Ludomir
Ludomir opened the fridge. He expected the usual smell of almost rotten food to assault his nose and trigger his gag reflex, but that did not seem to be the case today. Legion had stocked it with all kinds of groceries, some that he did not even recognize. Opting for the easiest and more familiar choice, Ludomir took some black bread, some slices of what he thought, and hoped, was cheese and some salami. You could never go wrong with a homemade sandwich.
“It has a fishy smell though…”
Especially that cheese. When he took it out of its plastic container, he noticed how moldy it looked. He hesitantly touched with a finger. It was cold to the touch and very soft, his fingernail easily penetrating through its exterior.
“Is this really cheese?”
He had no idea what the hell had Legion bought for them. Or to be more exact, had his drones bought. The man rarely stepped outside of his damn room. Ludomir wondered if the man had some cybernetic implants that dealt with bodily needs, so that he could focus all day doing…. whatever he was doing. That was one answer he would like not to have.
Nonetheless, with some hesitation, the sandwich was done. In comparison to the triple only bread sandwich that he was used to, this looked much more inviting. Before he could take a bite, he looked towards Evelyne’s room. Then he put his sandwich down and made her one for her too. He did not know if she would eat it, but hey maybe she would appreciate the gesture.
“Smells nice.” Said a voice behind him.
The young man dropped the sandwich and did a spinning kicking to whatever was behind him. His foot hit only air. He looked down to see Evelyne looking up to him with a neutral expression. He lowered his leg and turned his back to her, as to hide the red on his face. He took some deep breaths and pretended to forget what just happened. Ludomir turned to her, with a big, fake smile on his face, his right eyebrow slightly twitching.
“I made some food.”
She just stared at his hand. Then walked past him and grabbed a slice of salami that had fallen off one of the sandwitches. After doing so she looked up to him.
“For the puppy.”
“Oh yeah…totally forgot about it, sorry.”
She just nodded once and walked back to her room. Ludomir stood there with two sandwiches in his hands, wondering if she wanted him to follow her back to the room so that they could all eat there.
He shrugged and followed her inside. The room, like the other rooms of this apartment, was barebone, just a bed and a small metallic nightstand by the side. The wooden floorboard and the white of the wall however looked more well maintained than those of the living room, for some weird reason.
Ludomir waited until Evelyne was done feeding the dog. Now that he could see the puppy better, he was sure that it had some wolf blood in him, as the shape of his snout was a dead giveaway. Or so he thought at least.
“So… where did you find her?” Asked the young man while taking a bite from his sandwich.
“In a box by the road…” - she answered, stroking the puppy’s head - “... she was the only one left.”
“Well… I am not gonna lecture you about adopting puppies found in the open, “ - he started after finishing his sandwich - “but you should strongly reconsider if you want to take it with us.”
The girl was smart, possibly one of the smartest people he has ever met. But she still was a child and sometimes that childish would show. Honestly he was glad, a child being what she is supposed to be is better than her being a jaded cynic like most of the adults nowadays. Though taking care of a dog right now, as much as he would like to keep it, is impossible.
*Bark!*
As if she was able to hear his thoughts, the dog bared her teeth at him. Normally such a thing would be scary, but her size made her more adorable somehow. Ludomir had a wild thought: Did the Devil and Khutulun see all other people like this too?
“Victoria!” Shouted Evelyne, startling the young man. He had never heard her shout like that.
The dog immediately turned her head to her and sat close to her. The down cast eyes and droopy ears made it seem like she was ashamed of what had just happened. This was enough to raise Ludomir’s eyebrow. He was sure the dog was not trained, as she was still too young, but that level of intelligence was quite something.
“Victoria?”
“I thought it was fitting,” - she said with a faint smile - “ could you pass me that sandwich?”
“Mh…Oh, yeah here.”
The puppy's eyes were still filled with animosity towards him. He was ready to dodge her attempt of biting down on his shin, especially when he walked closer to Eve and her, but much to the dog’s obedience, she just stood there looking at him. Menacingly.
“Next time you go out, please warn me, the Devil will have my head if something happens to you.” He said jokingly.
“I will, sorry Ludomir.”
She was not seeing him in the eyes and was focusing on petting the dog, but he could feel that she felt bad for leaving unintended. That was enough for him. He would however keep a closer eye on her. Evelyne was still a child, so he did not want to limit her freedom more than it was necessary, but after this escapade he will be more careful about her whereabouts. While he did not want to make her feel more bad about it, if something really did happen to her, the Grinning Devil would stop his sister's treatment and that could not happen. He would not allow it to happen, at any cost.
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The Grinning Devil
It had been not even a day since he had arrived here in the Ural Polis and yet in that small timeframe he had met most of the important players and actors in the upcoming play: Abraham Fu and Dragon something faction, Fjodor Anisimova and his Lion’s Share and now Father Mathias, Archbishop of the Church of Redemption.
He had heard many, many bad things about the Church, especially in comparison to its western counterpart: The Papal State. They were a bunch of deluded robo worshiper fuckers, but hey, at least they were manageable, even if seeing an Angel brought back some not so nice memories of his childhood after the Last Great War. Father Mathias even offered him some of their purple pill which he gladly took, just to analyze it and destroy it later. He did not need pills for him to be able to see his past. Or for it to torment him.
Either way, the man was agreeable enough and just asked some help in getting more territories under their jurisdiction from the Lion’s Share. Obviously the Grinning Devil did not want to help these guys expand and grow stronger. Fjodor may have a temper and break his arms, but he still would choose him over them any day. So they were able to reach a non-aggression pact. They would not interfere with whatever happened in the Ural Polis as long as their territories were not touched.
Unfortunately the Grinning Devil had to fork off four doses of A.C.E., was quite the hit to his personal bank, especially since he had to send a dose monthly to Ludomir’s sister for her treatment. He did not foresee that he would spend his lifetime saving this way but sacrifices for his future investments had to be made. He was sure that the cyborg had some sort of dislike of him to force him to cough up so much of the precious elixir. The only thing that came to his mind was that one time he pretended to be a Bishop and blew up one of their secret labs. Surely, as a man of faith, he preached compassion but did not practice.
Thankfully the visit to their main church in the Third District had not been a waste. Among the beffluded and addicted followers of this madness of clinging to the past, he found a young man begging to get him out of there.
“Why should I?” Asked the Devil, a small smile forming under his mask.
“I-I can tell you where you can find some Enhancer.” Answered the young man, his gaze skittering everywhere except the Devil's visage.
The Grinning Devil looked him up and down. He wore simple, if much used, clothes. His short blonde hair and ice blue eyes, paired with some lucky genetics, made him stand out from the mass. The colouration of his skin suggested that he was not an habitual user of the purple pills, but he showed some sign of a scuff, as he had been in a fight just recently. It intrigued the Devil.
“And how do I know that you are telling me the truth?”
“You can go and check the place for yourself first,” - he was able to speak without stuttering, which was able to surprise the Devil, since the young man’s heart was beating furiously - “Just come back and get me.”
“Mhhh…” - the Grinning Devil mused loudly - “What stops me from going there and just taking it?”
“Th-That you would not know the location of the other stashes.”
The young man’s heart beat was going even wilder, his eyes looked as if they were about to roll out of his sockets ,and he was fidgeting with feet. The Grinning Devil was 80% sure that the boy was lying about them being in different places, but seeing him try so hard to convince him made him unconsciously smile. It reminded of him dealing with Khutulun’s brother.
“Fine young man, I accept this deal.” He said after pretending to think for a while. He loved seeing the man become even more flustered the more he stood there quietly. He stretched his hand forward. The young man hesitantly grabbed it. The Devil pulled him closer to him and whispered to his ear:
“You won’t regret it~” He then left, leaving the man with the fear of God in him.
It was easy enough to “free” the man from the Church’s grasp. Most likely they allowed the young man to go with him so they would be able to keep tabs on him. How naive of them. After some talk, the man told him his name: Alexis Agapov. Not that knowing his name was important, the man would be gone from the Grinning Devil’s plan soon enough. Surprisingly, the young man was in a relationship with the daughter of the damn Bloody Lion of Ural.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
The Grinning Devil was taken aback when Alexis told him that. Legion’s data had nothing on him, which means that either this relationship was very recent or that this was kept so well hidden that not even a man of Legion’s caliber was able to find it. While walking he glanced again at the man, but his puppy-like and love-stricken behavior disproved the idea that he was the mastermind with A-class Unknown acting abilities. Nevertheless, the Devil was cautious of anything he did.
“I should message K.”
With a quick few taps on his pad hidden in his pocket, he sent the location of the Enhancers to Khutulun. Knowing her, she was getting back from her successful mission. He made a mental note to reward her after all this was done. Maybe something that did not end with him with a broken hip and a satisfied smile on his face.
“Ha…” A chuckle escaped him, startling his companion.
“Saw something funny?”
“Thought.”
“Ah…”
Silence returned while they continued to walk toward the Lion’s Share HQ. He would just drop him there and be done with it, the least he could help a fellow man out. But something in his guts told him to be careful. He focused his senses around him, especially on the people. They seemed to be moving slowly away from their destination, their faces were a mix of frowns and semi-panicked expressions. Something was going to happen in the Lion Share’s HQ.
He could only think of one faction that would do things in such a covert way: The Black Hand. The Devil started to walk faster, while his companion followed soundlessly, though not trying to hide his unspoken question as to why they were accelerating on his face.
In 10 minutes they were at the entrance of the HQ, or what remained of it. The crumbling shards of glass telling of a forced entry, most likely with gunfire. The Grinning Devil looked around what was previously the reception, seeing the various corpses scattered on the ground. He carefully walked inside to inspect their wounds, ignoring Alexis vomiting by the side.
“Recent… many small bullet wounds, probably a small caliber automatic weapon. SMG most likely.”
Some others showed signs of melee combat, mostly small cuts, likely from a combat knife or the like. These wounds mostly focused on the neck or joints, obviously whoever was using the blade was skilled. He could not accurately deduce the number of people, but if the Black Hand was trying to be covert, most likely less than five people. Their level would be at least C-Class Unknown, at least for the knife-wielding one.
The Grinning Devil grinned under his mask. He picked from the inside pocket of his jacket a syringe. The violet mixture swirling violently inside it, enticing everyone to take it. He then turned to Alexis.
“Would you like to be the hero and save the princess, Alexis?"
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The Princess, Anoushka Anisimova
“FUCK FUCK FUCK FUUUUUUUCCCCCCKKKKKKK”
That was the only word that filled her mind. She tried to move about, but her restraints did not allow her room to move. Ana looked around her room, or what remained of it. Everything had been turned upside down. Her bed was broken in half, her wardrobe had collapsed and the metal door to her room had been blown off its hinges. The only thing that was seemingly untouched was her damn PC.
“If only I did not use it…”
Tears slowly treaded down her face, she tried to focus on the rage inside her, so as to not feel the sadness that was seeping through her. She had been so irresponsible, the USB that she so much wanted had allowed her father’s enemies a way to bypass their security and attack them. Now her poor father and Hakon were fighting for their life.
“And it is all my fault!”
Her rage was swallowed by the sadness, she screamed as much as her lungs and throats allowed her. It did not feel any better but she did not know what else to do. She felt powerless, and responsible for all these deaths. Ana continued to weep even when she felt a metallic taste in her throat.
“You…You’re blowing my ears off, Anoushka.”
She looked up and her watery eyes were filled again with tears. It was Hakon, his usually pristine clothes now were a mess of tears and cuts.
“Hak! Y-Your hand!” She shouted.
He brought his stump up closer to his face. The makeshift bandage over it was completely painted red, with some droplets of blood falling to the ground.
“Yeah… I… lost some… weight….” His haggard breath made his speech almost incomprehensible.
Her eyes were puffy from all the crying, but while her sight was not in the best condition, her eyes picked up sounds of heavy footsteps approaching towards them. Hakon too had noticed.
“Ingen hvile for de slitne uh?” He muttered under his breath in an unknown language.
He tried to free Ana from her restraints, but without a hand she knew that it would be very hard to do so before they arrived. After a few seconds he got up, abandoning that plan and went into a fighting stance in front of the door, one that she easily recognized as her father’s.
Though she had heard many steps, only one person walked though. It was a short man, a little above 160 cm. He wore a black cloak that hid most of what was under it, though she easily saw the many knives he had on his chest. A half black mask covered everything below his nose. His eyes were steely blue and filled with determination while looking at Hakon.
“This not your fight, North man.” He said in broken russian.
Hakon stood there silently, waiting for him to move. The other man sighed and without any notice, threw some knives at the Hakon. The one armed man was easily able to dodge two of them. The third one he was even able to grab midair and throw back at the cloaked man. The latter, not expecting this, was too slow to dodge and was slightly cut on his arm. Blood started dripping from his wound, down to his arm till it started trickling on the floor.
“Uh… I serious now.” He said while grabbing two knives from under his cloak.
Hakon again did not respond. His legs were slightly shaking and his skin was becoming paler by the second, his wholly body was becoming soaked by his own sweat. Even Ana could tell he was at its limit.
“Hak, please run!” She begged him. He did not have to die because of her mistakes.
“No… can… do.” He simply smiled at her. Seeing that smile, tears began again to fill her vision. It was the smile of someone that was not fearful of death, but one of acceptance of it. It was the same smile her mother had before she died.
The man started running towards Hakon, but before he could reach him, something had grabbed the edge of his cloak. The man’s charge was abruptly stopped and, thanks to his momentum, was flung back. Straight into a fist. The sound of bones breaking was a sound she had grown familiar hearing.
On top of the cloaked man stood her lover, Alexi. She felt something that she thought lost during all this attack: Hope. But Ana was stunned when she was his eyes, their ice-blue color had changed into a swirling purple one. She knew that symptom well, it was an overdose of A.C.E.
Hakon, seeing the enemy fall on the ground and recognizing Alexi, fell on the grounds like a puppet whose string had been cut.
“HAKON!”
Immediately, her lover rushed to her father’s second in command.
“He’s still breathing, but he needs immediate medical attention.” He told her after checking his breath and pulse.
That allowed Ana to breathe freely, if he had died she did not know what she would have done. She was thankful to whatever God or Devil had allowed this miracle to happen. Alexi grabbed the unconscious body of Hak and gently laid it inside the basin in her bathroom. He then went to check on her.
“Fuck! They need some kind of code to open.”
“Can you not break them?” She asked, knowing well the strength of someone on A.C.E.
“Did not think of that, let m-” He stopped what he was saying and jumped in front of her. Before her mind could even think of the why, a bright flash of light and the smell of singed skin overpowered all of her sensing, before they shut down and she lost consciousness.
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The Grinning Devil
The Grinning Devil stood in front of the entrance to the Princess’s room. The smell of burned flesh and gunpowder filled the air. Thankfully his helmet had an air filter that came pretty handy during these situations. He walked over the remaining half of the cloaked man's body and went inside the room.
He brought out his laser pistol and walked over to what was left of Alexis. His limbs had been shattered somewhere in the room, his torso had been blown open revealing what little remained ribcage and the various bits of organs underneath. Unsurprisingly, he was still alive. Truly, A.C.E. was a miraculous drug. But he could see cellular degeneration, his stumps were already forming tumor-like growths over them.
The Grinning Devil aimed at his head and pulled the trigger. The laser quickly burned through his skin, into his skull, then… his brain. His whole body spasmed, as if it was unwilling to die. But after a few seconds it stopped. The Devil waited a bit more, just to be sure. Once the tumor-like growth turned into a gelatinous substance did he finally relax. He then looked around the room.
“Tsk tsk, what a mess. Let’s see who’s alive to play.”