With a grin wide and uncanny, the figure giggled as he began to speak.

"Amazing aren't I? Using a human body as a vessel for a Fester?" He said, a certain level of venom leaking out from his voice.

Olivia turned to them with a look of anger. It looked like she was going to kill them right then and there.

"You did this?" She asked, gripping onto her

attachment unit.

He just smiled before throwing her into a wall.

"Yup~!" He said, a little bit too happy at what he had just done.

Oliver turned to look at Olivia, seeing she was unconscious. He turned around to look at the culprit, seeing a familiar, but horrible sight. Oliver pointed his weapon at the man from before, the one who's eyes told of nothing but malice.

"I'll kill you...." Oliver said, gripping tighter on the handle of his blade.

"Hahahaha! That's funny, I was about to say the same thing. We really are alike huh, Oliver Rand!" Pierro said, smiling widely.

"What the hell are you talking about? I barely even know who you are!" Oliver yelled.

Pierro began laughing as he held his face. His laughter became even more maniacal the longer it went on. At first it was just embarrassing to watch, but after a while, it genuinely became terrifying.

"Ah right! You don't know me well! But I know you well! You're 17 years old, you weigh a healthy 57.6kg which goes nicely with your height of 171cm. You enjoy bird watching, reading and cooking... Honestly you sound like a real nerd. You were also raised by your aunt after your parents died in an accident, how sad..." Pierro said.

"How... Do you know all this?" Oliver asked, his grip on his attachment unit loosening.

Pierro smiled before putting a finger on his lips.

"Oh that's a secret. But let's just say I'm a huge fan of the crow! I even came here to try and find you! Unfortunately I didn't expect to find this vermin too" Pierro said, looking at the unconscious Olivia.

Oliver clicked his tongue before charging at him. Pierro blocked his attack using just his arm, which shocked Oliver.

"He blocked an attack from a B rank attachment unit... Even for hyper class Festers, an attack like that would be devastating..." Oliver thought.

Pierro smirked before punching Oliver square in the face resulting in Oliver being flung across the alley. His fall was cushioned by some trash bags, but the pain he was experiencing was excruciating.

"That definitely wasn't a normal punch. It felt similar to one of my finishers... Though this one was weaker..." Oliver thought to himself, trying his best to stand up.

"You're probably wondering why exactly that hurts right? Well that's simple. I surrounded my hand with descent energy!" Pierro said, slowly walking towards Oliver.

Oliver tried to crawl away, but Pierro stopped his attempt by stepping on his hand. He dug deep into it, causing Oliver to scream in pain.

"Wow... You're the one who killed my pawns? Maybe those guys were just weaklings then... Hmm I wonder if I can make a good pawn out of you..." Pierro said, chuckling to himself.

"Like hell I'd let you do that!" Oliver said before biting a chunk of flesh from his leg.

Pierro didn't respond nor did he even care, but seeing him bite so desperately, like a dog who's being pinned down, it was disgusting.

"Learn some manners, that's not how you're supposed to play the game!" Pierro said, kicking Oliver into a wall.

The force this time was much greater, causing Oliver to cough up blood. As his body made contact with the wall, he could feel his bone shattering. His body rolled off the wall like a crushed can of soda.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

"You're probably wondering why it hurts more huh? Well that's pretty simple. You see this world works on balance. If let's say, I reveal why my attacks hurt more, you gain an advantage. As a result, balance needs to be met, and I gain a power boost. It varies on what kind of information I give. But a boost is still a boost right?" Pierro explained.

Oliver was too focused on the pain to even care about what Pierro said. The only thing that was keeping him from passing out, was the fact that he wanted to kill Pierro so bad. Pierro turned to Oliver, smiling widely.

"I really like that look. I think if you looked like that more... You'd look more like a monster" Pierro said, laughing maniacally.

Oliver gritted his teeth, before laughing. Pierro turned back to him, laughing as well. The two begin laughing for a good few seconds before Pierro kicks Oliver in the stomach. Before he makes contact with his stomach though, Oliver pulls the trigger on his transformation device. It absorbed the descent energy in Pierro kick, lessening the impact greatly.

"What the hell?" Pierro said, sounding genuinely pissed.

"Oh that? That's just the absorbing function of my... Um... Driver! Yeah I guess I'll call it that. Whenever it comes into close contact with any source of descent energy, it absorbs for my own personal use..." Oliver said, smirking.

Pierro grinded his teeth before attempting to punch Oliver. Luckily, thanks to his act of explaining his plan, he got to benefit from this so-called "balancing" system. With the short power boost he received from said system, he dodged the attack just before it hit him, making Pierro even angrier.

"You really shouldn't have taught me that..." Oliver said smugly.

"You bastard... But, I guess that's only fair!" Pierro said, his enraged face turning into a smile.

Oliver pulled out his newly named driver out of his pocket, causing Pierro to become worried.

"I didn't come here for a boss fight ya know?" Pierro said, taking a few steps back.

Oliver put on the driver before showing him the middle finger. Pierro gave a "seriously?" Look, but Oliver only shrugged.

"Thought it would look cool... Not that I care what you think" Oliver said.

Pierro swallowed before running away. Oliver pulled the trigger on his driver before chasing after him. He was lacking enough energy for an execution, but at least one punch could give him enough time to grab Olivia and run. As he threw his punch right at Pierro, he felt his hand go straight through his body. It was as if he was punching through cotton candy. Pierro didn't really react to the attack, the only thing he did was rip off the top part of his body then used the blood from it to blind Oliver. While Oliver was busy wiping the blood away, Pierro reattached his own body then grabbed the unconscious Olivia. Seeing this, Oliver became enraged.

"Let go of her!!" Oliver yelled.

"Sorry, but she's a key item for my next quest, see ya soon Oliver!" Pierro said, slinging Olivia over his shoulder.

Oliver pulled the trigger on his belt to start up an execution, however a warning popped up.

[DESCENT ENERGY IS INSUFFICIENT. WOULD YOU LIKE TO USE ANOTHER SOURCE INSTEAD?]

"I don't care as long as it kills him!" Oliver thought.

[USING 30% DESCENT ENERGY, AND 70% BIOLOGICAL MATTER]

As it said that, Oliver felt needles stabbing all over his body. It began draining his blood, just enough for him to stay conscious. The plates on his armour began opening up to act as exhausts, but instead of green coloured descent energy, it was dark red.

"Finisher: punch…"

Oliver threw the punch at Pierro, just the kinetic force from his punch causing the ground around him to rumble a bit. Seeing Oliver's fist getting closer to his face, Pierro froze still. Like the feeling of a rabbit finally giving in after being chased by a wolf. He saw death and couldn't resist. Before Oliver's fist could make contact with Pierro, a figure came out of the shadows. Quite literally, it came out of Pierro's shadow. It stopped Oliver's attack completely, and with ease.

"Tonight, come to the abandoned warehouse on fifth street. And sacrifice yourself..." Pierro said, smiling widely.

The figure let go of Oliver's hand before covering Pierro, Olivia, and itself with a shadow. Oliver tried to stop them, but before he could, the shadow disappeared.

"Damnit!" Oliver shouted, slamming his fist into a wall.

This action sent a shockwave of pain through his entire body and forced him out of his transformation.

"Shit.... Damnit.... Fucking hell... This is... I should've never picked up this thing..." Oliver said, taking his driver off.

He looked at it, with anger in his eyes

"This is all your fault... If I never found you... None of this would have happened!" Oliver shouted

He lifted it up, attempting to try to break it, but he was stopped.

"How bout you blame yourself instead of blaming an inanimate object?" The veiled woman from before said, holding his wrist.

He looked up to her, not sure if she's real or fake.

"Hmph, can't even tell if I'm real or an illusion. Pitiful." The woman said, letting go of his wrist.

"Just shut up... Please just shut up..." Oliver said.

"Why? So that you can just continue living in your delusions? You know if you didn't try to play hero, all of this wouldn't have happened. If you put away the belt and be a good little cadet, none of this would have happened. But no. You wanted to be a hero, and this is what you get. Stick to the path you chose." The woman said, towering over him.

Oliver looked at the ground, a feeling of shame and disgust covering him like a warm blanket. What she said was right. If he had just given the driver to his aunt, if he didn't try to be some hero, Olivia would still be safe and sound. The least he could do right now... Was to sacrifice himself. He stood up, still in pain, and began walking towards fifth street.

In the distance, a certain woman was watching him as she had been doing for the past week now.

"Hmm... Dad told me to spy on him to see what he'd do with his powers... But I didn't expect he'd do something so stupid... Although" Katherine said, putting down her binoculars.

"The more I know about you Oliver Rand... The more fascinated I become”