Y-You actually survived? Jack thought.

"What is she...Jack murdered her family?" Aiden questioned.

"Wait, she couldn't be," Sariel muttered.

"She couldn't be what?" Ariel questioned in a desperate tone. She was worried for her friend, especially after hearing that grim revelation.

"Around a month or so ago, there was a news report of Jack attacking an innocent family. That family was the Hoss family," Sariel explained. "Even though the report said there were no survivors, and there would be a possibility for other families to have the same last name, I never put two and two together..."

Meanwhile, Jack continued to stare at Amber with astonishment. Seeing the 'demon' staring directly at her, Amber couldn't help but feel anxiety as her breathing and heart rate increased.

No, calm down! You've been waiting for this, haven't you!? Amber encouraged herself and quickly regulated her breathing. Don't let the trauma get in the way! This man is simply a demon I must eliminate!

"Tsk, why aren't you saying anything, demon," Amber harshly questioned. "Do you not feel the least bit of regret for your actions?"

No way. This actually can't be happening. Jack thought as his breathing pattern sped up, much to the blessed soldier's surprise. In all my life, I've murdered everyone I've set my sights on. I have never let a single prey survive!

I never let anyone live, so why the hell is the first person that achieves this, is a religious bitch!? Jack thought as grabbed his head and shook it out of pure stress. The simple fact that Amber survived Jack was unexpectedly driving him mad.

What is he doing? Amber asked herself. No, this isn't the time to ask questions. The source of all your and everyone's suffering is in front of you, Amber! You must kill him now!

Amber's bright, gleaming aura began to surge in intensity, alerting her friends. It was obvious that she was preparing to fight Jack.

"Amber! You don't have to do this alone!" Ariel yelled. "Let us help you!"

"No! Please, I don't want to lose any more people close to me!" Amber declined. "Killing Jack is my destiny! I'll do it myself!"

"Amber..." Sariel muttered as the expression of the group (except Baran) was filled with concern.

"HAHAHA!! You are the first person who survived me, brat! Good job!" A crazy-eyed Jack commended, shocking the group. "And since you survive me, I'll make sure you suffer!"

Jack quickly closed in on Amber and thrust a knife at her. He had the intention of stabbing Amber in the eye, but she barely weaved that. Amber didn't get a chance to counter-attack, as Jack instantly spin-kicked her in the side. The impact of the kick produced sounds comparable to the bang of a gunshot.

"Ugh!" Amber uttered with a pain-filled expression as she was sent crashing into a vehicle.

"Amber! Dammit!" Aiden stated before turning his gaze to Jack.

"What!? Are you buggers going to come at me next!?" Jack questioned. "Or could you nicely wait until it's your turn to di-"

"Cairo! Max Charge!" Ariel yelled. Suddenly, Cairo hovered over Jack and quickly gathered green-colored energy in its mouth. Aiden simultaneously skated up to his enemy.

Aiden attempted a straight punch to Jack's dome, but he easily side-stepped and countered with a palm strike to his already broken ribs. Even though Aiden missed the punch, his strike still generated an explosion, so he simultaneously knocked Jack away while sustaining the palm strike.

Heh, what an annoying power. Jack thought. Suddenly, Cairo blasted Jack with a large and intense amount of sound waves. Vibrations filled the surrounding area due to the waves the hawk generated.

Vibrations traveled through the environment and in Jack's body before he suddenly coughed up a bit of blood.

"He sustained damage?" Sariel deduced.

"Hehe, so that's the strongest move you buggers have, huh? I was letting you guys hit me so I could gauge how annoying you guys could be," Jack commented. Those are some pretty decent vibrations, but not even close to enough. "Sure, it would have worked on anyone else, but not on me!"

He was right as every injury they had given their all to induce on Jack was completely gone. His body was in an optimal state.

"Tsk, dammit!" Aiden uttered.

"You know, my mood isn't the best right now," Jack continued. His expression became rather cold and malicious. "And if you guys are going to make it worse by not waiting your turn, I'll just get serious and murder you all right now."

His expression and his words induced a feeling of fear in the group. However, before Jack could back up his threat, Amber charged up to him. In her hands were combat knives with a yellow gleam (similar to her aura) emanating from the blades.

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"You're not killing anyone! Demon!" Amber declared as she engaged Jack in knife combat.

"Ha! Of course, a soldier would carry knives, but do you think it's smart to challenge me of all people with that!?" Jack retorted.

Ignoring Jack, Amber focused on swinging the knives. She and Jack parried each other's slashes at high speeds, producing sparks in the process. While parrying her blades, Jack noticed something strange.

Hmm, my blades are cracking on hers? Jack said as he glanced at his knives while fighting her. He was right - with every slash he parried from Amber, cracks began forming on his blades. How can this bugger's knives be stronger than mine?

Unknowingly to Jack, the reason for the strong knives was due to the gleam around them - just like her blessing, the glow was augmenting the knife's durability and cutting strength.

Tsk, it doesn't matter how strong her knives are, her skill is shit compared to mine! Jack thought as he performed an upward slash, which immediately disarmed Amber of one of her knives when she tried to parry. The knife was sent many meters into the air, making it impossible for Amber to retrieve her blade quickly.

"What!?" Amber uttered in surprise. In an attempt to stop Jack from following up with another attack, Amber swung her other knife wildly. Jack seemed to have anticipated that, as instead of attacking, he immediately moved rapidly and appeared behind Amber's back.

"H-Huh?"

"Heh, just like that day, you're still just a damn weakling," Jack commented. Attempting to slaughter his target, Jack thrust both knives at the back of her head.

Shield!

Suddenly, a yellow translucent sphere materialized around Amber, and Jack's knives shattered on impact with it.

"What the...?" Jack said as he looked at his broken knives with bewilderment. Isn't this supposed to be the same weak brat from that day?

That thought from Jack perfectly explained the way he fought against Amber. He had accepted his regular knives wouldn't pierce the bodies of the other soldiers, so he resorted to aiming for their weak spots. However, he didn't share this same sentiment towards Amber. She may be a soldier but in his eyes, Amber was just a weak little girl that miraculously survived him once before.

While Jack was shocked that Amber managed to break his knife, the sphere around her quickly dematerialized. Amber wasted no time and followed up with a powerful 'justice-enhanced' right hook to Jack's face, knocking him away. The strike produced light comparable to a flashbang, which caused the rest of the group to cover their eyes.

"Ugh, did she just make a shield?" Baran questioned. "First enhanced knives, then that? How is that woman doing that!?"

"I guess she's learning on the fly," Aiden assumed. "Her desire to murder that bastard must be pushing her to get stronger..."

The rest of the group stayed silent as they had a somber expression.

"Argghh, Haha, dammit!" Jack mumbled as he held the left side of her face. There was slight bruising on his face after eating Amber's punch. She damaged me. This brat somehow has a higher intensity than the rest of those buggers, but more than that...why does my face feel weird?

"Don't think this is over, demon!" Amber stated. "For all the people that you have murdered, for my family that you killed, I will murder you!"

"Haha, I'm sure you don't think it'll be this easy, love," Jack retorted. "You must know that I'm stronger than that!"

"Shut up--"

"Let me tell you something. The reason why I'm attacking this country and the reason why so many innocent lives have been taken today is because of you!" Jack said, much to everyone's shock.

"W-What?"

"I never planned on attacking anyone here, but I eventually found out that you were alive!" Jack continued. "I take pride in the fact that no one has survived me, so when I heard you survived and became a soldier no less, you could imagine how pissed I was. So, this is your fault why so many lives have been lost!"

Hearing that, Amber couldn't help but feel slight despair as evident from her expression.

Heh, it's working. Jack thought.

"Don't let that monster get to you, Amber! He's lying!" Ariel suddenly stated, which snapped Amber out of her sorrow. "If he had known you were alive from long ago, he wouldn't have looked so dumbfounded then! That criminal just wants you to lose focus!"

Heh, we've got a smart one, huh?

Your friend is right, my daughter. The voice of Amber's god telepathically spoke to her. Don't be swayed by the tricks of the enemy.

"...Yeah, you're...right," Amber agreed as she regained her determined expression. "Your underhanded tactics...will not phase me, demon!"

"Sigh, whatever, I'll take you a bit seriously," Jack resolved as he reached into his coat. Finally, he took out the knives he received from the developer as a reward - the dura-neg blades. "These knives should do the trick."

Seeing the blades, Amber immediately recognized them - those were the blades Jack had used to massacre her family. Amber couldn't even do much as Jack suddenly appeared inches away from her.

"AMBER!" Ariel yelled. Her desperate yelling was matched by the scared expressions of the rest.

"Die!" Jack stated as he swung one of the knives at Amber's neck. She also tried to make another shield, but Jack's blades instantly ripped through it and still went at her neck. Right before she was about to be decapitated, however, Amber suddenly disappeared. In the same place Amber once was, Ryzen was there.

It's like they had switched places, as Amber found herself next to the army of soldiers across the block.

"Wh-What!?" Amber uttered with surprise as she took in the surroundings.

After swapping places with Amber, Ryzen immediately leaned backward and avoided Jack's dura-neg.

"Sergeant Ryzen?" Sariel uttered with surprise.

"Huh? How did you get here!?" Jack questioned. "Wait...where's that girl!?"

"Now, now. The thing is...I'm your opponent now," Ryzen said. "You can take your eyes off Amber in the meantime so come at me!"

"You bastards are pissing me off. Learn to wait your turn!!!" Jack yelled as he rushed Ryzen.

Heh, let's use my trusty sturdy knife for this! Ryzen thought as he immediately pulled out a large knife from his person.

Jack attempted to cut off Ryzen's head with a slash, but he parried it with his so-called 'sturdy knife.' This normally would be ineffective as Jack's durability negation blades would just cut right through it - but a shocking result occurred instead - a large diagonal slash wound suddenly appeared on Jack's body, which was sprayed with blood.

Of course, everyone was left with dropped jaws after seeing Jack sustain this much damage from seemingly nothing.

"W-What the--" Jack muttered as blood seeped out his mouth as well. What just happened?