Zain stood up and smirked when he saw the night sky.
"Huh... already night?"
Flicker cracked his neck, grinning wide.
"What, getting scared now that it's dark? You planning to run, fla-boy?"
Skritch sneered, his stance shifting.
"Yeah. That bravado from earlier's gone quiet. You done pretending?"
Zain tilted his head and gave a slow, confident grin.
"Scared? No. I just figured it's the perfect ti to get serious. Besides..."
He cracked his knuckles.
"I haven't had dinner yet."
Flicker's eye twitched. "What?"
Zain muttered under his breath.
"System—grant two low-tier abilities: one for vanishing in the night, and one for silent movent."
---
[Hack Initiation: Ability Acquisition]
[Target: Zain]
[Ability Acquired: Fading in the Dark (Low Tier)]
[Effect: Beco nearly invisible when standing in shadows and blurred when moving through darkness.]
[Ability Acquired: Quiet Steps (Low Tier)]
[Effect: Move in complete silence, greatly enhancing stealth and evasion.]
[Total Cost: 200 Hack Points]
[Status: Executing...]
---
Zain exhaled slowly as the new power flowed into him, the shadows around his body thickening like a veil.
His footsteps made no sound as he took a single step forward—then vanished into the dim alley.
Flicker's grin froze.
"H-Hey—where the hell did he go?!"
Skritch's eyes darted side to side.
"Shit! He disappeared! I can't hear him either!"
Zain's voice echoed faintly through the dark.
"Relax. I'm still here... just hunting now."
A chilling silence followed—
Until a soft voice whispered just behind Flicker:
"Let's eat."
Flicker's eyes widened. He spun around, panic in his voice.
"You bastard—where?!"
THWIP—THWIP—THWIP!
He fired all ten fingers with Impact Tags in a wild burst.
But they hit nothing—just empty air.
From above, a shadow dropped silently behind him.
Zain's body blurred from the Fading in the Dark, his steps soundless with Quiet Steps.
In one swift motion, two hands gripped Flicker's neck.
CRACK—SSSSZZZ
Zain's Hard Grip activated, his fingers tightening like iron clamps.
He yanked Flicker backward and slamd him into the wall hard enough to shake the broken concrete.
Flicker's eyes bulged. He tried to scream, but no air ca.
"You talk too much."
He leaned in, letting his breath skim Flicker's cheek.
"All that noise... and you couldn't even scratch ."
He let go.
Thud.
Flicker's body dropped like a sack of at, limp and lifeless.
Zain rolled his shoulders and stepped back, glancing around with his Night Eyes.
"One down... one to go."
The shadows revealed movent.
Skritch.
Zain turned, but Skritch was already moving.
He spun his body as he was about to send a devastating spinning kick to Zain.
"DIE!"
Skritch scread, mid-spin, his Spinning Kick enhanced by Hard Kick aiming straight for Zain's ribs.
Zain didn't move.
Not until the very last second.
Blink—
Quick Step.
He vanished.
Skritch's eyes widened mid-air. "What?!"
Zain reappeared behind him—low, steady, unreadable.
He swept Skritch's supporting leg out from under him.
"Too slow."
Skritch lost balance, spiraling off-course.
Before he could even react, Zain's hand lashed out and caught his leg mid-air.
SNAP!
The bone cracked under Hard Grip, and Skritch howled, twisting in agony.
Zain rotated smoothly, flipping him mid-scream and slamming him face-first into the broken pavent.
CRACK!
Zain lood over him.
"You should've stayed hidden like a proper rat."
Skritch groaned, twitching, trying to roll over.
"Y-you're a monster..."
Zain crouched beside him, smiling.
"No. I'm the exterminator."
He raised his hand, fla dancing across his fingers before driving it down straight to his head.
THUD.
The ground sizzled. Skritch's body went limp.
Zain stood, surrounded by silence.
Two dead enforcers lay before him.
He turned to the horizon and exhaled slowly.
"All Done."
---
Zain stood amidst the rubble, fla fading from his fingers as he exhaled.
He glanced at the Skritch's corpse, then at Flicker's.
A faint smirk curved his lips.
"System—absorb these two. And everything else around."
---
[Hack Initiation: Area Absorption]
[Target: All Surrounding Materials]
[Effect: Convert materials into Hack Points]
[Status: Executing...]
[Absorption Complete]
[Total Hack Points Gained: 560]
[Current Hack Points: 2,080 ]
---
Zain watched the bodies, the broken tal, scorched pavent fragnts, even Flicker's half-lted fingers.
All of them shimred, dissolved into light, and vanished into the void.
He tilted his head back and stared at the night sky.
"Nice haul."
He rolled his neck with a satisfying crack.
"And here I thought they'd put up a real fight. Guess I overestimated them."
He slid his gun into his waistband, stretched his arms with a yawn, and turned around.
"Now... let's go ho. It's dinner ti."
And without another word, he walked into the night.
---
High above the ruined rooftops, Mirro sat crouched atop an old billboard.
One eye pressed to the cracked lens of her long-range scope.
Her breathing was steady.
Her gaze was locked on one figure walking confidently through the debris.
Zain.
He was unaware of the thin glass behind him.
An almost invisible sign of Mirror Step in use.
Every few seconds, Mirro would blink out of one reflective surface and erge from another nearby.
Always watching, always silent.
She pressed two fingers to the sleek comm device in her ear.
"Boss. Confirmation. Flicker and Skritch... gone."
There was a crackle before Scavratt's voice ca through.
"Damn it. That makes four. And you're sure it's him?"
Mirro adjusted her scope slightly, zooming in on Zain's face as he examined a lted tal fragnt in his hand.
"Positive. Sa kid who took out Ruckle and Burnshot. He's moving alone."
There was a long pause. Then:
"Don't engage. Just track him. I want to know where he lives. No more surprises."
Mirro's lips curled slightly.
"Copy that."
With a faint shimr, her body flickered and vanished into a nearby glass panel.
She left no trace that she had ever been there.
Back at the Rust Rats hideout's main room, Scavratt stood at the center.
Rusted chains rattled above his head. The walls were lined with broken gear and sharpened scrap tal.
The old rat beastman's eyes glead with fury.
"Four enforcers... gone."
His voice was low, trembling with suppressed rage.
"Flicker, Skritch, Burnshot, Ruckle... all wiped out by so arrogant pup calling himself Heavenly Demon."
He slamd his clawed fist against a rusted table—CLANG—sending sparks flying.
"I don't care what power he has. I don't care how many tricks he pulls—"
He growled under his breath, eyes narrowing.
"—I'm going to hunt that bastard down myself."
He turned to one of his remaining lieutenants nearby.
"Get Veltox. Tell him to be ready. The next ti that brat shows his face..."
"I want his head cracked open and his bones fed to the rats."
His claws flexed, gleaming in the dim red light.
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