Chapter 698: Vicious Predator

'Where is this?' Runka frowned, flailing his hands around as he shouted, "Pilkan! Fowma! Heela! Are you there?"

"I'm here!" Pilkan said, followed by Fowma and Heela. Though, none were able to see each other thanks to the mist that was dense enough for visibility to be zero.

Runka extended his hand in the direction of Fowma who sounded the closest, "Here, grab my hand!"

After some mild difficulty, Runka managed to grab hold of Fowma's hand, sighing as he was just about to search for the others when he felt the hand grabbing him lose all strength in its grip, "Fowma?"

"Kyak!" Fowma collapsed to the ground, screaming in pain as Runka stared at the severed hand in his hold, stupefied for a moment before rushing to her help, bringing out his Invoked Spirit to defend against whatever threat had attacked her.

But, the moment he brought out his Invoked Spirit, Runka was shocked to see that he was unable to control it anymore; his Invoked Spirit seemed to be trapped. He hurriedly retracted it, sighing in relief upon seeing that it returned to his Dreamland, safe and sound.

He tied up the wound on Fowma, grabbing her severed hand as he helped her get up, supporting her as he shouted, "Heela! Where are you?"

Unfortunately, there was no reply to his shout, startling him as he and Fowma felt an eerie sensation creep up their spines.

Swoosh!

"Gah!" Runka screamed in pain as one of his legs were severed, causing him to tumble to the ground, bringing down Fowma with him as he had been supporting her.

The two fell to the ground, reflexively bringing out their Invoked Spirits, only to stare helplessly as they remained immobile.

Runka gritted his teeth, using the rope he had brought with him to tie up the wound on his leg, stopping the blood flow as he looked at Fowma, only now noticing that he was able to make out her visage, blurry, but visible now.

He extended his hand, noticing that he was able to faintly make out his fingers, 'The mist is thinning out.'

He then turned around, staring at the location where they both had brought out their Invoked Spirits, noticing that the mist had cleared out the most around their immediate vicinity. Even though it was only for a few centimetres, it allowed Runka to notice something, 'Our Invoked Spirits can disperse the mist.'

He hurriedly informed Fowma of the same as they controlled themselves, bearing the pain as they focused, displaying their seasoned experience. They retracted and brought out their Invoked Spirits before them this time, watching the mist act to constrict their movements, thinning out a little in response.

"It's working." Runka said, limping forward with Fowma's help as he muttered, "We need to hurry and get treated. We're losing too much blood."

"Where are our supplies?" Fowma felt a tad weak, asking as she worked with Runka to invoke her Invoked Spirit nonstop, clearing the path before them as they paved a way forward, little by little.

"I don't know. They vanished the moment I heard your scream." Runka gritted his teeth, "Shit!"

There was enough medicine in it to treat their wounds. But with it taken, they didn't have an option but to look for a way once they exited the mist.

As to how big it was, they weren't sure. Moreover, Runka wasn't able to hear the voices of Pilkan and Heela after the start, worried about them.

"The mist..." Fowma said, recalling the incident as her face paled, "It emerged from Pilkan."

Runka didn't say anything, his expression only hardening in response as he prepared for a battle. Even though he wasn't sure why Pilkan was doing this or how he could do this in the first place, one thing was for sure. Now that he harmed them, he was going to pay for that dearly.

In contrast to what they were doing, Pilkan was only two metres behind them, slowly tailing them. If they were to turn around and leap forth, they would land on him. He was only able to spread the mist around and control it in a range of five metres around him.

Therefore, he had to plan things accordingly and ensure he wouldn't get found out. As they hadn't witnessed the mist in action before, they were unsure about a lot of things, which gave him the advantage.

Dragged by him in a chokehold was Heela as in his hand was her Invoked Spirit. The moment he gained control of this body, he—Compass Carburettor—took action, not planning to waste a moment.

When an individual learns of a System, a fragment of it would begin growing in his mind. If he gains enough knowledge about them, then the fragments growing in his mind would increase in numbers and also develop. Eventually, either they combine or one of them grows big enough to seize his mind on its own and take control of his body.

The same thing happened to Pilkan as even though he wasn't aware of Compass Carburettor's identity, he let the other party into his mind. And, absorbing the Mental Fragments to construct a body for himself was Compass Carburettor's doing.

He easily gained control over Pilkan's mind after that, erasing it before taking over his body too.

Currently, Compass Carurettor's body was the Invoked Spirit. And as its Nascent Soul was created using part of Pilkan's soul, a product of this world, it formed the best cover for him, preventing Conjurer from sensing him.

His true self was within the Nascent Soul that existed in Pilkan's Dreamland, providing two layers of cover for him. So, he was safe for the time being, left with no other choice but to roam in this world for three years before his power of Lore would take him back.

'Please be safe and sound until then, Stencil.' He sighed, steeling himself as he absorbed all the Mental Fragments of Heela's Invoked Spirit into his Dreamland, before choking her to death. He continued to drag her corpse, tailing after Runka and Fowma until he finished absorbing all the Mental Fragments from both Heela and her Invoked Spirit.

Once that was done, he took a stance and craned his hand, throwing her corpse at Runka, toppling him to the ground as he brought out his Invoked Spirit and stabbed Fowma through the head.