The nature of the incident would serve to waver the hope of society as it spread over social media, and of course, fan the flames of hatred in a particular woman.
“Breaking news. A violent resurfacing of the S-Class criminal, Zack Isaac. The man responsible for the kilometer wide hole in Oregon, has shown himself stirring chaos in a nightclub in Florida,” In the comfort of her room in the Whitehouse, Ada watched and listened as a news reporter spoke. She had the company of her personal guards at her side. “His actions resulted in multiple explosions, frightening fellow partygoers and the deaths of two men.”
“W-What news…did I wake up to?” With a dumbfounded expression as she listened, Ada muttered.
“Not only has this act resulted in deaths, but Zack wasn’t the only criminal on the scene. Reports have shown Blueblood associates, Rose Thatcher and Octavius Santino, to also be there, drinking and conversing with Zack Isaac,” The reporter continued, much to Ada’s dismay. Photos of them drinking in the nightclub were presented on the screen. “This raises questions as the Blueblood organization, the biggest criminal organization, was said by the president herself to be annihilated recently.”
“What the hell is she implying!?” Charlotte yelled. “She better not be calling you a liar!”
“It’s very likely an oversight by our president, as she would never lie to us,” The reporter added. “But could this incident lead to a snowball effect of chaos–”
The colorful picture and the audio of the news reporter suddenly ceased as the television turned to black.
“Tsk, enough of that. Why the hell is that useless bastard acting all of a sudden!?” Aa sharply remarked as she bit the nail of her thumb. “Does he love making my job of making this country mine harder!?”
“You graciously spared that gnat’s life and this is how he repaid you,” Leon added. “A freaking ungrateful bastard.”
That’s not even the only time I spared him too! Ada pondered. Why can’t he just live quietly with his pathetic life until I’m ready to get rid of him!?
“I don’t know who pissed me off more: that bastard for making a scene in that nightclub, or that bitchy reporter for not knowing her place while speaking about you,” Charlotte remarked. “Eitherway, I want to murder them both.”
“Tsk, well we know he’s somewhere in Florida. If he doesn’t want to live quietly while I focus on killing Lilith and Charles, then so be it!” Ada loudly remarked. “Find whoever who would possibly see him after he left the nightclub, and mobilize our troops to murder him!”
Well, I won’t need the slightest help from the developer to locate any of his disgusting ‘game characters.’ Ada pondered. They are all dead now.
- * * *
While social media exploded with the attention garnered towards the nightclub incident, Lilith retained the same attitude she always had since Nathan’s comatose state. Like yesterday, she started her day practicing her breathing technique as the NPC advised.
It’s as though she truly removed herself of all things unnecessary for her goal of becoming stronger for Nathan, cancelling everything in this world as she closed her eyes and breathed with great focus.
“Impressive. You’ve regulated the timing of your breathing to the speed I wanted from you, just as I expected,” The NPC uttered as he watched the meditating Lilith. “Do you feel anything different?”
“...My body feels rather…freer?” Lilith replied. “I’m not too sure how to put it.”
“That’s the energy that’s being stirred within your core,” The NPC replied. “That’s the essence of this technique.”
“I see–”
“L-Lilith! Did you see the news–ack!” Rushing her way outside was a frantic Olivia. She stopped in her tracks as she garnered the attention of both the NPC and Lilith. “U-Uh, sorry…I didn’t r-realize…you were training.”
“It’s fine. What happened on the news?” Lilith questioned with a sincere smile.
“W-Well, Zack seems to be…all over the news. It…seems he’s got i-into trouble again,” Olivia explained. “He was with that c-criminal group again…and they caused s-some chaos in a nightclub…”
Lilith gazed in silence for a few moments after Olivia was finished speaking, garnering her nervousness.
“...Ada won’t like him interfering with the paradise that woman built for herself,” Lilith responded with a melancholic expression. “Knowing her, she’ll only ramp up her efforts to snuff out any life from him…and us as well.”
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“W-What do we do…” Olivia muttered.
“Well I have a suggestion as to what you should do. Lilith, why don’t you stand on your feet for me,” The NPC chimed in. “Let’s move to the next phase since you understand the basics.”
“H-Huh? Uhm, okay,” The slightly confused Lilith complied. “What should I do next?”
“Olivia, you might want to stand back for this,” The NPC advised.
“U-U-Uh, okay!” Frightened by his implications, Olivia replied before heading back inside.
“Alright, Lilith…I won’t move an inch and I’ll only block with my palms,” The NPC continued. “I want you to strike me.”
“Huh?”
“Since you understand the feeling of the energy swirling in your core through the breathing technique, it’s time to put that to effect against an opponent,” The NPC explained as he put up his open hands like targets. “I’ll be the opponent you can practice on. Come on.”
“...If you say so, I’ll give it a shot,” Lilith replied as she put up clenched fists.
“Just remember…you have to quickly release the built up energy when you strike me,” The NPC advised. “That’s how you gain full effectiveness of the breathing technique. Whenever you’re ready, hit me with all you got.”
“Right.”
Sucking the air into her lungs, Lilith closed her eyes and deeply inhaled. The air was still as the NPC and Lilith stood in front of each other without the slightest movement.
BAM!
Lilith tossed out a sudden left straight onto the NPC’s right palm, creating a shockwave which rippled throughout the environment. She released an audible grunt mid strike as well.
“T-That didn’t feel any different from my usual punches,” Lilith remarked as she observed her fist in confusion. “Did I do something wrong?”
“You exhaled a bit too late,” The NPC replied. “Your strike has to be in sync with your exhaling. Try again.”
“...Okay,” Lilith said.
She relaxed herself and inhaled once more before throwing another punch. Her strike gave the same result to the surroundings, and the same confused expression on Lilith’s face.
“Now you exhaled a bit too early,” The NPC said. “Try again.”
A slight sigh of frustration left Lilith’s mouth as she inhaled once more. This time the results were different…Lilith’s grunt was interrupted into a coughing mess as she struck him. The force behind her strike was far weaker than before.
“Cough…cough…ugh…” Coughing up a storm, Lilith crouched over.
“Yeah, this is the hard part of the training. There are many aspects you’ll need to learn when it comes to actually transferring those breaths into power,” The NPC remarked. “But it’s okay, we’ll keep at it until you get it.”
“Cough…o–kay.”
- * * *
The man responsible for the incident last night had returned to the hideout with his Blueblood allies. The living room was filled with utter silence as Rose and Octavius watched, from the comfort of the couches they sat in, Zack pacing back and forth.
“...Why are you so tense, Zack,” Rose commented. “It’s not really that serious.”
“Funny for you to be the one to say that,” Octavius remarked. “Considering how you normally act when–”
“Shut the hell up.”
“...I think I might have screwed us over,” Zack remarked as he continued pacing. “I chose the wrong time to kill those bums.”
“Well, it’s not the end of the world,” Octavius attempted to comfort. “Though that was kind of poor judgment.”
“...I definitely blew our cover–”
“That’s right…you did,” With the creaking of the door as it opened, the director remarked as he stepped inside. “It’s all over the news, I’m sure you are aware.”
“S-Sorry…that was my bad, director,” Zack muttered as he looked to the side, unable to look at his boss.
“Sigh, the period in which our president is aggressively committing to eliminating the most notorious criminals in this country, and this is when you decided to go all haywire?” The director questioned as he slowly approached Zack. “What’s worse, we’ve already sustained major damage to our organization.”
“U-Uh…”
“I expended resources to strengthen your body, and to save your life recently with the super soldier serum. I was even accommodating to your…addictions,” The director continued. “I let you go to a nightclub to enjoy yourself, and then you potentially brought unnecessary heat to us?”
A look of concern formed on Rose’s face as she witnessed the fear on Zack’s face in response to the lecture he received.
“You’re supposed to be my dog, but you’ve been nothing but trouble,” The director continued.
“...I was just…looking out for you guys,” Zack muttered.
“Speak up, boy,” The director yelled. “I can’t hear you.”
“It’s not his fault!’ Rose interjected. “I was the one who foolishly came up with the idea to expose ourselves in a nightclub in the first place!”
“...I don’t want to hear it, Rose. You’ve given Zack far too much favor…and so have I,” The director said. “As a dog, you’ve been far more harmful than helpful. Until you can prove that you’re useful again, you aren’t allowed back here.”
“What!?” Both Zack and Rose yelled.
“You heard me,” The director said as he walked past Zack and approached the passageway leading to different rooms. “Don’t try to stop anything, Rose. Be lucky I didn’t kill him.”
With widened eyes and gritted teeth showing a mixture of extreme anger and frustration, Rose gazed at the departing director.
“...Sorry, guys,” Zack said as he looked back at them. “I guess this is best for you both.”
“Dammit! You’re not going to leave!!!” Rose yelled. “Not again!”
“...Don’t worry, maybe this will be a good chance,” Zack strangely remarked. “To tie up some loose ends.”
“Huh?”
Without any further words, Zack left the home and left his allies.
“Dammit! Isn’t he supposed to be your friend!?” Rose yelled as she turned her gaze to Octavius. “Why the hell didn’t you say anything to help him!?”
“...Sorry, but there’s nothing I could say. The director isn’t the type of person to ever change his mind,” Octavius said. “And I’m the one who even got Zack to act so irrationally…I don’t really have the right to say anything.”
“...Tch! So friggin useless!” In her anger, Rose stormed off deeper into the house.
“Tsk, this isn’t what we agreed upon, pops,” Octavius muttered. “Making me look like I’m the bad guy. Well, I guess that’s not wrong.”