"Ahh," I moaned, relaxing my leg muscles that were wrapped around 'Markus' compromised neck.
As a cloud shrouded my thoughts, I stood up slowly.
I knew the virus was doing its work.
It was going to take over my consciousness.
But I would never succumb to a mere virus... I would just kill myself before that could ever happen...
Ahem, anyway, as team leader, I have a responsibility to fulfill. I'd done my part to help Markus. I knew he'd never want to wander about this universe as a hideous zombie.
I knew him that much.
Eli, sigh, I just hope that this would end soon. I don't want to hurt Eli much. She reminds me too much of my daughter.
I stared down at my feet when I noticed Markus's corpse's distraught expression. I kneeled down and closed his eyes with my hands.
"May you live a Hunter's life in your next life," I said the words apathetically, lacking even a smidgeon of emotion for him.
The virus was working fast.
*CLICK*
My spine tingled, and I stiffened. My instincts, which had been polished to an extreme degree, blared like an alarm clock in the early morning.
I slowly looked to my right side, the side at which the hull of the jet was wrecked and opened. I made sure to not make any quick movements so as to not alert the 'thing'.
*CLICK*
A click sound that was organic in nature. Meaning that the sound was definitely produced by some form of larynx.
But the sound was so alien that the mere sound of the click would make your skin crawl and alert... And for good reason.
When I looked at the tore open hull of the jet, I gave a middle finger to fate and luck.
When I saw Eli standing there in the middle of the broken hull where the fire was lashing out at the snow, with no injuries, Eli just stood there.
I had no foolish thought of Eli making it out because of some fortuitous encounter or some supreme treasure, she was a brave and strong girl, but a poor girl nonetheless, both in money and luck.
I also didn't have any paranoid thoughts of Eli double-crossing me... I really didn't...
Maybe a little...
My train of thought went to a sudden halt as I took a serious expression. 'Seems like the virus is trying to lower my guard by regulating dopamine and endorphins. Cracking jokes at this sort of situation is something that only madmen would do.'
I looked at the oddly smiling Eli and squinted in apprehension. 'Well, that's horrifying' I sighed as I looked at Eli's grin spreading further on her face
"Do you want to play with me?" Eli asked with that odd grin spreading her face faster and faster. At the end of all, The grin was almost horror-inducing.
Her cheeks slowly spread apart as she looked more and more horrifying.
"Hey, do you want to?" The wicked voice rang again as she tilted her head oddly.
"Let's play," I nodded as I noticed my body changing, both internally and externally. My elbows protruded on the outside like blades that would cut metal like butter.
My muscles were rearranging themselves and growing more and more robust and were getting closely packed to make them more adaptable to more damage.
While my body was enhancing, my mind was becoming more and more muddled.
But my willpower was not something that could be trifled with. With the life I had previously and the life that I had when I came here.
I had suffered many things and had sharpened my mind to be a sturdy sword.
I shook off the hazy feeling as I looked at the terrifying smile of Eli that would even put Joker to shame and changed my head to look at the north.
There was a building that was in the middle of the blizzard that was oddly unsettling.
I tapped my wristband multiple times as I gave it multiple commands. A non-visible scan spread across my wristband as it scanned the whole world.
My lips curled up as I looked at with what my scans came up with. Not to brag, but I had quite the name of being in the mercenary team that was terrifying in the lower realms.
So a scan at this level with a one-time usage was something that could be affordable.
Why the planet was red marked, what did the planet hold, and what was inside the factory, all was laid bare in front of eyes.
The odd coincidence of what the cargo was and what was in the factory made me aware of what was all happening.
Fate.
Fate was directly intervening for the safety of the whole Omniverse.
It was basically saying to me, 'Die for the sake of the whole Omniverse.
And I complied.
There was no reason for further survival. There was no need to defy fate when you had no reason for further survival.
I started channeling my mana into my legs as my leg muscles twitched with exertion.
I nodded as I calculated my current prowess as I launched myself in the direction of the factory leaving behind a heap of snow and a cracked ground.
I ran as fast as I could and fueled my legs with mana.
Suddenly, I stopped as I turned around.
I saw gleaming claws as I looked at the claws that were sliver in color poking my skin and dawing blood.
"Hehehehe" Eli laughed eerily as she stoped shy away from clawing my head. This was all a game for her.
But I had to win this game.
I slowly moved away from her claws all the while listening to her bone-chilling laugh and the creepy grin.
"Come on, come on, Go to your position," The wicked voice bellowed with almost childlike innocence, similar to how a child would tear apart an ant slowly with curiosity.
I got into the position, the position being 5 meters apart from each other, when I got into the position.
The chase of the cat-and-mouse chase began again.