The Last Contract

A man was lying down on the top of an abandoned construction site, motionless and focused. He was eyeing his target in a distance through the scope of his sniper rifle. It was late at night and his black coat caused him to blend in almost perfectly with his surrounding, and with the fact that the construction site had no light on, he was almost invisible.

In the distance, colorful neon lights were shining, and the sounds of cars driving by could faintly be heard. If seen from above, the area where the man was had a grim atmosphere compared to the rest of the bright and colorful city.

Behind the man was a circle drawn from blood, and in the center, there was a small altar. An animal brain was placed on the altar; the word 'sniper' was carved on the brain and the cavity was filled out with some golden liquid. Five red candles were burning gently around the altar and the smoke from the candles rose mysteriously as if it was engulfing the whole area.

From the top of the eight-story construction site, he could see his target well, while they were unaware of the man's existence.

On the street across from the construction site was a well-lit warehouse, and standing there were twenty people wearing neat suits and sunglasses. Each of them was wearing an earpiece, allowing them to communicate with each other easily, and each of them was well built; they looked like highly trained bodyguards. They had gun holsters, always ready to draw arms when there was danger.

Sunglasses at night... Those must be night vision enabled... the sniper thought.

The bodyguards were coordinating with each other and some of them kept checking their watches. They seemed to be waiting for an important guest to come.

They are indeed highly trained. I did not notice any openings at all in their ranks. I believe some of them are Unnaturals. Luckily I always prepare well before my missions.

The man smiled and kept on focusing through his scope, waiting for this real target to arrive.

Vroom... Vroom...

Not long after, a convoy of armored vehicles was approaching. Those cars had massive wheels that looked to be puncture-proof, and their windows were bulletproof. It was apparent that whoever was inside was a very important person.

"General, everything is ready. You just need to go into the secret meeting and the coup will start," a thin man with a hoarse voice spoke.

There was no reply, and the man he just spoke to only nodded.

"Hey, you guys have made sure everything is safe, right?" the thin man spoke to a man next to the driver.

"Yes, sir. We have checked everything. And this location is a secret that only our people know."

"What about sni-" the thin man was about to say something, but as he approached the warehouse, something seemed to have been taken out of his mind. "Nevermind. It should be safe."

The cars stopped in front of the warehouse and the bodyguards all got into position, securing the perimeters with their weapons at the ready.

"We've secured everything. It's safe," one of the bodyguards walked up to one of the cars.

The doors opened and more bodyguards got out of the vehicles, encircling the last person to go out, creating a body wall around him.

He was a man in his late forties with a scar on his face. His body was well-built and he was taller than most of the people there. Although the suit he was wearing did not look that special, he was emitting an aura of charisma and importance. People around him all felt a strange urge to bow down and listen to everything the man said.

The general was the leader of an opposition party, the one whom the sniper was paid to kill. He was a man who threatened the safety of the country, but he was too powerful to be dealt with normally.

"The general has got out of the car safely. We are escorting him to the hideout now," one of the bodyguards spoke to his earpiece.

"General, the meeting is over here," the thin man walked ahead.

Alright, general. I heard you are a strong Unnatural. Even from here, I can feel your aura. But let's see if you can survive a bullet to your brain.

The sniper readied his finger and began chanting;

"Acceleration,"

"Hardening,"

"Sharpening,"

He cast enchantments that he had memorized previously on the bullet, and began pulling the trigger.

Bang!

The bullet shot through the air at an unbelievable speed! It struck the head of the general as easily as it would a watermelon.

Thud!

The general fell to the ground, his head revealing a gory gaping hole.

Another proof that Unnaturals are just humans if they are not prepared. The sniper smiled proudly.

"What was that?" there was a second of confusion as if everyone was still processing what had happened.

"The general was shot! Enemy attack!" the bodyguards started shouting.

"How did this happen?! Find the enemy!" the thin man from before shouted angrily and ran to the dead general.

Some quickly searched around for the attacker while a few of them were busy talking to their earpiece with a panicked faces.

"Where is the enemy?!"

"There is no one around! Where did the shot come from?!" they shouted frantically.

On top of the abandoned construction site, the sniper quickly got up and cleaned up the altar behind him, placing everything inside a bag that he had prepared. The moment the candles were put out, a wave of realization struck the bodyguards.

"Sniper! It was a sniper!"

"How did we not check for a sniper?!" they shouted as if they just remembered something important.

They quickly rushed to the construction site across the big street, and some of them had a mysterious silver glow around their feet.

"Catch that sniper no matter what or your heads will no longer be yours!" the thin man threatened.

"Leap!"

The sniper chanted and he was magically able to jump onto the next building easily. He continued running and leaping from building to building.

Six of the bodyguards had superhuman speed, so they reached the top of the abandoned construction site faster than their peers. However, by the time they got there, there was no one left. They were still too late.

They looked at the next building over and tried to jump, but the gap was too big. The bodyguards quickly ran down instead and tried chasing him from the ground.

The sniper, who was ten buildings away by now, got into a dark corner and picked up a violin case, where he stored his disassembled rifle in a secret compartment. He swiped his hand over his face and suddenly, his appearance changed.

The man was now five centimeters shorter and his face became softer and more handsome. His hair color changed from black to blonde, and he neatly combed it back with his hand.

He discarded the black coat that he was wearing and put on a brown vest. The sniper now completely gave off a different feeling; he felt more like a romantic street musician.

"It always feels weird changing my height. I feel awkward walking at first," he complained to himself.

"Well, another mission accomplished. News about the general's death should be spreading now and I should get my commission soon. Better get out of here quickly.

"Burn!" he flicked his finger and magically, the black coat that he had discarded caught on fire.

"Now I'm tired as fuck. Those memorized spells take a lot of my spiritual energy."

His face looked tired, and his complexion was rather pale. The sniper opened the rooftop door and entered the building, which was an office.

He had prepared and memorized his escape route, so he knew that there would be no one except for some security guards patrolling at night. For him, however, they were not a threat.

He took the emergency stairs down and arrived at the emergency exit on the ground floor. As he had expected, there was a guard on patrol near there.

"Who's there?" the guard shone his flashlight onto the sniper.

"I just got into the wrong building," the sniper said calmly with his arms up, signaling that he was harmless.

The security guard squinted and took out his baton.

"Do you think I will believe you? You must be a thief, aren't you?" he said, approaching the sniper carefully.

As they got closer and closer, the bodyguard's grip on his baton got tighter and tighter. The sniper, on the other hand, remained calm.

"Do I look like a thief to you?" he said with a frown as if genuinely offended.

"Shut up! I know your type. You pretended to be lost but you are actually stealing from us. Show me what's inside your bag!" the guard readied his baton.

"This is not a bag, sir. This is a violin case. I'm just a musician," the sniper smiled.

When they were close enough, he suddenly chanted,

"Leap!"

The sniper jumped abnormally fast and got behind the security guard before he could even react.

"This will feel a bit uncomfortable, but bear with it," he said, placing his hands on the security guard's head.

"You will forget that I was ever here. We have never met and there was never anyone here tonight besides you guys," he whispered to the guard's ears.

The security guard's eyes became blank and he nodded lifelessly, "You were never here. I have never met you and it's only us here tonight."

After giving the command, the sniper's complexion became visibly paler, and drops of sweat formed on his head.

"God that was too tiring. Let's get out of here now," he quickly walked out of the emergency door, leaving the dumbfounded guard behind.

The sniper blended in with the crowd in the street, disappearing in the wave of humans.