Lucas's path through the debris was suspiciously easy. Yes, he was being careful not to stay out in the open too long and was making unpredictable path choices, with his shield always ready in case he needed to make it harder for his opponent to shoot him—but even if he couldn’t hit him, shouldn’t he at least have tried?
Was Flavya right after all, and this guy really didn’t want to kill him? Despite the girl's insistence that this was likely the case, Lucas found it hard to believe. The whole concept seemed ludicrous to him; he hadn't killed the man last time because he was afraid of being caught by others, not as a favor. Surely, the man must know this, right?
Apparently, either he didn’t know or didn’t care because after a few more minutes of searching, even Lucas began to suspect the man had no intentions of killing him. Of course, he still maintained his precautions just in case, but as time passed and nothing happened, he began to question if the man was even there at all or if he had left after the first round of attacks when Lucas finally found him on the roof of a semi-intact building.
He looked exactly the same as the last time Lucas saw him, dressed all in black, with a futuristic firearm in hand. The gun, however, was pointed downwards, and there was no shooting when Lucas arrived, even though the man was fully aware of his presence.
They stared at each other for about ten seconds before the man spoke.
“So it was really you who took my bracelet,” he said, looking at the bracelet on Lucas’s arm.
Lucas only nodded in response, alert to any sudden movement.
“I know you had no intention to do this, but you saved my life when you did that little stunt. I owe you my life,” he said, a resigned expression on his face.
“You don’t owe me anything. I’m still going to kill you. It just took me longer,” Lucas replied, never taking his eyes off the man.
The man shook his head. “You can kill me if you want, and I won’t fight back, but wouldn’t it be better to have me as an ally?”
Lucas, who wasn’t expecting such a proposition, took a few seconds to reply. “I already have a partner. I believe you saw her when you were shooting at us before.”
“Do you really trust that witch?” he asked with contempt.
“What do you mean?” Lucas asked, curious. Flavya hadn’t told him much about herself, and he always had the feeling that she was hiding something during their conversations. This now seemed like a good opportunity to learn more about her.
“Her clan is famous for its cheap schemes and mischief; they aren’t welcome anywhere in the world and are forced to move from place to place. I can’t believe you don’t already know this,” the man replied in disbelief.
Flavya had mentioned that her people were nomads, so that part was no surprise to Lucas. But could the reason for this way of living really be because they were hated by everyone? Conveniently, she had left that part out of their talks, and Lucas wondered why.
“I don’t know much about her people. But the reason we are partnering up is to kill Axis. I don’t think she will do anything to me before that happens.”
Lucas watched the man’s reaction intently. He seemed to be thinking.
“Maybe you are right; she has a good reason to want Axis dead after everything he has done to eradicate her people. But still, I wouldn’t trust my back to someone like her,” the man argued. “Who’s to say she won’t change her mind after realizing Axis is too strong and backstab you? Besides, with my gun, I would be a much better ally than she ever could be. We can go kill Axis together after we handle her.”
Lucas considered his words carefully. He had come there intending to kill the guy, but instead, he was having a reasonable conversation with him, and he had to admit the man had a good point. Lucas didn’t know much about those guns, but judging by how everyone hunted him down right from the start, it was an indication of how powerful they could be.
However, despite the appeal of having something like that gun by his side, and the fact that he didn’t really know Flavya—and judging by that guy’s story, there was a lot she wasn’t telling him—he still didn’t feel good about betraying her like that. She still hadn’t given him any reason not to trust her.
When he was about to refuse the proposition, however, an arrow crossed the air at blinding speed, and Lucas saw the moment it hit the man’s chest, sending him tumbling to the ground.
Lucas glanced at the direction the arrow had come from and felt a chill. She was too far away for him to see, and at that moment, he was like a sitting duck if she really wanted to kill him. He waited a couple of seconds, his shield raised, but nothing happened, so he moved toward the fallen man.
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The arrow hadn’t struck him in the heart, fortunately, but it was clearly poisoned, judging by the purple color his face had assumed. He was on the verge of dying. Annoyed with that sudden interruption, Lucas hurried to finish him off and only relaxed when he received the notification.
You have killed Human – lvl 14. Experience earned.
Despite the relief of not having the kill stolen from him, he was still pretty mad with Flavya. What the hell was that? She had clearly intended to kill him, going against what they had agreed upon.
Why did she do it? Lucas wondered, but after remembering her sight-enhancing magic seal, he came to the conclusion that it was very likely she might have been lip-reading their entire conversation.
Once that thought struck, everything made sense, and a lot of his annoyance went away. Could he really blame her for taking out a potential threat to her life? Of course, he wished she had placed more trust in him, after all, he was about to refuse the offer when the arrow nearly killed the guy, but he supposed there wasn’t much trust he could expect from a 24-hour acquaintance in a death match show.
After he had cooled down a little from the scare, he took a look at the man’s ring, and after not finding anything special, turned his attention toward the gun still stuck between the now pale fingers. Not long after, Flavya arrived on the roof, with Lucas’s eyes throwing darts at her.
“I thought we said I would be the one doing the killing,” Lucas said immediately. It wasn’t because he understood her reasoning that he would let that offense slide. It was his target, after all.
“You took too long,” she shrugged. “I thought you had lost the courage to kill him, seeing as he didn’t attack you, and decided to give a little push.”
“Oh, so that’s what it was. So I guess it had nothing to do with the fact that he was trying to convince me to ditch you and partner up with him?” Lucas asked with a raised eyebrow.
The girl’s demeanor changed as she turned to face him, looking a little angry.
“So you were planning to do it, huh?”
“No, I wasn’t. For your information, I was just about to refuse his offer when you attacked him.”
A few seconds of tense silence later, she replied, “Well, if that’s the case, then there’s nothing to discuss. Clearly, he was rejected,” she said, gesturing to the dead man on the floor, “and you received your kill, as promised.”
Not thanks to you, Lucas thought annoyed, but decided not to go further with this bickering. They had spent too much time with this single opponent, and Lucas feared Axis would’ve already been done with his fight by the time they managed to get back.
“We should go back now,” Flavya said, voicing his concerns, “Axis’s fight must be nearing its end.”
Lucas nodded and pointed at the gun on the ground. “Do you want to keep it?”
“No. I can’t use my magic with that,” she shook her head, “but it’s better if one of us keeps it. If nothing else, just to prevent others from putting their hands on it.”
After some discussion, Flavya stored the gun in her ring, and they started moving back to the place where the fight between Tornik and Axis was taking place. On the way, Lucas kept her ears busy with a bunch of questions regarding the info about her clan that he heard from the shooter and her magic seal from before.
She was a little hesitant about telling him about her clan, as Lucas expected, but in the end, gave in and said that the reason they were hated was partially due to some things they did in the past, and partially due to the fact they were opposed to the emperor of Khorint, who made sure they were forever marked as pariahs.
Lucas listened to everything in silence, and thought that this time she seemed to be telling the whole truth, even if she didn’t go into much detail. Frankly, he couldn’t care less if her people went around killing babies in the past; it wasn’t his world nor time, so why should he? All he cared about was completing the floor.
The information regarding the magic seals, however, was very interesting to Lucas. According to Flavya, there were many more seals like the one she had used, not only for increasing eyesight, but also for strength and speed.
“Why didn’t you give me one of those, then?” Lucas asked, remembering how the witch had shot him down when he asked for one.
“I told you they cost mana, and they weren’t needed for that fight. But don’t worry, when the time to face Axis comes, I’ll make one for you.”
Satisfied with that reply, Lucas stayed silent until they arrived at the spot where the fight was taking place, and he was surprised to see both figures still engaged in battle.
“You were right, Tornik’s defense is no joke,” Lucas said after watching a few minutes of the same scene unfold, with a savage-looking Axis striking with immense power at a battered Tornik.
It wasn’t just his armor that was impressive; Tornik knew how to take a beating, and almost every attack was either softened or diverted with his sword. More impressive, however, was the fact that Axis’s attacks remained powerful and relentless, not much different from the start. While Tornik had stamina-replenishing equipment, Axis had none, and this was evident from the sweat pouring down his face.
After a few more minutes, however, it became clear that Tornik was on his last legs. Not long after, he fell to his knees and received the finishing blow from a disheveled Axis, collapsing limply to the ground.
The strikes didn’t stop with Tornik’s demise. To Lucas’s surprise and disgust, Axis went on to mangle every limb in his body, ruining the precious equipment Lucas had longed for since he first set eyes on it.
With his fists clenched, Lucas turned to Flavya. “Let’s kill him now. He must be exhausted, and I’m sure we can take him down before the others can intervene.”
Flavya seemed to consider his proposition hesitantly before finally sighing. “It’s too risky; there are too many people, and who’s to say he won’t run, given his condition?” she said, shaking her head, much to Lucas’s frustration. “But we can still kill the others. There’s plenty to pick from,” she offered.
Looking at the people below, Lucas was surprised to see that, even though Axis seemed like he had just run two marathons, no one took the opportunity to attack him. Seeing them as a way to release his frustrations, Lucas looked at Flavya and nodded meaningfully; the massacre was about to begin.