July 20, 2075

1545 JST

The Orange Pillar, Beneath Rion

Sonya Grey's Point of View

Life is never easy. Sigh. This room’s structure is identical to Mt. Olympus’s pillar of death. A massive circular-shaped room, with a tattered nine-meter-tall pillar in the room’s center. There are three parts to this room from what I can see. The pillar in the inside, large concrete ruins in the middle, and a concrete, semi-roofed passageway with walls and broken windows on the outside where we’re currently located. We’ve entered this structure from the south side, took cover in the southeast, and the secret entrance should be in the northeast.

The only thing that’s standing between Inpu and us is the man standing atop the large pillar. Lanze Kaiser, Caucasian, approximately two meters tall, most likely armored from the neck down, an eyepatch on the right eye, short stubbly beard, short black hair, a robust smelling cigar in his mouth, and equipped with a black cloak.

“Frisbee, man,” Ruby says in a stern tone.

“What?” I ask.

“His nickname is Frisbee Man,” Ruby clarifies.

“Fine. Whatever,” I say.

Even though it’s not a frisbee, it’s still a deadly Halo.

“Listen up, children!” Frisbee Man yells. “Angela Blackwood, The Sin of Pride, and the Death Angels vill be here in less than twenty minutes. I’m impressed that you managed to kill those mercenaries; however, I am leagues above those imbeciles. To the paprika-headed girl and boy of a million hats, I have no interest in fighting worms. I seek a duel vit “The Invincible” Sonya Grey. Fighting Black Scorpions is nothing new to me; however, I vish to kill a strong warrior of the self-destructive kingdom in one-on-one combat! Sonya Grey, you are the rarest of Black Scorpions! A psychotic, homicidal, and suicidal little girl who’s pretending to play hero, in the foolish hope of liberating a doomed kingdom!”

“Shut your goddamn mouth, Lanze!” I say.

“You foolish little girl! Take it from a mercenary, you can never escape the past! You cannot unmurder someone, which means you are no different from me, Angela, or The King of Scorpius!” He continues with an arrogant laugh. “Your backstory is comical; therefore, I vill continue to laugh until you face me!”

Bastard. I can’t wait to slit your throat!

“Sonya, he’s baiting you,” Billy reminds.

“I know that!” I say.

“Don’t fall for it, Sonya,” Ruby says. “You’re letting your emotions control you!”

Damn it! I can’t do anything with you two here.

“I have to distract him,” I say to the two.

“What?” They both ask in worry.

“Perhaps, you need a little encouragement,” Lanze says as I catch a glimpse of him preparing to throw his fris… Halo.

Here it comes!

Shit! Through the window?! No! It’s… curving?! It’s going around the wall?!

“You need to expect the unexpected to survive as a mercenary, little girl!” Lanze cackles as he prepares to fire his pistol.

There’s no way those bullets should pierce the wall! Wait! He… shot it at the flying Halo?! It’s gonna ricochet!

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

“Get down!” I order.

“AH, MOTHERFUCKER!” Ruby screams out in pain as she holds her eye.

Ruby! Fuck! The Halo! It’s still flying towards us! I need to stop it! Here it comes!

It… curved again? Downward?

What? M-m-m-m-my other braid? It cut off my other braid.

“I’m tired of this,” Billy chuckles in distress as we all keep low to the ground.

T-the Halo stopped! It’s stuck in the wall! But…

“Foolish children! My Halo, “Kopflos,” is the most potent in all of Japan! You do not stand a chance!” Lanze boasts as he continues to cackle.

The Halo’s reactivating!

“Wait, stop it!” Billy cries out as he crawls away in horror as the Halo quickly makes his way towards his groin.

I don’t know if Kopflos has a mind of its own, but I do know what Lanze is about to do…

“Billy, catch!” I say.

He needs my sword!

“Oh!” Billy yells out as he catches my sword, prepared to defend himself.

Kopflos curved upward and missed Billy. What a powerful Halo.

“Luck appears to be on your side today, children,” Lanze says in annoyance as he puts Kopflos back on his head.

“You fucking piece of shit!” Ruby screams out in anger as she unloads a barrage of bullets, aimed directly at Lanze. “You fucking ruined my eyebrow!” Ruby cries out in tears.

“I’ll aim for your foul mouth next time!” Lanze replies as he quickly hops off the pillar.

“Ruby, calm down! You’re letting your emotions control you, and you also got hit in the shoulder!” I say.

“I don’t give a fuck, Sonya!” Ruby replies in frustration. “I-I can’t go on stage like this!” She says as she points at her eyebrow. “I’ll be known as the one-browed-gal! My career is ruined!” She cries out as she reloads.

“It’ll grow back, but your head won’t so calm your tits. Ruby, Billy, listen up. I can probably beat him, but not with you two around.”

“Oh, so we’re just dead weight?” Ruby asks in offense with a non-raised eyebrow.

Laugh on the inside, Sonya.

“Precisely the opposite. I… love you two, and this entire squad. You keep me human and bring out the best in me. You’ve shown me how to be the best version of myself, but I can’t beat him as Olympian Sonya. The only way I can defeat him is if I become that person you saw in the sewers. Lanze Kaiser is the strongest opponent I’ve ever fought in my entire life, and Olympian Sonya can’t defeat him, but Black Scorpion Sonya can. She can’t do it if she’s constantly worried about you two, though, which is why I’m going to distract him while you make a run for the secret entrance. And as your captain, I’m ordering Ruby to blow up the fucking entrance if I’m not back in twenty-five minutes!”

“You’re the craziest gal I’ve ever met in my life, Sonya,” Billy says in surprise.

“Damn right,” I say.

“Ugh!” Ruby cries out in frustration. “I was wrong, k? There is no Olympian Sonya or Black Scorpion Sonya! There’s only “The Invincible” Sonya Grey, captain of Squad Zeus, the badass chick we all love, and what she did in the past doesn’t define who she is now! You’re Sonya Grey, our captain, and friend! Don’t ever forget who you are,” Ruby says in tears with a quick hug. “Promise me two things. One. Come back alive, 'cause we both know that neither Billy nor I are ready to be captains, and… I’ll die of heartbreak if I lose three of my friends in one day! Two. Kick Frisbee Man’s ass for fucking up our hair!”

So silly.

“I promise, Ruby,” I say.

“Here,” she says in a somber tone as she shoves some kind of plastic toy cat in my suit. “I-I think it’s… good luck.”

“Tell Luke, I love him!” I say.

Why did I say that?!

“We aren’t your damn messengers of love, Sonya!” Ruby yells out in annoyance. “Tell him yourself!”

Lanze threw something in our area. A grenade?!

“Fuck outta here!” Ruby yells out as she throws the grenade back at Lanze.

“Billy, Ruby, run, and don’t come back!” I order.

Good luck, you two.

The grenade is about to explode. I’ll use the explosion as a chance to catch him off guard.

“About time, Sonya Grey!” Lanze finally says without a laugh after dodging my surprise attack. “Careful! Those things are sharp!” He cries out as he continues to back up and avoid my strikes.

You’re surprisingly evasive, but all it takes is one fuck up!

“Keep… talking! (I destroyed his pistol!) You’re giving me the perfect target!”

“Little girl,” he says with a chuckle as I begin to pin him to the pillar. “Do you know why I’m called the “Sin of Greed?” He asks with a grin as he takes off his eyepatch.

No… something’s wrong. This is too easy!

“Now how in the… fuck would I know that?” I ask.

Lanze isn’t sweating at all. I messed up somewhere. Something’s coming! Brace yourself, Sonya!

“It’s because I love to collect as many Halos as I can!” He reveals as a bright red beam of light appears from his blind eye.

A laser?!

“Agh!” I yell.

Right in the chest! Shit! The blast sent me flying! You’re gonna hit the wall, Sonya!

“AGH!” I yell.

That… fucking… hurts. Shit! My vest is on fire. Gotta take it off. Did you seriously just shoot me with an eye laser?

“Foolish little girl!” Lanze says in a serious tone as he takes off his dark cloak, followed by the wielding of a lance in his left hand. “I am Lanze Kaiser, The Sin of Greed, of The Royal’s Seven Deadly Sins! Who the fuck are you?!”

I can’t stop shaking! I’ve never been this scared before! Damn it, Sonya Grey! Don’t ever forget who you are! But… who… am I?