Pulling a knife out of a man's head Neel watched his body hit the ground.
"That was fun," he whispered to himself as he cleaned it. The blood was still smeared around the blade, but he wiped it off with the end of a sleeve.
[Congratulations level 1]
the female monotone voice stated. He hummed in acknowledgement turning on his heel and leaving. Walking past the bodies that littered the streets. He felt the aura of someone else behind him but didn't turn or acknowledge them. He continued walking towards where he had parked his car. His hand reached under his coat for his handgun when he realized who it was that was following him.
"You know you don't need your gun or knife. You're a Level 0."
The voice made him shiver slightly but he tried not to show it. He kept walking his hands hidden inside his coat pockets.
"Why do I care what you think?" Neel argued.
He said without looking back at his fellow system user who was following him. The assassin smirked.
[I see you got one too.]
Neel turned to glare at his follower only to find the assassin standing several feet away from him. Noticing the small gap between them both he sighed, lowering his arms.
"What do you want?"
His target tilted their head to one side looking slightly amused at his question. He was amazed to see the girl had light blue hair and eyes that seemed to glow even in the dimming twilight. She looked almost angelic. If she hadn't been stalking him this entire time then he might have considered her pretty.
He could imagine her dressed up in a pink dress, dancing along the streets and smiling as if nothing were wrong. The thought almost brought a smile to his face.
"Some day I will kill you..." She explained.
"Yeah well, don't expect to get a chance to actually do it. If I'm going to die by your hand then I'd much rather go down fighting than be executed quietly," he retorted with a cocky smirk. The girl didn't look phased by his comment.
A sudden explosion of fire behind the two of them drew their attention as a few cars went flying into the air. The assassin grabbed onto him and they started sprinting down an alleyway. He managed to pull his arm free, but instead of just running he ran straight towards the explosions.
It wasn't long before they came upon a dead end and the girl let go of Neel, stepping backwards a bit. They stood facing each other.
He raised his hands, preparing to charge forward. She smiled mischievously. He couldn't stop the shiver running through his body as they stared at each other like two animals about to attack. Her eyes flicked over his shoulder. Without hesitation she charged.
Neel was caught completely unaware. They tumbled across the ground rolling until they came to a stop. Both panting heavily. The girl was staring directly at Neel with narrowed eyes. For some reason her presence terrified him. His instincts screamed at him to run, hide, anything that would keep him alive.
However, he couldn' t move. There was something different about the girl. Something...off. Maybe it was because of those piercing purple eyes. Or maybe it was because of how familiar she was to him. All of the sudden he remembered.
The girl stood slowly. He watched as she brushed the dirt from her dress. Looking right at him she grinned again.
He was ready to flick his fingers to activate his ability when he was stopped. A hand on his shoulder brought him back to reality. He looked towards his savior and found the girl gone. A loud noise filled the area around them, and they were surrounded by smoke.
"Neel…if you face her ever again you need to call me right away." Falan scolded.
He could see figures darting all around them and a couple gunshots rang through the air. It reminded him of when he and the others infiltrated the city, just trying to take down every threat.
He sighed but nodded his agreement.
Neel knew Falan meant well, however, the idea of going up against the assassin made him shudder. Falan knew something, but for now, he was happy he could get away from her.
"Who was she?" Neel asked.
"For now her name doesn't matter, but your life does Neel." Falan replied.
Neel glanced back at the flames rising over the roof of an old abandoned office building. He wondered who she really was.
[Neel! Focus.]
"Sorry…" He mumbled looking up at the sky.
He heard footsteps behind him and turned to find Falan walking towards him.
"You should go find the others." Falan advised him.
Drawing his hand away from each other Falan clapped his hands together starting a chaotic burst of fire . A large ball of flame shot from her fingertips sending the men around them into a frenzy. Some ran in panic while the rest fought back. Falan's fire danced through the air casting shadows on her face, giving her an eerie glow.
"Did you really think you could hide from me?!" Falan shouted.
Stepping back Neel summoned his weapon.He watched as the flames surrounding Falan's fist grew higher in volume as they danced around her. Her body started shifting and morphing, morphing and changing its appearance like an oil slick. Her hair fell loose around her shoulders and she moved fluidly. The skin on her face became more defined. Her eyes grew brighter.
"You seemed to forget as soon as you outside this is a proclaimed battle field Falan!" She shrieked.
Her voice was deeper and rougher. The words she uttered reverberated in his head like an electric shock. He staggered back a step feeling his heart racing rapidly.
The fight broke out around him and he turned to watch Falan.With one final roar she threw herself forward, unleashing her power. The energy that flew around him shook the ground making him cover his ears. After what felt like hours of being bombarded with attacks the heat of the flames began to wane.
He looked up to see Falan panting, her hair hanging limp around her face. Her skin had returned to normal, and so did her clothes. She looked at him, her expression unreadable.
"We should probably go somewhere safe…"
As he spoke her face shifted back to the neutral mask. Neel didn't understand her intentions, he was just glad that they weren't at death's door anymore. She lurched forward towards the two as a million eyes followed behind her dragging their shadowed tendrils.
"Betraying us was the worst thing you could have done!" She shouted.
"Falan you have gotten good at dodging us all." Another voice chimed.
Out of the shadows a tall and very thin man dressed in suit could be seen. His features appeared sharp and menacing. Falan glared daggers at the man as the three of them circled each other.
Suddenly the man disappeared reappearing behind Falan. In the span of an instant he had stabbed the other woman in the back. She cried out in pain falling forward as blood poured from her wound.
[Vienna health 0]
[Death imminent]
"We all kill...every single one of us so don't look so shocked." The man explained.
Neel could feel his chest tightening. He needed to help the girl before it was too late. Moving quickly he darted forward. But as soon as his foot touched the asphalt everything around him began shaking. His footing slipped causing him to fall. Frowning, he tried to sit up when suddenly his entire world changed.
[Dimensional shift activated]
The world around him warped and contorted in an unnatural manner. Suddenly the air seemed to grow heavier and it started to hurt to breathe, forcing him to gasp desperately. He saw the scene unfold around him but it didn't make sense. No no this can't be happening.
"Fuck…stand behind me kid…" Falan whispered.
The man who had killed the woman is standing above them, holding her corpse by her throat. With a flick of his hand the body was lifted into the air leaving the bloodied blade embedded into her chest. Slowly her body turned to dust in front of his eyes as her soul drifted towards the endless black void in the distance.
"Falan you can't leave me this time!" He laughed. "Come home to me...we can still be together...and together we'll rule the whole world, you and I...no one else will stand in our way."
"As if I would even start now!" Falan laughed.
They were trapped in another world where they stood on broken slabs of what looked like large checkered tiles in mid flight. Around them a dark fog swirled around them. It seemed as if there was only darkness within it.
A ray of light wrapped itself around Neel's waist pulling him back onto solid earth with the rest of their party. He blinked repeatedly taking in his surroundings as his vision cleared. Everyone except for Falan had disappeared leaving only himself, Falan and Neelleft standing in the middle of nowhere.
He looked over towards a girl also with them in the same space. Her body glowing faintly and her eyes burning bright orange. She took the form of a human woman wearing a white gown. A blue ribbon tied around her waist and her long black hair tied neatly into two braids framing her beautiful face. Her features were almost regal, yet feminine with her large almond shaped brown eyes.
Neel felt drawn to her like he never had before. A soft breeze blew past them, causing both their hairs to blow up into the air. Neel closed his eyes for moment, allowing himself to calm himself.
"Set forth a blaze! Wheels of fire!" Falan cried out.
The wind increased in strength whipping around them with such speed Neel feared he was going to be blown away. The ground shook beneath them before they could react. A wave of fire engulfed the area.
Falan charged after the man. Neel was bound trying to flee as his eyes locked with the girl once again. She stared right at him in prayer position. Then without warning a wave of fire flew towards them knocking everyone off of their feet, including the girl.
"Ahhh!" She screamed as her body began burning brightly.
"Meir! So that girl is what keeps this world together!" He sneered.
Falan and Meir weld their guns and knives in close combat while he kept fighting off the attackers. The sounds of gunshots echoed loudly inside the foggy surroundings. The smoke cloud was growing thicker and Neel could feel sweat dripping down the side of his neck.
"Meir! So that girl is what keeps this world together!" He sneered.
He pulled a larger gun out of nowhere in his dimension . The sight of it caused Neel's jaw to drop. As much as the world changed around him it never changed completely. This was definitely one of the strange weapons with faces and wings engraved on its surface.
It took several minutes to heat up in the barrel. Once it did Meir raised it up in the air and fired towards Falan.
Falan turned and jumped sideways dodging the blast. With each explosion the fog became denser. The fog was getting closer and they could barely see anything. There was a faint sound of metal sliding across pavement closing in on Falan had no time to see the others running at him with weapons flung at him from the distance.
He managed to dodge most of the projectiles shooting toward him. They all hit the ground and exploded, causing smoke to fill the air. He coughed trying not to cough. Finally managing to clear the smoke away with a wave of his arm he was able to get a glimpse of the attackers. A small team of soldiers surrounded Falan.
The girl appeared in front of Neel releasing him. She gazed into his eyes innocently. Her expression held nothing but kindness in her eyes as if nothing bad ever happened between them. He felt like he was seeing something different.
"I see you are bound, but I can help you," She explained.
"Help me?"