[A Couple of Days Later]
"Not today either, huh?" Michiko said to Elaine while wiping a bit of dirt off of her hoodie.
"He's getting close, though." The 'wind magic' user replied as she looked down upon the unconscious body of Cyrus, whose chest was currently underneath her shoe. "Hell, he actually almost had it this time. But he just couldn't stay conscious long enough to tap into the next level."
Yet another morning of intense combat training was over and done with. And Cyrus still had yet to activate his overdrive skill. The group had made great progress over the last couple of days, but all of them ended in failure before they could achieve the result that they all wanted. It was one thing to get Cyrus to deplete his mana core, but having him break through the ceiling that plagued most of their kind was proving to be a troublesome task.
"At the rate we're going, he might actually get his overdrive in the next few days."
"I don't doubt it." Elaine responded to Michiko's words. "But we're still working against the clock here. We need to get him to activate it before the end of the month."
Michiko simply nodded in understanding. "Well, I guess I should call Nick and Reyna over. I don't think Tree Boy here will be getting up anytime soon."
The Iznana Branch Head agreed with what her longtime best friend was saying and decided to end their training for the time being. They would have another chance to try it out later on. But for now, they needed to get Cyrus healed up and reenergized before having another go at it. So, the woman unceremoniously picked the young 'tree magic' user up and tossed him over her shoulder before the two started walking off in the direction of the mansion.
'To be honest, he probably won't even need overdrive to take down Hannah. But we still need him to achieve it in order for my plans to work. The sooner he knows how to use it, the better.' Elaine quietly thought to herself.
Aside from their current goal, the reason why she was so hellbent on having Cyrus reach the next level of power was because it was crucial to her overall plans. Based on what she was told, his future overdrive skill was a critical part of their future operations. And having him get it now and gaining a bit of experience with it would prove to be useful for the future.
For now, though, there was another pressing matter that required her attention. One that needed to be addressed before Cyrus left to go back home to Charlotte to rejoin her old unit.
-(o)-
Later that evening, Cyrus found himself in a position that he never would've imagined.
As the young man walked behind Elaine and Quintin en route to their destination, a horrible feeling was beginning to well up inside of him. The kind that made him want to disconnect himself from reality to try and keep his sanity in check. And it was all because of what he was about to do.
He had to kill someone.
Yes, the nineteen-year-old DPA agent was tasked with ending the life of another human being. Something that he found hard to believe the first time he heard about it.
When he first learned about it from Elaine and her crew, Cyrus couldn't help but feel odd. Although killing Hannah was currently his main goal to get back at her for what she had done to him, the man had never taken a human life before. Not even close. Doing away with some random animals and cryptids during his enchanting training was one thing. But that was completely different than what he was about to walk into.
He honestly never seriously thought about it up until recently. It was more just words and thoughts as opposed to serious actions. Even then, the thought of him actually doing it didn't really click. Up until now, that is.
When the trio arrived at the unmarked warehouse near the shipping port somewhere out in the Outer Banks of the state, Cyrus was escorted to the location of the shipping container that doubled as an execution cell by someone whom he assumed to be one of Elaine's other Iznana operatives. Some masked woman who smelled of perfume and liquor. It was his first time inside a place like this, and the sights and sounds were just as repulsive as he expected.
As the man walked through the halls of the building, he could see the faces of numerous men and women who the 'wind magic' user currently had on payroll. All of whom seemed to be pretty strong based on their mana signatures, who also had a pretty dangerous vibe about them. Just as one would expect from a group of Iznana agents.
Thankfully, Cyrus only had to bear with it for a couple of minutes before he found himself on the far side of the building. Standing right outside the door of the cell where the assigned target was waiting.
On the other side of that door was the person that he was slated to kill.
Their life was mere minutes away from being ended by his own hands.
The young man could feel his heart getting ready to leap out of his chest, but he somehow managed to hold his nerve. If only barely….
Once he walked into that shipping container, he wouldn't be allowed to leave until the deed was done. That was the rule that Elaine had given on the way out here.
Cyrus supposed that he should be grateful in some way. The majority of agents would have to experience this kind of thing in the heat of a mission. When adrenaline was high, and the only thing you had to be concerned about was making it out alive.
He, on the other hand, had the "luxury" of being in a controlled environment.
The whole thing almost made him laugh.
"Enter whenever you're ready." The nameless operative said to him in a neutral tone, one completely devoid of any emotion. A bit further away, Elaine and Quintin were silently watching each and every move he made while speaking with a few other people who were in attendance.
Cyrus doesn't know how long he spent standing outside that door. To him, it felt like an eternity. Maybe even longer. But when the young agent resolved himself to enter the room, his sense of time had all but vanished.
He still couldn't believe that he was actually about to do this. It almost didn't make any sense to him. Normally, he never would've agreed to participate in something like this. But some weird feeling in the back of his head kept him moving forward. Something inside of him that he wasn't able to properly describe.
As soon as the man walked inside the shipping container, the door shut behind him. And just like that, he was trapped inside an entirely different world. One that was restricted to the confines of the corrugated metal walls that surrounded him.
Almost immediately, the young man gazed upon his target. A man in his mid-twenties with golden blonde hair, royal blue eyes, and thick black eyebrows that almost seemed to curve upward the closer they got to his nose. The man, a regular human, was strapped to a metal chair with his arms and legs bound by a set of restraints. And he was wearing a black jumpsuit that was customary for inmates assigned to one of the local prisons in the state.
"So...my executioner has finally arrived, huh?" The man said with a nasty smile, looking Cyrus dead in his eyes, despite the black ski mask covering his freckled face. The inmate's voice was hoarse, and it looked like he hadn't bathed in weeks. "I was wondering who managed to buy me from that bastard warden. Imagine my surprise when those corrupt-ass prison guards told me that I was being sent away for my execution instead of doing it in the prison like normal!"
Scott Vargas was the name of the man before him. A notorious criminal who was currently serving four consecutive life sentences for multiple crimes committed around three years ago. Before making his way out to the warehouse, Cyrus was given his file by Quintin to read over. As a way for him to understand the person whom he was slated to kill. As well as the reason why the man found himself in the situation he was currently in.
Inside was a detailed report of all his crimes, which included murder, theft, kidnapping, and child sexual abuse. As well as the distribution of illegal pornographic material.
According to the paperwork, Vargas had been on the run for seven months after it was discovered that he had killed an innocent civilian while trying to peddle his wares. The moment he found out that one of his flunkies ratted him out, the now-inmate high-tailed it up north to New Jersey and ended up joining a local gang that routinely performed burglaries on small towns and extorted their citizens for their money.
From there, Vargas seemed to delve into the deepest parts of his depravity and started getting involved in the human trafficking business. Frequently having his way with the young girls that he and his colleagues abducted and killing them once they outlived their usefulness to him.
A truly despicable human being. No matter which way you looked at it.
The now-inmate's luck ran out when he just so happened to be in a heroin den that got swarmed by a group of FBI agents during a raid by the bureau. And although he put up a fight, Vargas was brought down and transported back to North Carolina. He then spent two weeks being interrogated and having every bit of information on his associates squeezed out of his brain before being thrown in prison to await his execution.
Simply put, the man was a piece of trash. The lowest of the low that got his rocks off by kidnapping young girls and forcing them to do unspeakable things for his amusement. Someone who didn't deserve to draw breath on this Earth.
"So…who are you anyway, guy?" The man's dry voice brought Cyrus out of his thoughts. "What are you, a hitman or something? FBI? CIA? Or are you related to one of my previous victims? Man…this sucks! At least they could've sent a nice young lady in here. I happen to like 'em young, y'know. I just love gazing into the eyes of a fresh-faced young bitch. It really gets the juices flowing, if you know what I mean?!"
'This guy is insane.'
Cyrus remained silent. He had been ordered by Quintin not to say anything to the man while he was in here. Just go in and get the job. After all, one rarely got the chance to have a conversation with the person they were supposed to kill. If you did, then you were doing something horribly wrong.
As he ignored the man's psychotic ramblings, Cyrus pulled a knife out from his pouch and began walking towards him. Mentally preparing himself for what he was about to do. He had no clue why he was so calm right now. It just didn't make any sense to him. Maybe it was just his way of coping with what he was about to do?
Or something else at play that he wasn't aware of….
"Tch, a quiet professional, huh? Figures...you hitmen are always so boring. I at least thought that my executioner would give me a few parting words before killing me. But I guess that was too much to ask for." The criminal moved his shoulders in an attempt to shrug.
Once again, the 'tree magic' user didn't reply. He simply kept walking toward his victim. And the grip on his knife was getting tighter and tighter with each passing second. Cyrus stopped once he was in arm's reach of the man. Taking a moment to look right into his blue eyes before sucking in a breath, he didn't know that he was holding.
"Well...let's get this over with. Not like I have much of a choice in the matter." Vargas said with a grin.
How this creep could smile like that when he was moments away from his death was beyond Cyrus's comprehension. Maybe he had already made peace with his life and was ready for it all to end? Maybe he was actually looking forward to the sweet release that came with death? Or maybe he was just insane? Either way, it didn't matter to Cyrus. Whatever the reason was, it wasn't going to stop him from doing what he had to do.
The moment of truth came and went before Cyrus even knew what had happened. Although the young man couldn't remember the moment he dragged the knife across the inmate's neck. However, there was one thing that he would surely never forget. And that was the aftermath of what he had done.
The young man stood in silence as he watched the blood begin to pour out of the inmate's body like a faucet. Fleeing from the wound like a prisoner who had just escaped their frail confines into the world beyond. There was a morbid sense of fascination that Cyrus had as he quite literally watched the light dim in the creep's eyes.
The look on his face was one of happiness now that he was released from the living world. Finally able to move on to the next plane of existence that some believed to be awaiting all mortals who eventually received the final embrace of death.
Once again, time seemed to become irrelevant to Cyrus as the image of Vargas's now lifeless corpse burned itself into her eyes. Becoming a memory that he was sure he wouldn't forget until the end of his days.
What really got to the young man was that he wasn't as horrified as he thought he'd be. No, maybe the reality of what just happened hadn't truly hit him yet. Or something else that kept the young man from releasing the contents of his stomach onto the metal floor that was slowly collecting a puddle of blood at his feet.
Eventually, Cyrus's feet began moving towards the door. His body was practically on autopilot as he exited the shipping container and silently made his way toward the back entrance of the building. The world around him might as well have been nonexistent.
When he reached the outside, the first thing he noticed was Elaine and Quintin standing there. Only just remembering that they were the ones who accompanied him on this little field trip.
"You doing okay, Tree Boy?" The 'wind magic' user asked in a sympathetic tone.
"I...d-don't know." Was all that Cyrus said. Not really sure of what an appropriate response would be.
All Elaine did was nod before motioning for the young man to follow her. Understanding that conversation was not on the agenda for the trip back to the mansion. And so, the trio left the shipping yard behind. Neither one said a single word to the other the entire trip back.
The hard part was now over with. Or, at least, that's what Cyrus told himself as he tried not to faint from all the blood that was currently rushing into his head.