Chapter 62 Petals of Evil

The perspective of Zuri rather than Boro:

“We— we have three more victims,” said a man in a suit that was worn down into white fabric, late in the evening at a time where we should be clocking out rather than receiving some sort of update.

I let out a sigh immediately.

My eyes ran through the colleague, the color palette of his attire scintillating and warping.

“Is it what I think it is?—tell me it isn’t what I think it is,” my words were speedy, sharp and void of tardiness.

“It’s the System Killer— and it’s not normal,” he replied, in an awfully insinuating tone that didn’t quite sit straight with anyone here.

“Not normal?—isn’t he always abnormal with his shit?” voiced Boro; stole the words out of my mouth—was expected.

“It’s…”

His eyes ran downwards, and then upwards—and then locked onto me.

“…odd… unlike his other murders.”

“Man, it’s so fuckin’ late—has he no heart?!” immediately said Boro, yet again being the one with the initiative.

Jessey was in the room—he listened to everything, so him making an early decision was pretty precedented given the circumstances. “Boro—I want you to report this somewhere right away—and request assistance for us.”

The elephant in the room did exist, and it was using the old-fashioned method of directly going up to them for the reporting; I could see Boro being subtly discombobulated by this, but hey, man, do what you gotta do, sometimes—y’know?

“Yes, sir.”

“Okay, everyone—let’s get this done swiftly so we’re not up too late cleaning up after the System Killer!”

“We’re evidently going to stay up late—don’t be trying to give us an incentive, boss,” I replied in a monotonous voice.

Subsequently, lit up a cigarette and stood up.

It was time to get miserable.

Again.

As we were walking up to the crime scene, a man stood there—a masked one, his presence was tangible from a distance.

“Smile,” I softly let out—Jessey was beside me, going to the scene along with us for a change.

“He must have been frantic to verify whether it was truly the System Killer—a load on his conscience.”

I didn’t glance at Jess—his words were but an ambience for the sight of Smile standing next to three decapitated heads.

Step after step closer to this man—the colors burning bright, rapidly changing shape and leaving their designated spots without permission.

“So, is it him again?” I inquired in a somewhat courteous voice—I had to be respectful here, avoid the mistake of being abrasive.

Smile’s demeanor was soft—you could mistake his voice for a teenager, it was incredibly tender, gentle, and innocent. “No doubt about it; Bonnie will have some explaining to do.”

I sat down as I prepared myself; lit up another cigarette and then answered after taking a quick puff, “naught—the System Killer is clearly above something so rudimentary.”

The masked man glanced at me with eyes I couldn’t see—words didn’t come out, just soft expectations for a continuation on my part.

[ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS ACTIVATED]

“Look at the scene, boss,” I stated as I quickly skimmed over the scene: three decapitated heads with different facial expressions, all evidently molded postmortem—each one impaled on a distinct spine.

The middle sections of their bodies gone—legs and arms on the scene, left without so much as a worry.

Residual MANA is here as well—you would assume it’s not an Irregular then, but there’s more than just one MANA left over.

“It’s a ritual, Smile—the System Killer is evolving his methods, he saw your little announcement of victory and declared to take a dance with you.”

Upon every word leaving my mouth, with every progress of dialogue, Smile’s MANA intensified—becoming somewhat unsightly and uncomfortable in the process.

“I’m already feeling sick seeing the scene, man, don’t go flaunting your MANA and makin’ it worse,” I said in mild annoyance—a tone that claimed equivalence against a man that could obliterate me instantaneously.

He took it to heart… softly…

“Sorry.”

After a minute or so of silence, I peered my mouth open again, “disgusting that things have come to this—you wouldn’t think that something like this would ever happen in our oh-so-innocent Immigrant City, but here we are…”

Then… after just a second of serenity… Smile…

“Do you even know the sacrifices we made to avoid this?—to escape the world outside that doesn’t give rat’s shit about murder, rape, and other vile garbage?!”

His voice… its volume…

“No…!! You don’t…!! Let me tell you then…”

Previously, he simply glared at the scene—didn’t particularly care about looking at me, but this time he began standing in front of me as he started aggressively gesturing with his hands.

“We’re not innocent… fuck, we’re not fucking innocent…!! We’ve done so many things to create a society free from crap like this, and then something like this happens… what then…?!”

Deeper… his voice kept escalating and getting deeper… angrier…

“Do you know how much of a middlefinger this is to everything we’ve done?! No… you fucking don’t!!—and why?—obviously, because these sacrifices are made by people willing to sully themselves for the sake of others…!!”

“And… and…!!”

“Calm down, Smile,” I said as I dropped the cigarette and stood up—my hand immediately went onto his shoulder.

Admittedly, I had no idea what he was talking about—not a clue, he was clearly carrying burdens unspoken to anyone underneath.

“This is just one outlier—don’t let it define the whole pack, you’ll lose sight of the goal if you get emotional.”

He proceeded to sigh… then shook his head.

“Kross— where is Kross? He’s better at shit like this, I— I don’t want to deal with this anymore.”

As he claimed that, he walked up to Jessey—I didn’t know what was beneath his mask, but it was self-evidently one of the reasons he wielded a mask over his face to begin with.

I had just taken a cigarette…

But I was feeling compelled to take another one…

So I lit it up—and glared at the two talking from a distance.

I’m feeling quite exhausted…

The trip’s already in its comedown, I didn’t exactly plan to be here for so long.

Then… from the corner of my eye…

I saw a scarlet flower.

It elegantly stood in a pool of blood…

And as I allowed my eyes to observe it…

A single petal fell off and landed onto the bloodsoaked ground.

Graciously.