"Let's go."
Wasting no time, Alexei dropped down from the building rooftop, briefly activating the Prowess skill to absorb the impact on his body before slamming the teenager on the ground to stun him.
As another gunshot immediately rang in the air, he held the boy in front of him and slowly walked inside the store.
The interior was a typical tourist trap souvenir shop with cliche shirts, magnets, candy, and mini trinkets representing the city organized in a haphazard manner.
In the center of the store stood a plain-looking girl with dark brown hair who looked similar to the boy he had chained up and...Cyril.
Cyril's usually pale face looked even paler in contrast to the black cloth gagging his mouth and the black hair that was messily tucked back.
Blue eyes stared forward blankly in a daze, giving him a shell-shocked look.
Instead of a white tracksuit, he wore an oversized black shirt, dirty gray sweatpants, dirty white socks, and no shoes.
His hands were in front of him, holding a large kitchen knife to his throat.
The girl standing next to him had a shotgun pressed to his side and had a cold expression as she stared at the chained-up boy Alexei's face.
"Cyril, что не так?" As Alexei called his name and questioned him in a different language, the girl shook her head mockingly before tapping the gun against the side of Cyril's head.
"Shhhh. Shhh. Not another word, not another step. And speak in English. Otherwise, you can say goodbye to him." At her gesture, Cyril pushed the knife against his throat until the tip went in slightly, and droplets of blood dripped down the silver surface.
In response, Alexei immediately began squeezing Daniel and twisting the broken arm that had turned purple until the teenager groaned in pain while his body shivered.
The girl, Debbie, bit her lips before speaking through clenched teeth,"…Enough."
"Move the knife first." Alexei's reply was calm as he kept trying to make eye contact with Cyril, who kept staring blankly into the air.
The woman glared at him before gesturing at Cyril, who moved the knife slightly away from his neck.
"You next, you damn bastard."
Alexei naturally reduced the pressure of the chains, squeezing the boy.
"What did you do to him? Why does he look like that?" Alexei finally focused on the girl, seeing that Cyril was unresponsive.
"Let's just call it security. But I'm willing to make a deal. You let me and my brother go, and I'll release your buddy from my spell. Oh, and if you try to hurt me or hurt Daniel again…"
At her nod, Cyril dug the knife into his neck once more, causing more blood to pour out.
In return, Alexei snapped one of Daniel's fingers, causing him to scream before unblocking his mouth.
"Arghhhhhhh!"
"You bastard! What is wrong with you? Aren't you afraid I'll kill him!" the girl pointed the gun at Cyrils' head, and Alexei nodded.
"I'm actually terrified, so let's not play around. First, move the knife. Then give me that one, and I'll give you this one." Alexei pointed between Daniel and Cyril.
"No. It's a safety measure."
"I think you should reconsider."
Turning his gaze to examine Cyril, Alexei removed the chain from Daniels's mouth.
And broke one of his fingers.
CRACK!
"Arghhhhhhhhhhh- umgnph mmmmmmmm"
As the chains were stuffed back into Daniel's mouth, Alexei watched as Debbie gestured and Cyril held the knife back to his neck.
Although the knife went in deeper and more blood poured out, making the pale face look paler, there was no change in Cyril's facial expression that stared blankly into the air.
Interesting.
The corners of Alexei's lips turned up even more.
"You- If you don't stop, I'll make him kill himself! Trust me! I'll really do it." Debbie glared at the blond man before her, but he just smiled peacefully as he examined the black-haired boy's face before nodding.
"Is your ability something like an illusion? Mind control? From how easily he's stabbing that knife into his neck and how unresponsive he is, I doubt he can feel the pain anyway, right? I can see that you care for your brother, so I don't think you'll retaliate to the point of killing him, so this level of damage is fine. I'll properly heal him afterward, but until then, it seems your brother will suffer first. And maybe if Cyril is injured enough, he'll finally agree to stay in the house without bringing a bunch of stray rats back."
Crack!
"Mghpmmmmm!"
With the smile of an angel, Alexei snapped another of Daniel's fingers.
Watching it happen after hearing the slightly unhinged words, Debbie felt a cold chill down her spine.
This man…was he completely crazy?
She couldn't tell whether he was here to rescue his friend or not and how was he so strong?
She, Daniella, and Daniel had not been slouching, properly getting rid of the gangs and civies near them, and powering up with those amazing crystals that popped out when people were eliminated.
But this guy had snatched Daniel, who was the strongest and fastest of them, through a window like it was nothing before anybody could react.
As her eyes began shaking in fear, and she began glancing between Daniella, who was under her control, and Daniel, who was silently crying while being held upside down, Alexei softened his tone and gently laid Daniel on the ground, and even removed the chain in his mouth.
"Actually, I don't want any trouble with either of you. I just want my friend back. How about this: I'll place your friend outside of the door, and you can stand with him. I release my chains, and you release your control and let my friend go. That way, we both win. As long as you don't try shooting me in the back, then I have no problem."
At the surprisingly reasonable suggestion that aligned with her intentions, Debbie glanced at Daniel, who nodded slightly while winking before agreeing reluctantly.
"….fine."
As the agreement was quickly made, both parties cautiously circled each other until Debbie's back was to the door.
"Toss the gun away, and I'll set him on his feet."
At Alexei's order, the gun was thrown outside of the store while Debbie kept her hands pointed at Cyril.
As Alexei placed Daniel's feet down on the ground by the door, and the chains began unwinding around him, Cyril began staggering as his eyes seemed to slowly regain focus.
Like a child, he took unsteady steps toward Alexei before stopping and swaying as if he were about to fall.
"Let's complete this on three." Debbie reiterated while staring at Cyril in a focused way.
"One."
"Two"
"Three."
"Go!"
At Debbie's shout, Alexei ran forward to grab Cyril, who suddenly fell forward, the knife still pointed toward his neck, while releasing the chains restraining Daniel.
5 black chains quickly wrapped around Cyril's hand, holding the knife and his body, applying the Nullification Magic.
There was a slight ripple once the chains touched Cyril's body, and then his eyes completely focused on Alexei and lit up with familiarity.
"Get Him!"
As Cyril began scrambling at the gag around his mouth, Daniel transformed his unbroken hand into a flesh-colored scythe and dashed toward Alexei while Debbie shifted her attention to Alexei and pointed the phone in her hand at him.
"Daze! Hypnosis!" Her shrill scream rang out.
Alexei's vision turned white as a ball of light exploded, completely blinding him.
The area around his neck began tingling, and as he lifted his hands to block it, the same sensation appeared in his torso area.
An indication of incoming danger.
Immediately changing his plan, four chains retracted and combined to make a metal net to block the area in front of him.
Feeling something snag on them, he quickly forced the chains to hold on and swung the grabbed person while black spots began filling his vision as it tried to clear.
CRASH!!!!!!
The sound of a large figure crashing into something solid and a bunch of little items falling to the ground sounded out.
"Ugghhhhh Debs!"
"I'm trying! Daze! Hypnosis! Hypnosis! Hypnosis!"
Preemptively closing his eyes before the flash, Alexei opened them once more to see the woman, Debs, running toward him with her phone pointed at his face while Cyril, with the gag still around his face, ran toward that woman with the knife pointed at her back.
To the left was Daniel, thrown into a display of t-shirts and sweaters with a partially transformed Scythe arm while wrapped in black metallic chains.
As Debbie reached him, she suddenly fell, causing Cyril to trip over her and dive into Alexei, the knife pointed directly at his heart.
As he watched the knife approach his heart, the previously blank face seemed to smile through the gag that hadn't been removed.
That was when…
The last chain, still loosely wrapped around Cyril's ankle, tightened and yanked him into the air before slamming him into the open chain net that was holding Daniel.
"Wha-?"
As Debbie stared blankly at the scene in front of her, a fist suddenly slammed into her stomach before she, too, was sent flying into the black chain net.