Tenebra walked briskly to the front of his door. Kenneth was the head of their unit and he was somewhat impossible to reach because of how busy he was. But this had to reach him.
Tenebra knocked on the door. Surprisingly, Kenneth opened the door but was on what seemed to be a very important call. But he let her in nonetheless. Tenebra stood in front of his desk, with one hand tapping the wooden surface and the other gripping the tablet tightly to her chest.
Her eyes roamed his office. He had lots of pins and papers hanging on the wall. She understood why that was the case. Recently, there had been weird occurrences all around the globe. The SWIIF(Scar World Investigation and Intel Federation) was put in charge to curb these occurrences.
"Ten, what's the problem?" Kenneth got off the phone as he sat down.
Tenebra placed the tab on his desk and turned it around to face him. "There's a huge issue," she said.
"What am I looking at?"
"A 5★ monster just casually popped up in the middle of the city."
"A 5★?"
"I know, I know, it doesn't even look like one. But the numbers don't lie. It's size is human, but it's magnitude is equal to it."
Kenneth rested his back on the chair rest.
"Kenneth, we have to report this to the Legion."
"I know that, but something else came up."
"What's that?"
"We just got report that a 7★ just appeared at the capital. The president's life is in danger."
"Aren't there Legionnaires dedicated to protect him on a daily?"
"It's a 7★, Ten. It's capable of taking out 4 well trained SSR ranked Legionnaires. They sent at least 5 more with the additional 15 that are protecting him to snuff out the threat."
"So no one's available?"
"Of course there is. But they're not strong enough to survive the 5★. It'll just be sending them to their deaths."
"We have to do something."
"I'll just let them know, but I know the Legion. They aren't going to send out small fry."
Tenebra clenched her teeth tightly together.
"So people are just going to die? And that's it?" Tenebra scoffed.
"People die everyday, Tenebra," Kenneth sighed.
"Send a request. You can do that, can't you?" Tenebra persisted. "Request even if it's just one."
"It's used in a time of emergency, not this."
"Kenneth!"
He paused, sighed and picked up his phone. The line didn't go through. He was about to call again when the pad began to beep. They both turned their attention to the device.
"What?" Kenneth said in shock.
"It's a Nexus," Tenebra smiled slightly. "A Nexus is engaging it in combat."
Kenneth knew now he had to call it in. The shame rushed through his entire body. A Nexus dared to stand and face a 5★ monster and alone too.
Tenebra knew it was an extreme incentive, but it was enough for him to act.
But they had one thought boggling their mind:
Who was crazy enough to stand against such a monster without having to rise through the ranks of an SSR rank legionnaire?
***
"Hey!"
Nyx chased after a little boy. The boy ran a lot faster than him. But Nyx wasn't an entirely slow runner.
His mind momentarily wandered and he remembered Freida.
She probably went back to the camp, he thought.
The boy stopped and turned to face Nyx as soon as they got to a tree. Nyx got confused and stopped chasing. The two just stared at each other.
"Who are you—?" Nyx barely dodged the arrow that flew passed his head. He didn't even see the boy shoot the arrow.
The boy rushed him without allowing him to get his bearing. Nyx felt the boy's leg slam on his back, forcefully pushing him back to the ground. The boy pulled his shirt and stabbed Nyx with an arrow in his shoulder.
Nyx grunted in pain. It was evident he wasn't winning in a show of hands with this boy. Talking with him wasn't proving helpful.
Why did I even chase after this boy? Was I even thinking? I'd normally not do this kind of thing. What got into me? Nyx thought as he laid on the ground with his hand on the arrow, finding the strength to pull it out while withstanding the pain.
"Wait!" He shouted.
The boy walked round him with a look of disgust on his face. He was dressed in an all-black jumpsuit that was fitted tightly to his body. He wore a ceramic bunny mask with black markings around it. He was small and short, Nyx could almost be certain he was at least twelve years old.
"Who...are you?" Nyx breathed jaggedly.
The boy stood, without moving. He just stared at Nyx. He suddenly got on his knees and brought his face to Nyx's. A coarse and breaky voice came through the mask.
"You have doomed us all..." The boy said.
Nyx wondered why it sounded like it took a lot of effort for him to speak up.
"What...do you mean?" Nyx grunted.
"For this, I have been given the responsibility of taking your life."
The boy brought out the dagger strapped to his boots from its sheath. Nyx watched as the knife came close to his neck. He looked into the eyes of the boy.
He's actually going to kill me, Nyx realised.
The boy moved his arm swiftly to stab Nyx in the head. Nyx slid out of the way and with great effort, he pulled out the arrow from his shoulder.
The boy rose up, standing adjacent to Nyx, who was barely standing.
There was something in that arrow, Nyx thought.
"It doesn't matter where you run," the boy said. "You're going to die regardless. The arrow that I put into your shoulder should end you soon. It would nullify your powers and then kill you." He walked to Nyx slowly. "Mind you, that's not poison you're feeling now. It's a special metal made to kill Nexuses by eating up their core."
Nyx gasped for breath. His mind roamed for a solution. A means to escape. To survive.
"I don't understand..." Nyx said. "The point of all this...is for what?!"
"You still have no knowledge of what you have done, do you?" The boy chuckled. "Your coming here has doomed us all." He stood mere meters from Nyx now. "All your people and the Nexuses you brought here has made him rise once again."
"'Him'?" Nyx said, feeling more than confused. He wasn't confused about what the boy was saying, rather he didn't understand why he was suddenly feeling better. The boy did say the blade and the thing it's laced with was meant to kill him. But he felt opposite.
"The God Bison."
"What?"
"He kept us safe. Only at the price that we kept Nexuses out. And now, you broke that promise."
"'The God Bison', are you talking about a Scarred animal?"
"We worship him as our protector. He keeps us safe from any danger and solves our problems."
"So you're here to kill us all, as what?"
"A Disciple. We, the Disciples, are given the task to kill whatever it is that seeks to break this covenant. And that is why—"
"Then why did you run?"
The boy paused. He found it hard to understand what Nyx was trying to do.
"I simply tell you all this to give you knowledge about the reason why you must die," the boy further explained.
"Why did you run?" Nyx smirked a bit. "The God Bison, he was the one coming for me, right? If you could kill me and Freida easily, why did you have to run first?"
He could sense the boy was frowning behind the mask. He knew Nyx was on to something.
"That means...The God Bison is out to kill you, or at least every Disciple because you failed to keep out Nexuses, isn't it?" Nyx stood up straight.
"What?! How can you—" The boy was perplexed.
"That means you're also being hunted. So if I just..." Nyx inhaled deeply and paused. He let out the loudest scream he could muster up. The sound echoed severally, certainly heard in every part of the woods.
The boy walked away from Nyx slowly. "You die either way. You simply chose him to kill you."
"And who said you were going anywhere? You die with me!"
Nyx leaped at the boy and forced him to the ground. The two struggled on the ground relentlessly.
"You're crazy!" The boy shouted, pushing Nyx off him.
Perhaps the boy was right. Maybe he was crazy, but he didn't care right now. Though, he wasn't sure if he would last three seconds before the God Bison. But this was the only way he was walking out of this fight alive.
The boy growled in frustration at Nyx and ran off as fast as he could.
Nyx stood there as the cold realisation set in.
I'm still standing here.
His mind roamed at the possible places he could go. He certainly couldn't head back to the camp and following the boy was impossible now. Seeing how fast he was running, he would've gotten far off from him now.
He raised his foot to move as the ground trembled beneath him followed by a wild gush of wind, sweeping him off his feet.
His squinted eyes opened up to catch sight of a horned beast staring down at him. His eyes went pale. He had lived to die thirty seconds after.
Fuck!