Chapter 50 - It won't be free...

"Interesting," Damian muttered as he looked curiously at the thumb-sized, red-hot slug stuck in a web of darkness, extending from the fingers of his right hand. "I'd read this world still uses mostly physical ammo, but I have to admit I underestimated it a little. That was clearly a mistake on my part because this thing could have actually harmed me!" 

He immediately realized he'd have to be a little careful with weaponry like this. Although he could easily stop these slugs if he actually saw them coming, if the bullet was fired from a larger distance without his knowledge, it might actually penetrate his skull and reach his brain… which would be bad. 

Meanwhile, the three thugs were looking at him with horrified and shocked expressions. "B— Boss, h— he—!" 

"I know!" the boss snapped as he and his two fellows quickly took a few steps back. "Listen!" he exclaimed, his voice having become a little more high-pitched. "I— I don't know if you're an Aetherborn, or an Aethersynth, b— but we're not helpless here, alright?!" 

At the same time, he aimed the same arm-mounted weaponry at him again. Next to him, the other two thugs gulped as they aimed their own weaponry at their well-dressed foe. They looked reluctant as if they'd rather just turn around and run. 

Damian tilted his head a little, his curious gaze finally turning back from the slug between his fingers to the thugs. The boss continued: "S— So how about you just let us finish our job here, and then we go our separate ways, huh?" 

Suddenly, one of the two henchmen spoke up a little shakily, his eyes never leaving Damian's form."H— Hey, boss… didn't the general say somethin' 'bout this?" 

Suddenly, a cunning and greedy light flashed through the boss' eyes. "Right!" 

Suddenly, despite still aiming his weapon at Damian, an ingratiating smile made his expression even uglier. "Perhaps the gentlemen would like to meet with our leader?" 

"Oh…?" Damian asked, seemingly interested. "And who would that be?" 

The man parted his lips to respond… but then quickly closed them again as if conflicted. Damian quickly understood the problem and smirked at him. "I've already seen your faces, you know? If I really wanted to know where you belong, I'm sure I could find out with a little searching." 

Damian's words seemed to resolve the man's mind, "I guess that's true, and I'm sure the general would want us to prioritize putting another aether user on the payroll…" 

As was often the case, rogue worlds like this one would find different words for myst, and Earth had adopted the name aether. 

With his dilemma solved, the man puffed out his chest in pride. "We belong to the Rustborn! Our leader is the Silver General, who I'm sure you've heard of before!" 

"Ah, I see," Damian nodded with raised eyebrows. "Yes, I have heard of him before. In fact, he was on my list of targets, but—" 

"T— Targets….?" the man interrupted him, gulping slightly, now afraid he'd made a mistake. 

"Oh yeah, don't worry about it," Damian answered, waving his hand dismissively. "The point is, about an hour ago, I probably would have accepted your offer, but…" he shrugged helplessly as if he simply couldn't help the situation, "…well, I'm a sucker for a damsel in distress." 

The three thugs widened their eyes when their instincts started screaming danger, but it was too late. The slug, encased in darkness in Damian's hand, launched itself back at its sender, leaving a trail of shadows behind it. 

All three thugs flinched in surprise and fear, causing them all to fire their weapons at the same time. Yet, Damia had already moved, and the slug had already buried itself deep into the boss man's brain, killing him instantly. 

At the same time, Damian had sidestepped the other two thugs' lines of sight, and pulled out his sheathed Nox Aeternum. Without even unsheathing it, he elegantly turned on his axis and launched a wind blade of bloodred myst. 

 Immediately, silence descended on them. The two remaining thugs blinked once… before their heads slowly slid off their necks. Meanwhile, Damian reabsorbed the sword. 

All three of them died in the span of two seconds, and when he was done, Damian righted himself again. He appeared almost wry as looked at the three corpses. "What's a man got to do to find a decent opponent around here…" 

Glancing at the bright central districts in the distance, he quickly corrected himself. "Without being suicidal, that is…" 

"Well, all in due time," he sighed and turned to face the reason for his being there. 

Unfortunately, Alita was now fully slack and slumped against the wall. Her eyes had closed, her chest no longer rose, and her arms had fallen to the side. Blood no longer streamed from the wound in her side, and the gun rested by her hand, still jammed. 

"Hmm," Damian hummed as he walked closer to her. "Nova…?" he asked curiously. 

"She is still alive, Damian," the AI answered him smoothly. "But she has seconds to live." 

"Heh, I have no doubt about that," he chuckled, while crouching down next to her. His boots splashed into a puddle of blood, but he didn't care. As a man who cared about his appearance, he'd naturally bought clothes that didn't easily get dirty. 

Without delay, Damian pressed his hand against Alita's forehead and sent a surge of myst through her body. Instantly, myst took over the job of oxygen distribution from the now-missing blood, and Alita gasped awake with wide eyes. Instinctively, she tried to surge forward, but her body wouldn't listen to her. 

Both her vision and mind remained in a daze, however. All she could see was Damian's handsome face and a hazy blot that filled the background. "Wha— Wha— What….?" she panted, utterly confused. Her body screamed in pain, and she was unable to form a coherent thought. 

"I know, I know, you feel confused," Damian nodded patiently, his confident, calming gaze staring deep into her light blue eyes. Her face was very pretty, if a little smeared with blood, and framed by dark blue hair styled into long twin-tails. 

"But, we don't have much time, so pull yourself together if you want to live." he continued sternly. 

She was still confused, but her mind quickly cleared up as more oxygen made its way back there. "A-Are you an angel…?" she muttered, clearly still dazed. 

Having studied up on the history of this world, Damian knew what she meant, but shook his head with a meaningful chuckle. "Hehe, no, I'm not. If anything, I'd represent the other one, because while I can save you, it won't come for free…"