Chapter 5 – The Hag of District 16, Part 2

  Sumi looked at the swordsman, Jan, in contempt, “Say, did you come here alone, or did you bring some lackeys to die with you?”

  The lady came face-to-face with a swordsman of Kira Association, right in the middle of an Angel's den. The room was dimly lit, providing enough room for a decent battle.

  The man smirked at her, “Hey, hey — first things first, I introduced myself. How about you introduce yourself too?”

  She stared him down with a look of sheer disappointment, sighing loudly. None of his quips were hitting with her.

  “...Or not.”

  Sumi, having enough of these shenanigans, dashed toward him with two auric Resonance blades, attempting to cut Jan in half from both sides. An impact was made; however, no cuts were dealt.

  Jan endured the attack with his forearms, completely unharmed. Upon taking a closer look, Resonance was used to create a protective layer around his arms. Sumi was unable to penetrate his guard.

  He laughed, “Hah! Quite the angry woman, you are!”

  She jumped back to reassess the situation. Her attack was ineffective, and something was not right.

  “I thought Kira members use Driftblades only. Why are you an exception?”

  Jan scratched his head, “They're no fun to use. And besides, I believe my Manifest is better suited for scoundrels like you!”

  Sumi was aware of what their appearance here meant. Someone ordered a hit on the Sinners, and it was no insignificant party, either — Kira Association excels in assassination missions of threatening identities.

  “That's breaking an Association rule. Either I beat your ass here, or they will take your hands as a result.”

  Her face was full of annoyance. She did not see Jan as a worthy opponent just because of his terrible personality. In short, she wanted him gone as soon as possible. And in addition, she needed him gone to progress to the Angel.

  Jan became slightly more serious, “Not so fast...”

  A surge of Ichor built up around both his arms. Something was forming around them — a Manifest. It was a pair of crystal-like claws with scales over his forearms and shoulders. The claws were tipped with serrated blades in the place of nails, and they were deadly enough to kill.

  “Well then, what do you think?” He grimaced obnoxiously.

  Sumi promptly reacted by dashing at him with one blade, piercing his lower stomach before he could even react.

  “Gah!”

  She smiled ominously, “I don't think you know who you're dealing with here.”

  Jan swiped at her face, making her step away. A gaping hole protruded from his abdomen.

  “You! You!!” He pointed angrily, with blood escaping from his mouth and wound.

  Enraged, he engaged her in close-quarters combat. The pair began attacking at a rapid pace, one slashing two blades at once, and the other wildly clawing.

  Jan's claws were built even tougher than his Resonance usage. However, Sumi correctly assessed his pride to make him stop using Resonance while using Manifest. The obnoxious fool truly believed that one was enough against Sumi.

  The man jumped into the air, attempting an attack from the top. Sumi deflected his claws as he descended, leaving room for one slash to his exposed shoulder as she moved to the side.

  Jan called out to her, “Don't assume that this is all I've got!”

  He opened the grasp on his left arm, shooting it toward the lady a few meters away. It was connected to his body with a visceral tendon or some other bodily matter. As the hand made contact, it latched onto Sumi's weapon. In response, she dissipated her blade, continuing with just one.

  It was clear that she understood Resonance on a more personal level. She knew how to create light dual blades, but that was not the full extent of her prowess. She had a free hand to use another trick.

  She positioned that hand into a spear, placing it behind her. The other hand of Jan was launched toward her, and she slid below and released a flying crescent slash from her hand, severing the man's extended right arm. Another slash followed right after, still in sliding motion, towards Jan's legs.

  The claw-wielding man was shocked to see such skill. In a matter of moments, one of his arms was severed, and another attack was headed to his legs. He barely had enough time to harden with Resonance at the point of impact. However, Sumi was still approaching fast, one blade in hand.

  With the attack absorbed by Resonance, Sumi pressed on. Jan used the now retracted remaining arm to claw off Sumi's face, being moments away from her. It was too late to react properly, and she had to resort to using Resonance hardening around her face.

  The attack still broke through partially, shattering the Resonance with golden shards, due to how little time she had to harden. She now had a set of four scars across the face. The wound staggered her somewhat, canceling her charge.

  The two stood still for a moment. Jan, still badly injured, took heavy breaths to recompense for his chest wound. The pain was tolerable due to the effect of Ichor's increased pain tolerance. After the rapid-paced clashing he experienced, he knew that he was no match for the lady in front of her. She was much faster, more agile, and more potent.

  Sumi, on the other hand, had a gleaming smile of a devil. She relished violence, especially when it was deserved. With how helpless Jan was against her, she was ecstatic more than when usually killing anything.

  Her smile soon faded, and she sighed, “To think that you put on such a farce to just get massacred. I almost mistook you for someone competent.”

  Jan heaved, clutching his other arm, “Heh, I'm just a... Class 4. Just you wait... until the boss tracks you all down. I've never seen... such display with a Driftblade anywhere else.”

  Sumi casually approached him with murderous intent, wielding one Resonance blade in hand. Jan shrieked in agony, resorting to launching his remaining arm at her, aiming for her heart.

  Sumi effortlessly severed the tendon connecting the hand and Jan, not slowing down in the process. At that moment, Jan knew; it was over for him, and he squealed in fear.

  “NO! Please! Please don't kill me! It was the contract, please! I never wanted to kill you; it was a misunderstanding!”

  He begged on his knees. Although the effect of the gesture was greatly reduced with his lack of hands.

  Sumi promptly stabbed his head from below, piercing his whole skull through, poking out at the other side of it. The room fell silent afterward.

  Knowing she was ultimately victorious, Sumi laughed out loud with genuine glee. She was overcome with ecstasy and began stabbing the lifeless corpse of Jan repeatedly to make herself feel even better.

  To her, this was better than any sort of intimate bond. It was more than intimate, it was obscene. It was a connection more personal than anything else, and she relished it. What drove her to inhumanely mutilate the corpses of both humans and Angels alike was pure, unfiltered lust for possession and dominance.

  And she enjoyed every second of it.

  The group of the three Sinners began fighting their opposition in a fierce encounter. Unlike Sumi's experience, their opponents were much more bothersome due to their number advantage and Driftblade usage.

  Avidia clashed her energy halberd against one of the swordsmen, “Who requested this contract? Speak, and your remains will be used in humane experiments only.”

  Rita and Elmer were taking on the other three, struggling to keep up.

  The girl charged into the group with her Gas Spear, casting sparks around the room with a waving motion. 'Hiya!', she cried, before igniting the sparks.

  The environment was working against them. The corridor was too narrow to allow the Sinners to fully utilize their long weapons. Rita and Avidia were responsible for fending off the four because their range with a spear and a halberd was superior.

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  The swordsmen delivered frequent charges using Speed and Offense of the Driftblades. The striking offense of theirs required sharp reaction time from the Sinners to not let them get past the defense line. Some of their swings were centimeters away from the Sinners.

  One of the swordsmen dashed past Avidia, who was clashing with one of the men still behind the line. He was about to run her through with no resistance as she was preoccupied with another.

  Elmer descended Heist upon the head of the swordsman to protect Avidia. With its ability, he was able to infuse the bat with Resonance to obliterate the fiend's skull in a single strike.

  “There we go! Now it's even!” He exclaimed loudly.

  The number of opponents has been reduced to three with one decision-making strike. With that fact in mind, Elmer rushed past the two ladies, taking one Kira member for himself, and leaving the other two to their own duels.

  Avidia was no weakling despite her lack of Ichor usage. She wielded the halberd with utmost precision, carefully deflecting each blow aimed at her. Her opponent attempted an overhead strike, and she masterfully caught it in the hook of the halberd. She freed one of her hands and generated a handheld crossbow-like tool, immediately firing a bolt into the swordsman's chest. He staggered back, and she instantly followed up with an ascending strike from below, cleaving the man's entire front. He promptly collapsed from the impact.

  Rita and Elmer doubled up to take care of the remaining two. Rita ignited the space in front of the two, creating a smokescreen between the two groups. Elmer took the opportunity to charge through the smoke, charging up a most potent strike with his bat. He swung from below as much as he could, toppling one man over and disarming the other through the smokescreen.

  Rita followed up by skewering the standing one, building up sparks around him as he stood there, immobile. A subsequent explosion ripped him in half.

  The last remaining Kira member lay defeated, and the battle concluded with his capture. After making sure that no one came to harm, especially Rita, they questioned the now defenseless man.

  Avidia calmly threatened him, pointing the crossbow at him, “Speak.”

  The swordsman stuttered in fear, “We w-were sent to a-assassinate a group c-called the Sinners! Please! Don't kill me! I have a family at home!”

  Elmer slapped him, “Buddy, we figured out that much without your input. What else? Who requested this shite?”

  Rita faked a sorrow, “He's so helpless! It almost makes me wanna cry!”

  “I-I can't tell you that! I would be k-killed!” He pleaded.

  Elmer responded, “Hey, I propose a deal. Either we kill you or your contract partner will. Pick your poison.”

  The man was cornered, eyes wide with fright. There was no good outcome for him, no matter what he chose.

  He yelled out loudly, and then spoke, “The District Head! The damn Seraph!”

  The Sinners were thoroughly surprised and taken aback. As the words exited the man's mouth, they heard a truth most harrowing.

  “A Seraph?” Elmer worriedly asked.

  “That's not good,” Rita added dejectedly.

  A common feeling of unease and dread was among them. They were unsure of what to make of the situation.

  Elmer let go of the man, “Go. Leave and never let me see your face again.”

  “T-thank you!” He uttered before sprinting in a random direction.

  “Well, shite, now what?”

  Avidia solemnly spoke, “It would be in our best interest to regroup and finish the mission before assessing this vital piece of information.”

  The group continued past the strewn corpses of Kira Association. Their expressions were considerably less amused and gloomier. They learned something that they never wanted to know.

  They traversed a few more empty corridors. After a few minutes of wandering about, they reached the central room. Here, each of them laid their eyes one by one on Sumi, who was sitting on a deathly desecrated corpse with an innumerable amount of stab wounds and lacerations, smoking a cigarette.

  It could barely even qualify as a corpse anymore — it resembled more of a puddle of Ichor with shredded bits of viscera mixed inside.

  Elmer gasped, “Holy shit.”

  She glared back, “Don't look at me like that, he pissed me off.”

  Meanwhile, one of the Sinners emerged on the complete other side of the labyrinth.

  The augmented voice spoke from behind the glowing light, “One must always play the role of a parent caring for its children, tending to them, nurturing them, and taking on their responsibilities.”

  Null stood alone in a tall room with several catwalks across the walls. The floor was strewn with mangled corpses and eaten carcasses. It was clear that this was where the Angel resided, as the noise the group heard at the entrance returned. The strange grumbling and mumbling came back, and the sniper laid eyes on their supposed target.

  “Such opportunities are not for naught, yet they never feel fulfilling.”

  The Hag of District 16 stared right at him. It resembled a wrinkly old lady with gray skin, measuring a little over a meter. However, its enormous scruffy hairdo made it almost twice as large. It stood crouched on one of the catwalks high above Null. It was eyeing him with malicious intent, perhaps because he was the first to attack it. That may be the reason as to why it brought him to its lair immediately.

  Null equipped the rifle from his back, aiming right away at the Angel. He took the shot, and it traveled all the way to the Angel before disappearing.

  That same bullet redirected to him from a different direction, almost hitting him in the foot.

  “Ah, a rogue mirror will reflect any and all greetings, no matter their form.”

  It took one exact shot for him to understand the Angel's power. Just as how they were transported to the labyrinth below the monument, it teleports things using its Manifest. Null knew how much this counters him as a sniper, proving that the battle was not going to be easy.

  “A fleeting effort, one so futile as yours could never prevail. You and I are essentially harmless to each other, like the gentle touch of morning dew.”

  Null took out a grappling hook from a holster on his thigh and shot it upwards to the Angel. It startled from the speed of it and the subsequent ascension of Null to her level. It thought that the opponent would engage in melee, jumping away with impressive agility elsewhere.

  However, Null predicted that behavior and held his rifle steadily. While ascending the hi-tech grappling hook's red glowing line, he took a shot mid-air at the Hag.

  The shot pierced the Angel, but only its hair, leaving a clear hole through and through. Null's sniper hissed a puff of steam from the shot. The bullet made an impact on the wall behind it, creating an impressive fracture in the wall.

  “We are all too different, but you and I are the same, relying on pitiful tricks to thrive. I would gladly die here with you if you amassed the resolve to eradicate me.”

  He hung there on the wall, now quite closer to the Angel, who hopped over to the right from him. He aimed his gun once again.

  The Hag projected a thin, translucent veil once again, this time letting Null see it. However, as it waited, no shot was made — it was baited into doing so.

  “Lack of experience is a true and sincere tragedy, like a theatre play of two lovers, destined to die in obscurity.”

  The Angel, frightened of the opponent's genius, attempted to jump once more, this time to the far left side of the room. It was completely outplayed, as this provided Null with a clear shot.

  He composed himself, held his breath, and pressed the trigger. A loud 'bang' sounded from the gun's barrel, and a puff of hot steam emerged shortly after. The Angel was intercepted with a clean shot straight through its head, falling to the ground.

  Null descended after it. He attempted to find out if it was dead with a closer look, but it yelped out at him. Even with a hole in its head, it was still alive.

  The sniper readied his gun once more but waited. The Angel completely surrounded itself in the veil. It was nigh untouchable.

  “Ah, the temporary solitude you brought upon yourself is but a band-aid to the much greater threat it brings — isolation.”

  Null calmly approached the injured being, thinking that there were no more tricks to it. However, it extended one of its slender arms and grasped the physical space around Null, ripping off a part of his armor and stomach.

  He underestimated the Manifest of the Angel. It created one of the veils inside of him, and then closed it right after, taking anything inside with it.

  Null staggered and jumped backward, thinking of a plan. However, the Hag repeated her last action, trying to do the same to his head. He noticed it this time and kept himself on the move. He could not stay still for as long as it was breathing, because it would rip him to shreds.

  The roles were reversed. Null was the one on the run, being sniped by the Angel's warping Manifest. He had to think of something, otherwise it would be over for him. The exit had been sealed off with yet another veil — escape was not an option.

  Out of desperation, he fired at the protected Hag. The projectile traveled to it, and then came out behind him, grazing his shoulder.

  A spark lit up in his mind. He noticed something important. Once the bullet traversed the veil once, it could not enter a second time. In other words, Null clearly saw the bullet pass the veil on the second passage.

  The Angel, still oblivious to what he was planning, continued the relentless assault that prevented him from idling.

  Null tried his second theory — shooting at the veil that continuously followed behind him to redirect the bullets he fired. By his logic, it should reemerge at the inside of the veil where the Hag lied. However, the same outcome happened, except in reverse order. The bullet came out from the veil protecting the injured Angel.

  “As the war generals once used to say, the opportunity of attack is often provided by the enemy himself.”

  With a quick stride, he landed back on the ground, aiming right at the Angel behind the veil. Everything worked according to his theory. He was positioned in between two veils, and if he were to take a shot, it would have the Hag and himself in its trajectory.

  With no hesitation, he fired the sharp shot.

  The deciding bullet traveled into the veil, emerging behind Null. It was powerful enough to pierce him through the stomach and continue with impressive speed, penetrating the Hag in one shot.

  Null fell to the ground, staggered. This was the best course of action to defeat it, he thought. He could not move fast enough to outrun a bullet, and so the sniper resorted to taking the shot head-on. Thankfully, it paid off as the Angel finally dropped dead, and its veils were dispelled.

  With only one opponent left in the operation, Damien was the last one with an adversary in his way. He waited for a long time behind the corner, thinking about who the man in the next room was and what he wanted. As he was in the middle of thinking, he was interrupted by the man's voice.

  He sighed loudly, “Alright, I'm getting tired of pretending there isn't someone there. Come out, let's have a friendly chat.”

  Damien's heart skipped a beat. How did he know? More importantly, who was this man?

  He was equipped with a lengthy, odachi-like Driftblade hung on a harness like a guitar. It was almost as long as he and the man appeared to be proficient with it.

  Could he take on such a person in a fight?