BXBX NOVEL Chapter 169: I Do. [2/2]
"You made a lot of enemies with your rampage in the enlistment, Smith-san. I and many others were hired to kill you. Alana's would-be kidnappers were also Reapers."
The moment my fears were realized, my chest tightened. This was the world of the Reapers. Even though I only had one encounter with Earl and my information was blocked, they still found out that I considered the Simmons family.
"You still haven't answered my question, Aki. If you are an assassin sent to kill me, why haven't you used my family as leverage?"
"I wanted to know if I was right," she replied with a firm voice.
"Right about what?"
"That you would never abandon them."
"..."
"Smith-san, do you know what I am known as in Hellsgate?"
"No."
"Ara, aren't you even a little curious? Did you really have no interest in me at all?"
Completely contrary to my original impressions of her, Aki started flirting with me gleefully. It was as if the Aki I met during the enlistment was a mask.
In contrast to her demeanor back then, the woman in front of me felt wild. Like an animal with nothing left to lose.
"Smith-san. I am known as the Bladed Kitsune. It was a nickname given to me after I slaughtered my entire clan."
"!!!"
"You don't seem convinced. Is it so unbelievable that a woman like me could do such a thing?"
It was a strange feeling, similar to the other Sirens, I somehow felt like I knew Aki. That this woman would never commit such an atrocity without a good reason.
'What the fuck is wrong with me? She is a traitor! These illogical feelings began ever since I saw those strange dreams.'
"Smith-san, I don't know what you think you know, but it's true. I killed everyone in the Miroku clan except for one. Not long after that, I committed suicide."
Even though Aki was telling her story, she didn't let her guard down. Unlike comic book villains, her eyes continued to follow my every move as she spoke.
As my wounds healed, I began to tidy up. Various furniture were thrown into disarray by my collision. An act done out of restlessness.
"Smith-san. Are you completely insane? I just told you that I am here to kill you. Why are you cleaning up?"
"Aki Miroku would never stab me in the back. I don't know why I believe this statement, but I do. And since you promised to leave my family alone, let us fight in the abandoned building out back". I replied while organizing some picture frames.
"You still have that much faith in me?"
"I do."
"..."
Aki said nothing as I continued to clean up the mess we had made. It was lucky that there weren't any broken glass objects. After a few moments, Aki disarmed and picked up a broom to help me clean up.
With the two of us moving at superhuman speeds, the cleaning progressed at a fast pace. I took the time to move the Simmons into more comfortable positions in the living room.
As we cleaned up, I took a quick inventory of my abilities. Despite the seemingly bleak situation, I still had a way to turn it around. And the reason was my {Kismet} {Limitless}.
Even though it was no longer with me, it had an effect that saved my situation. With {Gather}, I remembered the status screen I had seen just hours before.
___
{Limitless} v.1
- {Kismet} was created from the merging of {Fates} for Reaper Limitless. Acts as a container that packages abilities as a pre-set loadout.
- Abilities are organized into two pools. Actives, which allow manual activation, and Passives, which are active as long as {Limitless} v.1 is enabled.
Built-in Features:
EXA Integration - Using the E.X.A. {Fate} combat system, some tasks can be delegated.
Skill Upgrading - Using the E.X.A. {Fate} combat system, both active and passive pools can be upgraded regardless of their original {Fates}.
Skill Download - Once activated, the abilities will last for 24 hours.
Cost: 3000 souls / day
Active: Nothing set. (15 slots available)
Passives: Nothing set. (30 slots available)
Limitations: Rewind family incompatible, once activated all other {Fates} except the hosts will be disabled
___
'Skill Download. If not for this, my current situation would be completely hopeless.'
Skill Download, a seemingly useless feature, allowed the loadout of {Fates} to be stored in my Soulgem. For 3000 souls, every ability I loaded on the Active and Passive pools would stay with me for 24 hours.
Since I loaded all 23 of the Sirens' {Fates}, I still had all of their abilities until the duration expired.
After Aki and I finished cleaning, I walked out the back door while calling to my cleaning buddy.
"Aki, follow me. Let's do it out back."
Without waiting for her answer, I led the way as I left. Logically, it would be better to fight inside so no one would see. But it was still daylight, so I headed for an abandoned building.
The Japanese ninja followed me wordlessly all the way to our new battleground.
Most people would call me an idiot for turning my back on my assassin, but I meant what I said.
"Are you not worried that I might lead you into a trap?" I asked in a serious voice.
"The Smith-san I know would never resort to such cowardice. He would take me on with everything he has, like a man. Without treachery or falsehood," she replied cheerfully.
"You should not trust people you don't know, Ms. Miroku."
"Ara? Would you rather I stab you in the heart from behind Mr. Smith-san?"
Her response caused both of us to laugh. After the humor subsided, I asked in a grim tone.
"Aki, do we really have to do this?"
"Yes, Smith-san."
"Okay, {Withdraw} 1887, AR-15, MAC-11's, Ebony and Ivory. Go ahead with what you were talking about before."
"Yeah, like I was saying..."
Like a true follower of Bushido, Aki used her story as an excuse to wait for my weapons to manifest on my body.
We both knew that after her story concluded, our battle would begin. And by the time it ended, one of us would no longer be breathing.