n

n

nHe wasn't someone I should have met here. As far as I know, he lived in the nearby Jersey city. It was so close to New York City, separated from it only by the Hudson river.

nA question instantly popped up in my head, with an instant answer for it. What was someone like him doing here? And when I thought back to the angels and their dirty schemes, I couldn't help but inwardly sigh.

nEither they moved him when I started to topple their plans here, or he simply started from here before moving to the nearby Jersey city and expanded his terror over New Jersey state.

nNo matter what, he was here. I heard many terrifying stories about him, but it was the first time for me to witness the horrifying and infamous zone effect of his.

nIt was called the domain of death god, where no one could exert his full power at all. Imagine facing his army with yours when you and your men had no strength to fight back.

nI also heard rumours that his domain ability could even boost the stats of his people. If that was true, then this figure was worthy of the infame he acquired later in his life.

n

"What's the meaning of that?

" I asked while feigning ignorance and burying all the shock deep within me.

n

"You came asking for our little witch, Alex, right?

" he stopped not so close from me, protected by a group of his men.

nEven under such conditions where he held the upper hand, he was extremely cautious.

n

"She might be called that,

" I smiled without any speck of worry over my face,

"where is she?

"

n

"Follow me,

" he said with an inviting gesture,

"after all you are going to be imprisoned with her in the same cell.

"

nMy smile never faded away. Even if he was that notorious person from the past, I knew his key points of weakness.

nIf he met another person, even my precious jumper, he would be lucky. But meeting me meant he ran out of his luck already.

n

"I heard a lot about you,

" as we walked inside the hospital, I couldn't help but notice something weird. There were many people inside, but unlike the groups I met outside, all those living here looked pathetic.

nUgly dark faces, not a single scrap of metal on anyone's body, shaking in fear and their eyes seemed to lose any hope for the future… They all gave me the impression that I walked inside a graveyard, not a hospital.

n

"From whom?

" I calmly asked while watching this bizarre situation.

n

"The angels,

" he laughed,

"did you think your moves weren't monitored and reported to us? The angels seem to think highly of you, even calling you one of their great threats.

"

nHe grinned and with that ugly scar on his forehead, his face seemed more vicious and less humane,

"they also told us about Alex, saying she was of the same importance as you. I dunno what you exactly did, but I can't think of anything boring, hahaha!

"

n

"You should have seen what I did to them, hahaha!

" I returned his sinister laugh with another,

"I made them pee their pants.

"

n

"The type of man I admire most,

" he patted my shoulder as we were best mates,

"it's a misfortune that you are my enemy. Sigh, all the people here aren't fun to live with at all.

"

nHe rolled his eyes around. He seemed to put not a single human in his eyes as worthy of living. It was just the typical of such a tyrant.

n

"Then why don't you renege on their side and stand by mine?

" I said in a sly tone,

"I promise you won't feel bored at all.

"

nI know of his misdeeds, but they were all things that didn't occur yet. If I would evaluate him from practical point of view, then with his unique and domineering domain ability, he could be even on equal standing with the jumper.

nThinking of this stage and the upcoming stages of the apocalypse, he might be even more important than the jumper for me.

n

"Well, my hands are bound here,

" he raised both hands as if he was helpless,

"I gained everything I have right now thanks to the angels. At first I didn't believe them, but when I saw everything happening around me, I couldn't say no to their help.

"

nSo he was one of those late traitors joining hands with those angels after the apocalypse. I could only inwardly sigh. Those angels really knew their craft very well. Not leaving such a prodigy untouched.

n

"You won't be the first to give your back to them,

" I didn't lose my hope in recruiting him.

"Even Alex was once like you, but she revolted against them after getting everything from them.

"

n

"And see what happened to her?

" he laughed as if he was hearing an amusing joke,

"I don't want to have her end, mate.

"

n

"It's still too early to say she had a bad end,

" I mysteriously said and my hidden message managed to reach past his ears.

nHis face dropped slightly for a brief moment. With furrowed brows and ugly irregular lines formed at his forehead he said:

n

"You know you can't use your stats or inventory as long as I mark you as an enemy. Nah, you have no way to turn this around.

"

nHis face relaxed once he said the last piece of words. But that didn't stop me from laughing.

n

"Nothing is set in stone, right?

"

nMy confidence and carefree mood made him frown again.

"If so, what would you do if I moved my little toy here and cut your throat with it?

"

nHe raised his sword and seemed to try to threaten me. Nice try, but I wasn't the type to be threatened this easily, mate!

n

"And where is the fun in that?

" I met his threats with a laugh,

"why not have a bet?

"

n

"A bet?

" This was one of his weaknesses. He was addicted to gamble, even more than the dragons.

"What kind of bet?

"

n

"If I manage to break free, not only me but also with Alex, what will you do about it?

"

n

"Break free? From my prison?

" he asked with a plain look on his face before he broke into a wave of laughter,

"damn! You are far more interesting than I thought. Alright, let's do it this way... I'll stay next to your cell to make sure the strength of my domain is strong all the time. Let's see how you can break my hidden class ability.

"

n

"Just stand by and watch,

" despite feeling surprised to have a hidden class, I answered him with a wide smile like usual,

"but if I succeed, you'll join my forces.

"

n

"That depends on your ability to force me to join you,

" he shrugged as if he never believed I would be able to do this.

nYet his meaning was simple. The bet didn't only depend on my ability to break free and escape, but also to have the power to force him to yield.

nOh my poor tyrant! You truly underestimated me.

nAs we spoke, we finally reached our destination. We descended to the underground level, where it seemed to be a place of the radiotherapy and the radiology department.

nThe place was dimly lit, but at the end of the wide hall I could see a room made out of glass and a person's shadow seemed to be inside.

n

"This way, mighty hero,

" that jerk said in a mocking tone. He still didn't get it. His fate was already in my hands.

nIf time came and he didn't want to join me, then killing him would be my second best option. Such a person shouldn't be allowed to live freely or else disasters would follow his steps.

nThe room seemed to be sound proof as that girl inside didn't even notice us coming until the door was opened. She sat on the ground, looking fragile and shaking from fear.

nThe moment the door opened, her pale face met my eyes. She had such pure angelic face with nothing wrong except for those long trails of dried up tears that stained her small cheeks.

nElliptical eyes, small nose, slit like lips… She gave me the impression of having asian origin from the first glance.

nShe wore a white dress that isn't white anymore. Her hair was dishevelled, scattered to form a mess with all that dust and mud like substance that was more like blood mixing with her icy white strands.

nHer pupils looked special, silver white in colour for one iris, and bronze at the other one. Double pupils with two distinctive colours forming such a contrast to anyone seeing her.

n

"Here, you have a friend coming from far to see you,

" the spearhead laughed before I felt a strong kick to my back, sending my flying inside without a warning.

nThen the door was closed and it seemed like all the lights coming from outside vanished.

n

"You…

"

nA soft, yet hoarse voice weakly appeared from those slit like lips, as if it came from a dead person, a voice appeared with eyes that lost all hope for a better future.

n

"How long have you been locked here?

" I didn't satisfy her curiosity at first but started to assess the situation.

nThis room seemed to be prepared for radiotherapy. That meant we wouldn't be able to hear or see anything from outside, and also the same went for those thugs.

nI knew that the spearhead wouldn't move away. I raised his curiosity and piqued his interest. I didn't want to fight against everyone here before getting to him.

nSo as my trap was successful, and this place seemed to be isolated from outside, I started to consider my next move.

n

"I… have been here for long time already,

" her eyes lost focus for a brief moment before she lowered her head and buried it inside her bent knees.

nShe was in a messy state, a state of a person who lost all the will to live.

nNo one would reach such a state without proper reason, and in her case it was all the dead ends she had so far.

nShe seemed to experience a lot. Despite feeling sympathy towards her, I knew in the apocalypse, humans were doomed to face more disasters to come.

nThis… This was simply one of the classical stories that I read all about and never lost their genuine taste of tragedy even after the passage of ninety-nine years.

n

"Be ready,

" without speaking nonsense, I calmly said while examining my profile,

"we are going out now.

"

n

"What?!!

" I heard a deep gasp from the side,

"look, I don't know what you did to deserve coming here but… Just look at me…

"

nI moved my eyes aside from the profile and saw her raising both fists. There were a lot of wounds with lots of clotted blood all over her smooth skin.

n

"I tried, tried so much until I gave up,

" she bitterly said and her eyes got clouded with tears,

"you can't destroy this glass with pure strength. Did you forget? Our stats are locked and we can't even summon our weapons.

"

n

"You didn't have any stat outside intelligence to begin with,

" I shifted my eyes away, returning to examine my profile.

nI checked my profile the moment I got such a weird message when I was outside this hospital. That spearhead was only able to lock the stats and inventory, but he didn't lock my system or class.

nWhat did that mean? He was like putting a wooden cage around me, and I wasn't a normal human... I was a dragon!

n

"What did you just say?

"

nJust as I finished confirming that my system was still working, I felt a weak and shaking hand gripping my arm. She looked at me with widened eyes, eyes that were filled with doubt and surprise.

n

"Who are you?

" she added, but I simply answered with a calm smile.

n

"I'm the one who sent you here in the first place,

" I slowly said while gently pushing her hand away,

"and also the one who is going to get you outside.

"

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