Only when you're dead.

The moment I let go, I heard all the girls screaming at the top of their lungs. 

"{PACK}! {HIKE}! STREWTH! WE'RE GOING TO DIEEEEE!!" 

"{SNIPE}! LIV! NOOOOOW!" 

"{WITHSTAND}! FOR THE NORRRRRRTH!" 

"EVERYONE, CARE NOT TO BITE YOUR TONGUE! OWCH!!!" 

"WAAAAHHHHOOOOOO!!!!! HERE WE GOOOOO!!!!!!" 

"HONEY, YOU FUCKING LUNATIIIIIIIIIIC!!!!!" 

A sharp crack resounded. It meant that something broke the sound barrier. 

'Holy shit! That thing went supersonic?' 

I did hear new {fates} from Robyn and Jasmine. Maybe that was the cause? Or it was still {Withstand}? I felt it when I murdered the assault squad. Any deviance in heading while in {Withstand} used souls to convert it to a pushing effect. 

The feeling was like if you went too fast on a round corner. Instead of an abrupt stop, you had to follow the corner. I expected the circular momentum to create a powerful acceleration. But nothing like this. 

A giant ten-ft black gorilla flew in the air like a brick, its speed increasing with every passing second. {Hike} had to also have something to do with it. 

'I should ask the combat joey later.' 

Just then, I heard bones snapping; my legs felt wobbly, and I lost control of my body. 

I immediately fell hard on the ground with my limbs all bending in the wrong direction. Excruciating pain from multiple bone fractures came all at once. I even saw white points coming out of my forearms while blood gushed out. 

A metallic taste like iron filled my mouth. Even after I canceled {Sight}, my vision stayed red. I probably had a vein in my eye burst or something. 

"ARRRGGGHGHHHHH!!!!!" 

My inhuman screams erupted as my body approached shock. Each person had a set pain threshold. The body had a mental failsafe. It shut off the brain to preserve sanity once a threshold for pain was passed. How did I know such a thing? 

If you were beaten unconscious every day, you'd get used to the body's defenses. Especially when you could do nothing but wait for the beating to pass. Fists, belts, sticks, and even baseball bats. What sent you into shock hardly mattered. 

My mouth burned as I gasped for air. The pain sent fire through the nerves of my body. Due to my past, my pain threshold could be said to be extremely high. Even in my current state, I still fought to remain awake. A vague voice quietly whispered something in my mind. 

'Enough, I'm tired. This is hopeless; let's just give up.' 

But I knew this voice well. After all, I had spent an entire lifetime listening to it. Hearing its seductive whispers had the opposite effect, though. My rage began to swell like a hurricane, and the anger made the pain bearable. 

"Rage really was one hell of an anesthetic," I affirmed. 

The quote came from one of my favorite video game characters. Angry at the world, myself, and the undead, I struggled to begin to stand. I could immediately use {Rewind}, but this felt like a battle with my past self. I needed to stand up on my own. Only then would I be reborn. 

"Bloody hell, I can't decide what's crazier. Is it you sending Amari like a bullet? Or you trying to stand despite looking like that?" 

Oh? I forgot the werewolf was still here. I ignored her and tried to use my broken limbs to push myself up. 

"Fuck! That hurts," I whimpered. 

I then felt something slam into my back. The weight made my arms buckle and caused me to collapse back onto the ground. Whatever air was in my lungs got knocked out of me as I vomited blood. 

"Answer me right now, you bastard. Which company are you from? Who sent you?! What is your {Fate}? Those girls were all Formless, right? What do you hope to accomplish with such trash?" the woman questioned. 

'Shit, looks like I won't be able to get up like I wanted to,' I thought. 

Guess my symbolic rebirth needed to wait. 

"{Rewind}." 

I felt my body turn to light as I disappeared from under the woman's heel. Appearing a few meters behind her, I saw Mia without her soulform. 

She was a tall woman with short red-brown hair in a bob cut. Her attire looked like that of an assassin. Mia, who had her balance messed up, was struggling to regain her balance. 

"{Expose}, {Carry}, {Aim}, {Listen}," I whispered. 

While reactivating the {Fates} I needed, I saw a green reticule placed on Mia's right thigh. In the same breath, I pulled the gun and shot her there. 

"WHAT?! HOW?" 

The gunshot surprised the reaper. With an injured thigh, she couldn't avoid the bullet. It tore a bloody hole in her supposed weakness. 

"{Wolfpack}," she declared hastily. 

Far from panicking, the woman then conjured up five other "Mias," all of whom had the same injury. No matter what she did, she would die today. I then shot a bullet toward the position of the original. But the moment the .45 ACP entered her head, the "Mia" disappeared. 

"{Soul form} Partial," the illusions chanted. They all gained werewolf claws instead of their hands and feet. 

I then quickly took aim and fired at the rest. They were fast, but not fast enough. Bullets met illusions until I ran out of ammunition. A few lunged at me the moment my magazine ran dry. 

"{Reload}, {Identify}." 

Unfortunately for them, the lag when I reloaded was zero. My trap sent the attackers to their graves. 

I thought the bodies were illusions and the original hid. But, {Identify} couldn't find anything. While I wondered how to kill this bitch, the remaining illusions all chanted at the same time. 

"{Wolfpack}." 

New, partially transformed Mias reappeared in front of me. The number grew to over fifteen with little effort. 

"Well, this is awkward," I couldn't help but comment. 

"Indeed. This would become a battle of attrition to see who has more souls," she answered. 

"Let's call it even, then. I have no desire for more enemies. I will kill the brute and you get to go home. Deal?" 

"Fine. Seeing as how you removed all your injuries, you might as well be immortal. You have too many tricks up your sleeve. Just who are you?" 

"I am John Smith." 

"Well, never mind then, arsehole. Just promise me one thing, and I will let you go," Mia negotiated. 

"My terms are the following: you let me go, do not tell anyone I was here, and give me that fucker," I quickly declared. Before she could state hers, I gave mine while I pointed to Red, who struggled to move. 

"I do not mind. I'll stay out of your way. In exchange, you must ensure Amari survives. " 

"The gorilla? Fine. I'll leave him alone after I use him as a bullet. How do we ensure we follow through, though?" 

"I know nothing about you, but two of your women are known to me: Jasmine Denel and Josephine Benelli. The formless failures of Italy. If Amari dies, I will come for them on Earth." 

The moment she said those words, I felt blood rush to my head. 

'This bitch, she was too dangerous for me to let her live.' 

But before I could move, all the Mias held up their hands and turned their limbs back to flesh. 

"Wait! Wait! I won't touch them if Amari is not harmed! Amari is my fiancée and future kindred. We aimed for the hidden achievement, but we severely underestimated the boss." 

So, it seemed Aki was correct. They were just hungry for achievement. But in their foolishness, they bit off more than they could chew. Now they were just as desperate to survive. Well, if they touched Jo and Jas, I would hunt them to the ends of the earth. 

"To be honest, I was willing to die with him in the cage. He and I are spent. We just want to survive the night. At this point, I will gamble on you and your harem. Take down the Brute, and I will remain silent." 

"What proof do I have of your sincerity?" I asked. Talk was cheap. She could just as easily backtrack what she had said. 

One of the Mias then pulled out a card from her pocket. The rest of them vanished without warning as the real one walked toward me. 

"I am hoping that you do not shoot me. This is proof that I am a woman of my word. Here is my driver's license. I'm British, so I don't have any other I.D." 

Having a driving license was considered trustworthy? Another foreign mindset. Well, whatever. I kept my gun trained on her as she approached. I could just shoot her now, but what if she had allies somewhere else? If she knew Jo and Jas, then maybe Amari did as well. 

"Leave it on the ground and walk away." 

I then moved to pick it up without removing my sight from Mia. 

"You don't lower your guard at all, do you? I am bleeding right now and exhausted. Lighten up, will you?" 

"I will. Only when you're dead," I replied coldly. 

'Let's see… Mia Flair, age 28, blood type AB, from Glasgow, Britain,' I read her details in my head. 

I used {Gather} to memorize her information. I needed to ask Bella to stalk her on the internet. When the time came, I would put a bullet in her head. Right now, the priority was the brute. 

"Fine, Ms. Flair. For now, we are in agreement. Know this, though. Touch any of my girls and I will give you a death worse than that bastard received, understood?" 

I uncocked my gun and moved to pick up Red. He was still mumbling something unintelligible. I smashed his face in with the butt of the 1911 to shut him up. 

"Why not just kill him already? Have some mercy, at least," Mia commented. 

Without turning back, I walked forward and loaded Red on my shoulder. "{Pack}. Mercy is a privilege of the strong; the weak do not have such a luxury." 

I then took my gun and shot her other good leg before leaving. 

"ARGHH! Bloody hell! Do I not register as a woman to you or something? How can you treat me so horribly?" 

"Consider that payment for me getting you out alive."