All across the city state, everyone's eyes were fixated on the sight-to-see happening all across the block – airborne demonic creatures without the presence of any portals nearby, Sirutov helicopters on standby, gunfire and mayhem flocking around like a swarm of noise.
All of this was certainly not natural. And as such, news and media reporters were not patient to wait until the grounds had been cleared up.
This was a story they couldn't miss! The reporters and journalists had bills to pay, mouths to feed, and jobs to safeguard. Hotspots like these were hard to come by, and the fierce competition between various channels would mean for all the more candidates to enrol into the rat race of gaining the latest information straight from the source.
Bain took a moment to replace his auto-assault sniper rifle's magazine.
Bat-winged vile creatures were being slaughtered more aggressively than any other human nation had ever committed.
"
Foolish Akamine dog
," Sayan curled a corner of his handsome lips into a smile. One of his eyes glowed bright blue with a fiery flare radiating out of it. "
You have not realized just who exactly you're dealing with
."
???
Wan Jinju loosened the grip on his spear glaive, taking precautions for any surprise aces up his opponent's sleeve.
"
You have low experience in encountering necromancers
," Sayan gently grabbed the sharp tip of Jinju's glaive. "
You don't even have to say it. Your actions speak for themselves.
"
Sayan snapped the glaive's tip with his bare hand. His other hand launched a pulse of death magic towards Wan's direction.
Jinju's reflexes effortlessly allowed him to dodge it by momentarily increasing the speed of his perception of time.
"
Well… that's rich coming from someone who cannot land a blow on me
," Wan taunted. Before Dor Sayan's reply, his brain had subconsciously already figured out just what was his intention with that projectile.
!!!
"
So you've figured it out?
" Sayan's smile shrank. "
A fast thinker. I like that
."
Wan pushed his mind to remain focused and keep simultaneous variables of interest installed inside his short-term 'working' memory. He couldn't afford to make any blunders like that.
Curse my luck! I should've just absorbed that pulse. Now I gotta repeat the steps again.
Behind him, the vampire demon which had previously given Sayan a ride on its back was standing upright again. Wan could feel the ground shake with each footstep that the monster inched nearer, the heat from its bulging muscles and a stinky stench of a corpse given life again.
This guy's a necromancer class. Death is their element. And the annoying ability to resurrect dead creatures as many times as they wish. Hmm… although it all depends on the skill level of the user. Dor Sayan…. A-rank threat, was it?
Wan moved his eyes left and right while his head still remained glued in the vector parallel with the fugitive in front of him.
I would have no problems cutting 10 knots of rope. But that doesn't mean I'd be happy cutting 1 million of them. Time is time, and every effort is precious to me. It shouldn't be wasted on lowly filth like these. Can't wait till I stop being an errand boy to these higher-ups. The kinds of enemies they bring to the table for me to hunt….
*Sigh*
The vampire monster behind him let out a hideous roar, sending out shockwaves of vibrations through the air and making the grass and plants nearby dance to the artificial breeze.
Wan remained rooted in his spot. One of his hands invaded a pocket in his robe.
The monster took one more step forward but got instantly vaporized into a fine mist of non-human blood. Some of it splattered onto the back of Wan's robe.
This time, Dor Sayan truly got amazed.
All he saw was a series of flashes of light, as if a metallic object reflected off the lights nearby. The next moment, his pet demon was dead (again), and Wan's hand was holding onto a sword shaped like an advanced katana.
Wan's time acceleration ability combined with a handful of Spark crystals allowed him to summon a new weapon and then mercilessly slash at the monster – all done within 1 second, so that to any ordinary observers, it seemed like he didn't move at all and as if new sword had spawned out of nowhere in his hand.
"
Hmm?
" Wan raised an eyebrow, pulling his cheeks inward and running a finger from the hand not holding the katana, along the length of his jawlines. Silent mockery. "
I don't just think with speed, friend…
.
I show speed
."
Sayan blinked his eyes and then found Wan holding up the katana up to his neck while Wan stood behind, this time being more aggressive by holding onto his hair with his other hand, too.
"
Are you seriously that stupid?
" Sayan didn't seem to be intimidated. "
I know that you need me alive, you brute. I know you're not going to kill me. Simple enough that even a chimpanzee with a brain chip implanted could figure it out
."
This… is going to be tough. If he is already aware of my intentions, then he can predict my next move, obviously. What can I do to make him regret not listening to my orders? I wonder…
Wan's sixth sense insisted on a clue.
He followed his gut feeling and sure enough, he spotted a non-Sirutov helicopter calmly humming from a distance.
Well, well, well! We have spectators already. No doubt that tonight is gonna bring me a LOT of paperwork to do and many mouths to silence, even after the task at hand is complete.
Wan's daring smile faded into a frown.
Ghaah! Even thinking about the hassles are making me exhausted already.
Jinju yanked onto Sayan's hair, ignoring his wince of emotion while steering his head to align with whatever his own eyes were seeing.
The necromancer got the hint, signaled by a small movement along his neck as he gulped.
Bingo! God bless the wild journalists. Oh well, gotta leave the rest of the problems for another time. Better not to pull my hairs out worrying about tomorrow while I still have the rest of today to fix my headaches, huh.
"
Say cheese, Dor. I hope your family is gonna be very impressed knowing about what you've been trying to do here
."
Sayan gnashed his teeth together, trying to break free. But the blade was too close to his neck to risk being cut by his own movements. '
Crap! Who the heck is this mongrel? Talking like a big-shot, as if he's some S-ranker. Heh, even S-rankers are afraid of getting on my bad side. Who the fungus does he think he is?
'
"
Hey Masayoshi! Better watch the notoriety!
" Bain's voice drifted down from the rooftop above. He was careful not to use Wan's real name unless they were communicating at a close distance. "
We were supposed to keep this a low profile operation, man! What have you done?!
"
Wan looked up vertically, just catching a glimpse of his Sirutov friend from the upper edges of his eyes. Sayan was still in his grasp.
"
If you knew how big of a nuisance our fellow ambassador is, I doubt you'd even want to keep him alive
," Wan replied back without any eagerness to hear any further responses at this distance. It was time to head back to the rooftop and let Bain take a turn in restraining Sayan.
But the plans got spoiled.
"
Jhagoron!
" Sayan's voice boomed. His hand was stretched out to the horizon and covered with the same fiery plasma of blue flames as one of his eyes was. His bravery surprised Wan, despite his attempts at keeping him on a leash by holding his neck hostage with his sword.
This guy!
Sayan found himself thrown onto the ground with a throbbing pain on his scalp. He groaned, getting back to his feet with his fists tightened and a bleeding lip.
"
Not a fan of being a human frisbee?
" Wan stood there menacingly, rotating his katana in his hand while admiring the reddish light being cast on its shiny surface. He saw Sayan's face on it, too. "
Then don't do anything to get on my nerves. I'm not a fan of necromancers either, just so you know
."
Jinju spun around, now facing Sayan where he had thrown him by holding onto his hair.
He performed a knife flip by throwing a Japanese blade that was several times the length and mass of a typical 'knife' up into the air at a 45-degree angle from his standing position, aiming behind him. The sword flew away and sliced a row of freshly-resurrected demons who had all been dead a few moments ago.
Sayan saw Jinju's lips whisper something. Something like a spell.
Wan retrieved his katana back by opening a tiny portal right near his sword-using arm. It was an awkward sight to see a disembodied arm appearing midair on the other end of the portal about twenty meters in the distance, casually lifting up the blade again where it had struck the ground after completing its aerial quest of defeating demons along the way.
Sayan was ready to get angry now. His lips also whispered out a spell, covering the entire ground in a thick fog of darkness heavier than air, spilling up from the soil and propagating from his location as the epicenter.
So this guy really had more tricks up his sleeve? Why didn't he get so serious from the beginning? Humph… attitude issues. So he really thought we were unworthy of seeing his strongest side? I see…. It's been a while since I had to break a sweat to face an enemy like this.
Several other portals appeared in a roughly arranged circle around them.
Men and women in police uniforms and anti-demon gear added themselves to the fun little party Wan and Dor were in.
*Sigh*
You gotta be kidding me… how much virally famous have we become exactly?