Leon’s boots scuffed against the ground with deliberate steps. His mind spun with the choices like twisting knives in his skull.
Liu Yan’s eyes remained on Leon as though staring at him could stop him from moving forward. ’Is he really joining them?’
Leon stopped two steps away from Tiger, leaving just enough space between them, then lifted his chin. "I would rather die than join you."
Tiger’s lips pulled inward, his brows raising. "Ooh..." He stared at Leon with an amused expression. "So be it!"
He turned sharply, then disappeared, leaving loud footsteps behind.
Bao Xiong remained still for a second, his eyes lingering on the boy’s fearless expression. "Be careful what you wish for, Leon," he said in a low voice, grinding his teeth.
He glanced at Liu Yan, then exited, following the direction Tiger went.
...
Liu Yan lifted her gaze slowly, locking it on Leon’s. "Thinking you would join them, I nearly collapsed," she murmured, burying her face in Leon’s chest.
Leon stiffened for a second before he moved his arms and wrapped them around her.
She loosened herself, then drew back. "It’s ti to start today’s tasks. Let’s move." She turned without saying another word.
Leon’s senses hitched as he followed. The street was full of collapsed buildings, faint lights, glass fog, and so windows sparking with electricity.
Burnt tal air rushed through Leon’s lungs the mont he inhaled. He watched Liu Yan move. ’Does she know where she’s going?’
Liu Yan turned her head slightly, caught Leon staring, but Leon looked away.
Two hours flew by like air. And within those hours, not a single creature crossed them.
"Whe.. seems the creatures are afraid of us," Liu Yan said, laughing. She halted at the center of a four-way street, hands on her hips.
Leon joined the laughter, but kept his left eye locked on the open window on their left, where a black polythene hung.
A black light glowed from behind a tattered white curtain that kept shifting as if alive.
’The creatures here seem to plan their attacks.’ Thoughts reeled in Leon’s head as he kept shifting his gaze across all the twenty open windows.
A notification chid in his head as soon as he shifted his gaze to the window without a curtain.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
Presence Detected.
Scanning...
Na: Soul Eater
Rank: B
Hostility: Positive
’Soul Eater?’ The na repeated itself in Leon’s skull as his head snapped toward the building at the right side of Liu Yan.
He took two steps forward, touched Liu Yan on the shoulder, then whispered, "Stay close."
"Hey!" Liu Yan barked, breaking free. "I’m the one leading today’s tasks." The black sword around her waist sang as it whipped through the air as she stepped forward.
A loud roar cracked the still air. Debris fell from the top of the buildings, dust scattering and filling the air.
A tal-on-tal tapping followed. Liu Yan spun around, her boots scraping on the ground. "Stand behind ," she ordered, drawing the sword.
A red glow flashed the mont the dust settled twenty feet away from Liu Yan. Gagging sounds like tal grinding against each other echoed within the darkness.
It was a towering skeletal, dog-like creature wrapped in a black cloak that clung to it and shifted around its fra. Even before it moved, coldness fell as the air thinned, as if it were stealing life from those nearby.
Liu Yan’s legs trembled heavily, yet she forced herself to stay still despite the rushing wind that kept slamming into her.
Leon stood a step behind, his instincts coiled like steel in his back. He watched Liu Yan struggle in the stormy wind.
A sharp ringing sound echoed, then the windows he had looked at all blasted outward. From within them, B-ranked Glass Skitters poured out, their claws glinting as they fell through the rushing wind like shards of black crystal.
The ground quivered, pebbles bouncing, as all the twenty-five Glass Skitters landed. Their tongues flared as they whipped their gazes toward the Soul Eater, then dashed toward it.
The Soul Eater snarled, slamming its front right leg to the ground with a THUMP.
Leon’s voice lanced through in an urgent tone. "Let’s move back and find a safe place."
"Why move back?" Liu Yan stood firm, her eyes burning as she increased her grip on the sword. "That Soul Eater has been hunted for years. If we fight it, we’ll gain more than we can imagine."
Leon and Liu Yan stood at a forty-ter distance, staring at the Glass Skitters that kept losing their lives the mont they neared the Soul Eater.
One of the Glass Skitters dashed forward, its claws aid toward the Soul Eater’s face. As soon as the claws scraped across the fur of the Soul Eater, it froze.
In a blink, its eyes reddened, then popped with a burst of blood. The seven-foot body of the Glass Skitter crumpled inward, almost as if its intestines had been sucked out.
After it crashed on the ground, three Glass Skitters dashed forward and sealed their fate in the sa style of death. Yet the remaining creatures didn’t retreat.
The Sector 7 task churned into a deadly ballet. Dust, blood, broken tal, and shattered glass swirled in mini-tornadoes.
The Soul Eater remained after thirty minutes elapsed, standing amidst the sea of bodies.
Its hazy gaze cut toward Leon and Liu Yan’s direction. Its skeletal cloak shifted and whispered, while the old sword mark glinted from the skin around its left eye.
Leon’s chest heaved, but he didn’t take his eyes off the creature.
Liu Yan turned the sword, tightened her jaw, narrowed her eyes, then waited for the Soul Eater’s next move.
Another humid roar lanced through, followed by blue lightning that moved directly toward the Soul Eater’s left side.
THWACK.
The creature shook itself, its fur dangling in the air. It whipped its sharp gaze to the left, then lunged at god-like speed toward the two human figures closing in from a distance.
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