.
"Leave, the Orc is mine" Abel's heart skipped a beat when he heard the unearthly voice and stumbled back. His meditation to keep himself calm despite the situation started to fail him as he couldn't stop being afraid of the red eyes before him.
"Ahhhhhhhhh" Nonetheless, Abel mustered all of his courage to fight his fear and screamed.
Soon, the tip of the spear glowed again and in the light, he vaguely saw the red eyes' face.
"HMMMMMMMMMMMM!" The Orc shook its body and fought to escape the light shackles. The skinless face, red eyes, and ghostly voice freaked out the Orc and wanted to escape before the red eyes changed their focus towards it.
Thud!
Thud!
Thud!
Because of Abel's lack of concentration on the shackles around the Orc, they became slightly weaker and gave enough room for the Orc to smash its head against the tree.
Michael who was in his Lucifer form was surprised to see Abel fighting the Fear toxin's effects. Michael gave Able the chance to escape but if Abel decided to fight, he had no problem killing Abel.
"The Orc is-"
Whoosh!
Michael's words were abruptly stopped by Abel's spear throw. Abel was fast but Michael was faster. When the spear was just an inch away from him, he caught the spear "So you've chosen death"
Abel's eyes went wide in shock looking at the spear helplessly vibrate in Michael's hand. He tried to summon the spear back to him with all his remaining courage but the spear couldn't escape the clutches of Lucifer.
"Who...are….you?" Abel asked while trying to crawl back in fear. He tried to see the red eyes' cultivation level but shockingly, he was unable to.
"Death Range" Michael knew people like Abel would have something up their sleeve so he instantly activated the Death Range which would make him 35% stronger and faster inside the range. Right after he activated the skill, Michael overpowered the spear completely as the spear stopped trembling.
Looking at his weapon surrender itself, Abel knew he couldn't fight the being in front of him. While fighting against the overwhelming fear in his heart with his last bit of courage, he tried to take out the teleportation talisman that Noah gave him.
"No, you don't" Michael was glad he activated the Death range when he saw Abel take out something. Thanks to the Death Range and the speed boost, he was quick enough to prevent Abel from using the item by throwing the spear at Abel.
Pulch!
The spear soared through the darkness and struck Abel on his shoulder. The teleportation scroll slipped away from Abel's fingers as Michael dashed at Abel to finish the job before he could use something else or Noah and his group arrive.
"Noah...will...come...fo-"
Pulch!
Before Abel could finish what he was about to say, Michael took out the spear from Abel's shoulder and stabbed him through the chest.
"*Cough" Abel coughed out blood as Michael stabbed him again
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for killing a Body Refining stage level 8 cultivator. The reward is 6000 Experience points and 8000 Badass points]
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for killing the ally of a powerful foe. The reward is an Epic mystery box]
Thud!
After Abel died, the light shackles that wrapped around the Orc disappeared making the Orc fall down to the ground. Michael gave no time for the Orc to act as he dashed at the Orc and lifted the Orc by its neck.
"Order them to devour his body" With the help of Arch Energy, Michael controlled the amount of Fear toxin radiating from his suit of armor and let the Orc inhale just as much as he wanted it to without killing the Orc.
The Orc could barely breathe as it slowly nodded with difficulty.
"Eat... him" The very next moment the Orc uttered these two words, the Netherels came back to life again and swarmed around Abel's body like a pack of hungry vultures around a lump of juicy meat. In mere seconds, they chewed through Abel's body and even ate most of his bones.
Looking at the few remaining bones of Abel, Michael didn't regret his decision to kill Abel a bit because he gave Abel the chance to escape but it was he who chose to fight and ultimately die. He then turned his gaze back to the Orc, "You can either die here with him or come with me to live, your choice"
"Don't...kill...me" The Orc could barely speak these words and after grinning behind the skull mask, he activated the lightning dash and disappeared from the area taking the Orc with him.
Michael didn't stop running until he put a few miles distance from where he killed Abel. He also didn't forget to store Abel's spear in the system's store before scanning the spear for any hidden traps. As far as he was concerned, he didn't leave any evidence that could identify him as Abel's killer. Soon, the gates to the Nether realm would close and after that, the name Abel would be lost in the time.
Michael stopped at a place where he was sure that there's no one around them. He and the Orc reached a deserted cabin in the middle of the forest.
Thud!
Michael threw the Orc onto the wall and watched it stand up with difficulty. He stopped using the Fear toxin on the Orc and let it breathe the fresh air for a change.
"What..are you?" The Orc asked and stood on the corner still shivering in pain.
"You don't need to know that just yet" He wanted to know more about the Orc before revealing his identity. Of course, he wouldn't reveal his identity as Ghost.
"You summoned those Netherels to attack River town" By connecting the dots of controlling the Netherels, the Orc's summoner trait, and the wounds on its body, he guessed the Orc might be the sorcerer who was chased by Celina and Alex.
"You lie, you die" Michael warned the Orc before it could spin a web of lies.
The Orc stood on the corner swallowing the saliva in terror as it even avoided looking directly into his red eyes.
"I just... helped my father and...brother" The Orc surprised Michael with this answer and by looking into its eyes, he could tell that the Orc wasn't lying.
"Tell me everything"