The next morning, there were still some training sessions for Specter, after which Orion took the opportunity to play with some of the village children, teasing them until they laughed uncontrollably. Looks really peaceful.
At night, the cafe was bathed in yellow light. Noir was cleaning her gun, Orion was inspecting his sword, and Specter was sitting in front of his laptop screen. Suddenly, a streak of red signals flashed, the warning system he had installed had picked up an strange frequency, they were so dense that they seemed about to explode, a bad feeling.
"No way, we should have detected it earlier..." Specter said tensely.
"What's going on?" Orion asked.
"They're coming. *Specter gripped the keyboard, his voice deepening*
The sound of engines roared in the distance. Each wheel of the car swept through the small street of the town. VOID no longer hid its intentions, bringing an entire assassination squad. Gunfire mixed with the panicked screams of villagers, every sound echoing like it came from hell.
When the cafe door burst open, Orion didn't wait, rushing out first. His short sword swung up, blood spraying red on the floor. Noir provided support from behind him, her two-colored eyes glowing brightly, each shot accurately piercing the foreheads of the assassins pouring in, each one falling without a sound. The cafe became a battlefield heavy with the strong smell of blood.
Specter stood in a corner, not yet reacting, his chest was tight. After many years away from the battlefield, his hands were shaking... But assassins everywhere, attacking like a storm. Noir and Orion were holding them off, but Specter couldn't stand this and did nothing. He'd been training these past few days. Specter spun his gun, remembering the instructions of his teammates, and fired.
"BANG!!"
The bullet hit straight into the forehead one of the VOID's assassins, he collapsed, dead.
His heart was pounding, hands were shaking, but he didn't let go.
"Come on, you... can still do it, Specter..."
He rushed out the door, joining Orion and Noir. They worked together as they had long practiced, Orion cleared the way, try to blocking their advance. Noir provided covering, using her dagger to dispatch several of them. Specter uses his gun to defend himself, while also using his ability to control machines to detonate homemade devices, stopping each wave of attackers. But VOID didn't stop.
Houses burned, the screams of innocent civilians echoing. The peaceful town turned into a sea of blood. People panicked and ran for safety, and children cried out, the fire reflected in Noir's eyes, making her pause for a moment.
"They want to destroy everything!" Noir said, her voice tinged with worry.
Specter looked at the scene, feeling a mix of fear and regret. A fire of anger, which he thought had died long ago, flared up inside him. Now, not only for Noir, but also for the innocent people, he could not step back.
Orion screamed, his sword blade dripping with blood.
"Don't let them control this place! If we must die, we'll take them down with us!"
Noir tilted her head, her two-colored eyes flashing like a storm.
"Only they deserve to die."
In the night, three shadows became one, standing in the middle of the town where it was burning like hell. The sound of gunfire, steel, and people screaming tore through the air. Their first battle was like a violent song, blood everywhere. At that moment, Noir saw an old man crawling on the ground in panic, his weak body unable to fight back. She tried to run quickly to the old man's place, but the whole group of assissins blocked her. Noir quickly finished them off, but the assassins were too numerous, like an uncontrollable pack of beasts. As she squeezed through the barrage of gunfire to drag the old man to safety but he had disappeared. But there was no time to think, Orion's call rang out, pulling Noir forward.
"Noir! Cover the left flank."
The battle raged on, leaving no breath.
At the end, the village lay almost in ruins. The acrid smell of burning wood blended with the smell of blood. How awful! House after house was reduced to ashes glowing red in the night. The screams faded, leaving only the howling wind whistling through the collapsed walls. Then all the assassins, a few minutes before they look like a storm, but right now... one by one, lay dead on the ground.
Noir walked slowly, her shoes stained with coal dust. Orion walked ahead, his wounds bleeding but still struggling on, his eyes alert as he scanned the surroundings. Specter followed silently, the barrel of his gun still hot in his hand. They were checking to make sure they hadn't missed anyone, or any civilians.
Then Noir stopped.
In a dark corner, next to a collapsed house, lay the bodies of two people. She approached, and her usually unflinching cold gaze suddenly trembled. A woman had collapsed, holding a tiny little girl in her arms, her eyes also closed. Noir remembered, that girl was the one who gave a piece of bread into her hand a few days ago. Until the end, the mother still hugged her child tightly, wanting to protect her even if it meant sacrificing herself, but that effort was still no match for the cold gun.
Noir stood there, frozen, her blue-red eyes flickering with a strange light. In that moment, she felt as if the whole world had stopped.
/You're useless, Noir.../
"…"
No words escaped her, but bitterness filled her. The scene was like a knife twisting in her heart, reminding her of what she had buried, the memory of loss, of what it felt like to be human.
Specter looked around the village, where he once lived peacefully and now... was in ruins, every innocent person was gone, some were arrested just because of them.
Orion turned his head, his stern face wavering for a moment, then turned away again. His voice was hoarse.
"We have to go. Otherwise, they will continue."
Noir slowly sat down beside the cold bodies of mother and daughter, gently touching the little girl's hair. Noir bent down, closing her eyes for a second. When she opened them, her two-colored eyes shone brightly. Now, they carried hatred. She stood up.
"Go." Her voice was low and decisive.
They all left, slowly disappearing into the smoke. Behind them, a world that had once been peaceful had become a graveyard.
Specter looked back, his heart choking.
"I'm sorry, ...all of you.." Specter whispered.
In the night wind, Noir thought silently, like a promise to herself.
"No more children will have to die like that…"
"VOID, you forced me…"
Three different fates, Noir felt a heavy weight on her shoulders, Specter was regretful, and Orion felt his nose starting to sting. All three were injured after the chase, but they still had to continue...