Chapter 5: MurdeRing an [ANGEL]

Corporate Alliance Territory

Eden City// Cordell Industries Central Territory.

Jack cautiously walked to his doorway where someone kept buzzing his doorbell.

"I probably wouldn't open that door if I were you." Sahaqiel appeared in front of Jack, stopping him.

"And what? Have them wait and burst through my door blasting when they get impatient? " Jack nudged the angel away and grabbed a pistol hidden in the shoe rack next to the door. "I won't risk Jill getting hurt."

"Suit yourself." Sahaqiel shrugged, leaving Jack to his own devices. "Let this be a lesson then."

Jack eyed the pistol in his hand, checking the magazine and disengaging the safety. The Mil-Tac PD Pistol was a gift Mike had given him as a means of self-protection when he got his own apartment. He'd always hoped he'd never have to use it yet now felt he comfort in the cold piece of steel.

Holding the gun at his side, Jack peaked through the spyglass where he could make out a suit of white armor, but not the face it belonged to.

"Great… an Angel," Jack murmured seeing the bronze tab and Wing and Halo-shaped insignia on the breastplate.

The Angels were an Awakened organization dedicated to the defense of humanity… Or so they said. They weren't literal angels like Sahaqiel, but branded themselves as such, despite being nothing more than one of the many glorified vigilante mercs. They were trouble makers, a group of magic users that sold themselves to the highest bidder and in this case, they seemed to be working for whomever had trapped Sahaqiel.

Hiding the gun behind his back, Jack weighed his options before deactivating the lock. Perhaps he could talk his way out.

“Uh, can I help you?” Jack said, cautiously opening the door.

There was a momentary look of surprise on the slanty-eyed woman’s face as she looked Jack up and down before her expression morphed to a predatory smile.

"Oh, well look who's up and about. Looks like my hunch was right after all!”"

Seeing her reaction, Jack immediately rushed to backpedal and raise his gun, but the woman was on him, faster than he could react. He barely managed to raise the firearm halfway before the pistol was ripped from his hand and he was suddenly lifted into the air by his throat.

"Well, that's not very polite!" The woman snickered, carrying Jack effortless into his apartment while kicking the door shut behind her.

"Wha-t do you want?!" Jack choked out. His legs dangling as the woman held him casually by his neck. He went to kick her but his foot scraped futilely against the woman’s armor.

"Where's the girl?"

Ah shit.

"What girl?"

At Jack's response, the lady threw him into the wall where he left a crack before falling onto the sparse living room floor.

“That… was really rude…” Jack moaned

"Don't play coy with me kid! I saw your wounds. No way in hell some rip-off-doc patched you up that good." The woman snarled, picking up the groaning boy and sending him flying again.

Jack slammed into an empty shelf, his shoulder making an audible popping sound before he landed with a thud on the hard wooden floor.

"Ugh!" Jack grunted as pain ripped through his shoulder.

"C'mon kid, tell me what I want to know and the pain stops."

Jack went to repeat what he had said earlier but paused, realizing why he recognized the woman's voice. It was the same voice from the night he was injured!

"I don't know… What you're talking about, please…" Jack huffed, attempting to peel himself off the floor. “I’m just.. A kid.”

"Playing hard to get huh?"

The armored woman kicked Jack in the stomach, knocking the air out of him before grabbing him by the hair. She yanked the boy up, lifting his head to meet her brown eyes as she crouched down to his level.

"One last time, otherwise this is going to get ugly. Where's. The. blonde?"

“I told you I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Jack cried, sticking to his story. Maybe if he kept playing dumb she’d leave him alone. There was no way in hell he could tell her that he’d fused with their target. The last thing he wanted was to be captured and become some kind of guinea pig in a lab like the little girl.

"Leave my brother alone!"

Jack’s heart skipped a beat as a nearby door opened and he watched his sister roll out of her room. What made the scene worse was the oversized pistol she held in her tiny hand.

"Jill, go back inside!" Jack hollered as his assailant suddenly slammed his head into the floor, causing his vision to warp with flashes of black and white.

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"A Black Rot victim? Well, what a cutie you are. Do you even know how to use that thing?"

"I said leave him alone!" Jill cried, her voice coming out shaky but determined.

"Go ahead. Shoot me girlie." The woman teased. Suddenly Jack felt something dig into his back, causing him to yelp in pain. “Shoot me or I’ll break his back!”

He could hear Jill crying now, the sounds of her sobbing giving him the strength to look up despite the ringing and pain in his ears.

"I'll do it! I'll really do it! Leave my brother alone!"

"Jill, go back to bed!" Jack moaned, looking up through his bloodied vision to see the tears flowing down her face as she shakily aimed the pistol. "Jill-"

Time seemed to come to a standstill as a loud crack echoed out. Jack couldn’t believe what was happening, and from her expression, neither could Jill.

A momentary silence settled in the room before it was quickly disrupted by manic laughter.

Contrary to Jack and Jill’s expectations, the bullet remained suspended in mid-air, caught by some form of green barrier that had shimmered to life. "Wow! You actually shot at me!"

"Wha- why didn't it?" Jill sputtered, confused that the woman remained unharmed.

Jack felt the pressure suddenly lift from his back as the mercenary began slowly walking towards the frightened girl in the wheelchair.

In a panic, Jill squeezed the trigger several more times, letting out a series of rounds that each failed to connect with their intended target.

"How lucky am I? I've always wanted to see the effects of Black Rot and now I have a live specimen!"

The room seemed to chill by a few degrees as Jack watched the figure bend down and snatch the gun from Jill's hands.

"Leave her alone!" Jack screamed. Suddenly finding the strength to peel himself off the floor, he lunged at the woman.

A green barrier sprang up, intercepting Jack before he could connect with his sister’s assailant. The woman turned, gazing at the boy and making a sadistic smile as she traced the edges of Jill's detoxifier with her finger.

"If you touch her I swear to God I'll kill you!" Jack shouted, his voice laced with rage as he desperately banged his fist repeatedly onto the barrier as the woman toyed with Jill.

"Just tell me what you know, otherwise-" The so-called Angel wore a cruel grin as she racked her gauntlet on Jill's face, causing the girl to whimper in pain as the gauntlet sliced her cheek and drew blood. "-We'll get to see how Black Rot…. works-hmm?"

At the sight of Jill bleeding, an overwhelming surge of emotion took hold of Jack. His vision narrowed, with the sounds of the outside world fading away as raw rage boiled in his veins like lava.

Unbeknownst to Jack, his hair had grown, morphing to a molten gold, as his eyes radiated with power, drawing stares from both Jill and their assailant with their mouths agape at the unexpected transformation.

Suddenly Jack's fist punched through the barrier, shattered it like glass as he rabidly reached out to Jill's attacker.

"I SAID I'D KILL YOU!" Jack screeched, forcing the woman to step back in fear as blood from the boy's sliced arm flung around the room.

"Not so fast!" The woman yelled, recovering with her eyes alight with a faint glow as she attempted to grab Jill as a hostage, but contrary to her expectations, she found herself unable to move.

"What?!" The Asian lady screamed in confusion as she began unwillingly approaching Jack's outstretched hand.

"How are you doing this?!" The mercenary demanded as the power from her eyes suddenly faded. She threw an open palm toward Jack, yelling "Fira" in the process but retracted her hand in shock when nothing happened.

Seeing the futility of her actions, the woman started to panic. Her feet began leaving the ground as Jack raised his hand higher and higher. She attempted to say something but it came out in desperate gasps and garbled sentences as her eyes started to bulge from their eye sockets.

“Ple-ase..” She finally managed to garble.

“I told you I’d kill you if you touched my sister.” Jack hissed coldly, his voice laced with an echo that seemed to terrify the woman.

Jack hadn't realized it but his left arm was glowing with runes, a trail of intangible energy siphoning from the woman to his body as the specter of Sahaqiel became tangible for a split second behind him that shook the woman to her core.

The intruder clawed at her throat, fanatically tearing at her own flesh with clawed gauntlets as she struggled desperately to breathe. She looked down, begging for her life with her eyes as Jack strangled her to death. But Jack wouldn't let her go. No, she needed to die. She had to. No one was allowed to hurt his family and get away with it.

The woman's spasming lasted for what felt like an eternity, with tears mixed with blood flowing down her face until finally, her arms dangled lifelessly at her sides.

Jack exhaled, a wave of exhaustion hitting him all at once as the woman's body dropped to the ground.

Before he could process what he had done, a screen appeared in front of Jack. Drawing the boy’s attention away from the corpse at his feet and the strange sense of euphoria that was bubbling up within him.

[E Grade Awakened Drained.]

[Drain Efficiency]+10% for E grade creatures and below.

[Absorption] +1

[Viable skill detected!]

[Skill Check for obtaining skill… Success, Fira obtained. Skill auto assigned slot/Information hidden due to insufficient user rights. Admin locked]

[Status Screen Hidden due to insufficient Awaken Grade]

The screen faded as fast as it came, not allowing Jack to process everything on the screen. Lucky, the disruption brought the teen back to his senses. Where he immediately rushed toward what was truly important right now.

His sister.

Trampling over the crumpled suit of armor, Jack checked on his sister who was looking at him stunned.

"Jill, are you ok?!"

Jill shook her head, her pupils dilated and her eyes unfocused, clearly in shock.

"Where did you get a gun?!"

"U-u-uncle Mike, he said that I'd need i-it in case I-I- I needed to protect myself!" Jill cried, a fresh stream of tears flowing down her face that pulled at Jack's heartstrings. "Am I in trouble?"

"No. No, of course not," Jack assured, hugging her tight and letting her stain his shirt with her tears. The siblings sat there for some time before Jack pulled away to check the detoxifier box and wound on her face.

He was halfway through Jill’s checkup when the door unexpectedly opened.

Jack immediately sprang into action, scooping up the gun and placing his body between the door and Jill. Using himself as a shield for the frightened girl as he pointed the weapon at the door.

"Wha! Watch it kiddo! It's just me!" Mike exclaimed, hands in the air as he stumbled at the sight of a gun being shoved in his face.

Jack let out a sigh of relief, lowering the weapon.

"Sorry Mike, we…" Jack trailed off, he didn't have a good explanation for everything that had happened.

"Shit kid, is that a body?!"

Surprised by the sight of a corpse, Mike hastily closed the door before rushing past the siblings and checking the crumpled corpse on the ground.

Noticing the armor insignia and lack of a pulse, Mike's eyes went wide.

"Oh hells bells kiddo. Hells bells, What have you done?"