Chapter 6: Confrontation

23.4.19

7 days into the game.

4:00 P.M.

Alex King~~~~

Alex stood in front of the building they'd been in a few minutes ago. The rest of the crew was around him. Directly in front of them was a skyscraper. This particular part of the city was abandoned, except for a few lost souls wandering here and there.

Alex's mind was formulating a battle plan. He had done his research on all the members of the guild they were facing. He looked at his crew. He had spent quite a long portion of his life fighting alongside them. Now he was their leader,t heir lives in his hands. The thought made him weirdly relaxed.

The others were preparing too. Mainly warming up and checking their guns.

They had all killed before, they were going to do it one more time.

Jack came up to him. "Is anyone really coming or is this one your little scandals. 'Cause its been more than half an hour and all I see is Volkov repeating his stupid prayers."

Alex simply sighed in response. Had his information been wrong?

'Nope,' he thought. ' The last thing I wanna do right now is doubt my sources'

And then a man walked out of an alleyway to Alex's right, about 30 metres away. The crew's response was immediate. Gun's drawn, legs taut, looking for people flanking or popping out from odd places. Jack looked behind him to the other side of the road. "No one's behind us". he said to no one in particular, and turned to face the man like the rest of the team.

" Well Well Well, who do we have here?", the man spoke mockingly. He was wearing a white tracksuit, and his hair was blonde white and standing up.

"I'm assuming there's more people hiding in those alleys.", said Alex, no emotion on his face.

"And I assume we were expected."

Seeing the Dark Knights give no reaction, the man raised an eyebrow. "Alright, lets not waste any time."

With a snap of his finger, a swarm of men moved out of the alleys and poured into the road behind him.

'Total 57', Alex counted in his mind. The other Knights assembled behind him, guns pointed at the white haired man. The men behind him had pipes, daggers and blades.

"No guns.", Alex said over his shoulder, loud enough for only the Knights to hear them.

The man started speaking again. "For 3 years, your little gang has been quite a pain, you know. So when I saw your name on the terminal, I thought that its about time to get rid of the pests."

"Quite generous of you to come to see us so soon.", said Alex mockingly. "Our gangs go way back, and now that the world's gone down to shit, I was wondering when you'd pay us a visit, George."

George, the man with blond white hair ,scoffed.

'Thirty meters of distance between us. Powers unknown. Utterly outnumbered. Nice', he thought. And yet his hands weren't even out of his pockets. Because this was all according to plan.

"What's the range of your power, Jack?", he asked , not looking back at him.

"Eight meters."

"Good", he said, and turned his head, "Draw them in towards Jack, don't kill the leader, he's mine."

"Orders?", asked Andre.

"Black bayonet"

The words brought a visible sense of nostalgia on the girl in the kimono. And also a certain sense of thrill.

'Black bayonet!' she thought. 'The order of total antihalation using any means necessary. He actually used it'

Alex pulled out his long-barreled revolver and shot a single bullet into the ground. A declaration of war. That was enough to send the still crowd into motion, all heading straight for the Knights.

" Looks like most have forgotten that they even have powers. We're going to use that to our advantage.", said Volkov.

The Knights didn't move. A few shots rang out, and 10 men fell. Non-were Dark Knights. The bullets shot towards them hung suspended in the air, and the ones shot by them had found their places in the chests of the enemies. Alex stood unmoving, his eyes shining red.

47 left.

Jack holstered his gun and ran towards the other guild from the left, while Andre lunged forward and closed the entire distance of 30 meters in a single second.

A man came flying forward towards Jack . But before he could even think of attacking, Jack twisted his hand upwards, and a huge chunk of the ground in front of him rose up and collided with the man, sending him crashing into a nearby building.

46 left.

Andre, who was already in front of George, pulled his fist back and threw a punch right at him. George effortlessly dodged to the right, and suddenly an arm came out from the earth, and hit Andre, staggering him. Behind the arm, a large part of the road rose up and assembled in the form of a golem, slightly larger than Andre, who stood at 7 feet tall. From where the arm came out, another identical golem formed in the same manner.

" I've heard your power is Superhuman strength, Andre. Lets see how you fare against my puppets." said George, as the first puppet lunged at Andre with its arm pulled back, ready for a punch. To Andre's right, a man cocked his gun, ready to blow his brains off. To his left he saw the second puppet advancing towards him. George flashed a smile.

A normal man wouldn't have considered the three way attack survivable. A checkmate. But not Andre. His face contorted into the most brutal expression a man's face can wear.

Jack ,who was slightly behind him to his left, knew what that face meant. It was anger at being underestimated.

And then, in what looked like to be a blink of an eye, Andre's fists moved upwards in a lethal arc, gripping the second puppet's neck with his left hand, and smashing the first's head into a million pieces with his right. The man to his right fired the gun, and the bullet shattered the moment it collided with Andre's head. Andre lunged at him, and the next moment he was on him, his right arm gone through the man's heart, and the second puppet still in his left arm, which he destroyed a second later by slamming it on the building to his right.

45 left.

The crowd, earlier full of energy, now went silent. Observing the entire skirmish from behind, Alex couldn't help but smile wickedly at the unmistakable look of horror on George's face. In front of him, he saw Jack using his power, bringing a huge pillar of earth out of the ground beneath the crowd, throwing a dozen men in the air. He turned to the girl in the kimono. "Do you know why I recruited Andre?"

"Go on", was all she said, her eyes focused on the battle going on, shining red like Alex's.

"He's like fire."

" 'Cause he devours everything in his path?", she asked, slightly dismissively.

"No. Because he's dangerous when not kept in check. And even more dangerous when underestimated."

Rose frowned at him. "You've been reading too much poems."

"Maybe".

Suddenly , a few shots rang out in front of them. Alex turned his head sharply, and found the bullets stopped in their tracks.

"How are you even doing that?", asked Allie.

"Wires. Rose and me are stopping the bullets in their tracks with them."

"You guys have the same ability?"

"Yep."

"Alright guys,", Albert interrupted. "I'm getting bored, and I'm not going to let Jack and Mr. Meathead have all the fun."

Allie sighed and adjusted his straw-hat. A white outline of a gun appeared in both his hands, and they turned into proper pistols a second later. He tossed one to Albert, who caught it with his left hand and headed towards Andre and Jack, with Allie trailing behind him.

Volkov too starting walking behind them, though a bit too leisurely, with his hands locked behind him.

"Enchantment No.4: Blank Rose.". he whispered under his breath, and three white roses appeared between the fingers of his right hand.

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George's mind was warped with confusion. He thought he was mentally prepared for this. But seeing all these supernatural events happening around him was taking a toll on his brain. Jack was manipulating the very earth, sending people flying and pinning them to wall. Andre was already behind him brutally smashing his guildmates behind him. His golems had been smashed. Any bullet fired by his guild was being stopped in its tracks. And the Dark Knights weren't even fully moving. Only 2 people were attacking.

'Get yourself together', he told to himself. But then another realization hit him. He was wide open, yet no one was targeting him. Even Andre and Jack had ignored him. He looked at what was left of his team. Around thirty people remained, and even those numbers were dropping steadily. He wasn't gonna sit around. If they were ignoring him, he was going to use it to his advantage. He raised his hands, and two more golems came out of the ground to his side. Both of them lunged at Jack.

George waited patiently, ready to create another puppet the moment one of them fell.

But all of a sudden, intense searing pain coursed through his legs, and he fell to the ground. It took him a moment to register what had happened.

He had turned his back to the rest of the Dark Knights on accident, and Allie and Albert , who were running towards him , had shot both his legs in the knee pits.

He lay there, writhing in agony, as he saw Allie and Albert run past him, followed by Mr. Volkov. He looked at the remainder of his men. A dozen were left, only the strong ones. They were his last hope. The other Knights were walking towards them too.

A killing blow was coming. He was sure of it.

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As George lay on the ground, Jack was fighting the two golems. Three men were rushing towards him.

One of the golems threw a punch, and he dodged to the right, where the other golem was already pulling back its leg, ready to throw a kick with all its might.

Jack tried to dodge, but failed. The kick connected with his ribs, cracking a few of them and throwing him towards the building behind him. The other puppet jumped towards him and pulled back its arm , and Jack braced for impact. But before it could throw the punch, Volkov violently swung his right arm, sending the White roses in his hand towards them, there pointed ends facing the enemies. Two of them connected with the golems, while the third found its place in the chest of one of the three men rushing towards Jack. A shining white sphere, exactly one meter in diameter, appeared where the roses had struck, and disappeared as quickly as they came. Everything that was within the sphere disappeared with it. This destroyed the two golems, and killed two of the men , while robbing the last one of his left leg.

Jack recovered quickly , and looked back to see the rest of the Knights moving towards them.

There were 8 men remaining.

Andre was just about to reduce that number to seven, when a man stopped his fist with the front of his arm. He looked young, and his arm felt as hard as a rock. Andre threw another punch, so did the man. When their fists connected, he expected the man's hand to break, but it didn't. He threw another punch, and it was met the same response. A few seconds into this fist fight, and both of them were throwing two punches per second, yet the man's hands were refusing to yield.

Andre leaped backwards, taking in the situation. The other man followed suit, breaking up the assault temporarily.

"What is your name, boy?", Andre asked. Instead of a reply, the man lunged at Andre, and when his fist was barely an inch away from Andre's face, his movements stopped.

"Not one for conversation I see.", said Andre, and turned around to see Alex standing a few feet away from him with the rest of the Knights trailing behind him.

Andre hadn't quite stopped to see the damage he had done.

Around him, most of the enemies had fallen. All action had ceased, and the smell of death lingered in the air. The ground had turned almost entirely red. He looked at the bodies he'd left in his wake, completely taking his eyes off the man who hung suspended in the air beside him. His nose followed the smell the death. Only he knew what it was like. It wasn't anything foul, but it wasn't a good smell either. It was something in between. Malevolent, peaceful, serene and most profoundly, addicting.

Right now this scent flowed around the battlefield like multiple rivers flowing out of a lake. A cold, dark, damp lake. And at the center of the lake was Alex, standing solemnly, like the Reaper himself delivering judgement.

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Pain.

That was the only thing George's mind was registering at the moment. Not because of the bullets lodged in his knee pits. But because of the huge failure he had become. He'd inherited this gang, The Coffin Makers, with the hope of taking revenge for everything the Dark Knights had taken from him.

His family, his mentors, his reputation. He had assembled the best of his men. He had suffered so many sleepless nights, waiting for his perfect vengeance.

'This is wrong', he thought, 'This is all wrong.'

And it WAS wrong. He was supposed to walk out of here as a victor, As the man who defeated the infamous Demon of the 13th division. And yet as he lay there, he realized he ended up as another one of the Demon's victims. Alex King had won yet again.

He looked at what was left of his men. The only one remaining was Stonie, and even he was suspended in the air by what looked like wires from where he lay.

"What the hell !", he heard Stonie shout. Stonie flexed his arms , pushed with all he had, but the wires were too strong.

Just like that, his perfect vengeance had vanished into thin air.

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Alex walked up to George, squatting in front of him while the latter raised his head to look Alex in the eyes.

"Howdy?", said Alex. George's face contorted in anguish at the nonchalant greeting.

"Not in a good mood then,I assume?", said Alex, clearly enjoying himself.

"Goddamn monster!", muttered George under his breath.

"I'll take that as a compliment.", said Alex playfully. The setting sun behind his head looked like a crimson crown befitting the devil himself.

George looked on the verge of tears. He couldn't be blamed. He hadn't seen enough bloodshed, enough battles and enough losses in his life to maintain his composure in a battle against Alex. If anything, Alex had tried to not fight by himself at all to ensure George still had his sanity intact by the end of the fight. He had plans for him.

"What a pitiable little boy you are, George. Barely a few deliberate traces of my location, and you came looking like a moth to the flame."

'Deliberate.' The words echoed in George's mind. So none of this had been his choice. He hadn't pinpointed Alex's location. Alex had lured him in. The tears in his eyes couldn't have been stopped by a dam at that point. So they flowed out, slowly but surely.

"Yeah, it must feel like shit," Alex said, " Realizing you were a pawn in a game you didn't even know was being played. But now your life's over." A faint glimmer appeared in Alex's eyes. " Or is it?".

George looked up with tear-filled eyes. Or rather, they were filled with hope. Alex's favorite tool to exploit.

" Do you know why I lured you here?", he asked.

George shook his head.

"Points, Georgie, Points. The Coffin Makers have amassed quite some points, and right now , in this world of supernatural powers, people like me can't rise to the top with just guns and knives anymore. So I thought, instead of going on a killing spree, or doing the shitty stuff the terminal requires me to do to gain points, why not steal them from you guys."

The wheels turned in George's head. " I can give you all my points. I'll go to the terminal, and transfer every single point I have, along with the points of the guild, to you. Just let me and Stonie live."

The faintest suggestion of a smile appeared on Alex's face, and disappeared as quickly as it came. He could sense the spark of hope turn into a full blown campfire inside George. The tool had served its purpose.

"Good. Commence the transfer."

George whipped out his hand and opened the Terminal. Its blue light reflecting in his eyes. Alex watched his every move. He fumbled around with the terminal. A minute. Two minutes. And then he closed it.

" It's done."

Alex opened up his own Terminal and checked his points.

3348.

His points had increased by around 1500.

" Good", said Alex, and stood up straight. "Hey Andre, see Mister Won't-give-up over there?"

Andre looked over his shoulder towards Stonie, still suspended in the air, struggling with the wires. "Yeah? He's taking my attacks with ease so I just left him there with your wires."

" I think his power allows him to harden his body or something. Try the eyes".

George looked upwards in horror. Was he hearing correctly? " What are you doing? We HAD A DEAL !"

He thought it may be a joke. But looking at Alex erased all his doubts. The humour was gone, and there was no smile on his face. There was just a cruel expression, devoid of empathy. Alex was gone now. The Demon of the 13th division had taken over.

"Did you think you picked a fight with saints?" That was all Alex said. A moment later Andre jabbed two of his fingers into Stonie's right eye so deep that the knuckles were barely visible. Stonie's body limped, and soon the wires moved away, letting his body fall on the ground.

Alex could now hear George shouting.

" YOU sick B*****D. WE HAD A DEAL. WHY! WHY!!".

How many times had Alex heard these words? How many lives had he ruined this way? How many Georges had he butchered, betrayed, sent straight to hell? He could hear the shouts of all the people he'd killed. The voices in his head were repeating them like a ghastly chorus.

But that had no effect on him. He was still going to follow through with what he had in mind.

Slowly, he pulled his gun out of the holster and pointed it down at George's head. The sun had almost set, and its fading light reflected off of the long-barreled revolver.

" Well, you said you'd give me all your points. But your life is still worth 50.", Alex said. His long, slender fingers now resting on the trigger.

George wanted to say a million things. Curses, pleads, threats. But all he managed were two words. "Please....don't."

" Rovyi morken kirja syujen", Alex muttered solemnly. 'Onto the next life' .And he pulled the trigger.