บท 24: Chapter 23: Melody

The large door creaked open and a stench of blood filled the air.

Instinctively, I held my nose as the culprit stepped out.

Clad in a black tight-skin bodysuit and donning two gauntlets on both hands. She walked towards me with a soft smile which betrayed her appearance.

I shook as I saw the trail of blood she left as she stepped and I quivered when I felt the dread of death emanating from her.

"What's wrong, Mari? Is there something on my face?", Amanai asked innocently.

I shook my head and took a deep breath to regain my composure.

"Are you done?"

"Yep. I offed every one of them."

.....

"Ok."

"It was a good idea to lure each of them to one spot. Killing them one by one would have been tedious.", Amanai said chirpily while matching my pace.

"Yeah..."

We continued to walk until I remembered something.

"Amanai, did you-"

"Don't worry I already cleared the evidence.", Amanai said, now wearing casual clothes and her Ballista nowhere in sight.

"You did?"

"Yes. I did. I cleaned the bloody tracks, fingerprints and turned off my Ballista. Now no one would know what happened to them. All the police will find are corpses.", she said with a smile.

"...."

How did she turn out like this, you ask?

Well...it's a long story.

Amanai...is actually dead.

-+-

On 75th of Ludium, 3002.

I, Mari, was on an undercover mission in Nightingale City. A province located on the East of Cybrmille known for its heavenly view at nighttime. I had just finished retrieving a relic from a megacorporation that specializes in the making of armory. The relic I had in hand was called Sp3, a nanochip which had the ability to supercharge any device up to 120% of its potential. My master had briefed me on the megacorp's mission; they wanted to use this chip on Ballistae.

Yes, Ballistae. Ballistae that were already all powerful. A megacorp was looking into making them even stronger. Why would Mr. Rith, the leader of Cybrmille's Self-Defense Force, not want to confiscate? Especially, after they had tracked the megacorp involving itself with shady deals underground with one of its clients being the DarkMatter Group.

This was a call for alarm, that is...if I didn't carry out my mission perfectly.

"Fufu...so easy", I giggled as I tossed the black box in my hand up and down; the casing of Sp3. I had just successfully stolen it and was already leaving but then...I heard a voice.

"I know right?"

I stopped in my tracks as I turned to the source of the voice. Before me, a curvy lady with flowing goldilocks and a slim bodysuit stood. The giant sickle in her hand told me she had no intention of letting me go.

I took a battle-ready stance, readying my weapon, a nodachi. I pointed it towards her and aimed to strike but then I froze once I heard her laugh.

"Ahahahahaha!", she laughed loudly as I approached.

"What? Why are you laughing?", I demanded as veins popped on my temple.

"Oh...nothing it's just that you really expect that dingy thing to harm me.", she said as she sneered at me.

"Ding...?!", I mumbled confused.

"I'll let you have a shot.", she said as she spread her arms.

I eyed her suspiciously before dashing towards her, aiming for her throat. I'll kill her with one strike!

My blade violently cut through the air moving to her neck before stopping at the moment of impact, "Eh?!"

I was bewildered, my blade had reached her neck but it didn't go through. It was like an immovable rock; her skin was extremely tough.

"What the hell?!", I cried.

"Do you get it now?", she said as her scythe came flying back to her. At the blink of an eye, she slammed it at me. The force off her attack was so powerful that it created an enormous crater below me. I stumbled and she took the opportunity to smash her knee into my gut. I coughed up blood and was sent flying into a wall.

"I am invincible.", she declared as she closed the gap between, she and I. I looked up only to be met with a knee to the face, I began to lose consciousness, my eyes dilating but yet I braced myself and swung my sword. Shaken, the woman took a step back causing me to slice at her hair. Strands of hair fell off, I grinned.

"Invincible you say...If your cells are invincible then all I need to do is cut the gap between them.", I said, readying my sword.

"Pfft! Don't be ridiculous! You can't do that!", she exclaimed boldly, taking a fighting stance.

"Let's see then!", I dashed towards her moving so fast a shockwave could be heard.

She responded in kind and our blades clashed. We swung our weapons at each other, aiming for the kill. The speed and ferocity of our attacks, caused shockwaves and craters. Alarms went off, alerting the megacorp but it didn't bother me. I wanted to kill this bitch.

A forward strike of my katana was evaded by her, she responded with a side slash of her scythe followed by a roundhouse kick. I dodged them and thrusted at her torso; the blade stopped once it reached her skin. She smiled before headbutting me; I scowled as I through a kick to her face which dealt no damage. I swung again but yet to no avail.

"You can't cut m-", she was cut off by a slash to the face, a flesh wound appeared on her left cheek causing blood to spur forth.

"I can't cut you, right?", I grinned as I let my blade move through the air. I elegantly changed the direction of the blade and let it descend splitting her weapon in half and turning the blade again to thrust through her heart.

Blood spewed out of her mouth as her head dropped onto my shoulder. In her last breaths, she managed to speak. "H...o... w...? Did...you... cut...through my cells?"

"I didn't, that's impossible. I figured that your ability is simply an attribute of your Occlusion Energy. Your emotions are supposed to be vivid...like a melody but once doubt seeps in your ability stops, until you calm down does it reactivate. I said that bluff so that I could shake you up and after the first slice it became easier to push you into a corner and to your defeat."

"I see...", she stumbled before grabbing me by my hair, "I came here to defeat you even at the cost of my own life!"

Immediately, she said that her body began to expand. I turned to escape but before I could take even another step, I was hit by a blast of Occlusion Energy.