I scan the kidnappers that are waiting below with my mana vision. They have the same blue glow, common to living and maybe even nonliving things.

I hear the soft whispers of the four men below as they walk to the center of the alleyway. They are obviously planning something. Three of the men in leather armor slide between the buildings in the alley. I am guessing that they are planning an ambush. I stand up on the slate roof, thinking that this would be a good time check around the building before I kill them. I would hate to be interrupted by any guards in the area.

Walking atop the buildings made me see how massive the town truly is. It probably took more than a decade to decade to build a wall like this. And, the inner wall was probably just as difficult to make, though I wonder which one was built first. Despite being atop these buildings, I cannot see the whole thing. Most of it is still blocked away by the wall, and the taller buildings that block the view.

I crouch at the opposite side of the building. I have not seen anyone around, so far. I know I had passed a bar a few buildings down, but I see no one coming from that direction. Is there a curfew going on? The number of people outside at night seem to have drastically decline.

After all the sides of the building, I still found no one except the kidnappers.  They are obviously waiting on someone, a woman from what I heard. I kneel when I came back to the side of the roof facing the alley. Then I go prone on the slate roof top once again, so I can watch them

“And what of the Flutes?  I care very little of how good they are at slitting throats, if they think they can threaten us, they forget I was once part of their syndicate.” A female voice said. The sound was faint but I understood the last part of what she said.  I can make out the newcomers as they enter the alley.

As the voice grows closer, and I am finally able see her figure. However, she is overhead now, and I only able to see her that she is blonde, and wearing a dress of some sort. She is walking in front, both her and her companions besides her. They seem unconcern about the man in the robes in the middle of the alleyway. That is until the woman stops a couple feet away from the man in black robes. I watch as her companions, or bodyguards step in front her. 

“Get out of my way. “The woman said, impatience in her voice. 

“I don't think so.” The man in robes replied.

“ Do you know who I am, come on, you haven't been living under a rock. Don't tell me you're another upstart. “ 

“ A new syndicate is rising and yours is only falling. Join the us Isabella, your Don is already good as dead.” 

“Is that really the best you have.  I don't know who you are, but you're a fool. Now die like one, kill this shit.” The woman named Isabella said. She raises her hand, and snaps her finger, signaling her companions to attack. Both of her male bodyguards draw swords. The kidnappers draw their blades in response. However, the man in robes shifts several feet back, and he is now behind the three men in leather armor.

I watch as the woman’s bodyguards move forward to defend her. It feels like I am watching the same movie, for the second time. And, I find that watching them die is more satisfying than killing them myself. Why do the kill them? When I can simply let, others do it for me.

The three criminals slide out of the spaces between the wall. The bodyguards, who are too focus on killing the man in the black robes, that they did not see the men hidden in the walls. The moonlight reflects off the daggers that the criminals draw. The alley erupts with the screams of the bodyguards as they are pushed down, and stab repeatedly. Soon enough, silence fills the alleyway, and I watch the glow around the two bodyguards flicker, then vanish. 

“You know, good help is hard to find.” Isabella said. She did not seem at all horrified by all the blood before her. 

Hell, I would expect her to already be gone by now, why was she still around. This is getting interesting; I wish I had some popcorn. Though I would not be able to eat it. I’m dead, and I’ll probably never have to eat again, at least I do not have to worry about flossing.

It is strange that I do not have more empathy towards the things I may never be able to do now. I wonder why I have this lack of care for death, or anything that does not affect me.

I reach out with my hand and grab one of the souls as it floats up to the roof. Fuck food, a fresh soul is all I really need. I grab, and absorb another soul. I almost fell off the ledge as I stretch to reach the second one. Sweet sweet souls. 

The man in black robes, pulls out a small crossbow from underneath his cloak. Despite the two bodyguards being dead, the three kidnappers are still stabbing them, damn, these guys are bloodthirsty. 

“Don’t even think about running.” The crossbowman said, he levels the weapon at Isabella’s chest. 

“I would never dream of running from you sweetie.” Isabella replies. She begins to move forward slowly, right foot first, then left. Thankfully, the other three stop stabbing the corpses, it was starting to become disturbing. But, I guess being nervous, made them want to make sure their victims are dead.

Isabella’s actions confuse the three kidnappers. They look at each other, as if one of them has the answers for Isabella’s odd behavior. However, the crossbowman takes two steps forward. He obviously wants to show the woman that he is no coward. Though, I can tell he is a bit unsure of what to do next. Just like I, he assumed the woman would stop after having a crossbow pointed at her.

“Stay-Stay where you are. I have not known to miss this close.” The crossbowman said. He tries to regain some of his composure. However, Isabella did not stop moving forward.

Is the woman crazy? Did she not see the crossbow in the man’s hand? Maybe the loss of her bodyguards was more traumatic than I thought. Suicide was never the answer. 

“Last warning” The man in robes said. He holds his crossbow firmly in both his hands.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“Fine, have it your way, you’re a crazy bitch.” The crossbowman announced. Less than a second after, I hear the snap of a crossbow. I did not see the bolt from the crossbow, but I did hear the thud of impact. I glance towards the woman, trying to look for a bolt. I found the bolt, and from my perspective, I can tell it went into her shoulder, and out the back. I am just as shock as the man. That must have hurt. I did not even hear a yell, or even a groan from her. 

“Oh, that tickles, is that the best you can do?” Isabella said, to the utter horror of the four kidnappers. 

“Don’t just stand there, get her!” The crossbowman shouted, he pushes one of other kidnappers forward. The other two eventually followed the man into a charge. 

Isabella rests her right hand on her sword pommel. She did not look like someone who is about to be kidnapped.

Isabella punches the first man in the jaw, his face swings to the right from the impact. He was about to fall, but Isabella grips the man by the shoulder. She pulls him back up, and bends his head to the side. I can hear her hiss as she bites into the man’s neck. Isabella bites off a chunk of the man’s neck, causing blood spurt out. She then begins to suck on the fountain of pouring blood. However, she has little time to do so.

She pushes the man, who is now spraying out blood from his mouth as he desperately tries to scream. The man collides with one of the charging men, and they fall over.

The man who is still charging towards Isabella, receives the quickest round house kick I have ever seen to the chest. His feet lift off the ground and he falls onto his back. Isabella waste no time, and in a mere second she already has her foot on his chest. The man tries to get back up, but Isabella holds him down with her feet. She then draws her sword, and plunges it into the man’s heart. The man yells in pain as she twists the blade, then he goes rigid. Isabella quickly returns her sword back into the scabbard.

 I have to crawl a bit to the left to grab his soul out of the air. Due to my hunger, I absorb it just as quickly as the previous two.

I expected both of the men that fell to get back onto their feet, but only one did. The one that Isabella bit is still on the ground. I check with my mana vision, just to make sure I had not missed a soul.

It turns out that he is still alive, but his glow is very faint. The bite must have been pretty bad, since he is unconscious on the ground, and still bleeding from his neck. He will probably die soon.

The last kidnaper is the wisest of the three. At first I thought he was going to run, since he dropped his dagger. However, the fool only dropped his dagger, so he can pick up one of the dead bodyguard’s swords. Did he not just see her kill of his companions? Well, at least he is not charging towards Isabella. 

My opinion of the woman has skyrocketed. She is not the crazy, suicidal person I thought her to be. But, why did she bite that guy? She could have just as easily poke him in the head with her sword. Her movements are certainly quick, much faster than your average human.

I hear the snap of the crossbow again, then the thud from its impact. The crossbowman had been reloading his crossbow to fire that shot. I was not paying much attention to him. And, it seems I am not the only one who was not paying attention to him.

Isabella does not look please that another bolt hit her. This time in the heart. Well, it was a good fight, she is as good as dead now.

Impossible, she is still standing.

The last attacker took this chance to strike Isabella, since she is distracted. His sword stabs out and into the stomach of the woman. The sword impales Isabella, and the man smiles, because it is obvious to him that he won. His smile quickly fades as Isabella draws her sword. The movement of Isabella’s sword is like a blur. When the sword comes down, half of the man’s arm is sliced off. The man yells as blood sprays out from his arm. However, his screaming did not last long.  Isabella’s swings her sword again, and this time it cleaves into the side of the man’s head. The man is almost decapitated, his head hangs from his body by a piece of flesh. It takes a surprising amount of time for him to fall over, but he eventually did.

The crossbowman is the smart one it would seem, because he is already running away. Which is funny when you think about it. I pull my hood over my head and made sure that my cloak covers my entire body. I also recheck my mask, to make sure that it is fully covering my face. The cloth that covers the eye sockets greatly helps with preventing my flaming blue eyes from being seen. It is transparent enough for a normal human to see through, but it does very little to impede my vision.

It is about time I made myself known. I got up, and began running along the roof, so I can follow the crossbowman. I run across the scaffolding that connected the buildings of the alleyway, so I can grab the soul of the last man Isabella killed. I weave a spell as I run. 

I jump off the building and into the alleyway.

The man falls as I land on top of him, knocking the wind out of him. He slides on the dirt and gravel as I am on top his back. We are ten meters away from the road. If I had waited any longer, he would have gotten away.

“What the-!” 

The man did not have time to finish the sentence. And, I did not care what he had to say. I press my hand onto his head, and cast the reverse repair spell. Each layer of his skin turns on his head turns to dust. The bone eventually follows after, then his brains. Within five seconds the spell is finished. A body without a head is all that remains. And, his soul which is already in my hand is being consume. After absorbing his soul, I drag, and drop, the body back into the middle of the alleyway.

Isabella looks at me with curious eyes as she kneels, and bites into the neck of the dead man whose arm she had cut off. When she stands back up, her mouth is cheeks are covered with blood. She uses her arm to wipe the blood off her lips and cheeks. I watch her patiently as she takes the two bolts out of her body.

I kick the first man that she had bitten. He is still unconscious. And, frankly I am astonished that he is not dead yet, I kick him on the head again on the head, this time harder. The mana around him twinkles, then goes out. Finally, some people just refuse to die. I feel the energy of his life course through me when I absorb his soul.

“Who are you.” Isabella asked, in a soothing, lustrous voice. 

I got a close look at her. And, damn the girl is sexy. I would of probably want to kidnap her as well. I noticed her breast first, I am not ashamed about that. Her tits are huge and she has no problem showing it off. She wore a halter dress with gladiator sandals, and has copper hair. She would have been even more beautiful, if not for the blood on her face.

Her eyes are hazel, which is hard to miss, since she seems to enjoy staring me down with them. I start a speech spell, and altered a few of the sub threads. I want an Optimus Prime voice. At least, I am hoping to get as close to it as I can. I put a bit more mana into it, than my previous speech spell. I can feel the mana leave my body as I cast the spell.

“I am the gift.”

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