Deep below the island estate in one of the many basement floors, Ragnar recalls the events from earlier. Explaining everything in, for him, unusual detail to Lucius, Rumi, and Nova. Just as Ragnar finished and left the others speechless, the mechanic doors opened and Teon slowly stepped inside. One hand placed over his now bandaged wound. He voices the need to report what happened. Lucius tells him that they already heard everything from Ragnar. Right after Teon turns to leave, an alarm goes off. Nova spins around and storms to a PC.

  "Nightmare sighting. Seemingly humanoid, no confirmation if it can speak."

  The rest of Teon's friends storm into the room, already wearing their new suits. By the look of them, they just came from the training field and are eager to go on the mission. Lucius looks skeptical, but after a bit of convincing from Max's side, he gives in, with one condition.

  "Teon and Kaia stay. Both of you are not in the mental state."

  Wasting no time, the rest storm out of the basement over the beach, and after getting the right coordinates from Nova over their communication devices, they fly off.

  Just before he left the control room, Kai assured Lucius that he's strong enough to protect his friends, should any speaking nightmares be there.

  Still in the control room, sitting close to the big screen and watching a satellite transmission from the small town, Kaia notices something.

  "Why is there not a single nightmare?"

  Nova pauses before typing a few quick commands on a keyboard. Confused, she looks at the results.

  "What's going on?"

  She murmurs to herself. Luius steps up behind her and asks what she means. While pointing at a few values, explaining that all the nightmare signals are already gone. Also, there seem to be no soul-energy signatures, which means they weren't killed by someone.

  The group arrives at the town as they get a message from Lucius to be cautious because something strange is going on. Slowly they walk around the abandoned-looking streets towards the town middle. All of them are tense. Lloyd is already suited up in bone armor, Percy holds a bow and arrow, quiver slung over his back, and Max grabs her karambit knife so tight that her knuckles turn white. The sight in front of them when they reach the town hall square leaves them speechless. Kai slowly moves one finger to the communication device in his ear.

  "Lucius, do you see that?"

  Nova moves the satellite to point at the town hall square; their blood runs cold. Right there, in a house-tall pile of black sand, sits a man. Black hair, no shirt, and jeans that look like they've been ripped apart by claws. His skin is covered in seemingly his own blood, but there are no wounds, not even scratches or bruises visible. Holding a spade in his right hand, the metal end sticking in the sand. His eyes are closed at first, but as the group steps closer, he opens them. There is no color in his iris, just plain grey.

  "There is no soul energy coming from him."

  Kai thinks before Lucius yells at them to get away from there immediately. That this man is a monster.

  "Awww, that's no way to talk about an old friend, Lucius."

  He stands up from his throne of sand, holding the spade loosely in his fingers, sliding down the pile. As he reaches the bottom and sets his first foot on the stone ground, he disappears and suddenly stands right next to Kai and leans down to his ear.

  "Hey Lucius, can you hear me? Do you want to introduce me, or should I do that myself?"

  He reaches for the device in Kai's ears and takes it out before Lucius can answer, crushing it between two fingers. Walking circles around the tense group, he musters them. Kai's eyes move from the man to the incredible pile of sand. Noticing the gaze, the man smirks.

  "55 nightmares. 15 spoke. I didn't even know they could do that."

  The 4 look in shock, tensing even more up and stepping closer together.

  "Ah, where are my manners?"

  He bows down mockingly.

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  "Cain, at your service."

  "C...Cain? As in Cain and Abel?"

  Percy asks, taking aim with his bow. Cain winces at the name of his brother and nods.

  "Yes, that Cain; the story is true. All of it. I'm Adam and Eve's oldest son. I killed my brother. I'm the first murderer, and as a punishment, captial G took my soul."

  "No soul? How's that possible?"

  Kai sneers suspiciously. Cain smirks, explaining that everything is possible if God decides to.

  "The result of that is this!"

  Cain moves his hand to his own throat, grabs it, and rips a big chunk out, with no sign of pain on his face, and nearly instantly after, the wound closes at incredible speed.

  "I'm immortal and feel no pain."

  The group watches in terror. Letting the chunk of flesh fall to the ground, he grasps his spade a bit tighter. Exclaiming that he has had enough of talking now. He throws the tool at Lloyd so fast that none of the group can perceive it, breaks the armor at the shoulder, and throws the boy to the ground. Next he slams Kai headfirst into the ground. Only after this are Max and Percy able to perceive it. Cain breaks the bow and knocks Percy to the ground before turning to Max. Last one standing, she tightens the grip on her knife so much that her palm starts bleeding.

  "Do you think that small knife will be enough?"

  "Yes, because right now you're my equal."

  Cain stumbles as dizziness and a spurt of weakness take over his body. He understands quickly what's happening. Still too late. Five bloody claws bore out of his chest before Lloyd ripped his heart out through the back. It still beats in his hand. Lloyd does a grimace before squashing it. He looks at Cain again just in time to see him swing. Lloyd catches the punch and breaks Cain's arm.

  "You're not at your peak and up against 4. You lost already."

  He takes a step back, his face slightly contorting in pain as long blades grow out of his forearms. With wide and powerful swings, he attempts to slice his opponent in half. Cain dodges all the attacks while also moving towards Max. Then, while dodging all attacks, he delivers a devastating punch to Max's throat, which cuts off her air supply. Right after Lloyd slices straight through him, from his right shoulder down to his left hip. But too late. Max already lost the concentration to hold up her ability, and Cain's strength returns. In one swift motion he turns and bores his right hand into Lloyd's chest.

  "How does it feel when someone holds your heart?"

  Lloyd spits blood into Cain's face. The grin on his face fades as bones break the skin on Lloyd's face to form a gruesome mask with long teeth. Lloyd lets out an agonizing scream before slamming his open maw down on Cais's neck, ripping half of it off, while at the same time, cutting Cais's forearm and taking a step back. Slowly he pulls it out of his chest, and bones immediately grow over it. Kai appears beside Cain and delivers a fatal liver blow. Fatal, at least for someone who feels pain. Cain just looks down before raising his arm to attack back. In this moment Percy rams his trident right through Cain's back. All three together attack the first murder of mankind. But with no success. Cain walks backwards through the trident until he is able to grab the shaft that comes out on his front and rip it out of Percy's hands. With it he pins Kai against a wall of a nearby building. Right through the left shoulder. Following that, he smashes Lloyd's mask in, imbedding his skull in the ground. Last he grabs Percy by the neck and raises him in the air. With no other weapon left in his arsenal and forgetting Lucius's warning out of panic, Percy takes out the strange, animal jaw blade and stabs it into Cain's shoulder. The man's eyes light up.

  "Where did you get this?"

  Percy tries to stammer something, but the lack of air makes it impossible. Cain brushes it off and lets Percy fall to the ground.

  "Doesn't matter; at least I have it back."

  Cain murmurs before disappearing. Breathing heavily, Percy crawls to Lloyd, checking if he's still alive. He sighs relieved and then does the same for Kai and Max. At the same time, he contacts Lucius, who is already on his way with a team to get them.

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