Chapter 32: Chapter 32: Dark Alleyways are Fate's Favorite Bitch
"G… Guards! Call the guards… this slayer just assaulted me!"
"..."
Even with the annoying shriek that was piercing his ears, Zero just stood still in the shop's doorway; his eyes watching Mark as he squirmed and rolled on the ground. If there was one thing that Zero learned to hate as he became more conscious about his surroundings, it was noise.
…And this Mark was the noisiest human he had met. He thought the howls of the werewolves were piercing, but Mark's? He was somewhat tempted to pull his throat away.
[Reader of Fate: Frank, says it's time for an execution.]
[Reader of Fate: Leylin Double D, has forgotten who Mark is.]
Even earlier when he tried to sell Zero a cheap cloak, he had been opening his mouth endlessly and squawking. Since even the guards arrive, that would mean it should be illegal to be this noisy…
…so why was he doing something like this in front of Zero again?
"My… my leg! You broke my leg!"
"..." Zero then turned his eyes towards Mark's leg as he continued to squirm around, only to see them bent in a weird way. He was about to crouch down and touch it, but before he could do so, Andrea suddenly rushed towards them.
"O… oh my god! Are… are you alright, sir!?" Andrea's hands flailed around as she looked back and forth between Mark's face and his broken leg, "W… what happened!?"
Andrea didn't really see anything– she just saw Zero's back as he was about to leave the shop, but then she suddenly heard a scream. She initially thought it was Zero, but it sounded too high-pitched.
And, to think someone got injured in front of the shop– it wasn't her fault, but she would surely be in trouble with her boss once the commotion starts.
"This guy! This slayer stepped on my foot!" Mark then violently pointed at Zero's face, "Assault! This is assault on a normal human!"
"S… sir, did you… step on his–"
"It doesn't matter!" Mark then very slowly and carefully stood up, limping on his broken leg as he placed his hand on Andrea's shoulder, "Look… this… this doesn't have to escalate–"
"L… let's check your leg first, sir!" Andrea then quickly helped Mark inside the store, sitting him on the couch reserved for customers.
As for Zero, he was about to leave when Mark once again screamed.
"W… where do you think you're going!? Stop that man! He's trying to escape!"
"..." Zero's eyebrows slowly began to lower as Mark's voice once again pierced his ears. The nails on his fingers, already getting longer as he glanced at Mark straight in the eyes.
"This… this doesn't have to escalate!" Mark once again groaned as he continued to hold his leg even while sitting up,
"You… wouldn't like trouble in your shop, right?"
"N… no," Andrea repeatedly shook her head– she wasn't really trained to deal with situations like this. She was told that there was a first-aid kit in the back of the shop in the rare case that someone gets injured, but she never really thought the day would come that she would actually get to use it.
"Good. So here–"
"I… I'll get the first-aid kit! P… please wait here!" And so, the only thing she could really do was run to the back of the store, not even hearing Mark anymore. And as soon as she saw the first aid kit, her hands started to tremble incessantly as she grabbed everything but it.
But finally, after a few more seconds, her breaths started to calm down along with her hands; immediately running back as soon as the kit got into her hands. Everything was happening so fast; just earlier she was with a customer that also seemed to appreciate cloaks, even buying two of them– and now this?
She was lucky if her boss didn't get wind of this.
"S… sir, we need to–"
But no one was there anymore.
"...Sir?"
***
"W… what are you doing!? Do… do you think no one saw you dragging me all the way out here!?"
"No."
"W… what!?"
In the span of just a minute, Zero and Mark were already in an area that Zero could consider somewhat close to his territory– a narrow alleyway. As a mindless zombie, he would consider something like this his favorite spot… as this is where the humans usually meet their end.
Even with the sun shining down upon them, it was dark. The noise was also somewhat clouded, echoing through the walls and dissipating before they could even seep to the outside.
"No one… saw us."
"Ack!"
Mark then let out a small scream as Zero threw him from his shoulders, causing his back to violently hit a dumpster. This doesn't seem to faze Mark much, however… as he even suddenly stood without a problem.
"Y… you! It… it's illegal for a slayer to hit a normal human!"
"Yes," Zero muttered as he looked at Mark's leg– which was now surprisingly back to normal like it wasn't twisted before, "You mentioned that before."
"T… then what do you think you're doing!?"
"...Assaulting a noisy human."
"Wha–"
And before Mark could even say another word, he found his neck being grabbed by Zero's hand– or more specifically… his throat.
"K–"
And without any hesitation, pulled it from his neck.
"..." This time, Mark no longer screamed; how could he, when he no longer had any means to do so? And perhaps, even with his throat intact, he also wouldn't scream due to the sheer shock of what had just happened.
He wasn't expecting any of this to happen. Slayers… live in a completely different world than them– some couldn't even be bothered to interact with Mark and just throw him some money whenever he cons them.
After all, they already had their hands full doing jobs outside the Safe Zone, they were too tired to deal with Mark's bullshit.
Mark… wasn't expecting to die today.
But here he was; his vision, slowly fading as he looked at Zero's face… which doesn't even seem to think of anything.
Ah!-- He got it now. Slayers don't bother with him; but at the same time, they also probably didn't care for him at all… he was just a cockroach that no one cared to step on.
And now someone did.
Now, the only thing he hoped was that someone would seek justice for him as soon as they found his body.
Unfortunately for Mark, however, he would have no body left to find.
***
"..."
Zero then stepped out of the alleyway. His bare feet, leaving some red marks along the pavement; that blood, however, was quickly absorbed by all the dust collected on the street for years.
"..." He turned to look at his cloak… which even though was drowned in blood, just looked dirty. Cloaks of this color truly are useful– blood wasn't noticeable, and he could even hide a lot of stuff; even chew flesh without anyone noticing.
Truly, cloaks are perfect.
"..." Zero was full. But at the same time, he felt… disappointed. Mark didn't really taste like anything– it was almost as if he was eating dirt. Zero…
…needed to devour something more appetizing than a noisy human. It was time for him to leave Concretespire and explore the–
"Robert!?"
"..." It's that noise again. Zero slightly squinted his eyes as a voice suddenly entered his ears. He had heard it before in the Test Hall of the Slayer Association the other day, but no one was really there.
And so, Zero just continued to walk through the empty streets.
"Robert!"
But once again, the voice entered his ears; causing him to try and shake his head to make it go away– he had been doing it with the Readers of Fate, maybe it would be effective with the voice.
"Robb!"
"..." Zero then halted his steps as he felt something tugging his cloak. He quickly turned around to see what it was, only to see a woman holding his beautiful cloak.
"..." Zero's claws once again started to protrude from his nails. Was… he actually seen by this female human?
"No… oh no."
"..." The woman then let go of his cloak as she took a few steps back; dropping something on the ground as she suddenly covered her mouth with her hands. Zero looked at the thing she dropped, only to see the dirty clothes he was previously wearing on the ground.
And very soon, tears started to fall on the woman's face.
"It… it's you. It... it's really you," the woman could only stutter as her breaths became gasps; her eyes trembling as she looked at Zero from head to toe. She seemed to want to touch his scarred face, but hesitated to do so as her hands shivered even more than her eyes,
"My boy…
…my baby boy."
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone