*** London - 11:32 P.M.
"What the hell is taking everyone so long?"
I waited near an alley; apparently, my handler had sothing important to discuss with . If this turned out to be just another job, I was definitely going to be pissed.
Who calls soone in the middle of the night just to hand out another job? A phone call would’ve been far better...
"Christ..."
I lit a cigarette and watched the smoke curl upward as I fought off the boredom.
I was supposed to be free tonight, for fuck’s sake. This had better be important, or I’m definitely upping my rates next month.
"E-Excuse ? Are you N-1?"
A voice ca from the mouth of the alley—soft, uncertain, and unfamiliar. A woman. Vulnerable and clearly inexperienced. I’d heard that tone countless tis.
Don’t tell they’ve saddled with another partner.
How many tis will they have to learn that anyone they pair with just ends up dead?
No matter...
Guess this won’t be much of a—CRACK
*** Present
"Huh?"
I stumbled slightly, grabbing my aching forehead as I tripped over a corpse’s arm.
A corpse?
I looked around and saw the mangled, bloody remains of the assassins who had surrounded just a mont ago. I didn’t even rember fighting them.
"What’s going on?"
I looked down at my arm, sensing the magic still leaking from my body. I had used magic recently.
But I didn’t rember casting a single spell.
More importantly... what was that just now?
A dream? A hallucination? So kind of magical interference?
I don’t rember anything like that from my past life...
[Photographic mo—ERROR
"Again... what the hell’s wrong with ?"
I shook my head. This wasn’t a priority. Fiona had been taken. If I moved quickly enough, she should still be alive—
BADUMP!
Alive?
That’s odd...
I swear I felt sothing just now...
Never mind. I need to move. Now.
It didn’t matter that I didn’t know where to go; all I knew was that I needed to move, or I’d regret it. I had no idea what was going on, but ignoring my body when it was reacting like this would’ve been a terrible idea.
BANG!
BOOM!
SLASH!
I cleaved my way through what felt like hundreds of enemies, my entire body drenched in blood as I pushed forward, dragged on by so unseen force.
"Stop him!"
A firing line ford in front of .
[Profaned Serpent]
[Endless Fang]
SLASH!
They were all dead. I just had to keep running, keep sprinting, keep teleporting—using everything I had to find where she’d been taken.
"I’m stopping you here."
A huge man waited at the end of the next corridor, dual axes in hand, both clearly coated in wind magic. A spellblade. Too bad that wouldn’t work.
[Profaned Prince]
"Kneel!"
The brute dropped, one knee slamming against the floor.
SLASH!
I didn’t even bother killing him cleanly; I just ramd through him until he was nothing but paste. I couldn’t stop. I couldn’t explain why.
I just... needed to keep going!
[Soul Sight]
Even my detection spell wasn’t working. Whatever lined these walls was blocking my vision, and that alone made worry.
FLASH!
"Thirty minutes..."
The thought ca unbidden. Thirty minutes? What was that about? Why was it so specific?
"Damn it! I hate it when I have no idea what’s going on!"
[Profaned Abyssal March]
If I couldn’t pinpoint where I needed to go, then I’d just spread out in all directions through countless summons. A basic [Shadow Parade] wouldn’t be enough, but an [Abyssal March] should work.
[Profaned Prince]
"GO NOW!"
I yelled, my voice cracking as I gave the command. The summons ripped through the tal walls, carving their own path as they beelined toward the faintest signs of life.
But that wasn’t enough.
I needed more...
More power.
It didn’t matter if I destroyed the Shadow Society along with it.
This entire operation would be pointless if I didn’t find her.
[Profaned Abyssal March]
I sprinted through the compound, constantly calling forth more shadowy minions to tear through walls and everything in their way, blobs of darkness swarming every nook and cranny like mold spreading through bread.
Gunfire and magic rang out everywhere as the summons hunted down more assassins and mbers in their path.
At this rate... maybe I wouldn’t be too late!
...
Too late?
Late for what?
*** London - 3:12 A.M.
A simple rooftop on the tallest building in a small town—perfect for teaching soone how to fire a gun without a large enough police force to worry about.
"You’re holding the gun wrong."
I reprimanded the woman in front of . She’d introduced herself as T-452. The letter marked the first letter of our given na; the number marked our rank in the agency among other agents with the sa letter.
It was an inefficient ranking system.
But that was the point.
Information leaks and assassinations of our top mbers were far harder when not even we knew who was truly the best.
"I’m sorry, it’s just... I’m new to this..."
She adjusted her posture, aiming at a bird I’d designated as her target.
"Why are you even in this business?" I asked, watching her waste bullet after bullet trying to shoot down a simple, stationary pigeon.
"...I had nowhere else to go."
Her voice was tinged with sadness, but she kept firing. She was clearly trying her hardest—more effort than you usually saw from most newcors to this line of work.
BANG!
"I-I did it!"
"Oh? Looks like you’ve got so talent. Most would empty two magazines."
"Y-You an that!?"
"You shouldn’t be too happy. I just gave you a complint for killing sothing."
But the smile on her lips didn’t fade. In fact, her eyes were far too innocent and bubbly for the line of work she’d just signed up for.
"Cut that smirk. Call once you kill five more."
I sighed, grabbing the Crown of Thorns from underneath my coat.
"What’s that?" she asked.
"None of your business." I snickered, giving her a light kick in the leg to remind her to focus on her training.
CRACK!
*** Present
I opened my eyes again...
Huh?
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