“She’s back!”
“Who?”
“...Serpent.” The samurai shouts, slamming his fist into the stone pillar. Shattering it with his own strength.
“Uhuhu, this will be fun. VERY fun.” Another person laughs.
2.
The sky was a deep black, like an abyss with the stars as its victims. The night was starkly contrasted by bright amber lights across the streets. Today was a special day after all; the Mezoryn Festival in the city centre had started.
Congestion and traffic have blocked every road in the city, people as far as you can see walking across the pavements. It was a beautiful sight to see this sad town burn so brightly during the festival. Although there are a few who will enjoy this for other reasons,.
Elijah was on his balcony, looking out to the vibrant cityscape, when he started to get a call from someone he would rather not right now.
Defeated, he lets it ring for a while and lets out a long sigh. For how long has he been doing this for now? He started seven years ago. He had seen so much change. The rise of Lemora, the future of Foundation Hunters, yet it all seemed like a blur to him still.
Reluctantly, he picked up his phone. His finger was debating over the hang-up and answer button. “Tch.” He thought before answering the phone.
“Sup.” He answered the person on the other side of the line.
“I have a mission for you. Your target is Agent Siren. They are dangerous and unpredictable; be careful out there, Epsilon. I’ve attached the believed location; goodbye.” Phi detailed the mission to Elijah.
He lets out a final puff of smoke before he flicks it down and stamps on it. Watching the flame be extinguished.
“Let’s just get this started.” He thought.
He knew that Phi would most likely ring today because of the festival; this was a prime opportunity to get a contract done. The sheer amount of crowds and traffic would make it nearly impossible to detect, thus making it a perfect time for agents to operate. He figured this is why his target this time is also an agent.
A year or two after a fight with a old friend, the Foundation Hunters (The company which Elijah works for) had entered a proxy war with another bounty hunting company from the Empire of Sora, named “Silver Bullet Corp.” They had extremely competent agents, which made work harder. Agent Siren was from Silver Bullet Corp.
Elijah swiftly changes out of his blue and gold jacket with a light blue t-shirt, into bulletproof armour and a purple shirt underneath, and of course, with his signature sunglasses. He was much smarter than before, now opting to wear bulletproof armour to prevent injuries that could’ve been prevented.
According to the coordinates, Agent Siren was located in the city centre, in the most popular part known as the “Entertainment District.” Elijah thought about it for a second and realised something.
“Agent Siren is in the busiest place. It can’t be a coincidence; she’s trying to remain undetected, but what is she doing?” He muttered and questioned her motives to himself while grabbing his gun from the armoury downstairs.
While the armoury was decorated and crowded with Miyuki’s swords, there were also a ton of guns that belonged to Elijah. He grabbed his beloved weapon that had served him well for years, his revolver.
“The crowds and traffic make it hard to track; the main downside is that the festival is swarming with police. Last year’s festival was... Bloody, to say the least. I just have to be quick. To also avoid detection, I’ll have to move through the first district, the food courtyard, and then I should be able to sneak through.” Elijah planned.
Using Liminal Space, he teleported into the food courtyard. He looked around before taking a small sigh of relief, believing that he hadn’t been noticed.
The food courtyard was warm, the air was filled with sweet aromas, and the roads were now filled with dozens of stalls with the same amber lighting. Reflecting off the wooden houses behind them, home owners are setting up shop in front of their house. It was refreshing for Elijah to see this town lively again, although he thought that there were unfathomable people.
While walking around the stalls, seeing all the food made him hungry. He heard his stomach rumble, and his wallet, while looking empty, had a few spare coins. Elijah debated whether to satiate his hunger or to continue pushing through crowds.
After a not-so-difficult decision, he was handed a bowl of food. The food was a succulent steak served with a side of mashed potatoes. It was definitely on the expensive side, but to him, it was worth it.
Each bite he took only got better; he savoured the taste before taking the final bite. He then discarded the empty bowl in the trash. The food satiated his hunger, and he felt better than ever before.
“I didn’t think it would be this busy.“ Elijah muttered, looking around his surroundings.
All he could see were people surrounding him. “At this rate, it’ll take too long,” he thought to himself and decided to take action.
Dodging the crowds was a must; it would take too long to reach Agent Siren. Above the stalls were the roofs of the houses. It was risky, but if Elijah was to climb onto the roof, He was able to run across and reach the entertainment district.
Pipes and electrical boxes were attached adjacent to the walls of the alleyways; there was a potential that he could climb up those. Liminal Space was an immediate no; he would rather not teleport in front of a massive crowd; that would only draw suspicion.
Elijah gave the pipe a tug; fortunately, it didn’t budge, which meant that Elijah could climb up if he was careful. Slowly, he pulls himself up, taking advantage of the other pipes to prop himself up. He grabbed onto the last pipe and was now on the roof.
On top of the roof, Elijah felt the stark contrast of temperatures; while it was warm on the ground, on the roof it was freezing. Nonetheless, he had to complete this mission.
As he was walking, he heard a piercing gunshot as a bullet flew past him. It hit him directly at his armour; if he had not worn it, he could’ve died. Another agent has joined the fight.
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Quickly, he looks around, the crowd erupts into screams. People started running in every direction; some covered their heads. “Fuck.” Elijah thought as he saw the police start to take action.
“What’s the problem? I ain’t after you.” Elijah states this to the agent, who immediately shuts him down. He could’ve sworn that he was undetected. Unless they knew his location before that, which also means they knew the house, “Guess I got clean-up duty,” he thought to himself.
“The enemy of my ally is my enemy.” The person mysteriously states that their voice was monotone. Elijah struggled to hold back his laughter; they were so serious about this edgy talk that they went so far as to say it. Who would have blamed Elijah’s small chuckle?.
“Keep those edgy thoughts to yourself; it’ll save me a headache.” Elijah laughs as he ducks and fires a shot at the agent. The bullet pierced through the air at a rapid speed, but somehow... The bullet missed. “Huh. That was definitely aimed at them. Is this a technique at play?” Elijah thought, analysing what just happened.
Sadly, his analysis had come to an abrupt end after the agent had begun firing a dozen shots at him. Quickly, he dove behind a generator, offering limited protection, but it would do. After a swift reload, he peeks out, looking around and finding nothing.
He let the wind pick up, and someone came out from the back of the roof. The agent hit him in the back of his head, the pain burning into his very soul. Elijah was sent back by the force, grabbing onto a pipe to stop his fall. He aims his gun and shoots, like before when the bullet pierced through the air but slowed down dramatically when it reached the agent, and that's when he realised that the agent has a special power.
“I take your ability to slow moving things.” Elijah asked, and he didn’t expect an answer in return. He wanted to make the agent nervous that he had guessed it so quickly. “Correct. My innate ability is ‘Time Slow’” To Elijah’s surprise, the agent answered.
“Judging by how both bullets slowed to the same speed, I can assume that the ability is based on percentages. I just need something fast enough to where it’s still lethal, even with being slowed.” Elijah had a plan in his head.
“Essence Technique, Liminal Space.” Elijah casts his liminal space ability, creating a portal to the left of him. The portal felt like it was below zero; it left out a freezing chill as he stared into it. He didn’t want it to drag on, so he reached inside and pulled out a worn rocket launcher.
Liminal Space had another ability that Elijah used arguably more: it was an infinite storage space. As far as he knew, there was no limit to how far Liminal Space was. Thus, he started using it for all random things storage-related; thankfully, he kept a rocket launcher inside of it. Clutching onto the metallic cylinder, this rocket launcher had seen a plethora of battles, being used as far back as the Vesta War. It had many battle scars across its surface, with scratches and paint peeling. Stickers were added to the back, which indicate this belonged to the “5th Division,” not something that matters to him.
He fired the rocket and looked at the agent. There was nothing they could do, and the rocket impaled them, causing a massive explosion. The amber colours of fire and explosion combined with the festival lighting made it almost… poetic.
“Sorry.” He muttered before continuing his mission. He quickly dialled a few numbers on his phone; the phone rang for a while, Elijah’s heart thumping. Eventually, she picked up. “What’s up, Epsilon?” Phi asked, “Got attacked by another agent just now; know anything?” Elijah replied back. Wondering if there would be any more agents to deal with.
“I expected this much. Silver Bullet also wants to kill Agent Siren in case she spills company info. As far as we know... She’s rogue.“ Phi explained as Elijah jumps from one building to another.
Looking down, Elijah sees the crowds return; he guessed that the police told them it was an accidental shot as they couldn’t find the perpetrator. Though there was a more glaring issue, he noticed even more police gathering around.
His running comes abruptly to an end as he realises that a dozen red lines are pointed at him. “So there’s a bounty on my head too? Hah! They don’t stand a chance. Today, though, I’d rather not get that much blood on my hands.” He exclaims to the snipers pointing at him.
He now knows that there is likely a bounty placed on his own head. He diligently dodges each laser; if he were to be in the firing range, he would be immediately dead. Elijah could only wonder how painful a sniper bullet to the head could be.
Until he reached an open area. With no protecting objects or cover to hide behind. He had every single red laser pointed at him. Elijah took a deep breath; he had pushed himself to run.
“That’s a shame,” he states, taking a breath with each word.
“Essence Technique, Liminal Transfer.” Elijah uses his technique once again. Transfer allows him to enact short-range teleportation. The maximum distance of teleportation is about 50 metres.
Utilising liminal transfer, he was able to teleport himself into a crowd below. He got strange looks from strangers.
“You’re dreaming,” he whispered to the confused person, and he continued on walking.
He moves his way through the crowd and thinks to himself. Strategizing his next ten moves.
“So there’s a bounty on me, and I have a bounty for someone else. I can assume it’s correlated. Maybe they hoped I would’ve been killed before I could complete the bounty? Also, the bounty on me seems to involve a team. Then again. Phi mentioned how Siren is rogue.” His thoughts dwelled on him.
"Ah, who am I kidding? They can’t beat me in this game.” Elijah laughed while spinning his gun around. He grabs his gun again and shoots one of the snipers.
Suddenly, a hitman comes out of the crowd and attempts to punch Elijah; he simply uses liminal space to teleport behind them, knocking them out in the process.
The music was blaring as Elijah continued to make his way through until he saw that the distant police were doing routine checks. “Can’t I just have a break?” Elijah muttered in anger. What should’ve been a quick contract quickly spiralled into a long mission.
“THIS IS EDESSA POLICE; WE HAVE REPORTS OF A MURDER IN TOWN CENTRE; PLEASE REMAIN CALM; ENFORCEMENT IS ON ITS WAY.” The siren blasts out and is followed by an ear-piercing alarm.
Startled, Elijah quickly looks around, seeing a couple of bright, neon vending machines selling random things. One had a massive assortment of chips; the other had chargers and power banks. Quickly, he dove behind the machines.
The police walked past, talking with each other while holding coffee. The sirens continued to screech as screaming was heard across the city centre. Elijah could only hold his breath and wait for them to pass. The footsteps only got louder and louder until... They stopped.
Silence filled the city. The screaming subsided, the sky was a deep black, and combined with the white noise, Elijah was struggling to hold his breath. Hoping that there was no one in front of him, the noise only made it more tense.
“What’re you doing there?” Someone asked, peaking around the machine. Their outfit was black and blue, signifying that they were police. Without even thinking, Elijah hits the end of his gun in the face, knocking them out.
Now on the run from the police, this was a success-now-or fail mission; he had to hurry up towards the entertainment district. He jumped over barriers and signs, swinging onto a pole that ran across the entire way. Eventually, he made it to the district and took a sharp right.
The alleyway was dark and gritty, with large puddles of murky water from pipes that dripped. Only the sound of a loud rumbling was heard. It was tense; he could hear his heartbeat get faster and faster. The drips fell from the rusty pipes onto his head.
Finally, he meets with the person who fits the description of Agent Siren, but they are also accompanied by two others beside her. They all wore a shiny sliver that gave off a royal feeling.
“You’re after me, I suppose?” Agent Siren asks, noticing Elijah’s presence without seeing or hearing him. That made him shudder as he thought about how heightened her senses must be.
“Sorry, just business.” Elijah replies, his words showing no sign of mercy or guilt.
Elijah takes cover behind a rusty car, reloading, and then he peeks. He sees the person aiming down at him and quickly hides behind the car again. Then the two other agents lunge at him. He attempts to disarm them, but they manage to get the upper hand and kick him in the stomach.
He felt his strength being kicked out of him, and the burning pain that started swelling up quickly landed him back on his feet.
Elijah pulls out a different gun with liminal space and manages to shoot one of the agents in their legs, then he uses the back of his gun to knock them out. T
he barrel does a quick little spin as Elijah ducks, throwing the other agent, who lunged at him, of course. Without sparing a single second, he grabs them by the arm and knocks them out with a swift blow to the neck.
“As expected from The Silent Assailant.” Agent Siren entertained Elijah. He didn’t know how far the news had reached. After the fight between him and Aksel, Elijah somehow ended up with the title of The Silent Assailant.
“Huh. Guess I am popular.” Elijah smirked, not caring about his title or anything like that. Titles weren’t important to him.
Quickly, they both shot at each other, the bullets just barely grazing by. He could feel the bullet removing a layer of skin as it punctured through the bullet-proof armour. Thankfully, it was stopped before it was a serious injury.
They both followed up with several punches and kicks, each one increasing in force. Elijah managed to kick Agent Siren in the knee, making them lose their balance for a split second. Losing her balance was a life-changing mistake.
He pulled out a grenade from his pocket and lobbed it into a pillar. It destroyed the pillar, crumbling it and raining the rubble directly onto Agent Siren. With that, the bounty had been completed.
"Well, that’s that,” he says while lighting a cigarette. The smoothing warmth helped him calm down. He took in the night, the cold breeze combined with the warm cigarette, but then he looked around. Smoke, blood, and screaming are still everywhere. He had to run.
Before he made his run, he pulled out his phone to check the news.
“BREAKING NEWS, SEVERAL FOUND DEAD IN MEZORYN FESTIVAL, SEVERAL FOUND DEAD AT CENTRE ROAD'' was plastered in every single headline; he was even slightly surprised the story spread so quickly. His eyes darted to “Several found dead at Centre Road'' and he smiled.
“It looks like Itzozu had important things as well.” Elijah laughed.