Chapter 303: Josh Died, Yet Again!

As the door to the bunker began to open, the occupants could only panic. How the hell had this been breached?!

But this wasn't the worst. No, Josh was lying in a literal pool of his blood, the jacuzzi jets swirling the crimson liquid mesmerizingly. What had happened?! This was bound to be Madam Everlynn's doing, right?! But why?! 

The thief felt himself lacking air. This opulent bunker had just turned into an expensive tomb! As he glanced at the madam, he felt a chill. She didn't look like herself at all. It was as if she was controlled, as she stiffly went near the mini-bar, grabbing a knife. 

Was she going to attack him too?! Then with incredible decisiveness, she began stabbing her legs! What?! As her blood flowed, creating a puddle on the floor, she gave a broken but satisfied smile as she slumped to the ground. 

It's only then that she seemed to regain her spirit. Her eyes slowly began quivering as if coming out of a dream. No, this one had to be a nightmare! Her face became livid as she repressed a scream of agony. 

Then she seemed to become conscious of all she had done. She turned toward the immobile Josh and began shaking. What had she done?! She slowly raised her hands to her face, spasming. On her finger was a special ring with a now-empty poison container. 

The thief realized how bad their situation was. Their target was nothing but a broken, bloody mess, and his colleague was probably dead. He felt fury and fear cohabit inside his heart. 

His eyes were peeled on the door before widening in shock. Two of the candidates from the LoA test stood there. They had looked like enemies earlier, but they were so close now! Had they been working together from the start?! 

What could he even do in a 1 v 2?! Most probably die and nothing else. Perhaps he could flee too. He couldn't help but glance at the out-of-commission Josh. Was he still alive? Maybe he could still be saved. 

The thief's brain was akin to a hamster spinning in a wheel, working as fast as it bloody could! But, he always arrived at the same conclusion: as long as they stood at the entrance, he couldn't run away. 

No, right now, he needed to buy time. As long as he could stall long enough, then the lady in blue would show up. If she had higher-up relatives in the association, she probably wouldn't feel the need to team up with the two invaders. 

"Whaaatt! You guys are working together?!" The thief exaggeratedly shouted. 

He needed to stroke their ego right now. He wanted them to laugh at him and disregard him as a potential threat. He had no choice. 

"Hehe, how does it even surprise you? Aren't you doing the very same? You're not the brightest, are you?" The man chuckled like a third-rate villain. 

"B-but, how?! This door should be impossible to breach, right?!" The thief exclaimed. 

"Idiot, she's the one that so kindly opened it." The girl pointed to the madam, who had somehow stopped most of her bleeding. 

He realized that she was speaking the truth, but this was so damn scary! How the heck had this even happened?! They were only giving a teasing smile that meant: "Wouldn't you like to know?" 

"Whaaatt?! How did you convince her to open it?!" He asked like an idiot. Of course, he realized that there had to be magic involved, especially after the knives in the legs. 

"Hehe, I have my ways. Still, do you think I'm not aware that you're only trying to buy time?" She chuckled, giving him a smirk. 

The thief quickly retorted: "Buying time? What would buying time possibly accomplish? This is just so impressive that I'm incredibly curious!" 

"Trying to stall and kiss ass to survive. That's quite shameless, even by my standards! Then again, as expected of a man who leeched his way here. You wouldn't even be alive if that other guy hadn't saved you. How worthless!"

"W-what? No I…I just wanted to…It's …!" the thief stammered incomprehensible stuff. Yet, in his head, he was begging for them to insult him more. Insults took time! 

Sadly, the two saw through him as they began heading toward him. Now, he only had one course of action to follow. With a valiant shout, he charged right at …the madam! He then placed a dagger right at her neck. 

"One more step, and I'll slit her throat! You'll fail the mission!" He bellowed. 

That's when the two enemies took a single step forward with playful smiles. Then they slowly and lazily resumed their pace.

"I'll really do it!" The thief shouted once more. 

But, his words had zero impact on the opponents. They just gave a disdainful smile as they kept moving his way. Fuck! He could instinctively feel it. They didn't care one bit about the mission. What were they even planning?! 

"How about we let you go if you mutilate your friend's body?" The man taunted. 

"How about you go fuck yourself!" The thief answered by reflex, not missing a beat.

For now, he would move and….but then the thief found that his body wasn't responding. Oh god, no! He trembled as he realized that he had fallen to whatever magic they used. That's when he noticed the girl. Her eyes were glowing orange as she stared straight his way. 

"This is a fun power, isn't it? I'd say it is quite convenient to restrain little rats that want nothing but to flee for their lives." The man slowly approached as he ridiculed him. At this rate, the thief would die! 

No way, no fucking way! Could he accept leaving the world like that?! Hell no! He had to make them pay, to make these fucker suffer! They had killed his savior, and he had to get revenge! 

The man grabbed his head, raising his entire unmoving body in the air. Then with the other, he took out a short barbed gauntlet. He grinned: "Believe me, this will hurt a lot!"

What the fuck was that weapon?! A freaking gauntlet?! Was this guy a street thug? He was bringing shame to all assassins! That's when the thief saw a punch with incredible momentum approach his face. 

An earth-shattering sound resounded as the victim had his entire head blown off! Well, not that head. At the very last moment, the thief had managed to kick the man's dick! 

All the rage at losing his friend, at his helplessness, and finally that righteous fury over the gauntlets had been enough for him to fight back the magical spell! Without waiting, he began slashing the man who was now on the ground! He would murder him! 

But the thief wasn't a fighter. As he was slashing for the third time, the man regained his bearings and punched his chest heavily, sending him flying. As the thief collided with a wall, he felt his breath leave him. He laid there, unable to move. 

Was this the end? The man's injuries weren't life-threatening, and he only wouldn't be able to walk for a while. The thief felt regret. He had been so close to getting one of them! 

"What?! How did he free himself?!" the girl uttered in surprise. "Ah, whatever. He won't be moving anytime soon." She shrugged, without pity for her colleague who was holding what once used to be his genitals. 

But suddenly, she turned behind her. At the bunker entrance, there was a woman that had appeared, one dressed fully in blue. 

The thief couldn't help but lowly chuckle, wincing from the pain. No one could fight besides that one weird puppeteer lady. In a 1 v 1, he estimated the chances of victory of the lady in blue to be higher. These assholes would face retribution! 

The lady in blue remained utterly silent. 

"You, this is a matter you shouldn't meddle with. As there are two fewer candidates, we will all be progressing to the next round. Whatever happens, you'll have your place in the LoA anyway, am I right?" 

The lady in blue didn't even bother answering, or perhaps her silence was her reply. 

"How about we each mind our business? Live and let live. Who knows who will survive if we both fight!" She insisted. 

The lady in blue glanced all around the room, analyzing the situation. The thief was confident she would determine that the danger was minimal. Her gaze especially lingered on the dead Josh. 

She would probably kill these guys simply because they were currently the stronger candidates! But then, she nodded, turned heels, and backtracked. No! Fucking bullshit! Why?! The thief had gone from extreme happiness to great despair. 

The lady in blue even closed the bunker door behind her. She was gone! 

His opponent turned his way with a sadistic smile. "Now, it's just you and me, and we'll have so much fun! There is nothing in existence that can save you now…." She cackled. 

Just as the thief was at the very bottom of despair, he suddenly saw a scene that made his eyes bulge and his heart almost explode from excitement. He tried to hide his reaction, but he simply wasn't able to. 

Behind the enemy, a completely fine Josh had just appeared, somehow charging with incredible speed. What?! How?! Had he been playing dead all along?! Why?! So many questions swirled in the thief's head.

Josh didn't even bother taking a weapon out. He just punched her with so much force that she flew like a cannonball, her body impaled on a decorative stuffed antelope head. Wow! 

"You talk a lot of shit for someone so weak." Josh's nonchalant voice sounded like heavenly music to the thief's ears. They were saved!— or so he thought. 

As she was profusely bleeding, the girl's eyes turned entirely orange as she stared at Josh. This spell had obviously paralyzed him! Then again, what was the point? It wasn't like she could do much harm in her current state, right? 

Sadly, the thief had disregarded one detail. The man was still alive. His lower half was busted, but he could still crawl! He slowly but surely made his way toward Josh, the thief wished so much to be able to move. But, he could only watch in despair.

Finally, the man reached the frozen Josh. No, why did it have to end this way?! He gave a sinister grin…that was suddenly wiped off as Josh stomped hard on his head. 

"What?! You can move?! How?!" The girl's flabbergasted voice echoed.

"Why wouldn't I be able to? Do you mean because of your shitty and useless skill?" Josh spat out with disdain. 

Then he glanced at the two of them, uttering words that felt so damn familiar! 

"Now, it's just you and me, and we'll have so much fun! Why don't you slowly tell me about this power of yours? It seems very, very interesting." 

Screams of despair soon resounded as evil had met far greater evil. The thief could only smile wryly. 

The man had never needed any saving…

Creator's Thought

I wanted to see how the thief would react to my demise. Even as he was confronted with the option to mutilate my corpse for his freedom, he refused. Now, it was obviously a false hope but humans easily cling to anything in desperation. He handled it pretty well considering he was obviously inexperienced with soul attacks.