(BANG!!)
The Boss fired at Moonlight's back without a hint of hesitation.
"Guess I'll have to intervene." I said to myself as I watched The Boss pull the trigger through the eyes of my shadows.
I then dashed towards the 12th floor and got in the line of fire before the shotgun shells penetrated Moonlight's body, taking the gunshot to my chest. My body was fine but I couldn't say the same for my t-shirt.
"I loved this t-shit!" I said looking at the woman in front of me that had her mouth agape. To her, it seemed like I appeared out of thin air, took a shot to the chest, and came out unharmed no less. Her reaction was only natural.
I then checked out her lifespan and saw that she still had a good 45 years 3 months and 2 days of her life left.
'Since her soon to be death is a result of me bringing Moonlight over to my side. This should also mean that every person Moonlight and the 12 Liberators kill from here on out will be on me. Just like this one, the lifespans of their victims will add to my strength,' I thought to myself.
"H-How!" The Boss tried to say as her legs gave away from shock and kneeled on the ground.
"Upendo Rotchfield. Upendo? Parents should really watch what they name their children. People are really being killed and dominated by someone called Love," I said out loud.
"I'm sorry you had to get involved, I got careless. It won't happen again!" Moonlight quickly said to me in an urgent tone.
"It's alright, you're only human. Finish up here, I'll be waiting downstairs." I said to him then disappeared.
"Nobody alive should know my name! How did he know my name?" Upendo asked herself out loud. "That man is full of mysteries that cannot be explained with human logic. Him knowing your name comes as no surprise to me." Moonlight said to her.
"Now, I have to finish the job. Goodbye Boss." Moonlight said then slashed his dagger clean through her neck. "Thank you for the years you allowed me to serve under you." He added as he watched her body drop to the floor and bleed out.
He then pulled out a handkerchief and placed it over Upendo's face. After a long silent pause, he stepped outside to meet with me.
"That may have been the easiest job we have ever done, hahaha!" Archer said out loud sitting cross legged alongside the other 12. "We just killed our comrades, that is no laughing matter!" Another one of the 12 rebutted.
Moonlight then finally came into view as he walked out of the building. "It's the Boss!" One of the 12 said.
"Ace," I said out loud. "How do you know my...? *sigh* Never mind, I'm not even surprised anymore." Ace said defeated. "What is it?" He asked respectfully.
"I received a lot of hate because of that book I published. All around the world there are people plotting against me. Some are only trying to sue me, but most just want me dead," I said to them.
"Why should this worry you? I don't think anyone in this world can kill you, right?" Archer spoke up.
"It's the unwanted attention. I can't reveal myself just yet. The best way to deal with this problem is to simply pluck it out. My strength is great, but revealing myself now will have certain consequences-," I said to him.
"And why should we follow you?" A proud looking woman interrupted. She was slim, but more on the mascular side. A greatsword was placed on her back and everyone seemed to show a deep respect for her as she spoke. Her name was Ailith and when it came to brute strength, she was the strongest amongst the 12.
"Moonlight may have accepted you, but I haven't. All I see is a weak man ordering others to kill unarmed men. I refuse to kill anyone that can't defend themselves. You fight like a coward!" Ailith proclaimed.
"Then strike me down! Do that and I'll never have to trouble you again." I said to her. "With pleasure." She said grabbing her greatsword without hesitation. Surprisingly, Moonlight didn't stop her as she approached me. A heavy death aura then suddenly descended around the area with most of it concentrated on Ailith.
Everyone else began to struggle to breathe. Ailith suddenly halted her approach. An unimaginable pressure had come over her. Fear began to take over her consciousness; her body surprisingly lost its strength and began to fall.
Then suddenly, as if by pure instinct, she gripped her greatsword even tighter then ran towards me at an incredible pace. In just two springs, she was already in front of me.
As she faced me from below, I realized she was already unconscious. She finally grasped the greatsword with both hands, preparing for the most grand upwards slash of her life. Unfortunately, that was as far as her body could take her.
Her face still looked out of it, but the veins in her arms threatened to pop out as she tried her best to swing her greatsword and slice apart her dreaded foe. After some time, she began to loosen the grip on her greatsword.
Now looking properly unconscious, she finally dropped her greatsword and stood there unmoved.
I then placed my hand on her head, but she quickly grabbed my wrist before I could even make contact. 'This woman has insane reflexes!' I thought to myself with an obvious smile. I then removed her hand and placed her over my shoulder.
"I'll send a list of the targets to Moonlight. They are not few, but don't worry, I'll tell you their exact locations so finding them won't be a hustle. Any questions?" I asked them.
"Expenses?" Archer asksed. "I'll take care of them," I answered. "Alright then, we are ready to move on your command." Moonlight said.
"That's good, we're going back to New York for now. There's quite a lot of targets there." I said walking away.
We eventually arrived in New York, where we immediately began the next job. Ailith had already woken up by then, but had not said a word to me since. She was much more obedient however and that was enough for me.
"Your first target is this woman here," I said to Ace handing him a document. "Rebecca Myers, a politician, a pain in my ass, and perhaps the biggest political threat to me at the moment.
She has recently come across some information that may threaten my freedom. The last thing I want are restrictions." I said to Ace then took a pause for him to digest all of the information.
"Her husband, Richard Myers, passed away 2 months ago. Cause of death: suicide. Killed himself only a day after reading my book. He had left a note for his wife saying how life wasn't worth living and at the bottom of that note were the words 'The Flaw in Humanity.' The little wanker basically kept a target on me. An assassin would have been easier to deal with, but this woman threatens my self-interests." I said to him.
"I understand. What is her current location? I'll have this done by the end of the week," Ace said determined to prove himself.
"Haha, I love the drive, but it's a little more complicated than that. This woman is being careful, she's done her research on me and has some powerful people backing her up. This job will require more than just your strength, and stealth above all. Ensure that no one traces their deaths back to you.
Luckily, their investigation has not gone public and no one apart from her and her backers has any evidence against me." I said to him in a serious tone.
"I understand. So what is your plan?" Ace asked me. "Rebecca and her people are each heavily guarded. Because of the urgency of this job, just this one time, I will be going with you.
Each one of these deaths are going to be staged as a suicide. Having them assassinated will just lead to further investigation. I will give you the necessary time to perfectly stage these suicides." I said to him confidently.
"When do we start this operation?" Ace asked. "Tonight. One of her backers is having a wine tasting party as a cover up for their meeting. With how things have been going, I believe they are planning on making a move against me tomorrow." I answered him.
I then handed him a sheet of paper with a few paragraphs written on it. "This is Rebecca's handwriting. Make sure you can mimic her style by tonight." I said to him.
Night-time arrived quickly and everything seemed to be going as expected. A car could be seen parked right outside a mansion. This was the location of the alleged wine tasting party.
"I have an invitation to this event so we will be walking through the front door. You will be standing as my guard for tonight. At 9:00p.m. sharp they will slip out of the crowd to start their meeting. When this happens, disguise yourself as one of the butlers. You have to be the one to serve them in the meeting room. Drug their drinks and stage the suicide. I'll keep everyone else busy." I said to Ace.
"Understood, let's go have some fun." He said to me with a smile. The night went smoothly as everything seemed just like the average wine tasting party. When the clock struck 9:00, one after the other, Rebecca and her backers left the room and met at a library deep in the mansion.
'Now,' I thought to myself then took to the stage. I then used a spoon to clink on the glass I held to get everyone's attention, unfortunately the glass shattered in my hands which did indeed get everyone's attention.
Moonlight then handed me another glass of wine almost immediately. "Good evening honored and distinguished guests, I may not be your host tonight, but I am truly honored to be around so many prestigious people.
Rebecca Meyers, a woman of justice, has happily opened her doors to us despite the recent passing of her late husband. I would like to raise a toast to this strong woman and brave woman, our host. To Rebecca Meyers!" I said raising my glass then took a sip of the wine.
I then released my death aura to cover every corner of the mansion except for the library. Everyone within the mansion then collapsed and only Ace was left standing. I made sure to be the first one to collapse to further avoid suspicion on me.
Ace then proceeded to take the drugged drinks to the library to serve to their targets. As the library was deep in the mansion, none of them were aware of anything that was happening outside the library.
As if everything was normal, Ace served them their drinks then stepped out.
The drug worked slowly and by the time the first person collapsed, each person in the room had already had a sip or two. They slowly began to feel weak, unable to even stand.
In only a matter of minutes, they had all died. Ace then proceeded to position everyone to around the table and wrote on a piece of paper in Rebecca's handwriting, "Everything is meaningless!"
As soon after Ace secured all the evidence against me, everyone around the mansion had begun to wake up. I then pretended to have also just woken up, unaware of what happened. The job was a success.
The police eventually arrived and questioned everyone within the building. With so many witnesses seeing me collapse on stage, there was no evidence linking me to the murder of Rebecca Meyers and her associates.
After the job was done, I handed down a list of the rest of the targets to Ace. Allowing him and the 12 Liberators to take care of the them.
Even though I offered to tell Ace and the 12 the exact live locations of the targets, they each preferred to hunt for the targets themselves.
Little by little, the list grew shorter over the last 2 years. Anyone who went too deep into investigating these deaths was eliminated as well.
...
"We have arrived." Ace said to me and Elaine then opened the door for us. We were now just outside Madison Park.
"Thank you Ace, you should go and enjoy your night. My husband and I can find our own way back home. It is New Year's Eve after all." Elaine said almost sympathetically.
"Thank you ma'am, I think I'll take you up on that offer." Ace said then stepped back into the car and took off.
"Wow, he wasted no time." I said smiling. "With the way you overwork him? I'm not surprised." Elaine said with a chuckle. We then walked into the restaurant where we were led to our reserved table.
We quickly ordered our food as we had both been there before and knew exactly what we wanted. We then began chatting about various topics. In that moment, as I was in deep conversation with Elaine, time felt like it stood still everywhere else except for our table.
I easily forgot that I was a reaper and I actually felt as though I were just an ordinary man in an ordinary date. Which is how I always felt around Elaine.
Our order eventually came and Elaine immediately began to devoured on the beef on her plate. She had no shame when it came to meat, losing all etiquette. I couldn't help but admire the view of her greasy mouth munching on the piece of meat.
After the meal, we then continued talking until right at the stroke of midnight...
"Happy New Year babe...babe...babe? Are you okay?" Elaine asked me in a worried tone, but I paid no attention to her words. A look of shock and anger had taken over my face. This was the first time Elain had ever seen me like this.
"Babe, you're scaring me
"What the hell is this feeling?" I asked myself standing and looking up towards the distance.