"Freeze!"
Ice covered the entire room. Horse didn’t know what happened and before he knew it, he couldn’t keep his balance. He quickly realized what Luther had done.
The frozen ground made Horse’s feet slip out from under him. He was still in motion when the ground froze, so he stopped himself from sliding by digging his machete into the ice to use as a pole for balance.
Luther skillfully ran on the ice, wielding his sword. Ice was a derivative of his superpower. This gave him the power to manipulate it so he could not only keep his balance but also run more swiftly.
"Oh, you think just because I can’t walk you have the upper hand now? Don’t kid yourself!"
Horse raised his machete and chopped down on the ice around him, removing the shards of ice to reveal the floor beneath him.
The sword struck the machete so hard that sparks flew from the collision.
However, Luther didn’t have the advantage. Horse was still on his feet. From time to time, he cleared the ice to expand his moving space.
Luther shot out another ice arrow. His attack irritated Horse, who sliced it out of the air.
Luther had the advantage of speed on the ice. Coupled with his arrows, he could almost dominate the battle. His opponent, on the other hand, was fighting miserably.
The more erratic Horse was, the more weaknesses he showed. After a few more strikes, Horse had been injured quite a few times. Although he put up a good defense, he couldn’t block every attack, and his body was scratched and bruised badly.
Horse couldn't help but cry out in fury. He wanted to quickly dispose of Luther, but he didn’t dare step out onto the ice. He could only growl, "You son of b***h! Come fight me like a man, face to face, you coward!"
Luther watched him coldly. Every Erazer had his own strengths. He wouldn’t be stupid enough to fight the larger man with his fists.
However, Luther felt his energy beginning to run low, and he knew he wouldn’t be able to fight like this for much longer. Horse was so angry, he was ready to do anything he could to win this fight now.
Luther moved quickly. He ran straight toward his enemy. As he ran, he guided two arrows made of ice at him as well.
"Come and get it." Horse raised his machete to welcome Luther.
Luther, who was running towards Horse at this time, waved his sword in the air.
He spun his blade through the air twenty-four times on his way to meet Horse, each time creating a crackling sound.
At the last second, he waved his sword a twenty-fifth time. Finally, he slashed the blade down in front of him.
But Horse didn’t flinch. A bead of cold sweat dripped down the side of his face.
"Go to hell!"
Horse roared like a bear. He held back his arm and slashed forward. Just as Luther and Horses knives collided, a sharp clash echoed through the room.
Crack
Horse used all his strength to defend himself from Luther’s attack, but his machete couldn’t take the powerful strike and it broke.
At this dire moment, Horse grasped the blade with his hand and held onto it tightly. His hand began to bleed but he didn’t care.
"You can't kill me! You can't kill me!" His face was plastered by a wild and terrifying expression. He pushed the sword away and grabbed Luther with his free hand. He was crazed and bloodthirsty.
"Now I’m going to squeeze the life out of you."
"Oh, will you?" Luther was unafraid, staring coldly at Horse.
"Huh?" Horse got the feeling that Luther knew something he didn’t, and he became afraid.
Just then, a row of sharp thorns protruded straight from the ground.
"You didn’t know of my polar ice-spear."
His voice was so cold, it seemed to stab Horse even more than the spikes made of sharp ice coming from beneath him.
Horse spit out some blood. He was confused and couldn’t understand how he was going to die at the hands of a much weaker man. How could he die such a cowardly death? He wasn’t willing to go without a fight. But it was too late. Horse's eyes were wide open, but the life behind them trailed off until he was completely gone.
-----
Constance and Clark had found a few of Horse’s teammates at the front of the building. At first, they were ready to fight. But when they saw Constance summon a ball of fire with only her hand, they became much more agreeable.
They tortured and questioned several people and finally figured out what happened in East Ridge.
After Clark heard that Sakura left with a rescue team, although he felt some sadness in his heart, he was just happy that she was alive.
Everyone jumped at the sound of the large explosion inside the house.
Constance couldn’t say for sure whether Luther had won or lost because she had never seen Horse’s power. But he knew he was powerful judging from what she had heard about him. She was very worried about Luther now.
Constance knew she couldn't help him, so she could only pray for him, ‘Luther, please be safe.’
After the loud crash was heard from the building, everything fell silent. Everyone outside knew the battle had ended.
Constance wanted to rush upstairs first. It didn’t matter if Luther won or lost, she had to go upstairs and see. If Luther lost, she would avenge him.
Suddenly, a large body fell straight down for the third floor and landed on the concrete beside them.
"It’s…it’s Horse!" Bruce gasped. Horse was his boss, after all. Even though he hated him, he knew he wouldn’t survive now without his protection. He felt a little sad to have lost his boss.
Constance and Clark were delighted to see that Horse had died.
They smiled excitedly, "He won. Luther won!"
Constance happily ran upstairs. But before she reached the corridor; she saw Luther on his way down. His clothes were stained with blood, but he walked very slowly and cautiously. Constance couldn't help but hug Luther and shed a few tears of joy, "Luther..."
Luther patted her head and looked at Clark, who was also very excited, and spoke as if nothing had happened, "Okay, let's go."
Constance didn’t object. Clark pointed to Bruce and asked, "What about them?"
"Leave them alone." Luther’s words were dripping with disdain for them.
He left quickly, leaving Clark and Constance a little puzzled.
Soon a bout of bloodcurdling screams erupted behind them.
"It’s coming…"
Luther walked faster. He found a quiet building and ducked inside.
Constance and Clark didn’t ask any questions, they simply followed him in silence.
At the corner window on the second floor, Clark couldn't help but look outside. He was curious about what had frightened Luther so much.
Through the filthy glass, Clark counted ten monsters with dark, shriveled bodies and limbs on the ground, searching for food. Their shriveled bodies exposed their muscles, giving them a horrifying appearance.
There was a dark black liquid dripping from each muscle. Every time the monsters moved; the dark acidic blood would roll down its arms and legs, making a puddle on the ground it walked on. It corroded straight through the cement floor, leaving behind broken pavement and long trails of blood.