A Killer

The door creaked closed.

But Leon froze at the doorway when he saw someone barge out of the bar.

His brow creased.

'That man...?'

Just like Leon, Jax came to a sudden stop upon sighting the approaching figure. His chest tightened. He swallowed with great difficulty, his instincts telling him to run. Far from the Red Requiem, the living testament to terror. But, damn, his bones clotted in place.

Standing still at the doorway, Leon couldn't deny coming to know the man's identity and his consternation. Leon realised that if this slender lady scared such a strong man, it would be foolish for him to step forward, too.

He breathes in an anchored way. 'My plan? It can wait for now.'

The blight air sprang past the two males.

When the ominous lady strode by Jax's side, he finally sighed in relief. Of course, he recognised Leon, but knowing that assaulting the weak in the Requeim's presence exacts death... he hid his fist.

And, likewise, rumours tell of a bad omen following her. There would be destruction wherever she visits.

Jax ground his teeth, glaring at Leon. "Everyone can't be getting lucky today!"

Leon knew that the fact she didn't mind their presence meant she wouldn't have killed the people if they had stayed. But, as people ran away regardless, something was definitely at stake. He asked himself, 'Should I reconsider allying with her and run for now?'

In the bar, the air smelled both flavourful and metallic. The Requiem halted before a man.

She had an oval-like non-smiley face, her nose pointing forward. She wore her hair in big golden braids. And she adorned her hands with fingerless gloves, wearing a sleeveless shirt over her body.

The man before her had crouched over a heavily mutilated corpse. It was impossible to know the gender due to a violent facial assault; the corpse held deep stabs. Also, blood painted it whole.

The man held a bloodied axe, staring at the corpse. He chuckled. "Goodness... and I warned her not to resist. I wanted nothing more than a night." Looking up at the lady with a fixed gaze, he asked, "The disapproval meant I wasn't good-looking, didn't it?"

In a flash, as the lady widened her palm, an invisible force lifted the man to her grasp. She strangled him immediately. He choked.

The man could hardly say, "Why're you doing this?... Damn you! Did you know the bitch or something?"

Finally, the Requiem spoke, her tone disregarding, "I wasn't paid to avenge her."

The man chuckled. "Ah... I forgot you're nothing but an assassin. A song for the dead." He leaned closer to her, grinning in a very excited manner. "Are you here to bargain injustice with death as usual? You're actually the most biased human I know..."

Before he could catch his breath, the lady hurled him into the chairs and tables.

Rattle!

But as if unaffected, the man rose with ease.

The lady said in a relaxed yet firm manner, "They didn't pay me for the hundreds that died by your hands. But killing you equals avenging them."

Immediately, the man screamed out.

"I kill them... Then what?! Learning that doing so is normal isn't the only thing a five-year-old caught up on. But also that there is enjoyment in it! Nothing..." he grinned, leaning forward, "... is as interesting as seeing trash ask you to save their life as they gasp for breath!

That aside. Of all potential saints in the great Mecha, an assassin attempts to take the honour? Haha! Don't you know the difference between me and you is that I do this for enjoyment while you do it for rewards?..."

The assassin cut in. "If I were you, my last wishes would be all I'd say at this point."

She aimed a handgun at the man's chest without any warning.

Even so, he did nothing but slap his face with a sigh. "Come on... You still don't get it."

He exhaled with a long breath. "I suppose we can't help it any more, then."

RUMBLE!

A guttural sound vibrated through the air with unexpected intensity. Leon glanced around the sky as his chest tightened. Jax did the same.

Jax's breath immediately came in ragged gasps. He stepped backwards, fear wrapping his face.

His instincts screamed at him to run away!

Jax glanced at the figures inside the bar. "Damn it... he has the destructive power of a sea monster! I can't stay here for long."

Turning around, he sprinted away.

Sniffing the air, Leon smelled salt and brine. He muttered under his breath, "The scent is different..."

The neon sky dimmed, flashes of lightning dispelling the clouds.

Inside the bar, the man's breath fogged up. A translucent shimmer coated his skin. Without notice, he shredded his shirt with clawed hands. The symbol of a serpent coiling around itself was etched on his broad chest. Energy pulsed over him, illuminating deep blue-green veins beneath his skin.

Puzzlingly, a humongous leviathan-like shadow took shape behind him.

As he flexed his muscles, a shockwave burst out, knocking over chairs and tables. The titan-like man glared at the lady, who lowered her gun at that moment.

He groaned, voice as deep as a monster's, "Since you're too egotistical to listen, I shall teach you a lesson!"

In an interval of five seconds, the lady had unbacked her violin pouch...

SWOOSH!

The man rushed at her. The ground vibrated beneath him. Closing in, he charged his large fist towards the lady with a roar...

SLASH!

But, as a sharp blade drove past his muscle, the lady blurred.

Blood trickled down the man's arm, but in an instant, the wound closed. It healed.

He screamed as he turned around, "Not bad!"

The lady, dismissing him, ran her hands across her pouch and turned her back on him.

The moment the man attempted an attack after closing in, time felt like it was dragging on. The fist slowed down in motion, every particle in the air moving like a snail.

Unaffected, the lady picked a curved knife and a black sack from the pouch with ease. Instead of the case containing a violin, it secured weapons instead. Knives, revolvers and even snipers.

Outside, Leon appeared as firm as a statue. The world was still moving, but slowed down under the Requiem's order.

Without hesitation, her knife cut through the opponent's lunging ankle. She rushed to his posterior.

Time resumed itself.

Leon gasped, feeling somehow different. He glanced around. 'What has happened?'

The man's eyes widened, watching as the lower part of his arm toppled to the ground.

'When did she do this?'

He turned at a measured pace.

Blood gushed from the stump, splattering onto the ground. Before the drops could fully soak into the dirt, the raw flesh twitched. Bones stretched and healed, skin flowed over the new limb, and muscle joined together.

He flexed his fingers as the new hand formed into a fist.

He ground his teeth. And yelled at the lady. "You crazy bitch! Have you got a death wish...?! I won't be so merciful anymore!"

He roared out, pushing his widened chest towards the ceiling. A strong wind broke the glass front of the bar, sending shards flying at Leon. But Leon had shifted to one side of the yard to avoid it. Brown tiger-fur-like tattoos appeared on the man's body.

The Requiem tightened her grip on the knife, as well as the sack. What could be inside the sack?

FWOOSH!

The man rushed at her, but she immediately rolled over the table to dodge his energy-infused fists. In a moment, he cornered her near a worn-out, yet working refrigerator. He ended up shattering the refrigerator into pieces. Taking him by surprise, the lady lifted him whole and smashed his back against the ground.

She wasn't only strong, but also moved like a phantom. She fights like a legend and moves with grace, even without her Constellation ability.

Leon, realising that the man had used his, said in his mind: 'Activate Instinctive Read!'

Drawing closer to the building, he peeped at a blue panel over the man as he struggled to rise from the ground.

[Using ]

Name: Ryker Voss

Rank: Sentinel

Age: 34

Strength: 70.0

Agility: 72.6

Intelligence: 52.1

Stamina: 71.2

Constellation: Cetus {The Sea Monster}]

After reading through, Leon glanced at the man with dropped jaws. The lady was dominating, but something told him that this wouldn't last long.

'That guy has got the Cetus Constellation! An unstoppable force of destruction.'

All eight different Constellations have a myth behind them; the confrontation of a man against a sea monster birthed this one. The existence of the sea monster was as a result of the fireball incident. Failing to defeat it with a bronze shield, winged shoes and such, he reached into his bag for one last option.

'That last option...' Leon saw the black sack in the lady's grip. 'Oh my... her intelligence and predictability are inhumane! The man would finally kill her, but not if she has got the taboo in her hand. The weapon that Perseus used to defeat Cetus!'

The man began to rush attacks at a blinding rate. Yet, the lady continued to dodge. She was actually forced onto the defence right now, and the man smiled because of it.

"Attack and break yourself, bitch!"

Leon shook his head. Apart from the lady, only he knew that this man would die.

'I'm certain of it! She has got the head of Medusa in that sack.'