After 5 to 10 minutes, nothing happened.
Was the intuition of the Boss and Bigoko wrong?
The large puddles became even larger as time went. Masked men returned to the hostages one after the other, after having put some traps.
"Oi Bigoko, we did what you asked."
"Good good."
"Is this really an attack though?"
One of the masked men raised a question to Bigoko. He simply replied,
"Even if it isn't, we can't take risks."
"If you say so Bigoko."
Everyone, even that Boss of his, seemed to be in agreement with Bigoko. He usually has a playful aura around him but he is smart and cautious when something serious is going on.
The Boss, who held an old man by his neck, released him after waiting for 5 minutes. Nothing happened during this period of time, which caused the Boss to do such a thing.
The tension was slightly alleviated between the terrorists and the hostages. For the reason of a possible false alarm, the terrorists became less guarded.
"What do you think is the reason for that water Bigoko?"
"I'm not reeeeaaally sure...."
After displaying a doubtful stare at the rubbles, he pondered.
"Hmm..."
After a few seconds of contemplating, it seemed like a theory came up in his mind. He expressed it very quietly. The ones who observed him saw that he was just moving his lips, possibly mumbling to himself.
"Bigoko-san sure is smart."
".....Bi...goko.....san?
"Yeah, that guy who is mumbling to himself."
".....Umm..."
"What is it?"
Yuna, adjusting her glasses, stared at Harue with shock.
"Senpai.....Is it just me or did you become less gloomy compared to before?"
"Eh? Why?"
Yuna whispered in a low voice near Harue's ear. That little action made Harue slightly flustered because he had a close-up view of Yuna's face.
"Did something happened when that person took you?"
Harue, attempting to look as calm as possible, replied to Yuna while stuttering due to the nervousness of that girl being closer than usual.
"N-Nothing serious."
"Are you sure Senpai?"
"I am sure Yuna-san...."
She shortly retreated back to her original position that made Harue recuperate his composure.
Even in a dire situation like this, Harue still could not help but feel her presence that means a lot to him. Harue himself has confirmed his love that did not waver whatsoever with such a dangerous event in his life.
Each and every day he thought of Yuna, his love solidified and become stronger as time goes.
After smiling in his thought, he got intrigued by the conversation that Bigoko and the Boss were talking about.
"A hero?"
"Yes Boss. I'm sure that it must be the power of that hero. And I'm also sure that he was the one who extinguished the fire. That large puddle of water must be his doing."
".....Then, does that mean he can manipulate water?"
Both of them stayed silent for a second.
Bigoko's head was reeling in information and imaginations on this hero. Then the realization starts to kick in Bigoko's mind.
Bigoko pulled out his handgun and aimed it at the audience of hostages. The hostages were astonished and terrified at the terrorist's sudden hostile action.
Harue too could not believe his eyes. He instinctively sat in front of Yuna so as to obstruct the bullet's trajectory of it travelling to her.
*Bang*
A loud gunshot that resounded the mall were accompanied by the frightened screams.
But strangely enough, Bigoko was the one that was hurt. His gun fell on the ground and he clutched his right shoulder.
"AAH FUUCK!!!"
Not even 1 second later, multiple simultaneous gunshots reverberated throughout this large space.
The hostages got down and Harue followed suit. He made sure that Yuna was doing the same. He saw that she was covering her ears while shivering. The fear of getting shot so abruptly appeared on the civilians' mind.
After a short moment, 17 masked men fell to the ground lifelessly.
Killed in front of the hostages, it couldn't be a more terrifying sight for them, but in their mind, they were relieved.
Help has come!
Help was definitely here!
7 masked men and the Boss were still alive. They were moving their heads hastily in every direction, searching for the sources of the gunshots.
But the Boss had other ideas.
"Kill the hostages!!"
Without hesitation, the remaining terrorists pointed their M-16 at the hostages and pressed the trigger.
Harue thought this was the end of the line for him,...if it wasn't for...
"What the fuck is that!!?!?"
"It's not affecting them!?!"
A water barrier that had a 6 - 7 metres widths just sprawled in front of the hostages, protecting them from all the bullets.
It did not actually stop them in their tracks abruptly but it slowed them down until it lost its speed. It was enough to halt them.
The terrorists kept spraying their rifles but in vain. Some who were taking cover and changing their magazines got killed instantly as other multiple simultaneous gunshots were heard.
Only 4 masked men, Bigoko and the Boss were still alive. All 4 of them got into cover. They were forced back away from the hostages.
They were even scared of peeping over because they were frightened that a bullet will strike directly into their head. The rescuers were that talented. The terrorists hiding in fear of getting killed instantly was kind of an act that acknowledged their skills.
Seeing their fellow comrades falling down simultaneously, they knew they are now facing formidable opponents. Not even a single one of the terrorists fired their gun.
Taking this opportunity, some of the dark blue coloured uniforms came running to the hostages. The relief in the faces of the civilians, including Harue and Yuna, was blatant. The embroidery on the dark blue uniforms were clearer to the hostages.
Special Magus Force, otherwise simply known as the SMF was escorting them towards the main entrance of the shopping mall.
"Boss!! The hostages are fleeing!!!"
One of the peeping terrorists gave out bad news to the Boss.
And obviously, the Boss' face contorted into extreme anger that scared all of his lackeys. Even Bigoko, who was leaning on the wall supporting his injured shoulder, has not seen that expression of his in a while.
Bigoko was about to say something to repress the Boss' anger but suddenly,
"BOSS WATCH OUT!!!!"
A blue figure suddenly appeared in front of him and launched a kick at his face. The Boss only just managed to evade it by a hair's breadth and he could not have done it without Bigoko's warning.
The Boss' other henchmen were getting ready to empty their magazines of their rifle onto the blue figure.
The figure responded by making them drown.
Yes, literally drowned them. And that too with a small volume of water.
How?
He manipulated the water in such a way that only the head of the terrorist was shrouded with water. The terrorists tried to use their hands to get rid of the water but it was difficult to do so. They got the feeling that they were drowning in the ocean.
Their faces twisting in despair and asking for help were saw through the transparent water.
The Boss got far away from this dangerous person that he encountered. He was sure as to who he was, based on the hypothesis of Bigoko.
The hero is right in front of him.
Fearless and strong.
"Well well well, I think that I have met the person on whom I am going to fully vent MY FUCKING ANGER ON!!!"
The brown hair of the Boss swayed violently as he sprang forward and went directly to the hero.
The hero stood there until at the last moment. The brown-haired beast pounced on him by grabbing both his hands and getting behind him. That was very fast when seen from a spectator's point of view.
The grinning Boss maliciously spouted an exhilarating voice that would bring chills to a person.
"Say bye-bye to your hands."
The hero was calm at his threat to which the Boss commenced the dismemberment of his hands.
The hero felt vibrations in his wrist where the Boss was grabbing. The vibrations started to get more and more intense until,
*Krak*
Both hands came off.
But something odd happened.
Instead of blood, water kept seeping off from his severed hands.
"Huh?"
The hero thought about stopping this play. The severed hands moved and made a gesture, manipulating the water from the puddle to encage only the Boss' entire face.
He was planning on making him drown also. It was working as seen from the struggle he showed.
The hero then threw a roundhouse kick to the Boss' head, that sends him flying to a concrete pillar.
Bigoko, still leaning on another pillar, had cold sweats when he saw the hero still being calm even when his hands got dismembered.
But he knew why he was so calm moments later.
Both hands left on the floor melted and became water. After that, the water floated and assembled on his injured wrist. A new pair of hands formed with the water components, giving off the impression that he never got them severed before.
'This is a troublesome power.'
It was as Bigoko's thought said, the hero has a powerful skill
He could not contain himself. He tried to arm himself with the M-16 rifle that hung on his back. He dealt with the excruciating pain to finally get the result that he wanted.
He readied and fired at the hero who was not paying attention to him.
*Pow!* *Pow!* *Pow!* *Pow!* *Pow!* *Pow!* *Pow!* *Pow!*
The rifle sprayed bullets like no tomorrow until it ran out of ammo. He was hoping for some bloodshed but a different outcome denied his desirous effect.
All the bullets fired went through the hero and came out. The spots he has been hit turned into water, giving off the impression that he shot only the air.
The hero then slowly twisted his head to Bigoko.
"Hahaha.....I'm fucking done."
The joking tone did not die down even in this dire situation. He kind of expected this result but nevertheless, he tried.
The hero did another same gesture which fully covered his face with water. Deprived of the air, regardless, he did not struggle that desperately.
He wanted to end it in a cool way.
He thought it was the end of the line for him but a gunshot interrupted his thoughts.
*Bang*
"Neww heewds uww mwethwafwuke!!"
The Boss, still drowning, let out these inaudible noises. But somehow, the hero understood him very clearly.
It was because the Boss was holding a girl by the neck as a hostage.
'How did he gain one civilian in his custody? Didn't all the hostages escaped?'
The hero did one grave mistake.
He sent the terrorists flying to the place where the hostages were fleeing to. Such a serious mistake by the hero.
"Gwet wisw ofwe!!!"
The hero undid all of the floating water that was drowning the terrorists. Bigoko coughed due to the suffocation he has been through.
The other masked men who were also drowned got released. But it was already too late for them
"Let go of her."
The very first time they heard the hero's voice, it was coated with anger.
"Not so fast you moron. I mean, you did kick me in the face so..."
The crescent-shaped smiled contained such malignity, it could be thought of as a curse that could destroy everyone.
"Stop please!!!"
"Hah?"
The crazy Boss veered his head slightly to his left as he looked at a boy on his knees. He was trying to get up but couldn't for some reason.
"Please do not hurt her!! I beg!"
"Haaah?? Just fucking shut up and sit down in a corner. Stop making me more pissed off already!"
"....."
The boy really did what he said. Discontinuing the pleading was the best option from the boy's mind.
Bigoko had kind of a sympathetic expression because that boy was someone he recognized. The girl also was someone that he knew.
"Harue-chan is really unlucky....."
His murmur faded as the hero and the Boss were in a standoff.
"Let go of her! Right now!"
"...Okay suuureee~"
The boss strengthened his grip on the girl's neck. Grim expression instantly surfaced the girl's face as the veins in her neck became more apparent.
"Since you are so impatient."
"Kuk!"
An anguished groan escaped her mouth. The fingertips started to dig in and breathing became even harder for her.
"Stop pleeeaaasee!!!!!"
His plea did not get heeded as the grip got even harder.
And the neck of the girl...
*Pak*
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!"
.....got dyed in red.