Chapter 28: Bullseye

Gerald’s fist smashed into his abdomen, sending him flying across the space and into one of the broken pillars.

A gasp left his lips when his body collided with the platform. Then he dropped limply to the ground, his head landing on one of the hardest rocks in the building.

Cashel saw white and he could feel the whole space spinning, but that could not rival the amount of pain he felt from that one hit.

"Fuck," he gritted, blood spilling down the corner of his lips and down his head. He knew he should not have gotten distracted. This was exactly what he told Andeen would happen.

Working in a dungeon together was a big risk. If he could get this distracted just seeing her, he could not imagine what would happen if he saw her get attacked while he was in a hot battle.

But then, Andeen who was even more protective, how would she react to seeing him get beaten to a pulp?

Cashel chuckled softly. He was already foreseeing the number of times he would be beaten to a pulp.

Being a hitman in a world with awakeners only meant some targets would eventually be like Gerald, maybe even stronger.

If the man was more experienced and probably serious and intelligent, definitely not a loudmouth, he would be dead by now.

’God, being punched in the chest hurts,’ he thought painfully, taking the moment to catch his breath.

Luckily, Gerald was also trying to heal and catch his breath as well, so his movements were rather slow.

Once his vision returned, he found himself staring at the moon and the dark sky behind it. Then for a brief moment he saw those pretty eyes narrowing as she watched them with a blank expression on her face.

It brought a smile to his face, even as Gerald’s overwhelming energy pressed closer.

’She can’t see me,’ he thought, albeit joyously, and glanced at Gerald who had stopped moving. The wounds on his body were still slowly healing, and the red energy in the air had reduced slightly.

Cashel then called his inventory and took the potions Andeen’s deputy had distributed earlier. He forced himself up, enduring the pain. He could have sworn one of his ribs might have broken.

He dragged himself farther away from Gerald before opening the two bottles and emptying the contents over his head.

Both liquids glowed faintly once they made contact with his skin, and some even seeped into his mouth.

Relief and the cold magic potion flowed through his entire body, soothing the ache. He was glad he’d kept them for himself rather than giving them out. He had a feeling he’d need them eventually.

Once he was certain he was alright, he forced himself up to his feet and straightened up. That was when he saw Gerald looking up suddenly.

He followed his gaze. The man was staring right at Andeen with a wide grin spread across his face, and there was that black device again.

Cashel did not give the man time to speak. He picked up the scimitar with all the force the Kinetic Reinforcement could give. The blade spun through the air and cut cleanly through Gerald’s right hand.

The hand and the black device it held fell to the floor, and the device vanished.

Cashel did not even care about the sword or give Gerald time to move or heal before he was moving again. He pulled out a smoke bomb, a grenade and a flashbang.

He ran randomly around the building while Gerald tried to heal. He picked up his gun, put it back into his inventory and pulled the pins on all the explosives.

He counted the seconds, then threw all of them into the air. He only moved higher, crouched and covered his eyes since the mask protected the rest.

The explosion filled the building with thick smoke, blinding light and a sharp intense blast of sound. Andeen was not spared. Her senses, already stretched thin by the overuse of her abilities, were completely thrown off balance. Cashel heard her scream from above.

He then dropped back to the ground and at that moment a loud roar came from somewhere outside the building. The C-ranked beast was close.

Cashel shook the thought away and charged at Gerald again. The explosion had thrown him off balance as well and it was an opening for Cashel.

[Kinetic Reinforcement: 3:07]

He swung his sword once he got close, his scimitar flashing in the smoke and vanishing before Gerald could map out the directions.

Legs, arms, the pillar as his torso and his head were all cut off until the light in his eyes faded.

When the body finally collapsed, it began to disintegrate into dark red particles.

Cashel frowned, panting. He watched the body disintegrate rapidly until the chest caved in and he saw a small red-shaped object near the heart while the body continued collapsing.

Cashel took out the object, crushed it in his fist and snapped his head to the roof.

He did not wait to see the system confirm the kill, whether or not it would do that.

He tapped into the full capacity of the Shadow Step and moved from railing to railing, the wall, a random pillar, climbing out of the ruined building through the broken path he and Gerald had created.

Once he emerged from the hole, for that moment in the air, there was a trail of ice that moved from the north to this building.

He gazed around. On the ground near the building Andeen was on her knees, her staff beside her and both hands clutching her ears.

Cashel felt a little guilty. The flashbang really did a number on her.

He smirked. ’Even S-ranks get hurt too, huh.’ He landed carefully beside the hole at the corner of the building and took a deep breath.

However, his eyes widened at that moment. A faint pull ran through his palm, and the scimitar shot out of the ruined building and back into his hand. He ignored that, called back the sword and summoned the gun. He aimed past Andeen and pulled the trigger without thinking twice.

Fwip!

Swoosh!

Bang!