Interlude: Cornered Rat

* *Arisu's Prospective* *

"Enough?"

"No. Even if the entire city knows and we could somehow seal his blessing, he's ruined too many lives. If he atones for what he's done, do you think his victims could ever forget for the rest of their lives?"

Kutsuki Ritsu... It sickens me to know I once had the same first name.

Absolute power corrupts absolutely. No discipline, no empathy, no future.

It felt like I was staring at myself, of what I could of become if I let this power go to my head.

He sat there screaming in pain as Merrah delt with his wounds, I pondered what to do next.

Sure I could kill him, end his life right here, but what lessons can the dead learn?

What am I kidding, I died myself.

Wouldn't death just be the easy way out for him?

How would his victims feel knowing that this was his end and he could never make up for his mistakes?

Worst of all, how would his father feel?

I ran into him a few times by chance alone, he was a great man trying to make this city a better place, not only did he lose his wife and daughter in a freak accident this past year, but his single son had been bending him to his will.

This world gave him a blessing because of the families great service, and yet looking at the twenty or so followers sitting down with him, I couldn't help but feel like it would of been better if he was never born.

Maybe... Maybe I'm just passing my own intrusive thoughts on him.

"You deal with pain well, Young Master"

That sneaky rat, he was still trying to fight.

The moment I looked away he spat on Merrah, charming her almost instantly with his blessing.

Merrah is a girl of few words, keeping her sentences short and compliments rare. Now her brown eyes lost its colour, joining his followers soulless expression.

Biting hard the side of his lip to focus, he shouted out an order;

"Kill that kitsune bitch!"

Out of all his mistakes today, that turned out to be his worst and I would cut out his tongue for it.

Heart Of The Cards, that was what I've called Merrah's relic. On the surface, it's a deck of cards, simple and mundane. When those cards are flipped, it turns into tools fitted perfectly to her desires.

It was for that very reason a small smile crept across my face when I saw what was created when she was issued with a command. In her left hand a rope, in her right, a gun built to shoot it's user with its barrel pointing back to the wielder and the hammer towards me.

I didn't think that it was a real thing or was functional in any way, however I did tell Merrah about it once when talking about guns. It was more of an inkling of a possibility that it could be created and the relic itself has its own internal memory it will draw upon for the desired outcome.

Perhaps she trusted me with her life?

At least that's what I want to think instead of knowing what I'm capable of.

"Shoot at her dammit!"

It shocked me to hear him shout that, very few people knew what guns are in this world. With no way of creating a small compact propellent that isn't sensitive to mana led to a lack of firearm development outside of massive siege weapons and bombs.

If anything I would guess his knowledge is limited if he's issuing such a command, he just might not know how they operate, this works in our favour.

I'd been taught Chemistry the moment I could read, yet I always preferred learning about the evolution of firearms as I found it more interesting. Nevertheless that led to my questionable knowledge of compounds only enforced by my parents overbearing pressure to become a pharmaceutical genius.

It's clear someone has fed him information.

I'll have to find another way to make him talk after I restructure his mouth, putting my life in danger to stop him was my choice, but forcing those I care about against me boils my blood.

Maybe I'll leave him a single arm so he can write?

With a click and bang, the world lost all colour once again and I got to work.

Bullets are fast, yet they are nothing in comparison to the speed of red light.

I can't activate this power if my life is in danger, only if another's death is set in motion and even then; it must be someone I feel a connection to.

Casting 'Windless' and 'Weighted', I adjusted my robes into action, bringing its hood down in the process that wouldn't even last a second to everyone else. I tend to avoid using anything outside of these spells. My mana capacity isn't great and it's growth is extremely slow, but it got a jump recently with my third tail.

It grew after I spent the night with Merrah, drinking away her pain and doing my best to cheer her up. That night I fell asleep, I connected to the Goddess once again. She was pleased with my progress even granting me a bit more of her power to make into my own.

I plan to gather as many people as I could in preparation of a worst case scenario with this world, be it friends, family or those I love. I've gained the support a few so far, even getting Enda's pledge along with the 'Misfits' along the way.

I can only call them such because horses nor 'horsemen' are words foreign to this world and my speed alone isn't enough to halt the coming storm.

Yet it was enough to fill my role, and combined with my equipment, could easily flip a bad situation on its head.

This robe is designed to harden and change with my movements to minimize the damage I would cause to anything and everything whilst moving around at such speed.

I was capable of pure destruction if I lost my concentration for even a fraction of a millisecond and last time I did, I created a new quarry out of the blue now listed as one of this lands many mysteries.

Focus on my goals, my ideals, my plans, what I need to stop... and what I must protect above all else.

First things first, I launched myself above Merrah in a summersault, cutting the bullet vertically while upside-down myself, so it's trajectory would part on either side of her head. It's simply too risky to try something fancier like redirection with my sword.

It's a Tachi designed to be brittle, to shatter and then form again.

An absolute masterpiece of a relic I can harden and weaken at will, allowing tactics like shattering then connection each shard to be used like a whip. While I can't control each shard, it will always connect the exact same way like a thousand piece puzzle.

As the bullet cut I moved onto the next step. Using the alleyway wall with 'Weighted' to readjust myself and bounce off, grabbing the conjured rope from Merrah's hand, cutting and tying up the hands of the young masters following behind their backs.

Finally ending with the Kutsuki Ritsu. I used the last of the rope as a gag, almost tempted to grab one from the nearby street filled with adult goods.

I ended the effect disarming Merrah and ensuring she was no longer effect by his abilities.

My direct connection to the Goddess of Reflection gave my body some unique properties. Quick defusal of poisons and drugs, depending on the strength of the toxin is one part.

Another was my nature as a fox spirit envoy in service to that deity, my body will actively fight off the effects of other spirits like an antibody, and blessings themselves are by their very nature, bestowed on people by spirits in service to the world.

Perhaps it was fate itself that, as I was once the son of a large pharmaceutical company, this would be my reality.

Who am I kidding? Fate only exists upon the recollection of past events.

I had a job to do, and embarrassing as it was, it was the single way I knew to ensure Merrah would also develop an immunity to the effect that had befallen her.

If there was ever something from my pervious life that still affected me today, it would be the aversion of showing any affection in public.

I raised my hood, closed my eyes, embraced Merrah, then let my body return to the normal state of speed.

Today, for once, I leave my insecurities behind for the sake of someone I cared about.

With time moving at a regular speed again, the Nyx with a flushed face made her way over to the stunned leader and knocked him out in a single punch.

The most embarrassing part, unfortunately, was that I forgot we had an audience of guards who just arrived at the scene.

Now my face heated up as I quickly lowered my hood again, it was going to be an interesting time explaining what happened here in a report as I quickly reattached the bracelet like artifact to the base of my tails.

All this on the eve of Heroes Giving; this worlds oddly named version of Christmas celebrating the day this colossal dragon was killed and city established a year later after the long butchering process was completed.

Not to toot my own horn, but I think I nailed everyone's presents.

I hope Ota can guide Touji around today to get some gifts... Although I saw her the corner of my eye and how she stared in shock at Ritsu, just how many lives has this dickhead ruined?

I'll have to trust Touji to comfort Ota, the connections we make in life are far more valuable than a holiday celebration. Besides, who says we can't just celebrate a bit later than normal?

Although... I'm really looking forward to showing them the gear we've all put together.

However, right now, I need to deal with the problem right in front of me, the one knocked out cold on the floor. Enda might have an idea how to deal with his powers.