Killer Seven

My heart skipped a beat. Charlotte did? That made no sense. 

Just as I was about to say something, Charlotte returned. She smiled, "Let's go."

We left the cafe and visited the arcade.

Charlotte was having fun as usual. There was nothing different about her.

"Explain," I ordered Nutless, keeping Charlotte under my eyes. 

"The person in front of you isn't Charlotte," Nutless told me. "Their habits, tone, and behavior are nearly identical. It is difficult to notice the discrepancies unless you are very observant." 

He added, "Someone replaced Charlotte. The imposter is the poisoner or is related to the poisoner. The timing matches."

Poison. Shapeshifter. Carefully ambushing the enemy even though they were stronger.

"I know them." 

Killer Seven. 

The elite team of the biggest Bounty Hunter Guild of Moonstone Galactic Kingdom.

'Why is someone like them after me?' 

…

Chameleon POV

Chameleon, who was impersonating Charlotte, returned from the washroom. She sat across from Zain.

"Senior, what should we do after this?" Zain asked cluelessly.

"I want to go karaoke!" Chameleon answered.

Her intercom buzzed. A holographic message, only visible to her, popped up.

[Leader: Preparations are complete. We'll do it today.]

The green light came.

A thread of purple mist entered through the window. It circled Zain and went into his ears. 

Zain's eyes became hazy. 

"Follow me," Chameleon spoke without acting. She maintained Charlotte's appearance and dropped the fake tone and conduct.

Zain nodded. He left the arcade with Chameleon.

They entered a hidden alley. Soon, another man joined them. He wore a mask to cover the lower half of his face, and his bulging muscles were ready to tear his clothes.

The trio stopped before an abandoned warehouse.

"Leader, why are we being so cautious? He is just a Grade 2 metahuman," asked Chameleon, as she stepped inside. 

"We do what our clients ask. Don't ask too much." The man, Illusionist, answered. 

He had captured Zain with his mind control skill. There was no need to worry about Zain escaping. Zain was dreaming about visiting Karaoke with Charlotte right now. 

Chameleon clicked her tongue. But didn't question further.

In fact, she was very interested in this mission.

They had to deliver Zain dead or alive. 

It was weird that the simple request came to them, Killer Seven. Each member of their group was a Grade 3 metahuman with years of experience as a Bounty Hunter.

"Start it," Illusionist ordered.

Three metahumans, excluding Illusionist and Chameleon, stood in the shadows of the warehouse. 

Of the three, the one covered in white drapes moved. He sat down, placed his palm on the ground, and chanted. 

Silver runes appeared in circles around him. The circles grew in size, emitting a pulse of strange energy, which altered the world.

Illusionist ignored Dorian and thought about their plan. 

Five members surrounded Zain. Hawk stood guard outside. The last of Killer Seven watched over Charlotte at another location.

It was a perfect setup.

But Illusionist couldn't calm his heart. 

Zain was an orphan. His parents died during the Chaos Year and his older sister went missing. 

With nowhere to go, Zain became a mercenary at the age of 6. He was young, but as a metahuman, his physical age was already in late teens before he became a decade old. 

It was a normal childhood until here.

At the age of 13, Zain mysteriously disappeared. He was officially announced to have died during a portal exploration.

However, Zain reappeared, perfectly unharmed, two years ago. 

The Portal Association apprehended him. An investigation of his disappearance took place. 

The report was shocking. Zain's memories were incomplete. He couldn't remember where he was or what he did, during the three years he went missing. 

Was it a mysterious past? Yes.

But it wasn't the first time something mysterious happened. Unexplainable phenomena were common in today's world.

"Why come to our guild for a Grade 2 metahuman?" Illusionist murmured. Zain's past didn't explain anything, and his current abilities were mediocre at best.

Still, Illusionist did not hold back. He prepared for this mission as if they were hunting a Grade 4 metahuman.

The mission was simple. It just made Illusionist more paranoid and he took extreme precautions.

They would kill Zain, then deliver him.

…

"Attack on the count of three," Illusionist told the group.

Everyone except Dorian, who was busy igniting the Array Formation, nodded.

"One" 

Zain suddenly moved. 

He held the Godsbane needle in the reverse grip, pulled Chameleon's collar, and smashed the tip into her throat.

Nobody could react in time. 

But Zain didn't stop.

He ripped the 'Thousand Face', a Grade 3 Genius tech that allowed Chameleon to change her appearance, off the Chameleon's corpse and dashed towards Dorian, the Array Formation Master of Killer Seven.

From the beginning to the end, the process took less than 3 seconds.

'One down,' Zain counted. The mind spell was easy to break. All he had to do was be aware of the spell's existence before it hit him.

The Killer Seven finally moved.

"You were acting to be caught!" Brawler, the frontline fighter of the Killer Seven, grinned and jumped towards Zain. 

"Spread out! Protect Dorian!" Illusionist bit his lip as he shouted. He could've never guessed that Zain was unaffected by his spell.

Zain's hat broke down into countless nanobots, forming Fireforge Gauntlets.

"Nutless." 

"On it."

A strange sensation pulsed through the Gauntlets. Nutless took over their control.

Zain spun on his heel and met Brawler's burning fist with his metal one.

Booom!

The impact broke Zain's fingers. The pain nearly made him fall. 

Brawler didn't stop his assault.

He punched thrice from different directions in a split second. Each attack targeted Zain's vital points.

Zain's arms moved at a blinding speed. He diverted the attacks by a small margin with Nutless' help. 

"Hahahaha!" Brawler roared.

The flames surrounding his arms exploded, covering his body like armor.

"Calm your head, Brawler!" The last Killer Seven in the warehouse, a medusa, shouted.

"Don't stop me! And, Leader, don't interfere! This brat is mine!" Brawler ignored his teammates' advice.

He engaged Zain in a fistfight.

In a few seconds, they exchanged a dozen attacks. 

Zain's arms creaked. Every time he diverted a fist, it made him feel as if he would shatter. He had broken more than a few bones already.

If not for the Gauntlets, or Nutless adjusting his movements, he would've fallen by now.

'I need to finish it before he gets serious.' 

Blood seeped out of Zain's nose.

Suddenly, a gap appeared in Zain's defense. It was intentional. The gap did not go unnoticed by Brawler.

"Hahahaha! That's right! You need to be ready to lose a limb or two if you want to escape!" 

Brawler was the most uninterested in this mission. 

However, he couldn't suppress his instincts as a berserker when he met an unpolished gem like Zain.

Zain was being overwhelmed. 

Nonetheless, he had a calm smile on his face — that was a true warrior. 

The situation sent a thrilling shiver down Brawler's spine.

"Here I come." Brawler knowingly entered Zain's trap. His fist struck Zain's shoulder, nearly ripping it apart.

Zain's palm hit Brawler's chin in exchange.

His strike was lighter than a tap for Brawler.

"Show me wha–"

"Full Throttle," Zain swiftly commanded. 

Intense light gathered around his palms, the air distorted, and a two-meter-wide ray shot from his palm, which held Brawler's chin. 

The entire Killer Seven was forced to cover their eyes. 

The heat and light, coupled with the slight shaking of the ground, told them about the intensity of Zain's attack.

Plasma Cannon hit at point-blank.

Or so Zain wanted to say.

"Cough! Cough!" He buckled over. Putrid blood flowed out from his eyes and mouth.

At the last second, the poison inside Zain's blood had activated. Intense weakness washed over his body and he missed the aim. 

Sharin, the medusa, focused on Zain. The green glow weaved between her fingers, as she increased the poison's potency.