A Human's Guilt (3)

"For fuck's sake." I cursed under my breath and took a step back.

The figure in front of me wore a hood with black leather pants and was a female. Her hood mostly hid her face. Only a small smirk was visible to me.

"Before we fight or anything, please tell me your name. Also, tell me if someone sent you to get me. If the answer to that question is yes, can you share this person's name?" I asked formally.

Since things seemed to be going wrong again and again, I needed to get some information.

"Hmm, why should I answer your question?" The female bemused.

"Because it's clear that you are not the only one with the shadow walk ability. You are waiting for your partner or partners to appear. Answering my questions can make this wait less boring."

"Oh? You are smart." The female grinned. "You are correct. I am waiting for my partners. We have been tasked with capturing you and that girl behind you. You will meet that person once we capture you."

"Let me guess. Your employer took a tiny part of your soul and gave you some powerful abilities. In return for capturing me and Ana, he or she will accept you as a follower. Right?"

"How did you know?" The girl was shocked after hearing my words.

"Easy to guess plot." I shrugged. 

She fell silent after my statement. I took this moment to invite Ana to my chatbox in order to explain the current situation.

[ Invitation sent! ]

[ Anabelle has been added to the chatbox. ]

[ Ana: What is happening?

Michael: A fight is about to happen. Someone wants to capture us for some reason. Just stay behind me and try to avoid any attacks that come your way.

Ana: I can't fight you know. I don't have any powers… 

Michael: Oh, don't worry. Just try not to die. 

Ana: … ]

Yeah, I expected that reaction. Ana knew she would be useless in a fight. Contrary to what she said, she did have powers.

Her powers were a bit too powerful for her to handle and became suppressed. In the novel, the fight with the group awakened her powers once she killed one of them.

I interfered with that event. Currently, I had no idea when Ana's powers might awaken.

"You should have captured them by now." A new feminine voice entered my ears.

Four new figures emerged out of the shadows and stood behind the previous female. All of them were of the same height and had identical body structures.

They wore knee-length black dresses which were stained with blood on certain spots. Why did the dresses look so familiar though?

"This guy is kind of smart. I don't think we should underestimate him." The leather pants female explained.

"Oh? Are you scared by him, C2?"

"No, I am just trying to be careful. Not all of us can be as dumb as you C3."

"Don't start bickering now. This is not good for our reputation."

"I agree with C1 on this."

The females referred to each other with weird codenames. Their names didn't ring a bell inside my head which meant that they might not belong to the original novel.

< Blue did not find any mentions of them as well. >

'Will my [Author's Description] work on them?'

< Go ahead and try. >

To answer my question, I used the skill on the group of five.

A huge block of a window appeared in front of me. It seemed to contain combined information on all five of the women.

===

Names: C1, C2, C3, C4, C5

Supporter: Under temporary contract.

- These five humans have signed a temporary contract with a higher existence. The contract grants them the use of certain skills but due to its temporary nature, it allows them to use the skills without facing any consequences.

-If the contract is not fulfilled, they will be subjected to consequences.

===

Reading the information provided me with a better understanding of my skills.

According to me, if the skill was used on a character, it would show me the details I wrote about them in the novel. Otherwise, it might provide me with the most logical explanation I would have written as an author.

However, the skill didn't work on Vin so there was that.

"I am flattered that you need to take caution against me. Just let me pass by with my companion." I tried negotiating.

"No, that is not possible." C2 shook her head. "At first, we only needed to take you to our employer but now we have to capture both of you."

"Who is your companion anyway?" C3 questioned.

I looked back and saw Ana trying to hide behind. Her expression had turned pale and she seemed worried about something.

[ Michael: Are you all right? 

Ana: No… ]

"Wait isn't that…" C2's eyes widened in surprise.

Ana tried to shrink her figure and hide behind my back. Unfortunately, all the C women managed to get a glimpse of her face.

"Hey, Anabelle. You managed to survive for this long."

Simultaneously, all of the women lowered their hoods and revealed their faces. The first thing I saw were their names embedded on their cheeks.

For example, C2 was written on the woman's cheek. It seemed like a permanent tattoo.

'Why do all these women look so familiar?'

A frown appeared on my face. For some reason, I felt that I had seen these same women before.

< Meeting with Vin. Four of them are wearing the same dress. >

'Right! These are the women Vin was arguing with. They wanted her to get off an ad or something.'

On closely eyeing the women, I recognized the women as the same women I saw during my reunion with Vin. All of them looked around seventeen to eighteen years of age.

However, their eyes were now a deep shade of black. I guess that the contract mutated their bodies slightly to allow them to use the skills without facing any consequences.

[ Michael: Do you know them? 

Ana: They are my classmates. I know them. ] 

Ana shuddered a bit behind me before moving beside me to look at the girls. Her body trembled slightly, something only I noticed.

"You never told us that you had a boyfriend or is he your sugar daddy? He looks a little older and way too handsome for someone like you." C3 smirked.

"Yeah, is he protecting you because you sold your body to him?"

I narrowed my eyes at the comments passed by the women. I didn't need to be Sherlock to figure out what Ana's relationship with them was.

"Hmm, you guys seem to be bullies." 

"Oh no, we are just her friends. Come on Ana, share our experiences." C4 grinned.

Ana stared down at the ground and refused to speak anything. I understood her situation since I used to deal with bullies in high school as well.

"This is going to be fun. Come on, Ana let's go." 

C2 whipped her hand forward as a black rope appeared in her hand. The rope shot towards Ana.

"She isn't your pet you know." I immediately turned the rope to ashes with my flames, surprising the group of 5.

"C2 was right. You seem smart and strong." C5 whistled. "Why are you protecting her though?"

"Because I want to. Get your mind out of the gutter." My voice turned cold.

Since I never wrote about Ana's past, I didn't know much about the bullies. Perhaps they bullied Ana like normal bullies and made her life a bit more hell.

I also remembered how she was about to run away from home which showed that her family conditions weren't good either. Honestly, I felt guilty about this.

< Michael should not think of anything guilt-related. Blue might not be able to help Michael if another panic attack arrives. > Blue warned.

'Don't worry. I have something else to do here.'

"I take it you want to fight us." C2, who seemed to be the leader of the group, took a battle stance. "You will be knocked out."

"Maybe we should kill him and say he died in an accident," C4 suggested.

"For once, I agree. If things get too tough, kill him." C2 ordered.

The five females smiled and cracked their knuckles. I focused on my eyes, allowing [Author's Eyes] to fully capture the outlines of the five females.

Now that I paid attention, a slight dark energy surrounded them. I was able to sense their presence easily once I caught that dark energy.

[ Michael: Stay close to me. Avoid being hit. That's it ] 

I issued instructions to Ana before raising my hands.

Summoning my flames, I created two seven-foot-tall tornadoes around me and Ana. These acted as a kind of barrier to prevent long-range attacks from hitting.

All the C women summoned lassos in their hands. These radiated with the same black energy surrounding their body.

'It won't be easy to destroy them with simple flames.'

Looking at the current situation, I was at a severe disadvantage. Not only was it a five versus one battle, but I also needed to protect Ana.

"This calls for a plot armor moment." I chuckled at my own words.

As it turned out, my words became true.

[ Inari: The thing you asked for is there. Do you want to buy it right now? ]