It didn't take long for Archer[Quinn] to hear the cries of the others but at the same time, he could tell that these weren't m.o.a.ns and groans from beasts, but from humans. As Archer[Quinn] went through the hall, he struggled to figure out what to do as he saw those that had been Marked, attacking everyone else around them.
'This has to be related to the strange Marking from the Demon tier beast. Is it able to control the people or can it only give them simple commands?'
From what he was seeing, it seemed like they only had one goal: attack all those who were unmarked. Seeing them like this, Archer[Quinn] didn't want to kill them. When he had entered the training hall and saw that Nora[Hayley] was about to be attacked, he instinctively placed Helen[Wendy] inside his shadow lock.
Turning around, Ko could see Archer[Quinn] with his hand held out.
"What did you do to her!" Ko shouted. "You ate her with your damned powers. I told everyone not to hurt them. Where is she? Where is she!"
There it was again, Nora[Hayley] thought. The bi polar act of Ko, who seemed to care and not care about these people at the same time. But Nora[Hayley] had an idea of what Archer[Quinn] as doing,
'Wait, maybe this can work. It doesn't appear like the girl that was marked is attacking in the shadow space.' Archer[Quinn] thought. 'If I'm correct in thinking that all the Marked ones are only attacking the unmarked people, then I can put them all in my shadow space.'
Working quickly, Archer[Quinn] used his shadow lock on the next Marked that was attacking the faction members behind him. He waited for a while and his MC cells had remained the same, but it still wouldn't show if they were attacking each other.
Seeing that the other Cursed members were doing just fine, and everyone could last a little while longer, he used the shadow lock on himself, and for a second he had disappeared from the room entering the black space.
Here he could see Helen[Wendy] and a male Marked standing in a certain spot doing nothing. As soon as he entered, they both turned to look at him, and immediately started to charge towards him.
Getting out of there quickly, Archer[Quinn] was now back in the training room.
'The two of them, it didn't look like they were fighting each other and they didn't seem to have any fresh wounds. This could work. My Mc cells go down depending how much is held in the Shadow lock.
'Keeping them there will mean some of my MC points will be limited, but at least it will give me time to figure out just what is behind all of this mess!' Archer[Quinn] shouted in his mind, as he quickly started using shadow locks on each of the Marked.
Shadows were popping up in the training hall everywhere and in seconds the Marked people were disappearing into them. For each person that was locked in the shadow lock, it would take around 20 points of MC. With the group that Ko had brought along with him there were seventy or so Marked people in the room, but not all of them had gone mad just yet.
Doing his best, Archer[Quinn] continued to put them all in the shadow lock until finally it seemed like the whole area had started to calm down. Those that were marked but hadn't gone crazy had huddled up in the centre, hiding away from all the fighting. Their bodies were shaking.
While the others who were injured and had just fought, were looking towards the centre where the other Marked had gathered, as if they were a bunch of beasts.
'I need to keep an eye on them to see if any more have changed, but I won't be able to put them all into the shadow space.' Archer[Quinn] thought.
Out of the seventy people who were marked, forty two of them had gone mad and were currently in Archer[Quinn]'s space. This meant that 840 of his MC cells were locked away, limiting the amount of shadow he could use. Archer[Quinn] could tell that putting them in the shadow lock wasn't a permanent solution.
"You!" Ko shouted, stomping his feet while he walked forward. Ko himself seemed fine, but his men and the rest of the people in the training hall were not, having large wounds. This suggested that Ko had some skill, which was expected of a faction leader. "What did you do to all those people, tell me now." He demanded.
At this moment, it seemed like he didn't care who it was, but soon he found his footsteps stopped, and a few people around him.
"Do you really think you can just approach our leader like that?" Arian[Fex] said, as he had tied his red string around Ko's arms and legs, pulling him with great force. Rachael[Linda] and Pestile[Wevil] were also in front of Archer[Quinn], almost protecting him, even though Archer[Quinn] wasn't the one needing protection.
Ko grunted and was expecting his faction members to do something, but they did nothing and there were more than one reason. Just like the attack with the beasts, those from the Cursed had helped out the most when subduing those that were Marked. On top of that, they were injured, tired, and exhausted. They couldn't believe that the Cursed hardly broke a sweat. It was as if they had unlimited stamina, able to fight on forever.
"Ko, what are you doing, Archer[Quinn] just saved all those people!" Nora[Hayley] said, having an inkling to what he had done.
"The Marked people are fine, I have put them all in my shadow space. I saw that they aren't attacking each other. So I thought if I put them in the same area away from everyone else, they would be fine." Archer[Quinn] replied.
"How am I meant to believe that? Am I just meant to take your word?" Ko said.
Tired of having to explain himself to Ko, Archer[Quinn] lifted his hand up and pointed it towards him.
"What are you trying to do? Are you going to silence me because I'm the only one calling you out? Go ahead, show them who you really are!" Ko shouted, as if he had gone mad.
"No, " Archer[Quinn] replied. "I'm going to show you." Making a fist, a shadow appeared behind Ko, and soon his body had disappeared. One second he was in the training hall, and the next he was in a dark space, but he wasn't alone.
He could see all the Marked that were in the room were just standing there, lifeless, until they noticed him. They turned their heads and all their eyes started to glow as they charged towards him.
"No!" Ko screamed, but then, he could see himself in the training room again.
"Do you believe me now?" Archer[Quinn] said.
All those with markings were placed in a makeshift Cell, created by one of the faction skill[ability] users, who could produce wood. But everyone knew that, if they went mad, that the wood wouldn't be enough to hold them back.
Of course, Nora[Hayley] started to focus on those that were injured and that's when she discovered something devastating. An emergency meeting was called by her and it was taking place in the training room. This was where the other Marked were being held and they made sure to stay close.
Ko and Archer[Quinn] glanced at each other for a second, or it was more right to say, Ko glanced at Archer[Quinn] until Tony[Peter] stepped in between the two of them and stared back at Ko until he finally gave in.
'These people from the Cursed faction are crazy.' Ko thought.
"Nora[Hayley], I assume you have some important news." Archer[Quinn] asked.
She looked almost frightened and nervous about what she was about to say,
"Yes, some of those that had been attacked by the Marked, who received deep wounds. It appears that they too now also are showing signs of the marking as well. Although it has hardly developed."
"Are you saying that it spreads, like an infection?" Rebecca[Layla] asked.
"I believe so. For now, I have made a list of all those that have shown the marking." Nora[Hayley] replied, bringing up the list.
Over thirty of the faction members' names were written on the list. Including the ones that were kept in the makeshift wood cell, at any time, they had around sixty more people that could turn mad.
"Hey, this can't be good, right?" Arian[Fex] said. "Shouldn't we put them with the other Marked, inside that wooden prison you made."
"Do you really think that will hold them?" Rachael[Linda] said. "Their strength is nearly as strong as mine. If they get out and hurt more, then we will just have more to deal with on our hands. Mill[Sil] has bored the power for now, but even he can't just keep making the cell forever."
"Then can't you just get Archer[Quinn] to do what he did with his shadow to do the same to the rest, until we find a solution to this problem." Ko said.
"I can't. My Shadow can only hold so much and I'm already at my limit, there are just too many marked people." Archer[Quinn] replied.
However, Arian[Fex] at that moment realised something.
"Hey wait, Ko. I've been looking into the people who have gone missing and from what I've found out, this has been going on since the Shelter was first established on this planet. How many people have exactly one missing?"
Sure enough, at that exact moment, another leader of the Orbus faction came bursting in.
"Sir, we have a report from the Meshack[Graylash] team. More people are returning and they are bearing the mark."
"Tell us then, how many people have gone missing?" Ryo[Eno] asked.
"Over a 1000."
To be continued....
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