Lyon POV:
“What should I call you?”
“H-Holder...”
He lead the way as we dashed along the rooftops. To call this situation madness was a huge understatement. Furthermore, there were too many parties involved in this district.
Enigma, the Ruler and I had a strong suspicion that Inner Astril also had a hand in the current affairs going on here.
Firstly, why would the Ruler of the South be alright with having his own people killed for some sort of ritualistic service? It was most likely because he didn’t care.
The District Leader, and by extension, the Ruler himself, gave District 3 to Enigma as a lab testing ground. Enigma gets data and more results, the two leaders get paid a hefty amount of money and Inner Astril benefits by having one less district to worry about biting back.
Perhaps they even made a deal with Enigma depending on the progress of these Ki Enhancing Drugs.
Fear about how the Ruler managed District 3 would then spread to the other Districts forcing them to be more obedient. One look at the mess of this place would cause many District Leaders to fold immediately.
So why does the Ruler need so much funds? What exactly is his goal? More and more questions emerged, but the outcome always remained the same—I would take over the South.
We were starting to approach the heart of District 3 when Holder stuck out his hand. I observed him study the labyrinth below, and a few moments later, he had located the best route to travel along.
“Lyon... Pass this point we won’t be able to use the rooftops. D-District 3 has strict surveillance from above around the inner parts.”
“Alright. Let’s move.”
He jumped off the rooftop and nimbly landed on the blood-red ground. I appeared behind him and pulled him into the alleyway as a group of Hounds dashed past.
“They smell it...”
“Smell what?”
“Fresh meat...”
I let out a sigh as I tapped his back lightly. It was obvious that the drug hadn’t completely worn off yet; certain words or things would trigger a relapse to occur. It seemed to happen whenever the red splotches on his arm reached his wrist.
The drastic personality shift turned them into ritualistic fanatics that craved bloodshed and massacre. It burst the blood vessels in their eyes, creating red roots that extended all the way to the pupil.
‘Hounding...’
The drugs that used to be distributed in my district couldn’t even compare to what was going on here. However, as pointed out, a powerful drug often comes with a plethora of side effects, and this one was no different.
In Holder's case, the drug didn’t have the most potent effect in terms of maximising one's Ki, but in theory, this drug could potentially let someone skip two Ki Stages temporarily—that was huge.
I had to assume that the chances of that happening were very low because if a drug like that were to be perfected, it’d probably cause a lot of wars.
Another thing I had noticed was that Holder's healing ability seemed to delay the onset of certain side effects. It was by no means a perfect cure, but it helped him stay sane for longer than most.
We moved through the network of alleyways that held true even in District 3, occasionally taking short breaks so that Holder wouldn’t go berserk again.
“W-we’re getting close... C-combat will soon be unavoidable...”
His body tensed up as we passed by another bloodstained alley. I could sense the number of Blood Hounds within the immediate vicinity rapidly increasing while we turned another corner when a light flashed.
‘!’
I pulled Holder back just in time to see a blade trim the top of his hair. Five Blood Hounds dropped down from above and surrounded us. They all carried swords, and the chanting began.
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“Blood, Blood, Blood!”
I stepped forward just as Holder was beginning to panic.
‘Ghost.’
The violet paths entered my vision, and less than a second later, their heads smashed into the sides of the alleyway. I walked past their motionless bodies and signalled to Holder to take the lead.
“...Y-you knocked them out in one hit... You were holding back against me...”
“You live and you learn.”
I tapped Holder's trembling back as he wobbled forwards. We continued to move, and I knocked out any Blood Hounds that noticed us. However, it was difficult.
They didn’t move individually in this area; they moved in groups of 4 or 5 at minimum. Some groups had as many as 10 Blood Hounds moving together systematically. They were trained, and that only made them more deadly.
I noticed that I still hadn't come across anyone past the low Shin stage. It helped that since it was an artificial boost, they couldn’t create their own abilities. In that regard, it was similar to the Mark of a Pantheon.
“Pine Street is a few streets away...”
I nodded in response and dealt with some more Blood Hounds who had picked up our trail. A few twists and turns later, we had finally arrived at Pine Street.
It was a wide street, and the stench of blood was unbearable. Most of the street had been painted red while bodies were flung to the side, stacked up in the corners of some buildings and shops, decomposing in plain view.
“It only gets worse past Pine Street...”
My eyes narrowed as I questioned how people could have such little respect for the gift known as life. Holder located Complex B in the middle of the street, and after making sure no one else was on our trail, we dashed inside.
I watched him let out a huge sigh of relief, and as time went on, his side effects began appearing less and less until they stopped completely a little while ago.
The red splotches on his arm had mostly vanished, and his mental state was much more stable than before.
“What floor is the 53rd flat on?”
“T-the 10th floor...”
“Let’s go.”
There was no time to waste. I could sense well over one hundred Blood Hounds around this area as we flew up the stairs, ascending the floors at a rapid speed.
‘!’
I twisted my neck and avoided a sword strike that came from someone opening a door suddenly. His head instantly snapped back. The blade in his hands fell to the ground, and his body slumped against the side of the door.
“C-careful... Nowhere is safe...”
I looked at Holder, who had dashed ahead, creating a wide distance between us.
“...”
For someone who had reached Shin, Holder got scared really easily. It also didn’t help that I had beat him pretty bad well over two hours ago.
I sighed inwardly as we continued making our way up the stairs. We reached the 10th floor a few minutes later without any issues, and I approached the 53rd flat.
I stood in front of the door, listening in to see if I could hear anything off. I sensed a lot of people within the small flat, but only a few of them could use Ki. One of them made me uneasy, because it felt like they were actively suppressing their presence.
“A-are we going to knock...?”
“That’s probably for the best.”
I knocked a couple of times on the door and felt the tension on the other side increase. Not knowing how else I should approach this, I decided to quote what Copycat said on the note.
“I'm here to pick up a gift.”
Silence. There was no reply, but I heard movement from the inside. The taut tension I felt lessened by a large amount.
“Come in.”
‘A man’s voice?’
But it wasn’t similar to Copycats; it sounded older and more mature. I heightened my senses to the limit and opened the door.
‘?’
I stepped inside with Holder, but the room was empty. He closed the door behind us, and I stuck out my hand to stop him from walking any further.
I was confident a few seconds ago, I had sensed multiple people within this room, but now their presences had completely disappeared. I wasn’t the most adept when it came to sensing things using Ki, so if they were using an ability, I wouldn’t be able to rely on sense alone to detect them.
“Holder. Copy me.”
“Y-yes...”
He didn’t know what I had planned, but he nodded his head obediently. I slowly raised my hands up in the air until they were completely above my head.
“We are not your enemy.”
Still no response. Did I really make a mistake? Did we enter the wrong room? No, that was impossible. I decided to be patient. A minute or two passed, and something finally happened.
‘!’
Children started appearing around the small room. Behind the table sat a woman with chestnut hair. She had bandages all over her face and arms, yet her different-coloured eyes were fierce—she was ready to make a move the second I did something suspicious.
A man with short brown hair appeared beside her with a bunch of kids clinging to his body. They continued to appear around the room until my gaze reached the front of the table.
A teenage girl with dark yellow eyes sat with a child on her lap. She had black hair with yellow highlights and looked at me with curiosity.
“Gia, is he the one X mentioned?”
The brown-haired man glanced at the woman with bandages.
“...”
She didn’t reply straight away. Her fierce gaze examined me carefully as I stood with my hands raised.
“Does anyone here know a man called Copycat?”
They all gazed at me with questioning eyes.
“He has dark red hair and pale skin. He sent me here.”
“!”
Gia slammed her hand on the table as she glared at me. The children around the room glanced at her but remained silent. Was there a connection between them and Copycat after all?
“There’s nobody with that description that goes by the name Copycat here.”
I watched her clench her teeth while flames burned within her rare heterochromatic eyes. This left me with two possibilities. One, this X person is indeed Copycat, but he’s calling himself something else. Two, the worst case scenario, Copycat copied X's appearance.
I slowly put my hands down, and Holder did the same. I could think about this later. Right now, I needed to get everyone back to District 4 as soon as possible since I could sense the number of Blood Hounds constantly increasing.
“I'm District 4’s Leader: Lyon Asphalios.”
I placed the note I had received on the table in front of Gia and backed away. She picked up the note and examined it before passing it to the brown-haired man.
“I want to take everyone here back to District 4.”