Landing on the ground, Osian looked up.
The ceiling of the power plant had huge scars, as if it had been cut with a huge sword.
He could see the smog-filled night sky above the gaping hole.
"A little too much."
Osian scratched his cheek.
Even with the gangs out of the way and the blackness, it wasn't exactly the kind of sight his clients would appreciate.
The only good news was that the core of the plant was still intact.
Even with that in mind, it's going to take a lot of work to fill in that giant hole.
"Hmm. Maybe he got away in the meantime."
Osian looked around, searching for any sign of Daver but no matter how hard he searched, there was no sign of him.Had he been struck by the meteor sword and vanished without a trace?
No, he wasn't.
Osian remembers the feel of the blade's tip at the end.
The meteor blade aimed at Daver had cut him, but its searing light hadn't scorched his entire body.
At the last moment, Daver had pulled back with all his might.
‘The cut was definitely cut, so the trace should remain.’
This is the location where he fell, so if he searches around, he'll find something.
Osian's judgment was correct.
"Here it is."
There was a partially carved bloodstain on the floor and a severed arm with torn bandages wrapped around it, it was unmistakably Daver's.
The arm had been cut off, but there wasn't much blood.
The smell of burning flesh lingered in the air, though only slightly.
‘Did he stop the bleeding by directly setting the cross section of the severed arm on fire?’
He quickly applied a hemostat in that situation and ran away.
Apart from his poor humanity, his skills and judgment were excellent.
So he's probably a terrorist with a red notice in Tirna.
It's a shame.
If I'd cut off the other arm, I could have gotten that Tesla Arms thing.
‘It's a shame I couldn't finish him, but I'll have to settle for this for now.’
One day, Daver would return to avenge his severed arm but Osian was not worried about that at all since he would be much stronger then than he is now.
‘I've also mastered the use of the Starlight.’
However, there was something to be said for learning.
‘The power of the Starlight is not something that can be used so easily.’
If this were in a game, it could be activated by pressing the skill’s shortcut key, but in reality, it was not so easy.
It's a matter of mindset.
The usage of Starlight was quite vague and abstract.
It's the kind of thing you need to use a few more times to get the hang of.
That's why I wasn't overjoyed with my first success.
‘Now I’ve only cracked one of the three talents.’
There were still two more talents he could use.
Moreover, the attribute called "Starlight" was not a skill of the Meteor Sword.
The Meteor Sword is the most basic offense you can learn as soon as you activate the Starlight talent.
It's the most used and versatile, but it's not universal.
There were other skills that were more efficient in some cases.
"I don't know about anything else, but if I can learn Starlight Armor or Nebula Silk, I shouldn't have too much trouble in the future."
Of course, that's the minimum requirement.
It was better to use everything that was available.
You never know what's going to happen in the future.
Just today, a red-list wanted criminal had appeared from a regular group request.
Osian knew his body wasn't all-powerful.
He hadn't expected it, but now that he was faced with the reality, he was even more alert.
‘I'll have to be more careful.’
With that thought, Osian stepped out of the power plant.
It was still dark around him, but he could easily see the people waiting for him outside the power plant.
With them all huddled together like that, it was hard not to notice them.
"Has everyone gone back?"
Osian asked, but no one answered.
The mercenaries were still reeling from the realization that they'd pulled off this mission.
It was David who finally spoke up.
"Who the hell are you?"
"What do you mean?"
"That's......."
"Didn't I tell you? I'm a knight."
At Osian's answer, David made a confused face for a moment, then nodded.
"That's......Yes. You don't want to give away your identity, I understand. Some of the fixers are running from their pasts."
That was true of the other mercenaries as well.
Jonathan, the wounded one, and Steel Follower nodded in agreement.
"But don't worry. We may be assholes, but we're at least decent, and we're not about to dishonor a benefactor when we owe him our lives."
Something was terribly wrong, but Osian didn't bother to correct it.
The day's battle had worn him down enough.
"More than that, was that really starlight?"
David recalled the scene he had just seen.
A beam of light that had fallen from the sky, piercing through all of Daver's magic.
It was like a miracle.
He still felt like he was dreaming with his eyes open.
"Does it matter if it’s real or fake?"
David's eyes widened at Osian's question, and he burst out laughing.
"Pfft, yeah, it was. What does it matter now, we're alive and we got the job done."
David laughed and looked out at the mangled power plant entrance.
"It's going to be a bit embarrassing for our clients, though."
“It’s a cheap price to pay for chasing down a red-list wanted man.”
"What happened to him? Did you take care of him?"
"He got away."
That's a shame.
Turning to David and the mercenaries, who sounded sincere, Osian added a postscript.
"But he left behind a tail, like a lizard."
"A tail?"
"He'll probably eat his food with Tesla Arms from now on. It'll be the most expensive spoon in the world."
The mercenaries burst out laughing as they realized what he meant.
Hearing it from Osian's lips, they realized the fight was over.
They had survived.
Of course, some people died. Among them, there were quite a few who lost colleagues they were working with.
But that's the way it is in this industry.
In the end, when someone gets shot down somewhere, it doesn't make a big deal out of it.
It was a given.
The mercenaries dispersed, leaving Osian with a note that they'd buy him a big beer if they met someday.
Jonathan bowed his great bulk to Osian as well, and the Iron Follower left without another word.
David was the only one left.
"Is there anything else you'd like to say to me?"
"Do you remember what I said before we went in?"
Osian quickly realized what David was referring to.
"Ah. The automaton."
"The automaton you fought the other day. You said its arm exploded. It must have been a special-grade automaton made by the Battle Trench Company."
"Whoever handled it was no ordinary man."
"Yes. The fact that the arm exploded means that the automaton probably has that function all over its body.”
"Why?"
"Because they don't want to leave any trace, so they just blow it up so there's no evidence. Poof, done."
Osian asked playfully.
"Like your automaton?"
"Yeah.......It was unavoidable."
"Ah."
David's expression darkened, and Osian felt sorry for him.
He must have been hurt, judging by his reaction.
"Oh well. I should be grateful to be alive, especially in front of my lifesaver."
Hmmm. Osian coughed unnecessarily awkwardly and David smirked at the sight.
Osian smirked, realizing in hindsight that David was just as amused as he was.
“Anyway, be careful. If someone were to personally handle a special grade automaton and encourage something behind the scenes, as far as I know, they would be like an assistant at a large company.”
David's use of the word "assistant" was industry lingo and it meant people who do the dirty work of a company behind the scenes.
People who are hired separately by large companies are called "assistants" in the industry.
"I don't know exactly who he works for, but if it's a big company, I can count on two hands the number of people he's working for."
With a big company involved, David didn't want to dig any deeper.
Even though he's made a name for himself in the industry, he's only made a small name for himself at the bottom.
It was nothing compared to the world of the corporate movers and shakers.
"Be careful. That's all I can say. Of course, with your skills, it wouldn't matter if it was a corporate assistant, but you don't know the world."
"I hear you."
"Okay. I had a lot to say to a person with a bright future. I wonder if I should retire soon.”
"Really?"
"Well, this was supposed to be the last time I'd do it. My bread and butter, the automatons, are broken."
Even if he were to step down like this, he didn’t have to worry about living in a big pinch since he had money saved.
"But after watching you fight today, I've changed my mind."
David remembers the light Osian showed him.
It was a brilliant, beautiful light, carried by a young man, much younger than he was.
The light carried David into the distant past, a time when he was a child, when he was still innocent and a time when his eyes shone with fairy tales.
Perhaps the dreams he held in his heart were the starlight that had faded.
"I felt like I was lighting a fire for nothing, and I wondered if I should stop here."
It was a fleeting beauty, now gone.
But then David realized that it was still there, deep in his heart.
Something he'd always known, something he'd always avoided, and now he could finally face it.
"So, now that I've gotten this far, I'm going to try a little more."
"You'll have to work harder to put the broken automaton back together again."
"Hahaha, yeah. I'll have to work harder than I've been working."
With that, David removed his hat from his head and held it to his chest.
He bowed his head in awe and respect to Osian.
"Thank you, sir. I hope we can meet again someday."
With that, David left.
As he disappeared down the dark alleyway, Osian lifted his head and looked up at the sky.
The sky was still full of clouds, not a single light in sight but somehow, Osian thought, it was unusually bright.
*
The next day, Osian returned to Violet Fox to be greeted by Ronan and Lorraine.
Judging by the way they looked at him, they had been waiting for him since earlier in the day.
"Osian......."
"Hey, junior, I heard you took down that Daver of the Blood Brotherhood!"
Lorraine exclaimed, as if it were her own business, her eyes were wide with excitement.
"How on earth did you do that?!"
"Ms. Lorraine, please calm down a bit."
Ronan calmed Lorraine down and turned to Osian.
"Good morning, Mr. Osian."
"Morning."
"I've heard the stories, quite a bit has happened."
“It seems like the rumors have spread.”
“Because it was a story that had no choice but to spread.”
Ronan decided it was now or never, and asked the question he'd been preparing in his mind since before Osian arrived.
"They said you wielded light with your hands."
"Yes. Starlight."
"Why didn't you tell me you had that ability from the beginning?"
"I've only recently gotten used to using it, so I couldn't help it."
Osian spoke truthfully, but Ronan didn't take it at face value.
"I see. We'll leave it at that."
"It's true."
“That’s also a theory related to the knight……It's the past, right? Of course I understand.”
"......."
Why is it that people don't believe him when he tells them the truth?
As Osian was pondering this sequence of events, he heard a commotion from the second floor.
He glances over to see what it is, and Ronan shakes his head in confusion.
"By the way, Mr. Osian, you haven't met with them yet. There's another fixer from our company in my office right now."
Huh?
Osian's eyes shone with curiosity.