"I can pay! I can pay however you want-just please… avenge my husband…"
The woman's scream echoed through the dim room, her voice breaking as she wept. Across from her sat a mysterious dark figure, with two more standing silently at the sides of the room.
The man turned his head toward one of the guards on the right and gave a single nod.
Somewhere outside, on a building's balcony
--
Te nen!
A notification rang from a phone lying flat beside a man. He sat at the edge of the building, his left leg hanging freely, his right bent atop the ledge. He picked up the phone and glanced at the screen.
A photo of a man -Harry Jackson- appeared, along with his location in the city.
The wind stirred. Seen from behind, the man remained still as his dark hair fluttered softly.
The moment was silent.
And... Ominous.
It was nighttime already, 10:30 PM. The streets of Berlin were quiet, with only a few people passing by. On the sidewalk, two figures walked together, but something felt off.
"Hey, you walking alone?" the man said with a laugh. "You know that's not good for ladies like you~"
His arm rested over an uncomfortable girl. Her eyes were closed, her body limp, unable to respond. This was the same man from earlier-Harry Jackson.
"Heh, what do you say we head into that alley?" he continued. "Just have some fun, y'know? Drinks and stuff, ey? Haha."
He subtly guided both himself and the girl toward the alleyway.
A brief flash of light passed by-gone in an instant. Harry noticed it, but didn't bother to investigate. Somewhere in the distance, a long and sophisticaed modeled sniper was already held in position.
A masked man, dressed in a dark suit, remained perfectly still, steady and ready despite having such a heavy armament.
"Ah!" The girl cried out as she was slammed against the wall, her body sliding down until she curled in on herself, covering her head with her arms.
The man, Harry Jackson reached into his jacket and pulled out a butterfly knife, flipping it open with practiced ease. An unhinged smile spread across his face as he charged--
--and the moment slowed.
The girl lay on the ground, trembling, helpless as Harry raised the blade to strike.
"SWOOP."
A faint streak of light, silent, almost invisible passed by Harry's head.
He froze.
His expression went blank, eyes staring into nothing, mouth slightly open. Then his body collapsed to the ground. Only then did blood begin to spill.
The sudden silence was overwhelming.
Slowly, the girl lowered her arms and cautiously opened one eye.
Then--
"AHH!"
Her blood-curdling scream tore through the alley.
The sniper didn't move.
A faint wisp of steam rose from his weapon. He lifted his head from the scope and stared into the distance before standing up. Calmly, he dismantled the sniper rifle and placed each part into a large briefcase.
His phone rang.
He answered.
"How is the mission looking?" The voice belonged to the man from earlier-the one who sat across from the grieving woman.
There was a brief silence. The sniper turned his head slightly.
"Assassination has been completed, Special Executive Levi."
"Efficient work as always, Julius Stark," the man, Levi replied.
After the call, Julius slipped his phone back into his pocket. Everything was quiet. The night was calm, the breeze passing by as his black trench coat fluttered with the wind.
He raised his right hand to his mask and swiftly removed it, gently letting his arm fall as he held it at his side. He looked up at the sky, faintly.
Julius Stark was revealed-his left eye bearing a white sclera, a dark violet iris, and a black pupil, while his right eye contrasted it with a black sclera, a lighter violet iris, and the same void-like pupil, and a refined face with rather pale skin. His bangs swayed gently in the breeze, his lips set in a straight line. He looked just as other assassins imagined-almost like a celebrity but unnaturally unsettling.
Just dull.
And gloomy.
He turned around, walked meters then, without hesitation, jumped off the building.
Everything went black.
Daytime.
The scene cut to a quiet park. The sky was clear blue, and not a single person was in sight. The breeze continued to pass through.
On a bench sat Julius, dressed in casual civilian clothing. A brown hat rested low on his head, shadowing his face.
Footsteps echoed softly as a man dressed in black approached and sat beside Julius without a word. He pulled out a sheet of paper and slid it next to him, the sound cutting through the silence of the park.
"This will be your most critical mission yet," the man said quietly. "Even organized and settled through Zero Reach's personal favor. Treat this with your utmost capacity, Black Handler."
"Understood," Julius replied. He picked up the paper, folded it neatly into four, and slipped it into his pocket.
"You'll be required to go through a rigorous set of documents," the man continued. "This mission is an Ultimate Project-beyond the ones before. You'll likely be placed in the public eye, either within an institution or as an undercover employee. For a professional like you… it's unfortunate that you're quite awkward."
He let out a brief laugh. "Still, Zero Reach trusts you with this mission, Julius Stark, the Black Handler."
Julius remained silent, giving only a faint nod. "I'm… not awkward," he said after a pause. "I'd like to believe."
The silence that followed only proved otherwise. The two figures sat still and appearing small as the breeze passed by, a single leaf drifting between them, as if an added unintentional insult to the awkwardness.
"Right," the man said, clearing his throat, professionalism returning. "We're counting on you, Assassin Black Handler. You'll receive the full details upon arrival at the location listed on that paper."
I'm not awkward… am I? Julius thought, even as the idea felt silly.
Beside him, the mysterious man slightly turned his head toward Julius, then slowly faced forward again.
"Your eyes are unnatural," he said quietly. "You'd stand out in a crowd more than a Reach person. It's striking-almost a feature but as an assassin, it's a liability. I suggest contact lenses for this mission. Hide them."
Julius gave a faint nod.
"I can communicate better if I have to," he added.
"Hey, aren't we past that already?" the man replied flatly.
Later, walking through the busy streets of Berlin, the heat hung heavy in the air and people grew impatient. Julius wore sunglasses, weaving through the crowd with practiced ease. As he dodged past pedestrians, he suddenly halted.
He pulled the folded paper from his pocket and glanced over it once more. After a brief pause, he turned his head to the side.
There stood a large café.
"Kill O' Café" was written across the sign above.
As he pushed the door open, the bell above rang softly. The café was empty. Quiet.
Yet-there was a presence.
Julius stepped inside, heading toward the counter. From deep within the kitchen, a brief flash of white light flickered. Then--
SLING.
With terrifying speed and a faint sonic crack, a knife shot toward him. Before it could reach his face, the world slowed-the blade hanging a foot away.
In an instant, he caught it.
His grip closed around the blade, held vertically. No blood. No wound. Julius glanced down, flipped the knife with practiced ease, and inspected it, running a finger along its edge.
"Quite the sharpening it's received…"
He thought.
"You truly are the efficient hunter the organization speaks of," a man said.
The voice came from the kitchen. A man in a chef's uniform stepped forward, clapping slowly.
"Feared across Europe. A bounty worth millions of pounds. The Black Handler assassin, Julius Stark."
Seeing the man, Julius tilted his head slightly, a hint of curiosity in his gaze.
"Ah-my apologies for the manner," the man said. He bowed slowly, placing his right hand over the left side of his chest-the Assassin's Code greeting.
"I am Stanly Yuri. Your Knave for this mission, Black Handler," he introduced himself with practiced grace.
"Right. I forgot," Julius replied casually. "Ultimate missions come with assistant assassins. Knaves."
The two now sat across from each other at a table. Julius remained in his civilian clothes, the brown hat still casting a shadow over his face. Stanly stayed in his chef's uniform, posture composed.
"These are all the details of your mission, Black Handler," Stanly said, sliding a stack of layered documents across the table.
Julius took them, reading each page in turn and placing the finished ones behind the next. As he went on, his eyes widened in surprise just slightly.
Mission #90 - The Halland Union's Formal Request
"If possible, please assist us in this matter.
The Halland Union is in danger-or rather, its authors. A sign of betrayal lingers within our sovereign. The next heir, the 1st daughter, Anna Rose Halland, is in grave danger should her information be exposed, especially within Europe. We hope to negotiate further with Zero Reach and seek your guidance. Please-protect the 1st daughter. "
"With deepest gratitude,
Francis Caine Halland
Current Author of the Halland Union"
The message ended there, Francis's words lingering in the silence despite his absence.
"Seriously…?" Julius thought, his eyes narrowing slightly-caught between surprise and quiet suspicion.
"The Halland Union?"
Kill O' Café
Chapter 1: The Black Assasin
End!