I Only Want To Kill-Chapter 38: Fear

Nadyr's body shifts to the side half a meter. White energy lines are left behind by his movement.

He moves just enough to dodge the attack. The lightning bolt hits a henchman behind Nadyr.

[You have gained 50 experience points!]

All the others scatter a few steps back and square up, readying for battle.

"Wow. That's a strike!"

Nadyr looks at the dead man, having no feeling for the loss of his men.

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"What is this power? B4 rank? Or is it B3? B2?

Why do you need to hold that bone? Is it the core of your power?"

Blaze doesn't answer and keeps blasting. A lightning strike shoots out of the tip of the wand.

Nadyr once again turns into a white blur, dodging the attack.

This time, the man behind him is ready. He lowers his center point and places one side of the shoulder in front.

When the lightning appears, the man taps on his shoulder pad. Blue energy spreads on its black surface, and an invisible force field materializes in front of the man.

Lightning strikes on the field. The man gets pushed back a few meters. His shoes drag on the ground, leaving scraping marks behind their path.

The goons behind catch him and stop the man from being pushed back further.

The nameless goon gasps in disbelief, touching his body everywhere to check for injury.

Nothing at all. Except for a little bit of burn at the bottom of the shoes.

"I'm alright!"

The eyes of all the goons lit up. They all press on their pads and armor, invisible force fields materialize and distort the nearby air.

These force fields aren't that strong and can't absorb much impact. They don't even cover the wearer entirely, only specific sections of the body.

But they work wonders with energy attacks. And that's all the criminals need to gain confidence in dealing with Blaze again.

They all look at him with bloodlust, ready to dissect Blaze into hundreds of pieces.

"See, boys! As I said, there's nothing to be afraid of.

This freak is nothing more than a strong gunner.

Go to town with him!"

Nadyr slowly retreats into the back of the crowd, heading to the elevator.

"Why?"

Blaze speaks for the first time.

It is also the first time Nadyr hears the voice of the figure. The masked, shadowy creature of the night.

Nadyr turns toward Blaze again. This time no longer with the joking attitude and smiley face he once had.

His face is devoid of emotion, of empathy, and of humanity. What's left is only a cold, hard shell.

Whatever happened to this man, it has stripped him of most of his compassion.

"Why what?"

"Why run away?"

"Why not?"

"You know these delinquents cannot stop me. Why send them to die?

Why not collect all your lieutenants and attack me at once?"

Nadyr doesn't answer and keeps walking backward.

As strong as the Boss of the Roof is, he is still but a coward. Collecting all the forces and attacking Blaze means one thing.

It's either Blaze kills all of them or they kill Blaze.

He is but one man, and they are many.

But that is exactly why they are afraid.

Furthermore, Blaze's existence. His shadow figure and the white mask are something otherworldly.

They don't know why they are having that feeling. But they are afraid, including Nadyr.

So he doesn't want to bet all his forces to take down one man. He'd rather grind him down slowly, and if the creature is stronger than he can take, Nadyr will choose to escape instead.

He is no devotee to a cause. He is only a businessman who wants to get rich.

If the business becomes too dangerous, Nadyr prefers to bounce instead of staying.

A predictable plan, to be honest.

If he has the guts to go all in, he might have the chance to win. But he doesn't.

Well, if he has the guts. He wouldn't be in this line of work.

It's hard to be good. It's hard to do the right thing.

It's easy to be bad.

Blaze smiles. Nadyr's silence has told him all he needs to know.

And he begins laughing sharply, abruptly, suddenly, like a record being played. But the eyes of the creature are cold and stay open without blinking.

Then Blaze stops. The laugh fades instantly.

"Fear!"

The word fills the space. And then the golden patterns on the Tattered Mask turn red. The crimson grows out from Blaze's blood-red eyes.

A dark red energy bursts out from the white surface of the mask and spreads to all corners of the hallway.

It crawls into the crevices of the eyes of the goons. It turns into centipedes and drills into their ears.

They have no idea they have been affected. They can only sense a dreadful surge overwhelm their very being.

All the goons begin to breathe heavily. Sweat covers their faces. Their hands are shaking, and their knees are wobbling.

Some fall on their butt and piss themselves. Yellow, smelly liquid spreads on the floor.

Some cower inside the corner, shaking nonstop, hiding their eyes, and covering their ears.

Some cry for their mothers like a little kid, hoping she can protect them from whatever demon is present.

Some frantically run around, screaming ghosts of their past.

All of them lose their will to fight. Weapons fall on the ground. The sound of metal dropping is music to the ears, extremely satisfying.

Nadyr stumbles around. He closes his eyes and shakes his head repeatedly.

He's the only one in the hallway that can resist the Hidden Power somewhat.

Blaze slowly walks forward. The sound of his steps dances around the room.

The goons are all terrified of him and get out of his way. Some even curl into a fetal position and do not dare to look out.

Nadyr is able to open his eyes again, bloodshot webs cover the white surface of his eyeballs. It looks like he hasn't been able to sleep for days.

His body turns into a blur and goes inside the elevator.

The shadow figure slowly walks forward. Blaze does not seem to be in any hurry.

But Nadyr is. He tries to press the button but keeps missing the button.

The second floor! The second floor! Damn it!

Nadyr keeps pressing. The button lights up, and the door slowly closes, transferring Nadyr away from the scene.

He falls down to the elevator floor, his left palm grabbing the fabric near his chest.

His heart beats frantically, like a deer seeing its hunter. He tries his best to calm down, but an invisible force prevents him.

Nadyr slows his breath down and is eventually able to escape the effect of the Hidden Power.

"Sixth power... How many..."

Back in the hallway, Blaze approaches the elevator and presses the button, calling it back.

The Roof is a very large mansion, navigating through every part of this building will be a chore.

Luckily, Blaze doesn't need to do that. His scout has already taken care of the problem.

A yellow fireball phases through the nearby wall and then turns into a raven.

Isaac lands on Blaze's shoulder.

"The Pale Harpy is keeping an eye on Alyson, Master.

There are two B-ranks there, so she can't get Alyson out yet."

"Don't worry. I will handle them myself."

Isaac looks back on the hallway behind him. All the criminals, traffickers, and henchmen writhe in place in ugly fashions. Some of them Isaac even recognizes.

"What do we do with them, Master?"

The elevator opens, and Blaze walks inside.

"Kill yourselves!"

The low, hoarse voice of the figure spreads. It becomes dozens of different voices, each tailored to the deepest, darkest trauma for each bastard.

A man that is curled in the corner suddenly sits up. He grabs the nearby machete and thrusts it inside his stomach.

Another man puts a pistol in his mouth and pulls the trigger. Brain matters are scattered on the wall.

Another bashes his head repeatedly into the concrete. His skull is broken and his brain is squished. His entire head fills with blood. But he keeps going.

A horrific, bloody sight takes over the hallway.

The elevator is closing, but Blaze pushes on the hold button. He's standing still, taking in the scene and making sure every single one of them is dead.

[You have gained 100 experience points!]

[You have gained 100 experience points!]

[You have gained 100 experience points!]

[...]

It keeps going for another ten minutes until the warmth of life leaves the last person inside that hallway.

The Lantern of the Damned appears in Blaze's hand. The souls of all the goons fly to Blaze and are now trapped inside the Lantern.

17 souls. That gets the total number to 40. A nice round number.

Blaze finally releases the button, letting the elevator close.

Isaac involuntarily gulps a few times due to the sickening scene.

Master is ruthless. But maybe it is what this world needs right now.

Blaze presses the basement level. He needs to rescue Alyson first.