"Just pull the trigger already!"
"Easy! Just pull the trigger and let the world play its magic!"
"Kill her! It's self-defense! You're absolutely justified!"
Aza'zel flinched from the constant nagging in his head. During that moment of incoordination between his body and mind, Wendy's eyes flashed as she moved at an inconceivable reflex speed. Her leg kicked a semi-circle that throttled the handgun from the young boy's hand, and with an angle, her foot took off for his head.
The moment she moved, Aza'zel took notice. Thus, although he couldn't act fast enough to secure his hand from a clean hit, he was quick enough on his feet to backpedal, feeling a rush of wind flirting with his face.
Wendy's eyes flashed with a hint of surprise, and just as she was about to carry on with the offensive, her eyes glimpsed the outline of a second handgun beneath the frame of the gray raincoat. Her steps faltered, her mind shifted, and she stopped dead in her tracks.
"I don't want to fight with you," she said, sounding quite genuine. "Even if you take down my lady, you're only bringing about more inconveniences for yourself."
Aza'zel assumed that she would capitalize on the advantageous offensive after catching him off guard, but the sudden shift in attitude and momentum had him pause. He wondered to himself as to why that would be the case, only for her words to provide some food for thought.
"Explain yourself," he demanded, his stance still on high alert as he could not bring himself to fully trust the whimsical nature of this woman. He could still remember the time she almost punctured his throat if it weren't for Saxon's intervention.
In a slow and deliberate manner, she said, "You're dead, Aza… The world takes you for a dead man, hence why no one is coming after you on Sax's account."
"Why don't you stick to being dead?" she asked, an emphasis on the word 'dead'.
Wendy didn't give him much time to think as she said, "We can work together, you and myself. As you know, having a friend in the dark is much better than walking alone in the light, right? You can be my friend in the dark, and we can conquer this town from 12th Street to 1st Street, and share the wealth fifty-fifty… Just think about it!"
There are hidden rules among the Raksha of this town, some of them binding the twelve Rakshas themselves. For instance, if anyone wants to become a Raksha, they start by challenging the bottom of the ladder, and the same principles apply to those who want to climb higher.
Aza'zel thought about it, and most importantly, he knew that he didn't have any grandiose ambitions for Raksha town. This offer was quite appealing to him, for reasons other than whatever Wendy could provide him at the moment.
After remaining silent for a while, he said, "You know I'm alive, though."
Wendy almost cursed, thinking to herself that there was no time to waste on these small matters. She inhaled deeply, and plastered a smile despite knowing the other couldn't see it for whatever it's worth, and said, "Can we settle this discussion after we've killed my lady? You know, I've got quite the reputation around these streets, who would believe me even if I exposed your existence?"
Wendy knew that her lady wasn't in her right frame of mind as of late, and although she had no idea why, she knew that a professional's mind state was a key factor in life or death battles. She might not grasp a better opportunity than this one. Months of preparations both covertly and overtly brought the fruits of her labor to their ripe state.
Now was the time to harvest, not to bicker with a child.
"I'm an ambitious woman," she hissed through her thinned lips. "You're worth more to me alive than dead, Aza… Why would I kill you?"
Aza'zel thought about it some more and figured it made sense… somewhat.
Nonetheless, if worse comes to worst, he would risk exposing his totemic seals or unsealing his hidden strength as a first transformation state supernatural. There was no way she could have seen that coming.
Wendy blinked her eyes at the immature face that was so focused on thinking at the moment, and she asked herself whether she could kill him if she acted now.
Her chances weren't high, but they weren't low either.
These thoughts raced in her mind when she felt a sudden chill, a sense of mortal danger eclipsed her senses—everything was futile—she felt. No matter how she acted, death would always loom overhead and descend at a moment's thought.
She lifted her head in a stiff manner. There, by the entrance gates to the house, a tall and elegant silhouette was leaning on the wall.
The gray raincoat identical to the one draped over Aza'zel highlighted a curvaceous figure, and her senses screamed danger the more she observed that silhouette.
She gulped nervously and blinked her eyes, only to find the same location empty, void of any presence whatsoever. However, the sensation of imminent death still lingered in the air for a very, very long time.
"Alright," Aza'zel spoke, his immature voice shattering the shackles of horror that almost locked the entire region of this space. It all felt too surreal, and in contrast, felt too dreamlike, all at the same time.
Wendy eyed the gray raincoat for a very long time, silent all the while.
Aza'zel felt puzzled by the lack of a response, and he couldn't help but voice out again, "I said alright, or do you not want to cooperate anymore?"
"Of course, I want to cooperate!" Wendy exclaimed, her unreasonably pacing heart calming down a bit. She seemed to understand why her lady was so out of sorts lately, it seems like someone paid her a visit.
Furthermore, judging from the way this young boy is acting, he doesn't know that someone is looking after him from the shadows.
Aza'zel would of course think that no one is helping him, especially after experiencing that day of collapse.
"Let's go, then."
Aza'zel didn't think too much about it.
Notwithstanding, he didn't have the experience or charisma to manage one of the twelve streets, especially not when he thought about managing breeding farms and processing human organs, specifically those belonging to totemic warriors.
No matter what, he wasn't ruthless enough. He couldn't be, nor did he want to be, and so he wouldn't be.
"You're going in… Just like that?" Wendy was more than flabbergasted by the suggestion.
Despite her foreboding disbelief, she asked, "You're not telling me you came all the way here thinking you can take a Raksha upfront? Are you mad, little guy?"
Aza'zel felt both impatient and a little angry inside as he asked back, "You think I can't handle her?"
"Aren't you quite arrogant?" Wendy raised an eyebrow, sizing Aza'zel up.
"Each of them experienced field active combat, they're armed to the teeth, and are incredibly paranoid. These guys barely trust their own shadows, let alone anyone else. The moment you step inside that house, you're already exposed, and the next thing you know, bullets start flying… Still, find sneaking in such a grandiose plan?"