A World On Fire

Stepping out through the shattered window of the shop, he carefully walked down the block. 

Known as "The Ave", the famous street of Seattle that was once lively now seemed ripped straight from a nightmare. 

It was shocking just how many bodies lay in the streets. Thus far, he hadn't encountered a single other person still surviving, having to question if he was the only one left in the town. 

"Help me—! Help! Somebody, please!" 

The sudden arrival of a desperate, masculine voice caused him to immediately duck into an alleyway. He peeked from behind it, hearing the agonized yells continue to plead. 

"Please! Somebody!" 

What he found was a man, bloodied and battered, being dragged by a bipedal creature. It had his wrists bound in a chain, pulling him along as the man's back scraped against the asphalt. 

Finn recognized the cruel fiend that was pulling the beaten man along: it was covered in spots of crimson fur, built with a humanoid body and a hunchback. 

It had the face of a rat, with a mane of unruly fur, carrying in its other hand a scepter of some kind. 

'A Blood Kobold? Can I handle one?' He questioned himself. 

From his own experience, he knew the creature was a step above his current level. Still, the screams of the man that were so intertwined with pain and fear made him indecisive. 

He glanced around the corner again, watching the cruel kobold continue to drag the man along towards an unknown destination. 

There likely wasn't a real direction the kobold went; Finn understood well that the kobold was a creature that relished in cruelty. It likely just sought to torment its captive until killing him. 

'Shit—If I can save him, I can gain an ally. He probably doesn't understand how this all works—I can show him,' Finn planned, convincing himself to take action. 

At the very least, he still held the element of surprise. He stayed crouched, using his silent steps to trail behind the kobold and the screaming man. 

He used the abandoned cars left in the street as a cover, pressing behind one as the kobold turned to look behind it. 

'As long as I can get up close without it noticing me, I can take it out in one strike,' he planned, waiting for the creature to look forward again before he continued along. 

A passive ability of assassins—["Silent Strike"]—made any attack made without being noticed doubly effective. 

The screams of the man at the very least muffled any noise Finn made in his pursuit. 

'Just wait a bit more…I'm coming,' he thought. 

Patience was key, making sure not to let the kobold take notice of him as he got within only a few meters away. 

It was nearing an alleyway, seeming to finally have enough of tormenting the man—it stopped. 

'Why didn't stop—?' He wondered, withholding from making a move just yet. 

An answer to his question made itself known as another voice yelled at from the left— 

"Aaahhh!" 

Finn watched as a tall, young man around his own age charged at the kobold with a battle axe in his hands. 

'What the hell?! What is that idiot doing?!' Finn questioned, finding his careful approach wasted. 

He watched as the kobold scrunched its nose with a hiss-like exclaim before pointing its scepter at the one that charged at it. 

'Shit—it'll kill him,' Finn thought, finally slipping out from behind the totaled car as he rushed in as well. 

He maintained his quiet steps while running in, still having yet to gain the kobold's attention as he approached from behind. 

The axe-wielding, reckless man seemed to notice him for a split second, "Hey!—" 

At that same moment, a burst of red light extended from the kobold's scepter. The bloody projectile shot with a hiss of speed, striking the reckless man dead center. 

'Dammit!' Finn thought, watching the man get blasted back against a totaled car. 

It was an attack that no normal person could survive, though he could only be grateful in the moment that an opening was created. For those few seconds, the kobold remained distracted, allowing Finn to close in behind it— 

He leapt up, plunging his dagger against the top of the rat-faced fiend's skull. 

["Silent Strike"] 

A sharp yell left the tall fiend's mouth as it froze up, dropping both the chain and scepter it held. 

Finn gritted his teeth, driving the blade in all the way before pulling it out, "Ghh!—"

A fountain of blood sprayed from the kobold's skull, bringing it drop down from the pivotal wound. 

["Blood Kobold defeated."] ["Anarch Token x20 obtained."]

[Experience points: +1000] 

[Assimilated ability from [Blood Kobold]: "Crimson Shot" 1 / 5]

[Level Six reached] [600/1500] 

[New Skill(s) Obtained: "Phantom Flow"] 

"…Got it," Finn let out with a sigh of relief, backing away as the monster dropped down. 

As he stood there for a moment, regaining his breath as he found himself fortunate that the surprise strike was enough to bring it down, he wasn't focused on the new level he obtained. 

The first thing he did was check on the man that was dragged by the kobold, walking over as he knelt down. 

"Hey, man, are you alright–" He asked calmly, tapping the person on the shoulder. 

It was only then that he realized the agonized screams had long since ended, and for a reason. As he got a closer look at the unfortunate person, he found that the life in their eyes was already gone. 

Seeing the wounds inflicted onto the poor man's body, it was hardly surprising, as he was covered in gashes and lacerations, with his whole back turned raw from being dragged along the asphalt. 

'He's already dead…' Finn realized, feeling a tightness in his chest at the dreadful confirmation. 

Witnessing it up close and personal, it truly did feel like he was plunged into hell. A nightmare that he wanted to wake up from, though that was only a childish plea. 

"...Hff…Hkk!" 

A hoarse cough alerted him amidst his dread-ridden thoughts, looking back towards where the axe-wielding man had been flung by the kobold's magic. 

"Hey…Hold on!" Finn stood up, rushing over to the coughing person. 

It was a shock to him that the man was still alive, finding him slumped over against the small SUV that had its side crushed in from the impact. There was a hole blown through the blue-and-gray sweater the man wore with some light bruising and bleeding on his chest, though nothing that seemed lethal. 

"Man, that hurt…" The stranger groaned, coughing up. 

Finn approached, kneeling down to check on the man of spiky, dark-brown hair. Going by the muscular frame he had and the axe he wielded, along with the fact he survived a direct hit from the kobold's magic–

"You're a Warrior, aren't you? That was the class you got?" Finn asked, lending a hand to help the stranger up. 

"Yeah, that's me," the man accepted the helping hand, standing up as he stood a head taller than Finn. "Name's Damian. You took that big thing out? Nice work."

"I just managed to get the jump on it," Finn said. 

"How's the other guy?" Damian asked. 

Finn slowly shook his head, "He didn't make it." 

"Shit...How many people have had to die tonight? This just doesn't make any sense," Damian sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. 

Before talking further, standing out in the open seemed like a bad idea to the cautious, assassin-class man as he pointed over to a desolated shop just some steps away. 

"Let's talk there. Don't want to attract any monsters," Finn suggested. 

"Yeah, good idea," Damian agreed.