"So, you are not one of the Novas?" The woman asked, with her deadly eyes locking into mine.
"Certainly not! I am a genuine Empowered, not some wannabe." I replied with a confident smile.
"Well then, who sent you here?"
"I am no one's man, just a mercenary. And mercenaries don't let out their secrets, not until death or perhaps until a more enticing offer comes along!"
She still looked at me, with the intent to kill in her eyes. Then, she deftly retrieved a dagger from a concealed pocket inside her jacket and then switched her stance from defensive to offensive. The dagger started glowing with the same white hue.
"Wait, let me ask you a question too!", I said, "Why is the Swiftwind clan working with Golden Buddha?"
She sighed. "That's because of a debt."
The moment those words left her lips, she lunged at me, her dagger poised to slash across my throat.
I, too, rushed towards her, with my blade ready to do some lethal damage to the beauty.
When our blades clashed, a resounding clang reverberated throughout the building.
She'd swing her dagger, and I'd block with my blade. In response, I'd strike at her, then she would evade it using her fast reflexes and agility, which she possessed because of her lineage. I intentionally held back because she had no knowledge of my true power. I wanted to maintain the element of surprise. Our blades kept clashing for a good while.
The Swiftwind clan was renowned for its members, known for their precision, deadliness, and swiftness like the wind itself. It was a clan of speedsters, individuals who harnessed incredible agility and speed. The blinding white radiance was a trait unique to individuals from this clan, a mark of their heritage.
With all my might, I attempted a sideways slash, but her speed allowed her to evade the attack, swiftly backing away several meters. The strike only managed to cut her leather jacket.
'Damn it, I underestimated her speed'
She looked at me, and the cold gaze in her eyes, started showing signs of hesitation and disbelief. Perhaps she had an idea of my strength, especially after witnessing me dispatch the five men swiftly. However, the extent of my speed had taken her completely by surprise. Throughout our confrontation, I had deliberately portrayed myself as somewhat weaker, giving her a false advantage.
The woman then took off her ruined leather jacket and discarded it. Now the only article of clothing on her torso was her white crop top. The mark of Swiftwind was now clearly visible on her bare shoulder.
Suddenly, her veins near her neck, waist, forearms, and possibly even her legs began to emit the same white radiance as her eyes. The power I had sensed from her before instantly doubled. She had become even deadlier.
"So, I wasn't the only one who had not revealed all of their cards," I said
Soon, the shadows throughout the vicinity started shaking terribly and started slithering towards me. Only the shadows of the woman, and the boss remained still. The shadows enveloped my body, in the shroud of darkness, only leaving the upper half of my face. Even my blade underwent a transformation, now enveloped in black flames, much like the rest of my body.
The girl once again rushed towards me, the hesitation vanished from her face, and only determination remained. Her speed, was frightening, to say the least, in less than a second she had covered the distance between us, which was at least twenty meters.
This time, I stayed static. Ready to kill.
In an instant, as the girl closed in, poised to strike, I delivered a lethal blow to her neck. My speed exceeded hers, and before she could even comprehend it, her head was severed from her body. An expression of disbelief lingered on her decapitated head, her wide-open eyes frozen in shock.
'Sorry for killing you. May your soul find peace.'
Soon, the shroud enveloping me slowly started to fade away, and the shadows returned to their original positions. My blade deformed, and soon turned back into my trusty shadow.
"You…You are-" Suddenly a voice came, the boss had retrieved his consciousness, or maybe he never lost it. I couldn't care less, so I walked towards him, the shadows were still slowly getting removed from my body.
"You are the Devil!" He shouted in fear, his whole body was shivering. "You are El Diabolo!"
"Huh, you know me?" I said after the shadow covering the lower half of my face faded away.
"Ye-Yes! I can never forget those eyes. The dark eyes you possess, were responsible for the massacre in Mexico that year. I was there to witness it."
***
The boss, whose name was Hodari, was sitting on the floor, while I stood there looking at him trying to decide how to deal with him. He had told me quite a few things in the past 10 minutes or so.
"You were hired by Bronze Buddha, so that they can get into the other side of the Gulf of Aden, to Muscat, and then Dubai? And, the Ikazuchi Clan is interested in a collaboration with the Chinese?"
"Yes, sir," He said still afraid of me, "I hope you will let me live now."
"Why would I do that? You are of no use to me, or the society, and you have seen my face, and to top it all off, you are a survivor of the massacre in Mexico." I said while looking at the dagger I picked up from the corpse of the Swiftwind girl.
He gulped.
"I am sorry, Hodari. But, I can't let you live. Fate, is sometimes a bitch, you know."
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After that, I thrust the dagger into his chest and then twisted it giving him a quick death.
'I am truly sorry.'
***
[A few days later]
[DRAGON Head Base]
[Zenil's POV]
I sat on the long meeting table, looking at the screen displaying all the information about the meeting between the Chinese and the Japanese. The location, the timing, and the members of each party that will be present there. There were three more people present in the room.
There were a lot of known names and a few old acquaintances on the screen. Looking at these names, a non-explainable melancholic emotion took over me, and a smile filled with rage and sadness appeared on my face.
"Tell Mr President, that I will be taking his chopper," I said to the blonde man sitting on a chair on the other end of the table.
"Okay," he said, "What about reinforcements?"
"Just contact Cape Town, Jules' forces will be enough. After all, we just need to steal that thing."
"What about them? Will you be able to-" The woman with long, red hair asked me while pointing at two names on the screen, but was interrupted by me.
"Don't worry. I have gotten over it." I said with no hint of any emotions in my words.
The room went silent for a few seconds. After that, I got up and said, "I will take the kid with me.", before exiting the room.
***
After leaving the meeting room, I made my towards the canteen. I usually don't come here, but people do get motivated and cheer up when they see me. As I entered, my eyes scanned the gathering of DRAGON members. They were a lively bunch, sharing meals, encouraging each other, and infusing the atmosphere with positive energy. However, amidst this vibrant scene, there was one lone figure seated in a distant corner of the canteen – a young girl who appeared no older than eighteen.
She had gorgeous white hair and a pair of blood-like red eyes. She exuded a heavy, serious energy, tinged with an undeniable sense of danger and an air of deadliness. That was until she noticed me, as soon as she did, the air around her turned into all flowers and sunshine, and a sincere happy smile appeared on her face. "Zenil! You are back!" She said energetically.
I sat down in front of her and said, "Yeah, I got back a few hours ago."
Her name was Luna. She was a bright little kid I found a year back.
"Luna, you want to go travel?"
"Sure! Where are you going?"
"Johannesburg."
She looked at me with a puzzling gaze.
"I heard the sunset there is sexy," I said.
***
[A fortnite later]
[Johannesburg]
[Zenil's POV]
I stood in front of the mirror in my hotel room, looking at myself. I had just gotten out of the shower, so I only had a towel draped around my waist.
Looking at the man in the mirror, I felt a spectrum of emotions. From happiness to rage, from despair to hope. The man sported a neatly trimmed short beard, perfectly complementing his moderately long haircut. Dark brown eyes, and olive-colored skin. A few scratches and scars could be seen scattered throughout his torso. He had a chiseled face and a good amount of muscles, he didn't look like a gym resident, but yes, he wouldn't be called fragile or weak on the base of his appearance.
The man in the mirror looked handsome.
Suddenly, I heard a knock on the door, which brought me out of my deep thinking.
I quickly wore my clothes and opened the door. On the other side, stood a woman.
"Nice to meet you, Bigshot!" She said cheerfully.
"Come on, in."
This woman had long violet hair reaching the end of her back, and a beautiful face to complement them. She was in her early 30s, and had a mature, voluptuous body, which indeed made her look even more … umm…wanted? Seriously, her chest, and behind were on different levels, they had transcended from the plain of humanity.
She was Jules, the person from DRAGON, who was going to help me out, tomorrow.
"So, uh, Group-Group Head? Is that what I am supposed to call you?" She asked after comfortably sitting on the couch.
"Nah, we have been through a lot together. You don't need to be formal"
"Yeah, I was just-" She said, but was interrupted by me.
"Just call me Emperor Supreme." I said with a sincere smile.
***
After getting in a somewhat brutal pillow fight with Jules, I was laying down on the bed. While she was sitting right besides me, looking at me with disappointing eyes. "How are you feeling now? Mr Emperor Supreme?"
I just stared at her blankly without saying anything. The silence only broke after she asked me something.
"So, what brings you to South Africa? I was quite surprised when the HQ called."
"How much do you know?"
"Just that your old friends are having a secret meeting, without you."
"That's it. All I need your personnel to do is, fight off their henchmen, and possible elders. While you take on the Chinese representative."
"What about you?"
"I will do what needs to be done."
After that, we discussed a few important things for tomorrow and called it a day.
Before she left, I teased her. Of course, as the Supreme Leader, I had to be Dominant over my subordinates.
"Next time you wanna play pillow fight, don't wear a short dress."
After she heard this, a pink blush appeared on her cheeks and she quickly walked away without saying anything.
***
[Next Day]
[Narrator's POV]
On the terrace of a skyscraper, two factions confronted each other, each under the command of a youthful leader. The first group rallied behind a young man, while the second group was led by a young woman. There were about 30 individuals present on the terrace.
The man and the woman confronted each other directly, their eyes locked in a chilling exchange of glares.
"It has been a while, hasn't it?" The man said in his smooth voice.
"Indeed, I think the last time we met, he was still alive." The woman replied with a melancholic smile. Confidence still shone in her eyes.
The man offered a slight nod, breaking his gaze from the woman. He heaved a sigh.
"So, how have you been? Samuel." The girl asked.
"Just Fine. Not good, not bad. Just Fine" He said, "Well, let's get over with the formalities."
"Sure. So, how much are you willing to buy it for?" The girl asked
Out of nowhere, a loud thrumming sound of a helicopter came from the sky, it was if the helicopter was right above. Everyone on the terrace tilted their heads to see where the sound originated from.
To everyone's surprise, it was not a single helicopter, but three helicopters heading straight for them. Two identical helicopters were following behind a smaller chopper.
Once the chopper was close enough to the building. A man with a trimmed beard appeared from the chopper. A smirk visible on his face. Without wasting any time he jumped down from the chopper, and landed on the terrace, about 30 meters away from the 2 factions.
The people from the 2 groups looked at the man with astonishment on their faces. Slowly, the bearded man commenced his approach toward the assembly. His movement spurred the men in the three helicopters to follow suit, as they leaped down onto the terrace.
"Get ready to ingage!" The leaders alerted their groups.
"Zenil!" The man screamed. "Why are you here?"
"Hey Samuel. How have you been man?" Zenil, the bearded man said.
"Cut the crap! Why the fuck are you here."
"Because I was called upon as a mercenary. To take care of something," Zenil said with a smirk on his face, his eyes fell upon the young lady as he continued, "or someone."
"You are here to steal that item?" The women said, with extreme indifference in her words.
"I never said that. I don't even know what item you are referring too."
The three parties then looked at each other. The air was filled with tension.
"I don't want to fight you, old friend." Samuel said, "Why don't you turn away, and forget about this?"
"Well, I don't want to harm you either." Zenil sighed, "But it is what it is."
Samuel looked at his people and directed them to get ready to fight. The young lady did the same.
"Wait! Before we start, I gotta perform a simple trick. After all, I am just a shadow." Zenil said while maintaining direct eye contact with the woman. His lips still curved into a smile. "Oh, and please let's end this quickly, I have to watch the sunset with someone."
"Lights off, please!" Zenil shouted, after he checked his watch.
Out of nowhere, the brilliant sunshine began to wane. Startled by this unexpected phenomenon, all eyes turned toward the sun, which was gradually being concealed by a black, circular object. Soon, the well-illuminated afternoon was plunged into darkness, with the sole source of light being the fiery ring that remained visible in the sky.
"Welcome to my Domain!" Zenil declared with confidence in his voice.