Under the Veil of Night

Climbing up the stairs, they reached the next floor. There, they saw a young blonde woman sitting on the ground lazily. There was a maniacal expression on her face as one of her hands fiddled with something red and slimy.

Her eyes lit up when she saw them. "Finally, there's another person here again. I've been so bored."

As she stood up, Kanae and Jason readied their stances. They could sense the thick blood lust from the woman before them. The mess on this floor should be her doing, considering how she treated those bodies around her.

'She's crazy,' Tommy shuddered. He didn't know why, but he was afraid of this woman. The woman looked quite ordinary, or rather, was a bit attractive. Yet, the sight of her with a crazy expression and hand covered in blood caused him to not dare go closer.

After throwing aside the mysterious object she was playing with, the woman put the back of her bloody hand on her hip. "Now, hand over your bags or I'll kill you."

Even though they didn't have many things inside their bags, only some first-aid, canned foods, and water, it was out of the question to give them to other people. They needed the supplies for their survival. If they gave them to other people, they wouldn't be able to last until the battle was over.

"Even if we give them to you, you'll kill us, right?" Kanae asked back.

"Maybe," the woman flipped her hair back with her free hand lazily. "I'm bored as hell, so you three will surely make for some good entertainment!"

The next moment, the woman already appeared in front of them. The razor-like claws on her hands stretched out, ready to rip them apart. She clawed at Tommy, who was struck with fear and unable to react.

CLANG!

"No one is touching my teammate," Kanae said coldly. Her sword held back the claws from reaching their target.

The woman smirked. "Let's see if you have the skills for that."

With that, the two of them moved away from Tommy as they exchanged moves. Jason joined right away when he noticed that the woman was making things difficult for Kanae. If he had to fight alone, from power and speed alone, he would be cornered.

Sounds of metal clashing reverberated in the long hallway. Stricken by fear, Tommy stood on the side. He couldn't possibly participate in the battle because he didn't have the skills for that.

Clang!

Pushing the woman back, they finally managed to gain the upper hand. Two against one was never fair as they utilized their advantage to the fullest. When Jason attacked, Kanae would arrive at the other side to assist his offensive.

Facing two people, the woman felt cornered. Finally, Jason swung her into the wall with his large sword.

*Cough* *cough*

Blood flew out from her back as she slumped against the wall. The woman glared towards the two of them with hatred. "Oval Group will never let you go!"

Ignoring her scream, Kanae leaped forward with her sword raised. The woman raised a gun, but before she could shoot, Kanae already arrived before her. Her sword moved extremely fast, killing the woman instantly.

"So what? If they want to come, they can come," Kanae answered coldly. In this place, why should she be afraid of other groups when it was uncertain whether they could live or not? Even if they did something here, as long as no one knew, they would be fine.

Jason relaxed his grip slightly. It was truly tiring. Having to fight for hours badly drained his stamina.

"Don't move or he will die!"

Jason and Kanae looked over to see a man holding Tommy in his arm, threatening to kill him with the knife in his other hand. He looked towards the two of them with a large grin.

"Hand over the supplies and make way, or I'll kill him."

Tommy struggled to break free, but he couldn't move too much. The knife was at his neck. He felt remorseful. After getting wounded and holding his friends back, he became a hostage? It was so vexing.

"You!" Tommy tried to break free, but the knife grazed his neck, shocking him with pain.

Kanae frowned when she saw the man standing extremely close behind Tommy.

"I have only one sentence for you…" Kanae started slowly. The next moment, her hand picked up the gun on the ground.

BANG!

She shot the guy right in his forehead. "Don't try to threaten a fighter that can use a gun."

Tommy was stunned as the man collapsed. When he realized what had happened, he looked towards Kanae in bewilderment.

"Why did you shoot him without any warning like that? Do you want to kill me?"

"I'm a good shot."

"It still doesn't mean that you should  aim at me. Being aimed at with a real gun is truly scary," Tommy shuddered as he recalled his training session with Shiro. That was far scarier since Shiro truly aimed for him. Thankfully, it was only training because if it were for real, he would be dead many times over.

"Do you want a knife to your neck or a bullet in the man with the knife?"

Tommy: "…" can I pick neither?

"Come on you two, it's not like Rei is intentionally shooting at you," Jason laughed. "You don't have to freak out. She's still a good shot at close range."

"How about you stand in my position and experience someone shooting near your head?"

"I'll never make the mistake of getting captured. Only an idiot like you will," Jason answered lightly.

"I'm not an idiot!"

"Then you're dumb."

"You…!"

Kanae ignored the fighting duo as she looked through the woman's bag. There were several cans of food plus several bottles of water inside. It seemed that she was already prepared to keep watch here for the long run while battling anyone who appeared.

"Oro, what do you know about Oval Group?"

Jason turned his head as his hand held Tommy's forehead at arm's length, not allowing the boy to come closer. "They're the current third strongest group in this city. Even though this is not verified yet, they're under the leadership of the Zone Clan, the current fifth strongest clan in this city."

"A group is under a clan?" Kanae was stunned.

Jason nodded. "It's not really that uncommon for groups to come under the leadership of a clan. They can get a lot of benefits from long-term transactions and the clan's protection."

"Do you think they'll know who killed this woman?"

"I don't think so," Jason shook his head. "If you're worried about revenge, you're worrying about nothing. There's no surveillance here. No one will know what you're doing because no one is watching. Do you sense any cameras nearby?"

"No, I don't," Kanae replied. She looked towards the angry Tommy. "I just didn't want to waste time talking to that man when he was already ready to kill you. Think positively, you're still alive."

Tommy sulked. "Even if I'm alive, it still wasn't a good experience."

"Let's go up," Kanae smiled wryly. "There might be other things there to cheer you up."

"Captain, there are only monsters up there. I want to rest…"

"Let's go…"

"Oro, not you too!"

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