The Assassin

The four of them entered the coffee shop. They searched for empty seats, and found out that the last table was vacant. So they decided to discuss there.

Zack and Lyla sat facing each other. Jimmy was going to have a seat beside Lyla, but Byreus stopped him. "My Lord!" He said.

Jimmy stopped mid position. Byreus hurried behind Jimmy's chair and pulled it. "Here, have your seat." He said.

Jimmy sat awkwardly. This much service was weird to him. "You know, you don't need to do this much..." He said.

"Oh! I am sorry. That must be a little bit weird for you. You would have lost the habit of it. I know! I might call her!" Byreus said as he took a seat beside Zack.

"Her?" Lyla asked.

"The Respected Quee, Kirei. She is My Lord's beloved wife."

Zack's and Lyla's head turned towards Jimmy at a speed which seemed to be faster than sound. They both had one eyebrow raised in question.

"H- hey you guys... I don't know any Kirei." Jimmy said leaning back on his chair.

"Hmmmm...." Lyla and Zack said while nodding their heads together.

Byreus rubbed his hands. Then he put both of his index fingers on either of his temples.

"What are you doing?" Zack questioned. "Silence", was the reply.

The three of them watched him sitting quietly in the same position for at least five minutes. A lady waiter approached their table to ask for an order.

" Excuse me si-"

"HELLO?!" Byreus suddenly said in a loud voice.

The waiter was startled. She looked at the remaining three. They were trying their best to smile and act like this is his normal behaviour. The waiter walked away slowly.

"Dear Queen! I have got a news for you! Yes... Mm hmm... No it's not about donuts... Please just listen to me..." Byreus said. He was been disturbed again and again by Kirei before completing what he wanted to say. "Stop! ..... Okay I am sorry, but just hear me out. I have found my Lord!"

"WHAAAAAATTTTT!?!?!?" A sound came from the inside of Byreus' head. The guests in the cafe were alerted.

"What kind of people are they....?" The woman at the counter asked the lady waiter who went to take their orders." "Like I know.... Especially that guy. *Points towards Byreus* He's straight out weird..."

Byreus talked a bit more with Kirei. Then he moved his fingers away. He looked at Jimmy. Jimmy swallowed saliva.

"She's coming! The Queen is coming for you My Lord."

Kirei, the woman, who is the wife of Jimmy, who Jimmy himself does not remember. It was now time to wait for her arrival. Jimmy rested back on the chair with his hands on the back of his head. "How far is she right now?" He asked.

"She is approximately 13 galaxies away."

"THIRTEEN GALAXIES?!?!" The trio stood up. Byreus was looking at them as if 13 galaxies is 2 kilometers.

"Don't worry, she will be here in ten minutes." He casually said. The trio now had no words to speak. They just accepted the fact that whatever was happening was just a kind of bad dream, which of course, wasn't. They sat down silently and waited for Kirei's arrival.

Byreus was sitting quietly. Jimmy looked at him and instantly knew that he has something cooking up in his mind. After some time, Byreus asked Jimmy.

"My Lord, the Queen's arrival still has 10 minutes. Until then, may I request something?" Zack questioned.

Jimmy first thought what the question would be. Something to eat, or.... He could not think of one thing. ".... Yes?" Jimmy said. "Till we wait for the Queen, let us have a little sparring."

A fight? Well, it is no big deal. Jimmy is a pretty strong fighter. He is ranked Order A Rank 2 in the Secret Heroes Guild. Similarly, it doesn't means Zack and Lyla are weak. Zack was ranked at Order S Rank 7, an order higher than that of Jimmy's. Zack was also responsible for capturing the Butler in Red, an infamous murderer who killed over 1200 people. And for Lyla, she was ranked Grade S Rank 9, as she and Zack joined the guild earlier than Jimmy.*

"If you insist.... Let's fight." Jimmy said. Byreus got hyped up.

***

The four of them arrived at Deep Canyon, a place in the outskirts of the city. Both Jimmy and Byreus stood at two rocks facing each other. The wind was blowing their hairs and clothes along with the dust particles. And the dusty sunlight just added more life in the battleground.

Lyla and Zack stood at a distance to watch the fight. "Hey Zack, have we suddenly become insignificant?"

"Yeah I don't know. These two are up with each other since they met. I just fear that Jimmy doesn't leaves us." Zack said with a seriousness in his voice. Lyla replied with just as serious "Hmm..."

"Is this place okay?" Jimmy asked Byreus. "It's perfect, Lord Dragon!" Byreus replied.

"But it's gonna be a quick short battle right? No seriousness."

"Yes, my Lord. But I say it will be much more fun if you do not hold back."

"What are they blabbering now? I can't even hear them properly." Lyla said to Zack.

Byreus raised his arms in the airs to stretch. "Alright!" He said after stretching. He tapped his toe on the ground and jumped. Jimmy was watching this keenly. As soon as Byreus' feet was about to touch the ground on the third jump, he disappeared.

Zack and Lyla opened their eyes widely in shock. Their nose started running and their mouth opened big.

Byreus appeared right behind Jimmy and attempted to kick him on his face. But Jimmy blocked the kick with his right forearm. A gust a wind was blown which cleared all the dust particles on the left of Jimmy. Such was the force of the kick. "Tch!" Jimmy said. Byreus smiled. He rotated his body to withdraw the kick and then his leg appeared on the top of Jimmy's head. He pulled down his leg to attempt another kick, but Jimmy moved away from the position and dodged it. The kick hit the ground, which led to the destruction of the rock.

Byreus' eyes shined from inside the dust that was accumulated due to the rock's destruction.

"He is pretty good at fighting. And his personality.... It's like he is a completely different person from the one I talked to in the cafe. *Looks at his hand with which he blocked the first kick* The kick was pretty powerful. Although it didn't hurt me, I was sure shocked at the sudden speed of the attack. *Looks back at Byreus* Even if this is a fight, I know from these two attacks that this guy is not the one to hold back on anyone. Gotta be careful." Jimmy thought to himself while landing on another rock.

"Wait.....!" Jimmy widened his eyes. He realised that the rock os destroyed and Byreus is still on the same position. "Which means.... He can fly?"

The smoke slowly cleared as Byreus started to appear. As guessed, he was levitating in the hair. There was nothing beneath him.

"My Lord.... May I shoe you a pretty trick of mine?" He said with quite a gimmick in his voice. "A trick?" Jimmy asked. He was now curious. If flying is not his ability, then what exactly is it?

"Hmm." Byreus smiled. He waved his right arm in the air, then pointed at Jimmy. Jimmy was just looking at the play.

Then Jimmy noticed something behind Byreus. The atmosphere behind him was changing and moving. The air purple liquid and started moving aggressively. And then, two large hands appeared from the liquid gate and went straight to Jimmy. Jimmy jumped in the air and dodged the big, red hands. But midair he realised that there was another gate behind him inside from which a came out half the body of a humanoid creature with no face. It was reaching out for Jimmy too. Jimmy quickly turned 180 degrees and kicked the hand of the creature away. He then placed his leg on its hand to create force and change the direction of the jump.

In the meantime, Zack received a call. It was from the Secret Heroes Guild main base. He picked up the call and put it on speaker.

"Hello? Is this Order S, Zack Coleman?" The man from the base said. "Yes, yes it is."

"We are sorry for the inconvenience, but we request you to arrive at the Brave Hand Island base as soon as possible. The directors have held an urgent meeting of the Higher Order Heroes."

"Oh.. Oka-" "Shall I come too?" Zack was interrupted by Lyla.

"Is that Order S, Lyla Serene I heard?"

"Yes. It's me, Lyla the Slicer."

"Oh thank goodness I found you too. Please accompany Order S Zack. Thank you." The call ended.

Zack and Lyla stood up. Lyla started walking but Zack remained standing. He was clearing his throat.

"What are you standing for?" "We are going, so we should inform Jimmy."

Lyla nodded. They both stood beside each other and inhaled. Then in a loud voice -

"JIMMYYYYY!"

Both Jimmy and Byreus looked at them. They saw that they were waving their hands. Jimmy understood the signal and nodded. Zack and Lyla then departed.

"What was that, Lord?" Byreus asked.

"They have been summoned by the guild. We are heroes that work in privacy. The public doesn't know much of our work as it is immediately turned into a confidential file. But they do know we exist because we often take care of everyday monsters. Don't worry. Focus on the fight."

"Oh..... *Voice changes* Okay."

***

***

Byreus started waving his hands again. But this time, Jimmy didn't gave him the chance to do so. He quickly positioned his arm and flicked the air. The air pressure created a huge force which directly hit Byreus.

However, Byreus was unaffected. Jimmy was shocked.

Two more gates opened on the rock on which Jimmy was standing. From either of the gates game a hand and grabbed both of Jimmy's legs. Then the hands pulled him inside the rock. The rock was split from between and then destroyed.

Byreus watched Jimmy's silhouette in the smoke standing back again. He smiled proudly. "That's my Lord. He won't be affected by these puny attacks. Handling this fight would be a piece of cake for him. I know I am no match for his power. But I want to experience it after so many centuries."

Jimmy jumped towards Byreus to punch him. Byreus dodged and appeared behind Jimmy, ready to attack. Due to the momentum of the jump, it was impossible for Jimmy to turn back and block. So he flicked his finger while going forward to stop the motion and turned back. He grabbed Byreus' head and threw him on the ground. The throw was so powerful that it created a hole in the ground.

Jimmy landed back. Byreus stood up again.

"That power of yours... What is it?" Jimmy asked Byreus.

"Oh that? It's called Deadworld, at least I call it that. As I am an assassin, I need to kill. My power allows me to perform necromancy and contact the dead. From the start of time to the present, I can contact anything that has died and make them work under me.

The way I contacted my Queen earlier was because of this ability. I can talk to the dead at any time and any place and make them talk to people I know. That was also the reason I could not contact you, because I did not knew where you were. But when I finally saw you, I quickly und-"

"Okay okay I get it." Jimmy said. "You are a necromancer and you do necromancy stuff."

"Yes. And because I have now opened my mouth and said my powers, which a man in a battle must never do, I might also show a little of what I can do."

After saying this, Byreus disappeared. He then reappeared behind Jimmy again and attempted to kick him.

"Tis the oldest trick in the book." Jimmy said while in th process of dodging.

"I don't read the same book once read." "What?"

Before Byreus' kick could hit him, another leg came out from a gate beside him. Jimmy noticed it and squatted. The kick was dodged, but a fist came from under and punched his chin.

Jimmy stepped back. "Your power is to control the dead right? Then what the hell are these portals?"

"The soul of the dead manifest a physical form whenever I call for them, and then they use these portals to interact with the physical world. I call these portals 'Gates'."

While talking, another gate opened above Jimmy and punched him. Two more gates opened on his right and left and punched from both the sides. Byreus rushed towards Jimmy. Jimmy attempted a punch, but Byreus moved to his right and dodged the punch. And for the punch that Jimmy earlier threw, another gate opened and grabbed his arm. Byreus, who was on Jimmy's right side, attacked him, but before he could Jimmy did something.

The arm that was grabbed by the corpse from inside the gate, Jimmy moved it with such force that the gate moved along with his arm and he hit Byreus, with his own ability.

A little drop of blood dropped out of Byreus' mouth. He was shocked and it could be said by just looking at his face, but he was not surprised.

"That's the least amount of effort I can expect you to put into the fight, my Lord! But I am happy that at least slowly but steadily you are gaining back your powers. I can't wait for the time when you unlock your maximum!"

Jimmy stood there shaking his arm which was grabbed by the corpse. Eight minutes have passed since they started the fight. And accordingly to what Byreus said, Kirei will be here in two more minutes.

"Now that there is lesser time left for the Queen to arrive, I would like to increase the difficulty level of this fight, if you may." Byreus said. Jimmy stood silently.

A gate opened just beside Byreus and a hand came out. The hand had a mouth, and from inside the mouth came out a large sword. Byreus took the sword and the hand went away.

"My Lord, this is the best I will do right now. I hope you won't mind if this area is shattered to pieces." He said.

Jimmy gripped his fist tight. He was ready for what was about to come. "That's it Byreus, let's do this, seriously." He said.