(BANG!!)
The Boss fired at Moonlight's back without a hint of hesitation.
"Guess I'll have to intervene," I said to myself as I watched The Boss pull the trigger through the eyes of my shadows.
I dashed to the twelfth floor and positioned myself in the line of fire before the buckshots could penetrate Moonlight's body. While my body was in good condition, I couldn't say the same about my t-shirt.
"I liked this t-shirt!" I said, looking at the woman in front of me.
Her face was frozen, and her mouth was agape. To her, it seemed like I appeared out of thin air, took a shot to the chest, and came out unharmed. Her reaction was natural.
I then checked out her lifespan and saw that she still had a good 45 years, 3 months, and 2 days left.
'Her death will be a result of Moonlight's decisions. This should also mean every death Moonlight and the 12 Liberators kill from here on out will be on me. Just like this one, the lifespans of their victims will add to my strength,' I thought to myself.
"H-How!" the Boss tried to say as her legs gave away from shock, and she knelt on the ground.
"Upendo Rotchfield. Upendo? Parents should watch what they name their children," I said out loud.
"I'm sorry you had to get involved. I got careless. It won't happen again!" Moonlight quickly said to me apologetically.
"It's alright, you're only human. Finish up here, I'll be waiting downstairs," I said to him, then disappeared.
"How did he know my name? Nobody alive should know my name! " Upendo said, puzzled.
"That man cannot be explained with human logic. His knowing your name is the least surprising thing about him," Moonlight said to her.
"I suppose," Upendo said, smiling as she recalled bouncing off my body. She then looked up at Moonlight, accepting her fate.
"I have to finish the job..." Moonlight said, walking up to her.
"Goodbye, Boss," he said with a heavy heart, then slashed his dagger clean through her neck. "Thank you for the years you allowed me to serve under you." He added as he watched her body drop to the floor and bleed out.
He then pulled out a handkerchief and placed it over Upendo's face. After a long, silent wait, he finally left to meet up with me.
"That may have been the easiest job we have ever done, hahaha!" Archer said, laughing a little too loudly, as he sat alongside the other 12. This was his coping mechanism. In reality, he was feeling bitter and downhearted.
"We just killed our comrades, this is no laughing matter!" another one of the 12 rebutted.
After a short wait, Moonlight finally came into view as he walked out of the building.
"It's the Boss!" One of the 12 said.
"Ace," I said out loud.
"How do you know my...?
"I received a lot of backlash because of the book I published. People are angry and they want revenge. Some are only trying to sue me, but most want me dead," I said to them.
"Why should this worry you? The Boss says no one can kill you, right?" Archer spoke up.
"It's the unwanted attention. I can't reveal myself just yet. For now, the best way to deal with this problem is to pluck it out. I'm strong, but revealing myself now will have certain consequences," I said to him.
"And why should we follow you?" A proud-looking woman interrupted.
She was slim, but more on the muscular side. A greatsword was placed on her back. As she spoke, everyone seemed to show a deep respect towards her. Her name was Ailith, and when it came to brute strength, she was the strongest amongst the 12.
"Moonlight may have accepted you, but I haven't. All I see is a weak man ordering others to kill unarmed men. I refuse to kill anyone who can't defend themselves. You fight like a coward!" Ailith proclaimed.
"Feel free to kill me if you can. Do that and I'll never trouble you again," I said to her.
"With pleasure," she said, grabbing her greatsword without hesitation.
Surprisingly, Moonlight didn't stop her as she approached me. I then released a heavy death aura that suddenly descended around the area. Most of it was concentrated on Ailith.
Everyone else began to struggle to breathe. Bearing the brunt of it all, Ailith suddenly halted her approach. An unimaginable pressure came over her. Fear began to take over her senses as her body suddenly lost its strength and began to fall.
Then suddenly, as if by pure instinct, she gripped her greatsword even tighter and ran towards me at an incredible pace. In just two springs, she was already in front of me.
As she faced me from below, I noticed her eyes were closed. She was already unconscious! She firmly grasped the greatsword with both hands, preparing for the grandest upwards slash of her life. She quickly swung her greatsword at my face, slicing the air in its path apart.
Her face still looked out of it, but the veins in her arms threatened to pop out as she tried her best to swing her greatsword and slice apart her dreaded foe. I swiftly stepped back to dodge, allowing the sword to miss me by an inch.
This did not stop her, however, as she followed up with a smooth downward slash. I easily dodged her second attack as well, amazed at how she was still moving.
However, following her last desperate attack, she began to loosen the grip on her greatsword. Now fully unconscious, she finally dropped her greatsword and stood there silently.
I then attempted to place my hand on her head, but she quickly grabbed my wrist before I could even make contact.
'This woman has insane reflexes!' I thought to myself with an evident smile on my face. I then removed her hand and carried her over my shoulder.
"I'll send a list of the targets to Moonlight. There are many, but don't worry, I'll tell you their exact locations, so finding them won't be a hassle. Any questions?" I asked them.
"Expenses? The Fool's Gang always supported us financially with each job. Are you able to provide the same support?" Archer asked.
"I'll take care of it," I answered.
"Alright then, we are ready to move on your command!" Moonlight said.
"Good, we're going back to New York for now. There are quite a lot of targets there," I said, amusingly.
By the next day, we arrived in New York. Immediately upon arriving, we began the next job. Ailith had already woken up by then, but had not said a word to me since. She was much more willing to comply now, and that was enough for me.
"Your first target is this woman here," I said to Ace, handing him a document.
"Rebecca Myers: a politician, a pain in my ass, and perhaps the biggest political threat to me at the moment.
She has recently come across some information that may threaten my freedom. The last thing I need right now is restrictions," I said to Ace, then paused for him to digest all of the information.
"Her husband, Richard Myers, passed away 2 months ago. Cause of death: Suicide! He killed himself only a day after reading my book. He had left a note for his wife saying how life wasn't worth living. At the bottom of that note were the words, 'The Flaw in Humanity.'
The little wanker kept a target on me. Targeted by a politician, no less. I wish she were simply a hitman or killer; that would have been easier to deal with. Unfortunately, this woman threatens my self-interests," I said to him.
"I understand. What is her current location? I'll have this done by the end of the week," Ace said, determined to prove himself.
"Haha, I love the enthusiasm, but it's a little more complicated than that. This woman is being careful; she's done her research on me and has some powerful people backing her up. They know I'm watching, they just don't know how. Fortunately, their investigation has not gone public, and no one apart from her and her backers has any evidence against me.
This job will require more than just your strength. A little stealth needs to be applied. Ensure that no one traces their deaths back to you," I said to him in a serious tone.
"I understand. So what is your plan to deal with her?" Ace asked me.
"Rebecca and her people are each heavily guarded. Because of the urgency of this job, just this one time, I will be going with you. We will stage each one of their deaths as a suicide. Having them assassinated will just lead to further investigation.
"How do we do that?" Ace asked.
"I will buy you the necessary time to perfectly stage these suicides," I said to him confidently.
"When do we start this operation?" Ace questioned.
"Tonight. One of her backers is having a wine tasting party as a cover-up for their meeting. With how things have been going, I believe they are planning on making a move against me tomorrow," I answered him.
I then handed him a sheet of paper with a few paragraphs written on it.
"This is Rebecca's handwriting. I want you to mimic her style by tonight," I said to him.
Nighttime soon arrived, and everything seemed to be going as expected. A car could be seen parked outside a mansion. This was the location of the alleged wine tasting party.
"I have an invitation to this event, so we can walk through the front door. You will be standing as my guard for tonight. At 9:00 p.m. sharp, Rebecca and the others will slip out of the crowd to start their meeting. When we get inside, disguise yourself as one of the butlers. Make sure you're the one to serve them in the meeting room. Drug their drinks and stage the suicide. I'll keep everyone else busy," I said to Ace.
"Understood. This might actually turn out to be fun," Ace said to me with a smile.
The night went smoothly as everything seemed just like the average wine tasting party. When the clock struck 9:00, one after the other, Rebecca and her backers left the room and met at a library deep in the mansion.
'Now,' I thought to myself, and then walked to the stage. Upon reaching the platform, I used a spoon to clink on the glass I held to get everyone's attention. Unfortunately, the glass shattered in my hands, which did ultimately get everyone's attention.
Moonlight then handed me another glass of wine almost immediately. Using the other waiters, he made sure to distribute glasses of wine to each guest beforehand. I don't know how he did it, but Moonlight was able to become the head waiter at this event.
"Good evening, honored and distinguished guests. I may not be your host tonight, but I am truly honored to be around so many prestigious people.
Rebecca Meyers, a woman of justice, has happily opened her doors to us despite the recent passing of her late husband. I would like to raise a toast to this strong and brave woman, our host. To Rebecca Meyers!" I said, raising my glass, then sipped the wine.
I then released my death aura to cover every corner of the mansion except for the library. Everyone within the mansion then collapsed, and only Ace was left standing. I made sure to be one of the first ones to collapse to further avoid suspicion on me.
Ace then proceeded to take the drugged drinks to the library to serve to his targets. As the library was deep in the mansion, none of them were aware of anything that was happening outside.
As if everything was normal, Ace served them their drinks and then stepped out.
The drug worked slowly, and by the time the first person collapsed, each person in the room had already had a sip or two. They slowly began to feel weak.
In just a matter of minutes, they had all died. Ace then proceeded to position everyone around the table and wrote on a piece of paper in Rebecca's handwriting, "Everything is meaningless!"
As soon as Ace secured all the evidence against me, everyone around the mansion had begun to wake up. I then pretended to have also just woken up, and was unaware of what happened. The job was a success.
The police eventually arrived and questioned everyone in the building. With so many witnesses seeing me collapse on stage, there was not much evidence linking me to the murder of Rebecca Meyers and her associates.
After the job was done, I handed down a list of the rest of the targets to Ace. I allowed him and the 12 Liberators to take care of the them.
Even though I offered to tell Ace and the 12 the exact live locations of the targets, they each decided to hunt for their targets themselves.
Little by little, the list grew shorter over the last 2 years. Anyone who went too deep into investigating these deaths was eliminated as well.
...
"We have arrived," Ace said to Elaine and me, then opened the door for us.
*Outside Madison Park*
"Thank you, Ace, you should go and enjoy your night. My husband and I can find our way back home. It is New Year's Eve after all," Elaine said sympathetically.
"Thank you, ma'am, I think I'll take you up on that offer," Ace said, then stepped back into the car and took off.
"Wow, he wasted no time," I said, smiling.
"Haha, with the way you overwork him? I'm not surprised," Elaine said with a chuckle.
We then walked into a restaurant, where we were led to our reserved table. We quickly ordered our food as we had both been there before and knew exactly what we wanted. As we chatted, waiting for our food, time felt like it stood still everywhere else except for our table.
I easily forgot that I was a reaper and felt like an ordinary man, on an ordinary date. This was how I always felt around Elaine. Our order eventually came, and Elaine immediately began to devour the pork on her plate. She had no shame when it came to meat, losing all etiquette. I couldn't help but admire the view of her greasy mouth munching on the piece of meat.
After the meal, we continued talking until the stroke of midnight...
"Happy New Year, babe... babe... babe? Are you okay?" Elaine asked me in a worried tone, but I paid no attention to her words. A look of shock and anger had taken over my face. This was the first time Elaine had ever seen me like this.
"Babe, you're scaring me," she said anxiously.
"What the hell did I just feel?" I asked myself, standing and looking into the distance.