酷视

Chapter 42  As if I would let that happen!

My fingers tensed up as hard as they could, closing into a set of two, bloodthirsty fists. \'There\'s no way this kind of cliche development would happen in the real world!\' I thought, only to fall even deeper into the hole of possibilities that this realization opened up before my eyes. But out of all the endless possible explanations, one of them stuck out the most for me. My eyes were focused on the path we took just a few days ago, eager to spot any hint of where Fay could be hiding. My hand already moved under my shirt and firmly held the gun, my thumb already molesting the safety to feel out just how much force exactly I had to use to release the trigger. \'This cliche development…\' My thoughts looped a little as my complexion darkened. \'This has to be a world straight out of some kind of shitty novel, there\'s no doubt about it!\'

Right as this realization struck me, my soul filled with a killing intent. Just what kind of author would be so cruel to set up such an unpleasant development?

\'Going by how this kind of cliches develop, we will be just a second too late,\' I realized, gritting my teeth in mute frustration, before killing my thoughts and redirecting the extremely tiny bit of energy I used to think to my legs, hoping to push them just a little bit further, to make my next step and leap just a fraction of a second quicker. My thoughts scrambled, no longer supported by the active effort of my brain. And thanks to the added boost of energy, as tiny as it was, I managed to reach a speed I\'d never even approached before. After several moments of just trying to keep up with Fay\'s mother, I finally managed to get ahead of her. In the end, though, I reached the correct place just a single second before the woman. But that single second was more than enough to confirm my worst fears. My entire body froze… along with my perception of time. And with my eyes stuck on Fay\'s backward leaning figure, I couldn\'t help but notice the sharp, dirty blade of a spear about to pierce right through her stomach!

In this single instant, my memory showcased just what kind of gruesome show was about to reveal itself to my eyes. A sight of Fay\'s delicate, soft skin being torn under the cold kiss of steel, her flesh cut, her blood pouring out as her complexion turned fainter and fainter…

\'No.\'

A single word of refusal exploded in my mind and burned like a beacon… that somehow allowed me to navigate the still waters of the world frozen in this single instant. The time didn\'t cease to work completely. Judging by Fay\'s mother landing by my side in an extremely slow motion, something simply slowed its passage instead. My eyes moved up the shaft of the devious spear, through the hands that held it, the arms they were attached to, all the way to the smiling face of the bastard who already celebrated the kill judging by the huge smile on his face. \'As if I would let that happen.\'

Something inside of me broke. A certain, human hesitation that would stop a normal person from ever pulling out a gun on another person. A quality that most of the people in the modern world never even knew they had. And despite that, feeling nothing when I used this opportunity to pull out my gun and point it toward the attacker… somehow gave me chills. \'Am I turning into a monster?\' I thought, puzzled while my body somehow managed to execute the entire shooting procedure perfectly, without a single hinch. My right hand moved up and out, only for my left hand to catch up and support my right wrist from below. I straightened my right elbow and ensured my footing was solid. Upon coordinating the three points in space and making sure there existed a line that passed through all three of them… The time appeared to move… only to remain as it was for just a little bit longer. But it came at the cost of my eyes suddenly exploding in pain as if some kind of parasite suddenly woke up from its slumber and was currently consuming my eyes from the very middle of my irises. The pain exploded like a bomb, only to turn into a prolonged torture that continued as I used all my physical might and willpower to pull the trigger. Millimeter by millimeter, my finger collapsed back. Madness after madness, my soul descended even deeper into the chaos of absolute void under the influence of the torture in my eyes. But between the pain in my eyes and the pain of using those filthy eyes to watch, powerlessly, how Fay gets skewered…

And finally, after nearly exhausting all of my endurance, I prevailed. And my finger pulled the trigger far enough to the back for the mechanism to click and the whole chemical reaction to start… 

Only for my finger to send another bullet flying the moment the iron sights and my target came into a single line again.