Tobey watched as that guy with heavy white armor fell to the ground with a loud and wet thud. It was still raining, that storm was getting heavier every second.
The detective kept looking at what he did. He was a bit in shock. He had killed someone just one time before and that was the most traumatic experience of his life. The first person he needed to kill wasn't even a random murderer or something like that.
Anyway, until now, he hurt a lot of people but killed only one... or, rather, two now. Killing someone wasn't easy. Not in the first times that one needed to do it. After all, beyond anything else, he was still human. He had feelings, felt guilty, and had a certain level of empathy with everyone around him.
'Don't overthink it, Tobey. He was trying to kill you. It was his fault that things got so far like this. Remember the words that grandma said to you. Hesitation won't help you now. It never will,' he thought, recomposing himself.
The detective didn't lose any more time and began to run. The comrades of that armored man ran after him as well, this time more furiously. They were filled with wrath. That was just the natural result after losing their comrade for that creature that they despised so much.
Arrows and gunshots often went across the air and hit the surroundings but the rain was making it very difficult for those rangers to aim at a moving target. Not only the rain but also the darkness of the night was making it nearly impossible.
It was difficult for the men wearing armor to run fast enough to catch up with Tobey. Some of them nearly slid due to the wet asphalt. They made a bad choice by using that kind of outstanding set in a rainy season. They could just dismiss their armor with a wave but didn't do so because they needed to hide their faces. It was part of the plan as well, after all.
Soon, the demon disappeared into the city. A dense fog arrived at that place as well, making it hard for them to continue tracking that guy. If his dark energy was stronger, they would be able to track him easily without needing their other five senses. However, he was very weak.
"There is no way to keep going," one of them said as he stopped to run. He wasn't wearing armor, but only white clothes and a mask on his face. His other friend stopped beside him, looking in front at the dense fog that was hindering their vision.
"Well, we could keep going, but we wouldn't be able to find him again. He just invoked his Soul Mirror, so dark energy is still pouring into his body."
"Is he those Black Sheep?"
"Yes. These are the most tricky ones to find because they themselves don't know that are demons... Their power is low, but once they get the chance to evolve, they turn out to be troublesome..."
"Do you think that this guy will turn into a huge issue in the future?"
"Yes. I think so. Did you see that dagger at all? His initial power shouldn't be so high. I wonder what will happen if he evolves even more."
One of them denied with his head, holding himself not to sigh. He knew that they needed to be strong. That was their everyday job.
"We won't let things get to this point. That's our duty, our mission. We are paladins, after all. Humanity will prosper at all costs, even if I need to give my life for it to happen."
His partner nodded strongly.
"You are right. Tomorrow will be more blessed, for sure. We just need to be patient and keep struggling."
Although both said that, they had a faint feeling deep inside their hearts. That feeling seemed just an unfounded bad omen. A bad omen about their future.
'I just hope that God will hear our prays,' one of them thought, mesmerized by the fog.
...
Tobey finally left the denser part of the fog, coming across to an alley. He looked back and concentrated on his hearing but he couldn't hear anything else other than the sound of that storm. The steps of the heavily armored warriors couldn't be heard, nor the swift ones of the lighter armored ones. No more shoots or arrows were piercing the air...
'I think that I am safe by now. Finally safe... I am afraid that they are setting up an ambush to me but I prefer to think that I was able to outrun them.'
Tobey was exhausted to death. Once he stepped on that alley and went further into it, he slumped to his knees, suddenly feeling quite dizzy. He got a wave of very bad nausea and his body was feverish.
For a while, he thought that he would die. All his body was in pain after all. He couldn't breathe well, too. Several seconds of torture went by, Tobey feeling ill like he had never been before. The raindrops that fell in his body evaporated immediately due to how feverish he was. His skin was red as a tomato rather than grayish.
Soon that feeling was washed away by the water as well. After that, his exhaustion increased tenfold. He felt weaker than before, his mental energy was depleted. Also, his pain perception was sharper than before, so much that he could finally notice that one of the arrows shot by those archers dressed in white struck him in his back.
That arrow was half-carved into his flesh. Maybe, if it had entered a little bit more, it would reach his arteries and organs. Tobey would bleed to death.
'Damn it... Damn it...' he cursed several times as he held that arrow with all his strength while holding his breath and biting his own arm.
He pulled the arrow with all his strength, taking it off in one go. His teeth clenched with all the strength that his jaws allowed, hurting his own arm, but not screaming in pain at least. After his deed, he kept panting and trying to get used to that excruciating pain. He wasn't feeling like getting up at all and that lack of energy was concerning him.
Tobey looked at the golden arrow in his hand with a dumbfounded expression. It wasn't common to see a golden arrow, after all. The detective felt that it was a good piece of information, so he broke the arrow in two and kept the half that had the arrowhead.
'Maybe the projectiles that they use will make some difference... Huh?' while Tobey looked into space, not paying attention to anything in particular, he noticed that his right and left hands weren't grayish anymore. He passed his hands in his face and realized that it was different from a couple of minutes ago.
'T-That feeling I just had! I didn't realize at first, but I felt roughly the same when I was at Han's room!'
He crawled to a near water puddle on the alley, looking at his reflex on the water. His heart was racing in anticipation, a hint of hope appeared inside it.
Tobey exhaled strongly in relief after he saw that he was back to his usual face again. He passed his hands in his face, head, and body several times until he fully accepted that he was human again. Not a monster, a demon, a miserable creature, nothing like that. He was Tobey, the excellent detective, and a human only.
His moments of joy were interrupted once his phone rang, vibrating inside his pocket. He was receiving a call again.
'That's right! The person that was calling me!' he excitedly thought, nearly falling headfirst on the puddle for water due to his surprise.
He took his phone again in his hands and answered the call without minding the number on the screen. That was his biggest mistake, though.
"Hi, Tobey! I don't know why, but I had the feeling that you would answer my call... Maybe I wasn't confident enough that my friends would be able to catch you... Anyway, nothing is helping it. The weather wasn't good today. Tomorrow is another day, though. We won't rest until we can end with your despisable existence."
It was the voice of his grandma.
Tobey's hoarse voice acquired a cold and serious tone.
"Who actually are you and your friends? What the hell do you want from me!?"
"You won't have your answers by asking me. Good luck on trying to find it, Mr. Detective."
Tobey clenched his fists and frowned hard upon hearing his beloved grandma talking like that.
"I should be the one wishing good luck. You won't be able to lay a finger on me, much less hide from me. I am well aware of my capabilities."
"Hahaha! How pretentious of you, Tobey~ Anyhow, you are the hunted here, not the hunter, did you forget? Also..." her voice got grimmer as she muttered, "there is nowhere to run. You don't have a safe harbor. You don't have any idea who we are, and where we are. We can be among you or watching you from far away. We are everywhere. Now that you are our enemy, you don't belong to this world anymore, demon!"
After her last words, his phone shut down due to low battery. Tobey let his hand fall beside his body, the phone slid and fell to the ground.
He kept staring at the wall in front of him while leaning in the opposite one, sitting on the wet ground as the rain fell over his head.