For every continent of the world, there was a capital country, a base of operation that represented the whole continent.
For the first continent, that was the kingdom of Doran.
The world, in general, was technologically advanced, but looking at things on a surface level, Doran seemed to be the most technologically advanced.
The capital city, which was named after the country, was a good example of just how far they've come.
The bright streets were filled with electric-powered smart cars that made accidents almost non-existent in the country.
Security officers had high-grade automated robots to help them out with their work. Thanks to those, Doran was recorded as the country with the lowest crime rate ever.
Moving around and out of the country was as easy as a breeze with bullet trains and aerial trains.
These were just a few of the things that gave Doran and the first continent an edge over the other continents.
The streets of Doran were always bright and busy at night, and while everyone was busy going about their nightly activities, someone was looking down from the rooftop of the highest building in the city.
A young man in a long black coat, his short dark hair was neatly held to prevent his bangs from covering his forehead and his brown eyes were glittering in resonance with the lights he was staring at.
"I wish I could say it was beautiful." He muttered his face relaxing into a smile.
"Boss."
That eager voice came from behind him but he didn't bother as the smile on his face slowly disappeared.
The person standing behind him now was his personal assistant and closest companion, Riss Moore.
A dark-skinned young man always dressed neatly in a black suit. His expression and demeanor made him seem unapproachable and he had his bangs covering the right of his face just short of covering his eye.
"She made her way into the tunnel just like you predicted," Riss said, making his report before he could ask.
"And I'm guessing they foolishly followed her there."
"Yes." Riss nodded.
"Then it's all good then." The boss said as he joined both of his hands together. The smile on his face returned soon afterwards.
"Well, not exactly."
"What's wrong?"
"Jax has the area surrounded, it's an ambush." Riss disclosed.
Hearing that from Riss, the smile on his face disappeared once again, this time with a sigh as he brought both of his hands down.
"And knowing Jax he won't ambush her unless he has something deadly up his sleeves."
"Mhm." Riss nodded.
Slipping his hands into his pockets, he began heading toward the exit.
"It's a full moon, this much was expected." He uttered as he walked past Riss.
"Here we go again." Riss sighed before turning to follow him.
________ ________
Getting to the abandoned rail tracks didn't take much time for the two, and as soon as they stepped into the vicinity, Riss handed his boss a black facemask.
"Put it on." He requested. "It's faint but there are traces of absimo in the air." He added, his gaze fixated on his smartwatch.
"Oh." The boss responded before taking the mask. "How did they get their hand on absimo, the black market?"
"Most likely."
"Wait a second." He suddenly paused as a realization suddenly hit him. "If Luna inhaled this, that means…"
A gasp suddenly escaped on his lips as he quickly closed his eyes.
This was something Riss wasn't able to see, but as soon as he closed his eyes, a black orb exited his body and quickly shot away like it was being pulled in by something.
It didn't take long before the black orb clashed into a white orb just a couple of distance away from him, and as soon as that happened, he shot his eyes open.
"Take care of the ones surrounding the area."
That was his last command to Riss before he quickly dashed forward, leaving behind a cloud of dust.
That was the moment when Zax pulled the trigger on a powerless Luna.
Aiming for her head, he wanted to take her out without having to pull the trigger twice. However, just before the bullet could get to her, a thick cloud of dust was kicked up in front of her.
"What now?" Zax grumbled.
It didn't take long for the cloud of dust to clear out, and when it did, he found a man in a black coat standing there, a man he seemed to recognize.
"I guess I can consider this some sort of assessment for my bullet catching lessons."
He opened his hand just after saying that, allowing the bullet in there to drop to the rail track.
Seeing who was standing in front of her now, Luna couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief against her will.
"Leo." She mumbled.
That was her last word before passing out. She would have hit the hard rail track with her face but Leo was fast enough to reach her, and slowly let her down.
"You're a serious mess right now."
Feeling a sense of relief, he couldn't help but smile as he wiped off the blood on her lips and nose.
"Leo Nexarion."
For a split second there, he seemed to have forgotten that he had Zax standing right behind him with a gun, maybe it had something to do with the fact that harming him with that was impossible.
"And I thought the two Nexarion's weren't especially close." Zax remarked.
"Well, I wouldn't say we're close." Leo responded as he slowly got up on his feet. "But things would be boring without her around."
"No, I think things would be just fine without the both of you around." Zax retorted before tapping his left ear. "I want more absimo gas in the air this instant."
Despite his desperate command, there was no response from the other end.
"Was that message supposed to get to these two?"
Zax quickly turned to the right where that voice came from to see Riss dragging two unconscious men along with him as he closed up on the area.
After getting close enough, he threw both of them forward, allowing them to land in front of their leader before turning to Leo.
"As for the rest, they also won't be waking up anytime soon." He remarked as he turned back to Zax.
Zax was well aware that he was cornered now but he was trying his best not to show that he was panicking. He also believed that his last line of escape was still there, and holding onto that belief he turned to the tower.
"Oh, I made sure to take care of that before heading down here." Leo disclosed with a grin.
A shot was fired from the tower at that moment, the target was right in front of Zax.
That was enough to startle him as he quickly staggered back, holding his gun quite firmly now as his heart raced faster.
"I guess you thought I was careless and reckless just like her." Leo uttered as he slowly began to make his way to him.
"So what? Are you going to kill me now?" Zax retorted. It seemed keeping his pride was above his life in his ranking.
"No." Leo shook his head. "I can't kill the head mercenary of the Flarion family, at least not on Doran soil. But I can at least do this."
Within a split second, he was suddenly in front of Zax but instead of punching or kicking him, he gently placed his hand on his left shoulder.
If Zax knew what was coming next, a normal punch or kick would have been better.
Allowing someone like him to place his hand on his shoulder was enough to twist and crush his shoulder bone forcing him to scream in pain as he crashed to the floor clutching into his shoulder.
His gun was now on the floor now as Leo watched him wail in pain with a cold gaze.
"I'll give you a test." He said before bending to pick the gun.
He didn't hesitate in pointing the gun at his only functioning shoulder and there was even more haste when he pulled the trigger.
Zax felt his life flash before his eyes at that moment as he crashed down to the floor, both of his shoulders in excruciating pain.
"Evil bastard, I'm going to make sure you pay for this." He groaned in pain before sinking his teeth into his lower lip.
"So, here's your homework. The next time we meet, be sure to tell me which one was more painful, the bullet or having your bones crushed."
He had a satisfied smirk on his face now as he turned away from him and made his way to Luna, slowly lifting her into his arm.
Leaving the bleeding Zax behind he proceeded to exit the area with Riss following closely behind him.
After walking a few distances, Leo's movement suddenly came to a halt. He reached into Luna's coat pocket afterwards and pulled out the red orb.
"He seemed to be more eager to kill her than get a hold of this. I wonder what we ever did to him."