[Plate Apocalypse: The enemies are…] (Chapter 9 Part 1)
January 17, 3031.
New Earth, South Panacea.
‘Who is this?’
Aris wondered whilst breathing heavily.
The other man staring at her looked at the wound inflicted near where her heart was located, blood spurting out.
The man has great body build, taller than her and definitely skilled at fighting.
Both long range and close range, even the gun she was holding was sliced in half by the sword appearing and disappearing from his hand.
‘How did the situation become like this?’
A few minutes ago.
“It’s been a day,” Aris mumbled.
“Let’s find her.”
Elara shook her head, “We need to try and trigger an easy minor screening and ask her via communicator, the probability is low regarding getting an easy screening but the chances are high that Hesy is inside a screening right now.
With a strong signal, we can ask where to locate her.”
The wavy-haired person crouched down, sighing.
“Greetings!
Player Elara Selene has triggered a Minor Screening.
Please wait!”
This announcement was only heard by Elara herself, the kitchen utensils she’s holding fell down.
A loud crash made Aris alert, eyes widening.
Aris looked at her friend being eaten by light, Elara looked shaken, trying to grab the woman’s arm.
Aris gave a loud shout.
“Elara!”
“Man, what the fu—” Before the latter could continue, her full body disappeared from her sight.
As if eaten by an unknown wormhole, no traces of someone breathing was left.
Standing still for a moment, Aris recovered immediately and tried to touch the things that made Elara trigger the minor screening.
To no avail, touching these did not lead her to trigger any screening.
Probably, the minor screening has started and the members are completed.
It is unknown when her friend will come back or any assurance that she will come back in one piece.
“What to do?” Aris asked herself, hands slowly sliding to the leather container where her gun was.
With movements filled with swiftness, the woman fired three bullets at the west side of the room.
Near the window, one at the wall, at one near the door.
She followed the silhouette’s foot shadow and predicted their movements.
This was easy but to hit the moving target that seems abnormal made Aris concerned.
Bullets penetrated the thin wall of this unknown house, creating holes.
Her ears perked up, turning to her back that seemed to feel somewhat static.
Ducking down more than half of her legs, she was able to safely escape the overload of the circuits near the ceiling fan.
Running outside, Aris looked around swiftly.
The electric current inside the house felt dangerous, as if a few moments more, she would be fried into a human stick.
“…”
A subtle crunch of leaves made her body move, countering the long blade of someone’s sword using the side of her gun.
Sparks of metal ignited, pushing each other far away from reach.
Aris’ body twisted while flying in the air, skillfully landing at ground with both feet.
From her soles, smokes of dust emerged.
Under the hot rays of sun, a man with jet-black hair and eyes stared at her from afar, face devoid of emotions.
“Yo, attending a funeral?” Aris asked nonchalantly, shaking off the dirt from her clothes.
From top to bottom, the strange guy wore black.
Completely weird due to the hot climate but neat looking.
The provocation didn’t work on the unknown man and firmly held his weapon.
The other end pointed where Aris’ beating muscle could be found.
「He’s targeting my heart?」
The woman was about to open her mouth when the shadow disappeared from her sight.
No, Aris sensed that he didn’t disappear but somehow progressively went too fast for naked eyes to see.
Relying on her own intuition, she evaded from the right using the gun, right there, she had to block a fatal attack.
「Physical Resistance 38% is currently activated.」
Saving her head from getting severed, Aris risked her arm and received a heavy slice from the blade.
Fortunately, the flesh didn’t split in half and is hanging for its life.
On the other hand, another wound appeared slowly right under her left collarbone.
Looking at the grave scene of gore, the woman gulped down the blood from her mouth.
Despite having a skill that depletes physical damage, this person seems to be a little too over the mountains.
How many minor screenings did this guy already enter for him to acquire this type of presence?
It’s only been five days since the earth went banshee, it’s not even a week yet.
His speed might have been the same as light and has this tremendous vibe that makes someone’s hair tingle.
“You,” The man’s voice reached her ears.
“seems to be an interesting target.
You have a lot of potential, however I need to kill you here.”
Aris held her injured arm, letting her clothes be soaked with blood.
The woman laughed, “Potential?
I’ve heard that word a lot since I was young.
Haha!
Who set the bounty this time?
Or you’re looking for my mom, my dad or any of my siblings?”
‘The apocalypse started and you’re still trying to kill me?’
The man paused, nodding without changing expressions, “I am indeed aware of your special place here in the south, Aris Armani.
Especially in the southern military, that’s the very reason why you’re being hunted.”
“Oh?” Aris asked in confusion before a swift gust of air penetrated her view.
“I need to finish my mission, I apologize for the disturbance.
Cooperate and I will end it quickly.” The black-haired man said, moving forward with an inhuman speed.
Aris immediately pinpointed the man’s identity.
Hitmen.
Dust went forward which made her close her eyes for a short moment before the ground shook violently.
A gigantic spear cleared all of the cars and debris out of the way, freezing the ground with ice.
Swiftly as it came, the temperature of the surroundings lowered as Aris also found her breath emitting white smoke.
Aris felt that this day has been going too smoothly that now, all unfortunate things are all starting to pour over her head.
What’s with these people?
All of this has always been edited from films, or exists only in books.
Out of all lucky people who can attain such high graded abilities, it’s these two?
Since when did this world allow things that defy science?
“…An assassin and,” Aris whispered.
“Caelum, you shithead.” Gazing at the sky, a woman with a menacing smile emerged.
Icicles of ice floating at her back, “You should have just kept your mouth shut.”
The man named ‘Caelum’ ignored her completely.
“Hey!”
Aris continued her thoughts as the figure of the tall person jumped from the building, landing on the roadside with a heavy fall, a huge crater appeared under her feet.
“…a psycho woman who can use ice and gravity.”
The wavy-haired person slapped her cheeks with her still intact arms, looking at the two people who seemed to be planning her funeral.
Maybe that’s the reason the other guy wore all black, it’s to bury her alive and celebrate.
The tall woman has almost the same height as the former man, has white short hair the same as Hesychia Astrid.
The unknown woman’s irises have the color of lavender, an old scar that ran across her eye can be seen, at the same time, some other scars on her hands and arms were visible.
Aris tried to escape but was bent down to the ground with an intense increase of gravity.
“Fuck.”
The white-haired woman scratched her head, “Her parents and family are already mixed with the wind, ashes can’t even be recovered.” She pondered whilst uttering nonsense to Aris’ ears.
“You’re way too strict on yourself.
Why not join them already?”
This little…
“The client paid a huge amount of money to the organization, and the request was made in 3025.
It’s such a bitter taste in our mouth that not anyone in the org found her until now.”
Caelum looked to his left where Aris was located, “Will you do it or not?”
The white-haired woman summoned her spear that impaled the ground deeply.
Once it landed on her fingers, the icy looking weapon turned into a normal looking spear with a shiny tip.
The woman looked at Aris with surprise, “Cae, you already inflicted large-scale damage though.”
“Fryn,” The man called the woman.
“this person won’t die, it seems like she was given an ability that can deflect physical attacks.”
Fryn and Caelum looked together towards the bleeding person.
“Greetings!
Three players have triggered a Minor Screening~!
Please wait for further information as we transport you to the arena.”
Aris’ vision swirled from the amount of blood she had lost.
Another beam of white light engulfed her vision, she was blinded dead once the mechanical voice appeared.
“Caelum Rigel, you really are a bastard.
Did you touch something?!”
The other man shrugged, “You’re very noisy for an adult, Fryn Howl.
Refrain from calling my full name in broad daylight.”
Either way, before Aris can sense it, those weird people who’re trying to kill her vanished.
Thud!
Two pairs of hands assisted her back swiftly tidying up her wound.
Once she got a hold of her vision, she was back at the familiar bland room of whiteness.
Two people sat beside her, the familiar woman made her lie down on her lap.
Aris blinked, “…”
Hesychia who ignored her, “…”
On the other side, another foreign man started coiling her injuries with an ordinary looking bandage, though Aris can feel the difference, she was recovering fast.
Not long after, the bleeding magically stopped, as her flesh started piecing its own ligaments and muscle.
「Physical Resistance 38% is currently activated.」
Once again, the reminder inside her head popped up.
The unknown man turned to Hesychia, speaking using Omnilingua, “This is the first time I’ve seen someone who bled for too long but didn’t completely pass out.”
Aris wanted to refute but found her body paralyzed in pain.
Even her own mouth won’t cooperate.
“Game data is being loaded, please wait!
The players are given five minutes to stay behave and patient whilst the game is being prepared.
Thank you~!”
The mechanical voice echoed throughout the room.
Hesychia continued her role being the pillow, letting the man do the treatment, “Is this your first screening?”
The unknown silver-haired man, “More or less.”
The wavy-haired person who was silently listening found herself analyzing these statements.
The silver-haired man cleared his throat, not minding the third party listening, “Miss Astrid, do you know this person?”
‘He already know Miss Stubborn’s name?’
Aris gave a glare to the man who’s not even looking at her.
In fact, this guy has a suspiciously soft way of speaking, like a wolf in sheep’s clothing, hiding his true intentions.
‘Too suspicious!
Why is someone like this with Miss Stubborn?!
Were they together??’
“You can say we had encountered each other more than once,” Hesychia answered without much emotion.
But then, the woman finally looked at Aris, flicking her forehead.
“Who did this to you?”