— Mr. SS-rang Lukian, what do you think is the most expensive thing in the world? — The red-haired boy asked me.

If it weren't for the fact that, a few moments ago, a young boy had burned a living creature alive in his hand, letting out screams of agony, maybe I would have turned away with some kind of joke. Actually, I don't care about that. Not only am I annoyed by his snake eyes, but he's also making a fuss in the middle of the woods.

Throwing him a disapproving look over my shoulder, I added: — I prefer to avoid inappropriate questions during gate passes. —

He gave me a friendly chuckle as he scratched the back of his head, sensing my displeasure.

— Huh? Antimatter? — He turned to the pair of girls in black who were whispering to him. — Na-a-ah, sounds boring. It needs something bigger and cooler! —

Ignoring the noise made by my unwanted teammate, I continued to move along the path of the dead forest, breaking the same dead branches with my boots in increments.

Fuck. And why the hell was I ordered to mess with S-rank players? Even if they were S-ranked gates, it would have been easier for them to assemble a small team of about twenty similarly ranked players than to have me babysit these newbies. Why would it make sense for the old men at the top to order me to agree to a proposal from the head of their organization?

Remembering how their secret agent, whom I've been dreaming of killing for a long time, disturbed me while looking over New York City at night from up high - the veins in my forehead protruded. I don't like it when they press my powerlessness so directly. If only they didn't have the "leverage" of pressure...

As I gritted my teeth and muttered curses to myself, a pair of small creatures with purple skin jumped out from behind a thick tree trunk, drooling playfully. The monsters were already hoping to stuff their little bellies with my brains, but for them it was over-quick.

The two-meter saber with a two-handed grip in my right hand barely twitched, and the bodies of the attacking foes were already splitting into dozens of pieces and falling to the ground.

— I'm not sure how I feel about that. I had purposefully created this weapon to avoid the blood of those creatures. — I paused, plunging my dark blade into the ground and licking the blue blood that splattered on my leather coat and face. — With magical goblins, blood is too bitter. I'll have to overpower its taste. —

Taking a cigarette and a lighter from my inside pocket, I was already preparing to inhale the toxic smoke for ordinary people.

« Master! » — was interrupted by a deafening female voice in my head, making me shudder with fright. — « I told you to stop with those cigarettes! »

« Quiet woman. I'm 28 years old, since when do I have to deprive myself of this kind of pleasure just on your whim, huh? And besides, my body won't suffer one bit, even from billions cigars. » — I replied, heroically lighting a joint. — « Better tell me, how far away is the 'herd'? »

Once again running an examining glance over my meager crew, I let out an annoyed exhale.

— Mark Brutus is an S-rank attacking player, with an elemental-type ability to create flame. — I looked over at the red-haired man, who was grinning anxiously as he turned the monsters he'd been holding into ash.

— Jeanne and Anna are weakening players of the same rank, possessing support-curse type abilities. — my gaze shifted to the pair of girls huddled together, with the same gloomy makeup and type of clothing.

— And finally... our silent guest, whose powers are unknown. — A person hiding her entire body behind a blanket of cloth stood quietly behind all those I had enumerated. — No information, except the name - Lara. —

Not that I would need their help in clearing this gate, I just wonder how such an incomplete team could be sent here.

It makes sense if this mission is some sort of preparatory training for them, but even if they really are the next "hope of mankind," what does that have to do with me? Is the head of the organization of these children somehow connected to "the top"?

The old bastards never went into detail when they gave me orders, but things are too murky even for them now.

« According to my calculations, the 'herd' is slowly heading east, and there's now a couple of minutes of sprint distance between us.

Master, before you move out there, please be as careful as possible. The inconsistencies you listed, and the fact that the stranger is wearing a high-level anti-magic cloak, alarm me » — the voice of my old comrade, Indra, seemed more sensitive than usual.

« Don't worry. I don't care what they're up to, I'll just get it over with quickly, and if I have to, I'll get these kids too. In the meantime, I'll keep dancing to their tune ».

Spitting out only a lit cigar and splashing blood from my sword, I turned to my team: — The wave of magical goblins and orcs, along with the Gate Boss, are not standing still, so we need to hurry and catch up with them. 

Keep in mind, every second I waste will cost the head of your organization a great deal. —

Continuing to fool around, no one took my words seriously, but they seemed to hear me. Well, they know better.

Before I set off, my attention was drawn to the dim sky hiding behind the tips of the dried trees.

- It's a pretty bleak atmosphere out here. -

*Few minutes later*

I wonder if they've gone too quiet.

With each dozen steps up the small slope, the incessant stomping grew louder and louder. When I reached the top, the group behind me and I were at the edge of the forest.

An endless hilly terrain, covered by an army of tens of thousands of purple heads moving in sync in the same direction. With their numbers, they even managed to make the ground shake. On the other side of the mass of monsters, there were rocky mountains whose tops could not be seen, resembling sharp shapes and innumerable spikes.

Hmm, each of them is at least B-rank, and their boss is even S+-rank. In principle, nothing complicated. Except...

— Uh-oh, — Mark broke the five-minute silence. — I've never faced so many opponents before, Mr. SS-rang. 

— Mm-hmm. — simultaneously nodded, the sisters pressed against each other.

Each of them, including the one hiding her face, Lara, looked at me expectantly.

— Ahem. — I cleared my throat, — It's pretty simple: Mark, you and I will break into the line of magical goblins and make our way straight to the center of the wave-their boss. Anna and Jeanne will be our insurance in case one of the monsters attacks unnoticed. And you, Lara, protect the sisters. We don't know if all the gate monsters are here. —

After listening to my orders, the members of the raid waved their heads in agreement.

« Master, you're taking too much of a risk. I understand that you want to catch them red-handed, but is it worth putting yourself at risk? You're leaving Lara, the most dangerous of them all, behind your back. » — Indra pointed out.

« There's no reason to worry. » — was my answer, and as I turned away, the lust for murder oozed from each side. The tips of my lips trembled involuntarily.  

« Let's see if this 'mousetrap' can catch a grizzly. » — I found myself outside the dead woods in one step.

As we talked, the purple creatures, a foot tall, had already moved far enough away that their stomping had ceased. Only the whistle of a light wind interrupted the sound of my movement on the hardened mud. But, as it turned out, it didn't last long.

It only took a moment: the clinking of a pair of blades, the crackling of dancing flames, and the crunch of twigs that followed, signaled the beginning of the battle. One of them, blasting the ground beneath, came at me first.

Reacting in the same second and turning around, I one-handedly met Mark's two flaming daggers with my long saber.

— Ha-ha-ha! — A blush broke out on the guy's cheeks. — Which is to be expected from an SS-rang. You have a great reaction! Except that reaction alone isn't enough. — The clean flame of the blades trembled, and patches of energy began to appear in the air around them.

I covered my eyes with my left hand.

In the places where the daggers, in the form of living flames, came into contact with my blade - there was an explosion. The force of the explosion and the physical pressure from the side, caused me to lose my balance and be thrown far back.

Deliberately hitting the floor so hard that my body threw up, I returned to my fighting stance with a sharp somersault.

— Hmm. I think the first form will get... what? — I looked at my free palm with a frown, squeezing and relaxing it. — I can't use Corpsis. — Not believing my own words, I clenched my hand so that my nails pierced the skin, causing it to bleed.

«Master, your stomach!» — Indra's shout woke me, — «They've blocked the passages from your core, to the mana channels.»

A long jade needle lodged in the area of my solar plexus. I had no problem ripping it out, except that it didn't change the situation.

In each of my limbs, there are intertwined thick rope-like strands, and all of them, from different sides, enter the orange ball in the center of my body. This is how it was supposed to be. I could feel the barrier around the mana core inside me, blocking the entrance to these very mana channels.

« This needle is capable of becoming invisible and, during your and Mark's encounter, one of them took advantage of the situation and sent it at you. » — she answered my question, reading my thoughts.

The cloud of smoke surrounding my adversary, with a flick of his hand, spread out in different directions. The annoying bastard's creepy face conveyed his excitement. — Who would have thought that the main weapon of one of the world's strongest SS-rank players, mana manipulation, would prove to be his main weakness. — The red-haired man hugged himself, hiding his delight behind feigned despair.

Well, he's partly right, but he's still right.

Normally, once a normal person becomes a player and gains their core, their mana instantly moves to the spot on their body where the player wants it. That is, your mana channels are practically unused. Unless, of course, you wish it.  

For some reason unknown to me, my mana doesn't teleport to a directed location, but travels its way through the mana channels. According to Indra: Others route mana to the desired location via bluetooth, but I need a cable to do so.

If you deprive my core of contact with the mana channels, then, roughly speaking, I'm just a person with improved physical strength and regeneration.

— The strange thing is that I haven't told anyone but Michelle about this, and as we know, he's been in a coma for a long time. — While I was talking to myself, that is, Indra, the rest of the group landed behind Mark.

«Apparently you were right, Master. The artifact the traitors used - doesn't exist in the player database I scanned, the world database. That means that the head of their organization, is collaborating or working for the 'minions'.» — Listening to Indra's words, my teeth gritted and my grip on the hilt tightened at the last point.

I knew those old bastards would try to get rid of me sooner or later, but to think that they were planning this before we even met...

So "that incident" had been set up by them, too?

While I let my anger blunt my actions, sisters Anna and Jeanne, formed from their clasped hands - a gun. A dark beam flew from their fingertips.

«Master!» — Indra woke me, but it was too late.

Only through my instincts did my body reflexively turn to the side, but the attack still hit me. It was as if it had penetrated my skin, and the slimy liquid began to stain my arm from the inside out, a dark color.

The feeling of my joints, veins, and muscles first twisting, then ballooning, and finally bursting made me cringe. Because of the dizzying pain, my body was sweating profusely. Dark blood oozed from my fingernails, which also turned to slime, dripping to the ground. My fingers twitched unnaturally, immediately after which, they began to melt in the wind.

While the infestation slowly grew to my shoulder, Mark didn't sit idly by.  

Warning his approach with a loud explosion of the ground beneath him, in an instant, his lanky mouth was already in front of me.

My mistake. I must control myself.

«Master, without your ability you cannot stop the spread of this virus. You must do something with your hand!» — Indra warned me, as Mark and I's blades met halfway.

«I know. How long will the needle last?» — From what happened in a split second-a hundred clangs of swords-even the air around us trembled.

«... I'm sorry...» — Indra answered briefly, but clearly, as I was cut in two by the dark beam that came at me.

Our seemingly one-sided battle with Mark had been going on for several minutes. Every time I simultaneously stopped his two blades with mine, he tried to repeat his move and undermine me. Since it was easy to anticipate this, I just picked the right moment and stepped back. Sisters Anna and Jeanne tried to help their comrade, but their numerous liquid lasers, vaporized in the air every time they collided with my sword. It was clear from the torchbearer's negative-versus-negative grimace that he was sick of it.

«She's coming, Master!» — Indra prepared me.

After another disgruntled shout from Mark, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a line of light going behind my back.

Time slowed down in my eyes. It all happened quickly.

Throwing my saber far into the sky, I tilted my head centimeters to the side. The thin blade of the rapier went past my ear, sending the tips of my gray hair into the air. Turning my gaze to the broadswung Mark, who hovered in midair, with Shaolin steps I deftly moved toward him and, turning my palm into a fist, pierced his solar plexus.

A mixture of saliva and blood erupted from his mouth, after which he took flight toward his sisters.

Turning and stepping aside in parallel from the piercing attacks that followed, the cloaked individual said: — If I hadn't been your opponent, the numerical advantage might have worked.

Compared to the other S-rang players, your speed is on another level. Who the hell are you, huh? —

After a few moments' hesitation, the stranger finally decided to introduce herself.

— Before you die, Mister Lukian, you deserve to know who killed you. — The young girl stripped off her cloak, revealing her ice-cold gaze. — My name is Superluminal Sting. — Crouching down, she bowed.

I could call that a pretty respectful sign for someone who'd almost pierced through my skull a few moments ago. Could it be that she was a fan of mine? As one of the top players in the world, I'm pretty well known, so it's no surprise.

Those thoughts flew out of my head, right after a dozen stabbing blows delivered in one wide stride.

Jumping out of my leather coat and ducking under the attack, I bounced to the right.

The stabbing blows of the pokerface not only destroyed every atom of my expensive clothing, but even the landscape suffered from its physical force. The underside of one of the stone mountains-filled with holes and collapsed into a cloud of dust as it rumbled.

As I looked more closely, I noticed that the miniature assassin left sparks of light behind her after any movement. They did not stay in space for long and dissipated almost immediately after appearing.

- — Ho-o-o, — I said as my opponent prepared for another attempted attack. — Superluminal means? —

«Yes, master. At this exact point, her speed is about 500 meters per 0.0001 second.»

«At this point?» — I noticed the catch in Indra's words.

While we were talking to her, the Superluminal maiden continued to wreak havoc with her power. Stomping firmly into the ground and pointing the tip of her rapier at me, she let me know that her next attack would be far more serious than the last. Raising my able-bodied hand, I was ready.

«The thing is, with each new move, her speed increases manifold. I have no idea how long she can maintain this condition, but I suggest you finish as soon as possible. Get ready for something tougher…» — Indra ended her thought with that, feeling the situation heating up.

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The air and the ground shuddered, and a glimmer of warm light flashed behind the girl. The ground beneath her leading foot crackled. In the same instant, I stepped forward, right into the hail, this time a couple dozen stabbing lunges. It was as if I'd been rained with the arrows of an army.

One mistake and death, but it was not the first time.

The deadly rapier jabs were aimed at different parts of my body, so staying in one place was suicide. As they say, proper footwork is the foundation of everything. As I paced from side to side, turning back and forth from time to time, the super-fast sword never touched a hair of mine.

Moving deftly and carefully, I'd already missed half of the redheaded maiden's blows. Just as Indra had said, her speed increased considerably with each attack, so it was impossible to keep up with the Uvaroths alone. With my only functioning hand, I had to redirect the blade at the last moment, right before the fatal touch. The Superluminal Sting, it would be no exaggeration to say, was fighting water.

How on earth did she manage to hide from the world with her power, I asked myself, pushing the girl's rapier away again. Her speed wasn't just comparable to other S-rank players, she'd already surpassed most of them. Well, I'm SS-ranked, after all.

With the last of the long combination of blows, her destructive power wiped out a huge part of the forest. Inhaling deeply, she jumped back.

I already thought that she had decided to take a breath, but, immediately afterwards, even more destructively than before, she lunged straight at me.

At the same time, Indra's cry echoed in my head, warning me of the danger.

The target of the girl's blade, this time, was my almost completely darkened arm, the lower part of which had already turned to liquid.

There was no time for evasion. I have to do "it."

First, in a semicircular motion, I moved my foot backward on the ground, thereby shifting all my weight - into my legs. Then, my upper body turned slightly. And toward the end, a millimeter before contact with my shoulder, a seemingly slow blow pushed the rapier into the air.

Even though, during the attack, the speed of my uppercut seemed even slower than that of a normal human, it wasn't that simple. It was only a residual image. In fact, in an instant, I punched the sword dozens of times.

Thanks to her own grip, she managed to hold the weapon over herself. But, the most interesting thing happened next. Surprising the girl, her weapon began to vibrate intensely, making a humming sound.

*Bam!" an explosion of air went off right on the blade of the rapier.

I didn't finish the enemy off and instead watched as she supported one arm with the other, trying not to remain unarmed.   

After successfully holding out until the end, she shoved the blade into the ground and leaned against it, gulping greedily for air. Her emotionless mask, replaced by a sweaty and tired face, and her gaze fell back and forth between me and the other side.

— Wow... you really are strong, Mr. Lukian. — She stood up, wiping the blood dripping from her nose. — I know my technique is still weak and I keep repeating the same mistakes, but I've always been taught to make up for it with speed. But you, 

Lukian, not only surpass me in physical strength and speed, but you also have the perfect technique for seeing my movements ahead of time. — 

Before I could finish, the Superluminal Sting's eyes went back to somewhere in the distance. — I dread to think what would happen to us if we allowed you to transform your body... but, — she smirked, — even you are capable of making a mistake. Don't underestimate us. — leaning over and disappearing out of my sight and leaving sparks of light behind her, she finally ended her idle chatter. Something told me she was on her way to her comrades.

To my right, in the place where I'd thrown Mark away, I heard, to put it mildly, crazy laughter.

— Fuck you, you fucking bitch! — High above the pesky gnat, it was hard not to notice the colossal ball of fire. As soon as he waved both hands in my direction, his self-made sun, flew at high speed into me. — Hell's Meteorite! —

Contrary to my opponents' expectations, I did not run desperately from side to side and beg for mercy.

«Is there any reason why you don't want to end them, as soon as possible?» — Indra asked me in a calm tone as I examined my arm. The virus had almost reached my collarbone.

«I'm waiting for the real 'trump' to appear.» — I gave an incomplete answer, — «Better talk about the characteristics of this 'hell meteorite.'»

I hope the effect of that needle comes to an end sooner, for otherwise, I'll have to rip my arm off immediately to prevent the contagion from multiplying.

Stomping my feet into the ground, even more devastating than before, I adopted a fighting posture and began to gather as much air as I could in my lungs.

«The area of this facility is at least larger than that of Chongqing*. And as for the temperature, I can confidently say that if you encounter it, you will feel the heat similar to the surface of the sun.»

((Chongqing (China) is the largest city on Earth with an area of 82,400 km2)

The distance between me and the meteorite decreased to less than one kilometer and, in a little more than a couple of seconds, I would have to experience that nasty fire on myself. Of course, it was beyond my plans. Swung wide enough, the very air exploded as my swirling arm advanced.

A huge spear of spiraling air collided with Mark's fireball. For a while-nothing happened. One moment later, the air I shot out of the other side of the flaming orb.

Mark's attack disbanded and moved in the opposite direction, eventually vaporizing into thin air.

Without giving me even a second's break, several dark beams rushed toward me. As I let them pass me, repeating the same move, a Superluminal Sting appeared behind me. But I was able to turn around before it came. With a swing of my hand, I knocked the rapier aside, but she didn't plan on stopping there. Getting faster than before, her second stabbing attack managed to graze my cheek and rob me of my ear cushion.

Evading the third blow, my back was at her blade. Thanks to my height and flexibility, I threw my leg over her outstretched arm, gripping her forearm with the back of my knee. My foot held her armpit like a hook, allowing me to send Superluminal Sting into the air with the lift of my foot.

Repeating what I'd done with the fiery meteorite, I released a stream of air directly at the girl. Since there was no way she could dodge, I didn't watch her to the end.

— One down, just the other in the... ble-e-eh — blood spurted from my nose and mouth. The sharp pain came again, but this time, much more excruciating than before.

Everything in my eyes was blurry. My bones felt like they were turning inside out. My legs trembled and my back began to sting.

«The virus has accelerated, master! It means that Anna and Jeanne are closing in on you…» — Indra informed me, but I wasn't paying attention.

With a blow to the head, I brought my vision back to normal and looked around at the place where the pain was felt the most - my arm. Well, at least that's where it used to be. Now, one half of it was a slurry on the floor, its festering smell rivaling the radiation of the world's dirtiest whore's labia. The rest of my tar-black hand joined the slurry on the ground, while the virus spread many times faster than before.

Realizing that there was no other way out, I tried to rip out the rotting stump, but I was disturbed. Because of the disorientation caused by the poison, I could neither hear nor react properly to the enemy behind me. Thanks solely to my screaming instincts, I could only turn to face the enemy.

Mark's palm, covered in flame, blocked my field of vision in my left eye. Before I could do anything by shouting a command, the tongue of flame from the fucking bastard covered part of my head. The pressure was so strong that it made me squirm backwards.

Judging by the fact that my other eye wasn't hurt, and I didn't seem to die, the fire didn't reach my skull. My face, on the other hand, was the hardest hit. Parts of the charred skin fell off and flew ash into the wind. The eyelids and eyeballs evaporated from the face, leaving a black hollow in their place. The pain of my rotting arm drowned out the effects of the burn, so in one way I was even grateful to the idiots who had wounded me.

— Fuck... fuck! You unkillable monster, you die... — It crunched and squeezed the chatterer's wrist, squeezing and squashing, squeezing out Mark, a frantic scream of snot and drool.

If most of my face wasn't petrified, I would have enjoyed laughing at Mark's tear-filled threats.

The sisters, apparently sensing the danger, shot their dark beam at me. Instead of dodging the attack, I chose the better option.

Rooting the annoying stump out of me, I caught the poisonous liquid with it and threw it all at Mark.

I pulled my arm out to the side. — From now on, your very existence gets on my nerves. —

Mark burned the rest of my hand to ashes. Long tongues of flame covered all of his limbs as he lunged straight at me.

Finally, what I was holding my hand open for was showing.

The sound of the blade parting the wind grew louder and louder, and it came down from above. The two-meter-long saber, spinning in the air, landed with its hilt right on my palm. Its dark, glassy metal reflected the image of the approaching, living torch.

When Mark was a few feet away from me, I slowly enough made a vertical cut, from the bottom up through the air. Well, that's how he saw it. 

— W-what's going on? Where did my powers go??— Mark stopped right in front of me, looking at his empty hands.

— Quiet, — I drew his attention to myself, — the dead don't talk. — With one frontal kick, the red-haired man's body split into hundreds of square pieces and this bloody fountain flew straight at the sisters behind me.

The bloody sight showed on Anna and Jeanne's faces in confusion, causing them to be terrified. The index fingers of their joined palms formed a dark orb at their tips. Before it could grow further than a couple of centimeters, the beam of dark liquid was split in two by my saber. With a single movement, the horizontal slit split the outstretched arms, along with the bodies of the girls.

Compared to their companions, they annoyed me the most. Because of their identical abilities, Anna and Jeanne could not only shoot deadly viruses, they also created a poisonous cloud around them. Their deaths allowed me to spit out the rest of the virus.   

«Master,  to your left!» — With Indra's command, my hand reflexively tried to block the invisible attack. Before I could realize it, the weapon fell out of my hands and I lost all my fingers except my thumb and forefinger.

I tried to fend off the rapier, but the superspeed attack was many times faster than before, causing it to wound my side.

Analyzing the lousy situation, I noticed that my last blow had torn her short dress in the abdominal area, revealing a huge purple bruise. I didn't have to think long. The toe of my shoe, ripping the air, stabbed into the girl's sore spot. Throwing up a mixture of food, bile, and blood, it flew for a good hundred meters.

A rumbling sound reminiscent of a running mob drew my attention. The goblins were approaching.

In the same instant, it appeared behind me, but I turned around before it arrived. And there it was again. A dozen residual images of Superluminal Sting, sought to pierce me through.

The fact that blood gushed from the girl's eyes and ears told me it would soon reach its limit.

Shifting gently to the side, the aftermath of her attack fell on the first wave of purple creatures that came up. All that was left of them was the light of blood.

As she bent in an attempt to get to her feet, I looked around.

One of my arms was covered in bruises and fractures, and the other was missing altogether. Thanks to superhuman regeneration, I was in no danger of dying of blood loss. If I didn't have my mana core blocked, I'd heal all the damage. But apparently, the barrier is not going to come down anytime soon.

«Master, an army of magical goblins is approaching. You must finish here as soon as possible and find a place to rest. Even though the gate boss isn't a problem for you, at this point, it's too dangerous to go up against him.»

I straightened up and considered Indra's words.

«You're right. It's time to get it over with,» — I stabbed my hand into my stomach, just under my ribs, in one sharp motion, — «I'm going to end both her and the boss. Like I always told you, don't distract me during the fight. I know you're only helping me, but don't. Not right now. I'll need full concentration to break through a line of thousands of goblins without taking damage. I can handle it.»

For a few seconds, I picked at the inside of my stomach. After grasping the spot I needed, with enough force applied, there was a crunch.

While I was dealing with the weirdness, behind the cloud of dust, Superluminal Sting came to her senses.

The settling dust allowed her to see my new weapon. — Gu-gun? — She frowned.

— Yeah, Glock 19. — I corrected her, shaking the weapon from the slimy liquid. A gun made of the same dark material as my saber, which I set aside in the safest place in case I needed it. Oddly enough, it came in handy.

Before I could point my weapon at her, the Superluminal Sting, gritting her teeth in pain, lunged at me. Blood dripped from her nose. The sharp end of her rapier was aimed at my heart, faster than ever before. Instead of dodging, I chose something better again.

I twitched as her sword plunged between my ribs. A satisfied smile showed triumph on her face. Even the fact that I knocked her back a few feet with a kick didn't take away her joy.

— Ha ha. — she said, in response to the muzzle of the gun pointed at her. — I respect your desire for life, but a simple gun is no match for me in speed...*bam!* — half of the super speedy's head - disappeared.

— Unfortunately for you, it's no ordinary gun. — I said as her body fell dead to the floor, creating a pool of blood around it.  

For safety's sake, and just in case, I stood right over the corpse and shot it in the heart area. A couple of huge clean holes were solid proof of her death.

I exhaled with visible irritation, straightening up. The reason wasn't the blade stuck in me, which I cursed as I pulled it out, but the fact that the job wasn't over yet. I still hadn't gotten over the anger of this already annoying assignment, and those bastards had added their treachery to the pile of problems already piling up.

I'm sure the old bastards won't leave me like this.

Thinking about it made my cheekbones and fist clench harder, causing the hidden veins to swell.

I let Indra's call pass me by in thought.

Wait... if the top brass had been using me for a long time, and now they were trying to kill me, in other words, to throw me out, then what would they do with "him"?

A picture of a guy lying in a hospital bed appeared in my mind. Several IVs and machines stood around him, and the cables attached to them went into different parts of the golden-haired man's body.

A not-so-distant memory, appeared in my head along with the hot on my face and the rage bubbling in my ears. But there was something else. Something that, with its eerie feeling in my stomach, resembled remorse.

«Master!!!» — Indra's cry erupted, giving me a migraine. But, that was the last thing I could react to.

The bones, nerves, veins, tendons, blood vessels, and skin, everything on the back side of my body - began to sting, pinch, and itch. This pain was remembered by the sisters who were hollowed out by me.

«What's going on?!» — I asked Indra, trying to restrain myself from tearing my own skin.

The sweat rolling down my face caused a sense of agony and, even the slightest touch of wind tortured me so much that it was hard to hear or see anything.

Only Indra's disturbing voice caused no pain, making it seem like a drop of water in a hot desert. — «Behind you!»

Turning around, my expectations were nothing compared to the real picture.

What shocked me was not even the fact that Sisters Anna and Jeanne had somehow managed to heal themselves, but that their bodies had literally fused together. Their fusion, gave life to another personality. She, or they, were still dressed as dark nuns, but now, instead of two young girls, the witch was a pale, middle-aged woman.

— Wh-what is that? — I couldn't help it.

The gaze of the bottomless dark eyes came down on me. The woman showed an eerie smile.

— I'm a real body, and my name is Nana. — her soothing voice and fangy teeth, introduced even more terror, — And now that our acquaintance is over, let me soothe your soul, insect. —

The menace in the woman's words pulled my mind out of the fog. I was about to pull the trigger of my pistol when suddenly, without any visible attack, by the squeeze of my opponent's hand, I was thrown to the ground.

-- From Nana's point of view --

I finally regained full control of my body.

I finally, for the first time, felt human emotion. Whether it was the long-awaited rebirth or the shocked face of the man in front of me, I smiled.

It felt good. It felt good to be one.

I remembered, remembered like it was yesterday. A bunch of people in white coats and an equally white room. Their panic, as my nothingness, infantile at the time, killed them one by one.

But, because of this incident, they had to split me in two, after which all my memories are filled with holes. All the years of living for two people are a blur. I could only do the bidding of my creators.

I had no idea even of my own abilities.

I could see through the dazed man's body. All of his living organs. And, I could feel what I was capable of.

My hand clenched, and a hole appeared in his body, in which, the dust from his dried heart scattered in the wind.

I still seemed to need control of myself. And I had planned to keep it for myself.

— I remember that such people called themselves "players." As a mutant, I was curious about their abilities and skills. —

As I studied the motionless corpse, a wave of approaching, small creatures appeared somewhere in the distance.

— Well, that's all right. - I walked around the lying body... — Once I'm done here, I'll have to "pay my parents a visit. If my memory serves me right, it's somewhere in Russia... —

Something stopped me. Since emotion was something new to me, it was difficult to describe. I felt that if I turned around, I would see death.

I swallowed the lump in my throat, then gathered my will into a fist and looked over my shoulder.

Whoever was supposed to be dead was sitting with his back to me. Moments passed as I wondered "how is that possible?" Suddenly, he was looking over my shoulder, too, only, unlike me, his eyes were piercing to the bone. Those dead eyes made my face sweat for the first time.

Danger of death!

I must kill his brain, I thought, but I didn't have time.

— And here's the trump card — the man poked the muzzle of his gun into his cheek.

Everything went black.

--from Lucian's point of view--

As I approached the corpse, I repeated the same thing I'd done with the Superluminal Sting's body. 

Only this time, there were more shots, to put it mildly. I fired until the barrel came off, talking about the loss of ammunition.

I could hardly move. With the loss of my heart, my blood froze in one place. How I managed to move at all was unclear. The core was still locked.

Fatigue prevented me from even lifting my gaze from the woman's breathless body. Attempts to form any kind of complex thought, failed miserably. Even Indra's words jumbled in my head into a thick mess. However, it wasn't hard to understand what she was yelling.

— Well, what are you standing there for, huh? — My gaze went up to a tall, purple creature with a skeleton-shaped head and two bluntly curved horns. The boss of the magical goblins. — If I had the strength to even move, I'd rob you of those arrogant eyes. —

Like mad monkeys, thousands of smaller creatures surrounded me.

A strong man like me dies at the hands of insects like you. How ironic.

The horned creature, in a mad roar, opened its mouth as wide as it could. Lines of mana spiraled to form a ball of energy at the goblin boss's mouth.

The rest of the creatures repeated the same thing.

— I should never have overestimated trash. — words dissolved silently into the deafening buzz of energy orbs.  

A blinding light surrounded me.

Everything went black.