"Hmm, you look sorta familiar," Jack stated as he rubbed his chin while looking at Amber.

"Huh?" Amber uttered. How could I be familiar with this criminal?

"Whatever, it doesn't matter," Jack said as he shunned the thought. "All of you are going to die anyway."

"Sergeant Ryzen! Let us fight with you!" Aiden requested. "We can be helpful!"

"Okay, no problem!" Ryzen responded while making the thumbs-up gesture.

After receiving permission from Ryzen, the Enlightenment Program's soldiers immediately rushed to engage Jack.

Jack watched them approach him but was suddenly alerted. Preemptively, Jack performed a side step across several meters, and a wind gust rushed past where he once was.

"What? He avoided it?" Baran wondered. He was the cause of those wind gusts. "But how could he see them when that was an invisible air attack!?"

While this surprised Baran, the rest kept undaunted as Amber opened up with multiple gleaming energy projectiles towards Jack from her index finger. Unsurprisingly, Jack avoided them, and they created several large explosions after hitting the ground.

"Ha! What a terrible aim!" Jack taunted, much to Amber's annoyance.

Who is this guy, and why are his words annoying me so much!? Amber thought.

After Jack had avoided Amber's energy balls, Ariel's hawk, Cairo, came swooping down towards him. Simultaneously, Shadow (Ariel's dog) came rushing in. The hawk and dog both struck Jack with their talons and claws respectively.

A direct strike! Ariel thought.

However, their strikes proved ineffective, as Jack received virtually no damage. Ariel's pets only succeeded in tearing Jack's coat.

"What!?" Ariel uttered in shock.

"I don't care as much for killing animals as I do with humans," Jack stated. Suddenly, he appeared behind Ariel. Sariel perceived this, and her special eye rapidly switched Roman numerals as she was alerted.

Jack swung his knife at Ariel, and she reflexively put her hands up to block. The blade of the knife instantly shattered upon impact, which disappointed Jack.

Seeing an opening, both Sariel and Aiden delivered an attack. After morphing her cube, a gauntlet that had a futuristic theme was formed around Sariel's hand and arm, and with Aiden, they struck Jack in the chest and stomach. Similar to the animals' attack, the duo unfortunately did no damage to Jack.

So tough! Sariel thought. After punching him, however, Jack suddenly wrapped his hand around Sariel's gauntlet-protected arm. Alarmed by this, Aiden and Ariel performed a flurry of attacks on him in hopes of Jack letting Sariel go.

His body was being recoiled by their attacks somewhat, but Jack simply ignored their strikes. With his free arm, Jack instantly delivered a powerful elbow to Sariel's right cheek. The elbow knocked her away with enough force to send her across the block and crashing into a building.

"Sariel!" Amber yelled.

What just happened!? I didn't even see this guy strike her! Aiden thought. Is this bastard that fast!?

"Cairo!" Ariel called out as she and Aiden moved back to gain distance from Jack. In his peripheral vision, Jack noticed Cairo. From its beak, a green glow was visible.

What is that thing doing now?

Suddenly, Cairo screeched and released two green-colored sound waves, which quickly traveled to Jack. Unsurprisingly, he avoided the sound waves by moving to the right. It seems that Amber had anticipated that as she intercepted him with her gleaming energy-enhanced punch.

That woman called out 'Cairo' or whatever. I guess that stupid bird is hers. Jack thought as he glanced at Ariel from beneath his mask while blocking Amber's strike with his hand. What a strange power. I should take her out first!

Jack suddenly delivered a powerful palm strike to Amber's gut with his free arm.

"Ugh!" Amber uttered as she was sent away. Immediately after, Jack dashed up to Ariel.

"Ha! Your little animals are annoying!" Jack said as he stood in front of Ariel, pushing his face close to hers in an intimidating manner. He suddenly swung another knife at Ariel's side, and once again, it shattered.

"Hmm, again, huh--" Jack said but was cut off by Shadow, who came up from behind and attempted to swipe at Jack's head with its claws. However, Jack simply leaned backward and avoided it.

He noticed that, too!? Ariel thought as she quickly jumped back. Jack suddenly delivered a spin kick on Shadow's side, knocking him away.

Ah, I see how it is. These guys aren't normal humans, of course, they would be tougher than most others. Jack thought. Amber recovered herself after being palm-struck, and with Aiden, they charged up to Jack to attack him further.

Before they got close, however, Jack disappeared and once again appeared in front of Ariel.

Damn it! He's even faster now!? Aiden thought with confusion. His surprise was matched by Amber's expression.

"Let's see if your eyes are as tough as your body!" Jack stated as he thrust another knife towards Ariel's eyes, much to her shock. Coming in clutch, however, Ivory created a shield of crystals in front of her, which caused Jack's knife to break apart again.

"You have a lot of knives, huh?" Ivory taunted. "Too bad none of them will be effective when I'm here!"

Jack simply looked at Ivory with a side-eye. With a smirk, he quickly took another knife from his coat and immediately tossed it towards Ivory's face. The knife soared through the air at well over the speed of sound.

In another clutch moment, the knife completely derailed from its trajectory and missed Ivory entirely. After it missed, Ivory reflexively placed her hands in front of her face (as she thought it would have hit).

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Tsk, you again," Jack said as he turned towards Ryzen.

"Yeah, sorry," Ryzen said. "Can't just let you kill them like that."

"Why don't you help fight that criminal directly?" A soldier questioned with an annoyed expression. Meanwhile, Jack continued to fight Amber and her friends.

"And mess up their flow? Why would I do that?" Ryzen retorted. "They're doing fine on their own. Think of this as training for them."

"This criminal has murdered numerous blessed soldiers! I don't think this is the perfect time for training!"

"Sigh, if I fight with them, it'll just be unfair, but tell you what, if things go south, then I'll help," Ryzen suggested. "You happy now?"

"...Unreliable," The soldier muttered under his breath. Ryzen heard his remark, though, and gave the soldier a dangerous glare.

As Jack fought them, he found trouble landing any meaningful blows on any of the group. If he tried to attack a weak spot on their bodies with his knife, Ivory would block with her crystal shields, and any knife he'd use as a projectile, Ryzen would cause them to miss. That and Amber, Aiden, Baran, and Ariel attacking him in tandem proved difficult for Jack...is what I would say if he tried against the group.

"Haha! Seeing all this zest from you buggers is amusing!" Jack mocked. "I kinda love it when my prey fights back a bit. That makes the meal even tastier!"

Tsk, this bastard doesn't seem to be slowing down at all... Aiden thought as he tried to catch his breath. His rapid breathing was also something the rest experienced as they were working hard against Jack. But, I'm all loaded up! I just need a good strike!

I can't go down here. I must defeat this criminal! Amber encouraged herself. If I fail here, how could I hope to avenge my family by defeating Jack!?

"Looks like you're back," Jack strangely said. Suddenly, Sariel appeared above Jack. In her hand, Sariel held a longsword with electricity emanating from it. It was similar to the one she used when she sparred with Amber and friends recently.

She delivered a downward slash with it, but Jack raised his arm and blocked. Upon contact, sparks fluttered from the blade, and electricity momentarily surged throughout Jack's body. This caused Jack's body to stiffen up and his muscles to contract, much to his surprise. His arm, which he used to block with, was not sliced off, but a small gash was visible. Sariel's sword was effective.

Oh? My body's acting strange? Jack thought as he had a hard time putting back down his arm due to the electricity slowing him down.

"Now, guys!" Sariel yelled, which alerted everyone. It doesn't matter how strong this bastard is! Getting shocked will be effective, even if it's slight!

Sariel continued to strike Jack with her sword and the rest of the group simultaneously charged at him. Bursting with a yellow glow, Amber pelted Jack with multiple energy balls, which blew him up upon impact.

Sariel moved out of the way, and Shadow came in to attack Jack. With his claws strangely developing a blue glow, Shadow scratched Jack's chest. The scratch was also visible in a blue light, and after dimming, it left visible damage on his chest.

Cairo followed up with a loud screech, catching Jack in multiple sound waves. This also stunned Jack's body, just like the electricity of Sariel's sword.

Huh? Is that a sound wave attack or something? Jack thought. I can feel the vibrations coursing through my bones and blood.

Last but not least, Aiden came rushing in for his attack. Around his clenched fist was a large amount of wind. The cause of this was none other than Baran, who used his blessing to feed Aiden wind.

Your blessing is friction, right, Aiden? Baran thought. Looks like my blessing pairs well with yours, then.

BOOM!

Aiden delivered a strike to Jack's face, which immediately resulted in a strong explosion. Due to Aiden's ability to superheat air due to friction and the amount of wind Baran fed him, the explosion was rather large. Much to Aiden's surprise, however, Jack simultaneously struck Aiden in his chest with a punch of his own. Cracks could be heard as Jack had punched Aiden.

Ugh! My ribs! Aiden thought.

Due to their attacks, they were both sent in opposite directions.

"Cough, Ugh..." Aiden muttered as he clenched his right side after landing on the ground. He also coughed up blood, which alarmed his friends. Jack, on the other hand, was still standing. The mask that he received from the developer had sustained heavy cracking due to Aiden's attack.

"Are you okay, Aiden?" Amber said as she ran up to him.

"I'm fine..." Aiden responded in a strained voice. "Damn, I thought I landed a good one, but that bastard doesn't look too phased. It's not just his speed. He's also strong and durable..."

"Don't let yourself get daunted, friend," Amber encouraged. "We can win this. We even have Mr. Ryzen on our side if all else fails..."

My mask...it has cracks. Jack thought.

Hmm, I suppose this farce has gone on long enough. Ryzen thought. "Hey, criminal."

"Huh?" Jack responded.

"Why don't you go ahead and reveal your true identity to everyone now," Ryzen suggested. "Your super speed and countless knives make it clear who you are, Jack the Ripper."

"Jack!?" Many of the soldiers uttered in fright.

"What!? Is that Jack the Ripper!?" Ariel questioned. Her disbelief was common with her friends as they had their jaw dropped. They were all shocked, but no one had a more negative reaction than Amber.

"J-Jack...?"

"Ha...Haha...HAHAHAHA!! So you figured it out, huh!?" Jack stated as he immediately took off the mask and threw it away. Upon seeing his face, many soldiers began hyperventilating. They were scared for their lives, and who could blame them?

Upon seeing Jack's face, memories began flashing in Amber's mind. Memories of her parents and brother. Memories of them spending time together, and memories of Jack brutally taking them away from her.

"HAHA! I kept the mask on so I could reveal myself! I wanted to see the looks on your faces when you realized you were fighting the infamous Jack the Ripper!" Jack stated with a sadistic grin. "You guys didn't disappoint!"

Now that he has shown his face, let the real fun commence! Ryzen thought with a smirk.

"Damn it! We should have known it was you!" Ariel said with an alarmed expression.

"C'mon, guys! We can't let ourselves get scared now!" Sariel said in an attempt to encourage everyone. "We have been preparing for this! We have to take this monster down right here, right now!"

"R-Right!" Baran agreed.

"Yeah, let's go!" Aiden said as the group and Ariel's pets (except for Amber) rushed towards Jack.

Still have zest, huh, buggers? Jack thought. I'll be sure to destroy that in an instant!

Jack stood still as they rapidly approached him. As they got mere meters from their target, a beam rushed past them and struck Jack.

"What?" Aiden uttered as both he and the rest of them were in shock. They were so surprised that they stopped their stride. They quickly realized what happened - Amber had rushed past them and tackled Jack. She carried him across the block.

"Heh, just what I expected," Ryzen stated with folded arms and a smirk.

While Jack was being tackled by Amber, she was looking at him with pure loathing. Seeing this, Jack was completely surprised.

"I WILL KILL YOU, DEMON!" Amber declared. "YOU HAVE TAKEN EVERYTHING FROM ME!"

What!? Who is this bugger!? Jack thought with pure confusion on his face. How could she be so confident or stupid in rushing ME by herself!?

Jack grabbed Amber's arm and tossed her off of him. They both quickly landed on their feet.

"I've taken everything from you? I don't even know who you are!" Jack responded with a raised eyebrow. Simultaneously, Amber's friends quickly caught up to them.

"Of course, you wouldn't remember me," Amber said. "You murdered my family in cold blood, and you don't remember..."

"WHAT!?" Ariel uttered as she and the rest were surprised by this revelation.

"Murdered your family-- Wait..." Jack said as something clicked on him. "You were the one...with those stupid religious pictures in your house..."

"Don't you dare call those pictures stupid, demon!" Amber retorted with extreme irritation. "I hate you so much! I will kill you for everything you have done!"

With a dropped jaw, Jack stared at Amber with a dumbfounded expression. The ambient wind blew the hair and clothing of the utterly shocked Jack. He had finally remembered why Amber was familiar to him at the start. She was the woman Jack had blasted with the shotgun, and he now recalled that.

Y-You actually survived?