Looming Danger

In a dim room, several cloaked figures were sitting around a circular table, in complete silence.

Their only distinguishable feature was the semi-featureless white masks they all wore.

The mask only had 2 eyeholes, and a small bulge for those with 2 smaller holes to allow them to breathe.

The light source in the room was limited to a single purple LED strip that circled the ceiling of the room.

One of the figures was polishing a set of knives he had spread out across his section of the table, while another quietly read a book in their hand.

The others were completely motionless, acting more like life-sized mannequins than actual living beings.

*Ding*

The door at the edge of the room opened and a similarly dressed figure stepped out, appearing to hold a large black briefcase.

The figure polishing his knife collection turned around to the newly arrived figure.

"You're late."

The newly arrived figure walked over to the only available seat remaining, gently placing the briefcase on the table.

The figure sitting opposite the door raised his head.

"Now that everyone is here, let's discuss the purpose of this meeting." The figure spoke in a distorted voice.

It was as if he was using some kind of voice-changer.

Seeing no objection from the others, the figure continued.

"As you all know, our group has been approached by a potential client regarding a particular mission. However… The difficulty of this mission is unlike what we've ever experienced."

The other figures nodded their heads in acknowledgement.

"That's why I wanted to ask. Should we accept it? If we succeed, we'd have enough money to retire and live happy lives. However… If we fail, death is the best-case scenario."

The others silently watched the figure that just spoke.

They all knew the risks and the rewards associated with a mission this big.

"Just as a precaution, I exhausted my contacts to get us this."

The figure that walked in with the briefcase, unhooked the clasps of the briefcase and opened it.

Revealing what appeared to be a 3-legged metallic structure with countless blinking lights.

When the figure displayed the contents of the briefcase to his associates, he was met with a chorus of gasps.

"How did you… This is a dimension destabilizer!"

"These are strictly banned in every country!"

"Simply owning one of these warrants an immediate death sentence!"

The previously inanimate figures all stood up in shock.

The figure with the briefcase nodded his head.

"You can understand just how difficult it was to get this. If we plan to accomplish our mission, this is the least we need. Even if some kids ended up dying in the crossfire, it's not something we need to concern ourselves with."

The surrounding figures reluctantly nodded their heads before sitting back down.

"With this added into the equation, I think it's fairly obvious what our course of action is."

"Agreed. We should accept the request."

The man sitting opposite the door reached into his robes and pulled out a small piece of paper, before flicking it onto the table.

"This is our target. Make sure to familiarize their face and characteristics."

The figures all bent forwards to observe the person in the photo.

"So, like… When do we do this? We can't just enter normally, the school's security is no joke," One of the figures inquired.

"They appear to be having a sports day one week from now. We could probably infiltrate the school using that as a guide," the figure who was reading a book responded.

"That does make sense," the figure nodded.

The figure sitting opposite the door stood up and took the picture back from on top of the table.

"I guess that settles it, we stage the attack during the sports festival in one week."

***

Lucian sat in his bright-red sports car, reclining as he watched a group of passersby walk by with a boring look.

His blood-red eyes scanned the faces of the passersby with a hungered look.

"Fuck… The civilians look like an all-you-can-eat buffet. If the main course doesn't show up soon, I might lose control and end up attacking the nearest person."

Luckily he didn't have to wait that much longer, as the face he'd been desperately searching for walked into his line of sight.

"There she is! Is she on her way home?"

"Yes, master Lucian. After collecting CCTV footage, I was able to see her walk out of a bar only minutes ago."

"So she's already drunk?"

"Yes."

"I see, that will make charming her easier."

Lucian decided to only include drunks in his 'dinner menu', purely because alcohol would inhibit his target's mental capability.

Even strong psychic-related ability users are known to get significantly weakened when drunk or under the influence of other stimulents/depressents.

In order to avoid intentionally weakening themselves, it became somewhat of a practice for psychic-related ability users to avoid alcohol and other related substances.

Lucian's charm skill was similar to mental ability, so if he wanted it to work, he'd need them to lower their mental awareness.

Doing it personally by making them let down their guard was too much of a pain, so he preferred to just let them weaken themselves.

Why do work when you don't have to?

"Now… How should I kill her?"