There was no mistake.
The tall, prideful man standing before me was the very same officer who had chased me through the alleys.
The same jackass who had cornered me, made a fool out of me, and spent the whole time spewing self-righteous bullshit.
But…
Why was he here?
Even the patrol officers stationed at the First Great Wall weren’t permitted to wander into the desolation of the Ruins.
It wasn’t that they couldn’t.
They simply weren’t allowed to.
The law was enforced directly by the Sovereign Families themselves.
…Then again, the officers of the CDF weren’t Superhumans.
Maybe that was the difference.
No.
That still didn’t explain it.
A law imposed by the Sovereign Families wasn’t something anyone could simply ignore.
The only people with that kind of freedom were those who stood close to them…
Or belonged to them.
Which meant…
This bastard had ties to one of the great Sovereign Families.
And worst of all, Not only was he a Superhuman…
He was a Superhuman with a personal grudge against me.
Great.
Just Great.
As I pierced the darkness shrouding the officer in translucent shadows, I heard…
a mocking laugh.
That son of a bitch was mocking me!
Finally revealing himself, the officer smiled and said in a polite tone, “Fine then…
I guess I’ll do the honours.
Ahem…” The bastard cleared his throat.
Smirking, he wistfully spoke, “I’ll give you this…
you caught me off guard back then and wounded me badly.
You even managed to deduce the nature of my Ability and manipulate me into walking straight into your little trap.” He paused…
then, he laughed.
It was not the kind of laughter that I had expected though.
It seemed like he was happy…
not angry.
Catching himself, the officer turned to face me once more.
“Truly…
I’m impressed.
You really are a rat, and a noble one at that.” A noble rat…
not once in my life had I ever expected to be called that.
I would’ve been pleased if the one who had spoken it was someone…
anyone else.
As I slowly shuffled to the side, making enough distance between myself and the cottage as much as possible, I internally deduced my possibilities.
This…
was bad.
No.
It was so much worse.
There wasn’t a snowball’s chance in hell I’d even land a hit, let alone win in a straight fight.
Superhumans existed on an entirely different plane.
Even without relying on their Abilities, their bodies alone could overwhelm the strongest of mundane humans with laughable ease.
From what I’d seen, the officer was almost certainly a First-Tier Superhuman.
To the people living beyond the walls, the First Tier might’ve sounded insignificant.
To a Ruined…
It may as well have been an unclimbable mountain.
How was a pathetic, sub-human rat like me supposed to stand against something like that?
No.
Fighting wasn’t an option.
I had to think of something…
anything.
Just then, his eyes drifted toward the cottage.
Warm light spilled through the windows, accompanied by faint, childish laughter.
A slow grin spread across his face.
“…Oh.” “So that’s your house.” He gestured toward the door.
“Go on.” “Open it.” “Your little rat family must be waiting.” He paused.
His grin widened into something far more sinister.
“I’d be delighted to meet them myself.” If my blood wasn’t boiling before, then it definitely was now.
My entire body trembled as I forced out a shaky breath.
“Quit spewing bullshit and answer me straight.” I met his gaze.
“…Are you here to kill me?” The officer tilted his head ever so slightly.
“Hm…” He scratched his chin, pretending to ponder the question.
“Yes…” “…And no.” “You see, I originally came here intending to settle the score.” He tapped the eyepatch covering his eye.
“You did leave me with quite the souvenir.” A faint chuckle escaped his lips.
“But the more I thought about it…” “The more I realized something.” He lowered his hand.
“Killing you wouldn’t be enough.” “No…” “I didn’t come here just for you.” His grin slowly widened.
“I came to wipe out every last vermin unfortunate enough to call this place home.” “Only then…” “I’ll finally be satisfied.” His eyes shone with a hint of mad fury as he pierced the cottage with a menacing gaze.
“Starting with-” I had enough.
I darted forward and within a heartbeat, I was under him, my hand stretched back.
Grasped in it…
was a sharp piece of stone, ready to be stabbed into the bastard’s groinal area.
But it was all for nothing…
in the end.
TAK- His boot slammed into my face faster than I could think and I was sent flying into the distant wall of a nearby ruined construct.
Dropping to the ground with a thud, I spat a mouthful of crimson blood into the cracked pavement.
I was disoriented…
but I didn’t fear.
Instead, I ran, ran, ran as fast as my body could allow me.
There was no time.
I had to lead that bastard away from the others.
From the Fallen King From the Cottage.
From the Ruined.
From Stephanie and Lev.
From the Elders.
From everything.
Breathing heavily, I looked back for a brief moment only to see the officer walking toward my sprinting figure without a single care in the world.
Turning my head, I uttered a silent curse.
That was when…
the jagged peaks of one of the nightmarish watchtowers connected to the iron fortress came into view.
A glint of an idea came to mind.
I doubted it would work.
But…
what choice did I have?
And so, Against all logical thinking, I whipped into a mad dash toward the gates.
*** Surrounded by weathered constructs of ruin, the gaunt figure of a boy in a tattered onyx cloak ran with all his might.
Behind him, a tall, immaculate young man followed his bloody trail.
One ran while the other walked.
And yet, it seemed as though he would never escape.