Only when you're dead.

The moment I let go I heard all the girls screaming at the top of their lungs.

"{PACK}! {HIKE}! STREWTH! WE'RE GOING TO DIEEEEE!!"

"{SNIPE}! LIV NOOOOOW!"

"{WITHSTAND}! FOR THE NORRRRRRTH!"

"EVERYONE CARE NOT TO BITE YOUR TONGUE! KYAAA!!!"

"WAAAAHHHHOOOOOO!!!!! HERE WE GOOOOO!!!!!!"

"HONEY YOU FUCKING LUNATIIIIIIIIIIC!!!!!"

I heard Liv cast {Withstand} before the sharp crack of something breaking the sound barrier. Holy shit! That thing went supersonic? I did hear new {fates} from Robyn and Jasmine. Maybe that was the cause? Or maybe it was still {Withstand}? I felt it when I murdered the assault squad. Any deviance in heading while in {Withstand} used souls to convert it to a pushing effect.

The feeling was like if you went too fast on a round corner. Instead of the momentum abruptly stopping, you were forced to follow the corner itself. I had assumed the circular momentum would get converted into a powerful acceleration, but nothing like this.

A giant ten ft black gorilla flew in the air like a brick, its speed increasing with every passing second. {Hike} had to also have something to do with it. I would ask the combat joey later. Just then, my legs felt wobbly, and I heard bones snapping.

I immediately fell hard on the ground with my limbs all bending in the wrong direction. Excruciating pain from multiple bone fractures came all at once. I saw white points coming out of my forearms while blood gushed out of me.

The red liquid also entered my mouth, and even after I canceled {Sight}, my vision still remained red like blood. I probably had a vein in my eyes burst or something.

"ARRRGGGHGHHHHH!!!!!"

My inhuman screams came out involuntarily as my body came extremely close to shock. Each person had a set pain threshold. The brain had an automatic system that shut off the brain to preserve one's sanity once that threshold was passed. How did I know such a thing?

Well, if you got beaten everyday till you went unconscious by fists, belts, sticks even baseball bats, you started to understand things about the human body's defenses. Especially when you could do nothing but wait for the beating to pass.

My mouth burned as the pain sent fire through the nerves of my body. Due to my past, my pain threshold could be said to be extremely high. Even in my current state, I still fought to remain awake. A vague voice quietly whispered something in my mind.

'Enough, I'm tired. This is hopeless, let's just give up.'

However, I knew this voice well. After all, I spent an entire lifetime listening to it. Hearing its seductive whispers had the opposite effect though. My rage built like a fire and the anger made the pain bearable.

"Rage really was one hell of an anesthetic," I affirmed.

The quote came from one of my favorite video game characters. Angry at the world, myself and the undead, I struggled to begin to stand. I could immediately use {Rewind}, but this felt like a battle with my past self. I needed to stand up on my own. Only then would I get reborn.

"Bloody hell, I can't decide which is crazier, you sending Amari like a bullet or you trying to stand despite looking like that."

Oh? I forgot the werewolf was still here. I ignored her and tried to use my broken limbs to push myself up.

"Fuck! That hurts," I whimpered.

The woman them stomped me back onto the ground. Flattened on the ground, the air got knocked out of me as I vomited blood.

"Answer me right now, you bastard. Which company are you from? Who sent you?! What is your {Fate}? Those girls were all Formless right? What do you hope to accomplish with such trash?" the woman questioned.

'Shit, looks like I won't be able to get up like I wanted to,' I thought. Guess my symbolic rebirth needed to wait.

"{Rewind}."

I suddenly felt my body turn to light as I disappeared under her heel. Appearing from a few meters behind her, I saw Mia without her soulform. She was a tall woman with short red-brown hair in a bob cut. Her attire looked like that of an assassin. Mia, who had her balance messed up, was struggling to regain her balance.

"{Expose}, {Carry}, {Aim}, {Listen}," I whispered.

While reactivating the {fates} I needed, I saw a green reticule placed on Mia's right thigh. In the same breath, I pulled the gun and shot her there.

"WHAT! HOW?" Surprised by the sound of the gunshot, with an injured thigh, the reaper could not avoid the bullet and it tore a bloody hole in her original injury.

"{Wolfpack}," she declared in haste.

Far from panicking, the woman then conjured up five other "Mias" all who had the same injury. No matter what she did, she would die today. I then shot a bullet towards the position of the original. But the moment the .45 ACP entered her head, the "Mia" disappeared.

"{Soul form} Partial," the illusions all chanted, turning their hands and feet into werewolf claws.

I then quickly took aim and fired at the rest. They were fast, but not fast enough. Bullets met illusions until I ran out of ammunition. A few lunged at me the moment my magazine ran dry.

"{Reload}, {Identify}."

Unfortunately for them, the lag when I reloaded was zero. I quickly sent the attackers to their graves.

Originally, I thought the bodies were nothing but illusions and the original hid somewhere, but {Identify} didn't pick up anything. While I wondered how to kill this bitch, the remaining illusions all chanted at the same time.

"{Wolfpack}."

New partially transformed Mias assembled in front of me. The number easily swelled to over fifteen.

"Well, this is awkward." I couldn't help my comment.

"Indeed. This would become a battle of attrition to who has more souls," she answered.

"Let's call it even, then. I have no desire for more enemies. I will kill the brute and you get to go home. Deal?"

"Fine. Seeing as how you removed all your injuries, you might as well be immortal. You have too many tricks up your sleeve. Just who are you?"

"I am John Smith."

"Well, never mind then arsehole. Just promise me one thing and I will let you go," Mia negotiated.

"My terms are the following: you let me go, do not tell anyone I was here, and give me that fucker." Before she could state hers, I gave mine while I pointed to Red who struggled to move.

"I do not mind. In exchange, you must ensure Amari survives."

"The gorilla? Fine. I'll leave him alone after I use him as a bullet. How do we know if the other breaks their words, though?"

"I know nothing about you, but two of your women are known to me. Jasmine Denel and Josephine Benelli. The formless failures of Italy. If Amari dies, I will come for them on Earth."

The moment she said those words I felt blood rush to my head. This bitch, she was too dangerous for me to let her live. Before I could move, though, all the Mias held up their hands and turned their limbs back to flesh.

"Wait! Wait! I won't touch them if Amari is not harmed! Amari is my fiancée and future kindred. To be honest, I was willing to die with him in the cage. He and I are spent. We aimed for the hidden achievement but we made a mistake. At this point I will gamble on you and your harem. Take down the brute and I will remain silent."

So, it seemed Aki was correct. They were just hungry for achievement. But in their foolishness, they bit off more than they could chew. Now they were just as desperate to survive. Well, if they touched Jo and Jas, I would hunt them to the ends of the world.

"What proof do I have or your sincerity?" I asked. Talk was cheap. She could just as easily backtrack what she said.

One of the Mia's then pulled out a card from her pocket. The rest of the Mias suddenly disappeared as the real one walked towards me.

"I am hoping that you do not shoot me. This is proof that I am a woman of my word. Here is my driver's license. I'm British so I don't have any other I.D."

Having a driving license was considered being trustworthy? Another foreign mindset. Well, whatever. I kept my gun trained on her as she approached. I could just shoot her now, but what if she had allies somewhere else? If she knew Jo and Jas, then maybe Amari did as well.

"Leave it on the ground and walk away."

I then moved to pick it up without removing my sights from Mia.

"You don't lower your guard at all, do you? I am bleeding right now and exhausted. Lighten up, will you?"

"I will. Only when you're dead," I replied coldly.

'Let's see… Mia Flair, age 28, Blood type AB, from Glasgow, Britain,' I read her details in my head. I used {Gather} to memorize her information. I needed to ask Bella to stalk her on the internet. When the time came, I would put a bullet in her head. Right now, the priority was the brute.

"Fine, Ms. Flair. For now, we are in agreement. Know this, though. Touch any of my girls and I will give you a death worse than that bastard received, understood?"

I uncocked my gun and moved to pick up Red. He was still mumbling something unintelligible. I smashed his face in with the butt of the 1911 to shut him up.

"Why not just kill him already? Have some mercy at least," Mia commented.

Without turning back, I walked forward and loaded Red on my shoulder. "{Pack}. Mercy is a privilege of the strong, the weak do not have such a luxury."

I then took my gun and shot her other good leg before leaving.

"Consider that payment for me getting you out alive."

"ARGHH! Bloody hell! Do I not register as a woman to you or something? How can you treat me this horribly?"