Chapter 40- Chaos (Part 2)
Rize felt as if the entire world around him disappeared for a split second as he felt his entire body go numb. He fell to the ground, slamming into the wall violently. His mind didn't even register what happened yet. His ears were whistling loudly, and he could barely hear anything beyond one word…
"Rize!" A faint voice yelled from afar, echoing in the chambers of his mind.
'What… Happened…' He thought to himself as he looked down, seeing a red liquid running down his arm. Then, as if that was a trigger, suddenly, he felt an insanely painful burning sensation take over his entire arm.
The pain was so overwhelming Rize couldn't even understand what it was for a second. Then, it dawned on him. 'A bullet! I got hit!'
The moment he realized that, Rize sucked a deep breath in as he grabbed his arm. "AGH!" He let out a pained groan. "God… dammit!!!"
"Rize!!"
At the same time, Venera turned around, realizing that the anonymous attacker was about to hit her too. Without wasting a single breath, she put the man in front of her just as the bullet was shot.
*BANG*
The bullet penetrated the man's chest. His eyes widened in shock as he looked down. Then, his entire body collapsed to the ground, only stopped by Venera as she grabbed him and started retreating.
At the same time, she started shooting bullets at the anonymous attacker. She could see their silhouette in the distance, but for some reason, the bullets weren't landing. Each bullet would magically pass through him.
'An awakened?' Her eyes turned colder. The situation was bad… very bad. Rize was injured, and she was surrounded by enemies from every angle. However, her priority was clear… She needed to get to Rize.
Meanwhile, the man kept shooting at her. The bullets rained down on her.
"You took too long!" The woman took that opportunity as she rushed to the man. At the same time, X, who was still recovering from the beating he received, shook the pain off as he looked at Rize. The boy was convulsing with pain, with the gun thrown to the side.
His eyes locked onto it as he stood up slowly and tried to run toward it. 'If I get the gun, they're dead!!' He yelled in his own head.
Rize seemed completely immobilized; it was his golden opportunity. As he lunged for the gun, Rize suddenly looked up as he realized what he was trying to do. Even in that hellish pain, Rize quickly stretched his hand and grabbed the gun as he tried to aim it at the man.
However, the latter was a split second faster and grabbed his hand, altering the direction of the bullet.
*BANG* BANG* BANG*
Several bullets flew off into the tunnel, digging into its walls as the two entered a struggle. The man used his weight to pin Rize down while the latter tried to fight back with his feet.
"Get… off… me!!" He kicked at the man's stomach while the latter tried to hold on for dear life. 'If my other arm was just normal…'
The two tossed and turned around.
"Let go, you bastard!!" X launched a punch toward Rize's face. The fist landed on his face, yanking his head back. The man then punched him again. At the same time, Rize gripped the gun tightly before he suddenly slammed it into the back of X's head. The man lost balance for a second before Rize kicked him in the crotch. The man fell back as he grabbed his private area, crying in immense pain.
At the same time, Rize aimed the gun at him and shot several bullets without hesitation. The man spasmed for a second before he stopped moving completely.
"Hah… Hah… Hah…" Rize breathed heavily as he stared at the man for a moment. The blood leaked out of the man's body as it pooled around him slowly. It dawned on Rize… He had killed him.
That was Rize's very first kill ever. His mind couldn't even comprehend how he felt at that moment. Even though he was trained to do that specifically, his heart was still racing wildly, and his thoughts were in shambles.
"Rize!"
*BANG* *BANG* *BANG*
"Are you ok?!"
At the same time, Venera arrived near him, carrying the dead man as a shield to protect her. "Can you move?"
"Yeah… I can…"
"We need to retreat. More will-"
*BANG*
Another bullet hit the man she was holding. "Will come."
Rize nodded as he stared at the man through the gap, and he felt a chill run down his spine. The dark silhouette stared back at him directly, and the sense of threat he felt at that moment was indescribable.
'This is bad… This is really bad…' Rize thought to himself as he grabbed the trigger and stood up with his functioning arm.
Meanwhile, the bullets kept firing at them endlessly while they retreated deeper and deeper into the tunnel.
"How the hell are they shooting their own people without hesitation?!" Rize asked with a confused look on his face as he tried to cover his head from the bullets.
"I don't know! We can't really stay here. That man will come to us soon."
"Just hold onto the body; I will try to stall them!" Rize said as he grabbed the gun and started shooting back. At the same time, he saw the man slowly stepping into the tunnel, unfazed by the bullets.
After several shots, Rize's gun stopped.
"Dammit, I'm out of bullets!"
"Here, take this," Venera said as she handed him the other gun.
"Thank you."
Even while shooting, Rize could tell that it was pointless as the man wasn't even being hit. It almost appeared as if his body was made out of liquid or mist, with bullets going through him without impacting anything.
'Shit… He is probably looking for the trigger.' Rize thought to himself as he looked back. After stepping back for a while, they finally found the exit of the tunnel.
"Come on, Venera!" Grabbing the body with her, they hurried their steps. As they stepped out of the tunnel, they stopped as they saw something in front of them.
A large metallic structure with small red LED lights all over it that ticked faintly.
"The…"
"Bomb…"