A Dead End

Leon breathed with a tremor as the fear of monsters' appearance clung to his heart. Keeping his eyes open created unpleasant illusions, and doing otherwise wasn't better. He agreed no one was as foolish as he was today, depicting a good soul out of no one but an assassin. A killing machine.

'She should have just disappeared without talking as if she cares how my goddamn life ends up. This is... this is bullshit!'

As a couple of seconds passed by, Leon rolled towards the hotel's sturdy steps. The sharp edges of the blanket of pebbles on the ground sent a jolt of pain through his body as he rolled. But this was something he was ready for beforehand.

Reaching the step, he sat up, then turned the yellowish rope binding his hands towards the stair. He saw it against the stair without relent. As he did, Leon told himself - this is foolish. But was staying idle until the monsters bombarded him a better option?

Seconds passed, yet he couldn't even make an inch cut through it.

Suddenly, Leon heard the sound of pebbles crushing underfoot from behind him. His heart pounded. He froze mid-action, not even daring to look backwards.

'A mon-ster?'

He turned around at a measured pace.

...

"You don't expect that to loosen the rope, do you?" a familiar, jesting masculine voice asked him.

"What...?" Leon imagined.

Immediately he turned around, he met the gaze of....

An eerie silence stretched in. The only sound was that of Leon swallowing. Jax stood hand-pocketed a few metres away, the air around him darker than the rest of the surroundings. Sweat trickled down Leon's back. He knew exactly who he was and what he wanted.

Jax's eyes glowed crimson. With his bulky build, large arms, and glowing eyes, one could mistake him for a beast in human form.

Jax laughed aloud. "Ha! Seems the Requiem had read my mind to have tied you down like a goat." In a flash, he widened his palm. A dagger around which red fumes coiled materialised in his grip. He approached Leon. "What will you do now? Invite me to another game?"

Leon's vision narrowed. He stumbled backwards, only to feel the cold, unyielding stairway press against his back - he had nowhere left to go.

He hissed through clenched teeth.

"Curse it!"

Again and again, he struggled to sap the bind somehow. But he could hardly move both parts. Jax continued to approach, the metal of his dagger seeming to warn Leon of what's to come. Leon could tell from his expression how determined he was to crush him already...

The least Leon could do was keep his eyes on him, something itching in his eyes. 'His aura already shows he's above me in rank. Should I bother checking his details first... or ask for forgiveness?'

He made up his mind straight away.

He swallowed. "Pardon—"

But, mid-statement, Leon paused.

Jax grinned mid-stride. He asked aloud, "What were you going to say now? Huh?! If it's about getting pardoned, then beg me! You could as well lick my shoe, jackass!"

Leon's body trembled. He turned his head down while clenching his fist. 'That statement... I have heard it so many times. They always ask me to do the same thing...'

Jax's heavy laugh hollered in his ears as well as his nearing movement.

The statement reminded Leon of his past as a porter, handling different teams' supplies when they were on a raid into dungeons. Some of them acted nice... too nice... giving him extra tips for a reason Leon took as being pitied.

Everything they showed him always made him hate them more. Their smiles, back pats, and selfies were just to not make him feel oppressed. To feel among. He hated them too much.

However, the ones he could never forget were those who not only weren't hospitable. But would also assault him for every slight mistake he makes. Their once humane minds were driven crazy by superhuman strength, making them look down on the weak. What did they force him to do to get spared?

To lick their shoes.

In the present, Leon clenched his fist. Tears streaked down his face.

"... I thought I was over my past life!"

Leon glanced at Jax with flamboyant style. Then, unexpectedly, a bitter laugh escaped his lips. His breathing was shallow, body trembling - not just from fear, but from the sick familiarity of it all.

"Beg you?" he scoffed, tilting his head with a forced smirk. "That's exactly what they all said. Douchebags that wanted me cornered and to hear me break before they crushed me."

Jax loomed inches from him, his glowing eyes brighter than anything Leon had ever seen. Still, he maintained eye contact.

Jax groaned, "Did you just call me a douchebag?"

"Exactly, kid. Don't you ever forget that's your real name," Leon pestered him more. "Let me guess - you liked the sound of it when you asked me to beg you? Makes you feel like a god, right?

That if I crawl, if I cry, it'll feed whatever pathetic hole is rotting inside you. But I've seen men like you before... and they all ended the same way." He leaned upwards, gaze unwavering now. "Dead. And forgotten."

"Tell me about that, bastard!" Jax yelled.

Immediately as he swung his dagger, Leon's instincts kicked in. In time, he held his arms up. Instead of the dagger slashing him, it cut the binding rope apart. Alert, Leon screamed, 'Blink Dash', and he blurred away at around five metres from Jax.

Jax's brows creased in surprise. He turned left, only to see that Leon was not only holding a dagger, but also was not bound by the ropes anymore.

"I see..." Jax mumbled.

But, right as Jax was about to step forward, a strong aura wrapped around the air. At the same time, Leon's eyes widened, staring over the structures behind Jax.

Shortly, Jax threw up blood. In the following second, Leon fell to his knees, blood rushing down his nose in an unending stream.

"Ahh - khh!" Leon wheezed.

Jax's chest tightened.

The scent of decay and metal clung to the air like lovers.

For one, Jax was aware that the guy was of a lower rank due to his uncontrolled nosebleeding. Yet, the creature with the sudden strong aura was stronger than both of them. Because, he had also thrown up blood.

His heart pounded with increasing intensity as he turned.

GRRH!

...

"Goddamn it!" Jax yelled.

Towering over roofs were hulking nightmarish hounds whose forms shifted between solid flesh and swirling mist. Jax's breathing shook as he stepped backwards in terror. Behind him, Leon rose to his feet, rubbing the back of his hand across his moustache.

Leon's throat froze immediately, seeing the hounds on the roofs and also on the ground. Their furs, if one could even call them that, shimmered like black smoke. Looking at their emotionless twin pools of molten gold—eyes—sent shivers down his spine.

An information appeared on the system screen, which caused his body to tremble even more.

[Packs of C-rank Hounds.]

[Threat Level: Very High.]

Sweat formed on Leon's palms. 'It's even an unimaginable struggle for me to defeat E-rank beasts. Packs of C-ranks?! Damn it!' He fell to his knees, tears streaming down his face. He clenched sand in his fists. 'Dying is even better than regressing at all! I-I don't wanna relive the past again!'

Jax held his dagger straight, attaining a fighting stance immediately. Still, his stomach churned. Glancing backwards, he met the sight of Leon sobbing. He screamed, "Get to your feet, jackass! What other choice do we have but to fight them off?!"

Leon felt even more enraged that this dude planned to go against C-rank monsters than the fact he wanted to team up. He clenched his teeth amidst a sob, "Are you serious right now?! Your reaction speaks of someone not powerful enough to defeat them. Yet... "

"I know!" Jax yelled. "But know that I've made it through worse. If I stop now, then every damn struggle, every scar, every time I clawed my way out of hell..."

Leon's jaw dropped suddenly as the hounds jumped to the floor, snarling as they sprinted towards him. He trembled to his feet.

SNARL!

"They're coming!"

Unawared, Jax screamed, "... The struggles would be for nothing. Dead end or not, I'm not dying here! Not today—"

Leon screamed in terror, "Look out before you!"

Jax gasped.

As he turned around, turned his eyes to face glowing golden ones, to a variety of monstrous grins... his heart failed even before he died. It was too late. Too late to even hold his dagger straight or use his Constellation. His family's special ability.

The hounds closed in on him; one after the other, they sank their fangs into his body. Like hungry men coming to get their share of a meal, Jax screamed, screamed for help.

But Leon didn't have the courage to approach. No courage... even paralysed to move from where he was. The hopeless look in Jax's eyes, his dying scream... They told Leon his death was next.

But before Jax's eyes shut, Leon heard him say, "Get the hell out of here, fellow douchebag."

The hounds sank their fangs deeper into his body; his bones crunched with a sharp sound.

"Ah, goddamn it!"

Jax choked on blood, couldn't tell who he was anymore or what he looked like. He just... he just knew this was the end of him. His blood gurgled, his flesh getting torn one after the other.

The scent of metal was so thick that Leon could taste it in the air.

"NO!"

He could only sob, extending his arms towards Jax with no reach. He lost his balance, falling to his knees. Tears painted his whole face.

A hefty amount of blood pooling beneath Jax, the hounds dropped his body—if you could call it one any more.

Then, they approached Leon.

Leon screamed, "Kill me without making me regress, system! I don't want to live anymore... DAMN IT!"