"Oh. So it's you, the fixer."
The masked soldier recognized Osian at once.
Even among the fixers, Osian stood out, so even if he passed by from a distance, he couldn't help but be memorable.
Besides his good looks, he also has a reputation for wielding a sword, a rarity in this business.
But aside from that, it was surprising that he had fled to this distant place with Princess Orlea.
"Well, that's the end of that, then. She may have gotten away for a short time, but she's not out of our reach."
"You're here sooner than I expected, you're a well-trained soldier after all, but are you okay on your own?"
"Alone? Who said I’m alone?"
Osian's eyes narrowed at the growing signs.
It hadn't been long since he'd fled this far, and yet his pursuers had picked up speed.They hadn't just heard the commotion earlier but had already spread out a wide circle around the area.
"Soldiers always have to prepare for the worst."
The masked soldier said boastfully.
His voice was cheerful and light, but his masked eyes were cold as they turned toward Osian.
He didn't look down on him for being a fixer.
Rather, his eyes filled with hostility and a deep sense of wariness toward the man who had brought them to this final stand.
"If you hand over Princess Orlea now, I'll pretend like it never happened."
"Pretend it never happened?"
Osian asked incredulously, and the masked soldier shrugged.
"You're a fixer, so you were just doing your job, right? You didn't realize that there was a higher power at work here. Since you didn't, it can't hurt to give you a pass."
"You have a long tongue."
"Ha. I'm trying to be merciful at best, but you've got a nasty tongue, for a fixer."
“If you’re going to say you’re showing mercy, why don’t you start with the murderous look in your eyes?”
As he said that, Osian swung the sword wildly from side to side.
The sword gently sliced through the outer walls of the buildings on both sides of the alley.
With a crack from inside, the two soldiers who had been lurking fell to the ground.
"You think I don't know you're trying to distract me to buy time for the others to surround us? Don't make it so obvious."
"You fixer!"
The masked soldier drew his gun from his waistband.
There was no more respect, no more words, now that his trick had been discovered.
The gun he drew was no ordinary pistol. It was a modified musket, with all sorts of gadgets attached to it.
He squeezed the trigger, and it made only a slight crackling sound.
It was the same bullet that had flown by so soundlessly just moments ago.
Osian held his sword vertically and sliced the bullet at an angle.
The bullets, sliced smoothly from side to side, slammed into the walls of both alleys.
Just as Osian was about to return fire, shadows leapt from the rooftops of the buildings.
Osian was about to lunge at the masked soldier, but he backed away with a quick backstep.
-Tut-tut-tut!
A bullet slammed into the place where Osian had just been, sending shards of rock to the ground.
The soldiers, now in formation, pointed their rifles at him and pulled the triggers one after another.
It was a precise, deliberate fire, aimed at his path.
Osian's eyes caught the red dots carved into the air and with each swing of his sword, bullets rained down on the floor.
"Holy shit. What's that?"
"Cutting bullets with a sword?"
"Keep shooting!"
A normal gang or fixer would have frozen at the sight, but soldiers are soldiers.
Well-trained, they didn't slow their fire and kept pushing Osian back.
‘This is not good.’
The soldiers were tricky to deal with in a different sense than the enemies Osian had fought so far.
As good as they were individually, their power as a group was beyond his imagination.
Watching dozens of them move in unison was like watching a wolf hunting a predator much larger than itself.
Their leader, a masked soldier, pulled out a massive long gun slung across his back.
It was a modified rifle, much like the pistol he had used. Wires were connected to the part where bullets should be loaded, extending all the way under his poncho.
Osian's instincts warned him.
‘Something's coming.’
The trigger was pulled and the bullet fired.
It was a golden capsule shaped like a bullet.
‘Is that......what the warlock used back then?’
The capsule disintegrated in midair, revealing the ether water inside.
The magic imprinted on the bubbling, semi-solid ether water was activated.
-Pow!
High-heated flames filled the narrow alleyway and swept through like a wave.
The pipes along the exterior walls turned to red ooze and melted away, and the scattered boards turned to blackened charcoal.
The flames were powerful enough to oxidize a man on the spot.
"Tsk. To think I had to use this expensive 4-star capsule for a mere fixer."
Although he was able to eliminate Osian and even princess Orlea beyond, he couldn't help but feel disappointed.
"This is the end of the situation......."
The man who was about to deliver the message couldn't help but flinch at the strange energy he suddenly felt.
"What is it?"
The alleyway was littered with red embers as the flames subsided.
In the center of the blackened alleyway lay a white glowing egg.
The tip of the egg cracked open and blossomed like a magnolia in full bloom.
From within emerged a white-cloaked Osian, and in his arms, princess Orlea.
They were unharmed by the capsule's rank-4 fire magic.
The masked soldier couldn't understand it.
"How is that possible, it must have hit them right on the head......."
Osian didn't answer.
His gaze fell on the body, and the masked soldier's shoulders shook.
"Everyone, take cover......!"
With that, he flattened himself on the ground but his men did not.
As Osian's cloak transformed into wings and he took flight, the soldiers were too mesmerized by the sight to even think about fleeing…and then white death descended.
A solid white line cut through space, slicing through anything it caught, human or otherwise.
Gloves tucked into ponchos, small guards carried in pouches, guns strapped to various parts of their bodies.
No matter how tough they were, they were all useless.
Sliced and diced.
In that brief moment, the soldiers on the rooftop fell, bleeding red.
The sword strikes were so powerful that the slashes were clearly visible throughout the buildings.
It was a sight that could not have been caused by a single sword.
When Osian landed back at Princess Orlea's side, the only other living person was a masked soldier, a commander.
"Yi, Moo......on!"
All of his well-trained men were dead.
If you ask him if I was caught off guard, he'd say absolutely not.
They hadn't been caught off guard by a poorly trained fixer, even if he was alone and armed only with a sword.
They kept their distance and applied pressure with their guns.
They had enough men to keep their distance and apply pressure with their guns, not minding that he had enough swordsmanship to parry the incoming bullets.
But there it was, in front of him, the result of everything he had done.
‘He's no ordinary mutant!’
Anyone who could parry a flying bullet with a sword had to be a mutant or an enhanced human but enhanced humans are few and far between, and you can tell from their appearance.
Anyone with such a natural appearance could only be a mutant.
If he's an enhancer, magic should be able to subdue him.
That's what he thought, but what about that pure white ball of light?
‘I've never heard of such a thing!’
What the hell was that in the first place?
It's a cloak of light, and it can even change shape at will.
When Osian's gaze fell on him, the masked man felt goosebumps rise all over his body.
‘This guy, he deliberately left me alive!’
He thought he had dodged Osian's sword by throwing himself out of the way, but he was mistaken.
Osian had intended to spare him from the start, probably because he was the highest ranked and seemed to know the most.
'I underestimated him and I'm no match for him.’
He made a judgment instantly.
Quickly reaching into his military poncho, he pulled a grenade from the belt pocket at his waist and pulled out the pin.
Two iron cylinders were thrown.
Osian flicked them lightly from side to side with the blade of his sword.
Immediately afterward, with a hissing sound, a thick white smoke billowed intensely from the thrown object.
"A smoke screen."
Osian swung his sword down to slice through the smoke, then stepped back, feeling a strange sensation.
The outer wall of the building burned hotly where it touched the pure white smoke.
Osian's eyes narrowed.
"White phosphorus?"
Osian was glad he trusted his senses.
He hadn't realized the soldier was carrying one of those on his belt.
Stepping back, Osian moved his cloak as he stood to escort princess Orlea.
The fluttering, sweeping cloak of starlight created a strong gust of wind, pushing the pure white smoke far beyond.
Time passed, and when it settled, only a charred pathway remained.
"He got away."
He was a very quick thinker.
As soon as he realized that he was at a disadvantage, he threw white phosphorus bombs and ran away.
Osian wondered if he should start by cutting off their legs the next time he encountered the same situation.
"We've bought ourselves some time, we should get out of here."
Princess Orlea squirmed in her seat, staring up at him blankly.
Osian walked over to her and leaned down to meet her eyes.
"Can you get up?"
She nodded.
Princess Orlea moved her head wordlessly.
She still felt as if she were dreaming, so unreal was the scene before her.
Osian's sword-swinging, soldier-slashing movements had been too fast to see, but in that fleeting moment, his reflection was something to behold.
He was like a knight in shining armor.
"Then let's move. Are you sure you can walk?"
Princess Orlea tried to rise, but her legs gave out and she sank back down.
As she looked up at him with a slightly tearful face, Osian felt he had no choice but to pick her up and help her to her feet.
Princess Orlea's face turned as red as a tomato.
She clutched the hem of Osian's robe in her slender hands.
She'd been pretending to be a grown-up all this time, trying to take death in stride, but now she looked like a child.
"I'll go then."
*
"Damn it! Damn it!"
The soldier who had barely gotten away from Osian let out a harsh rage but it was short-lived, and he quickly subdued his feelings.
‘We didn't know enough about our opponent, and that's our fault.’
There was no point in getting angry about what had already happened.
What matters is what they do now.
He pulled his communicator from his waistband.
"It's me. We've failed. The Fixer's skills are beyond what we imagined. I request the following plan."
The first plan was to kill Princess Orlea in her car.
To accomplish this, a sniper was deployed, a driver was hired, and a bomb was placed under the car, just in case.
When this plan failed, the backup plan was to use hand-trained soldiers to take them out quickly.
Now that this sub-plan had also failed, there was no choice but to proceed with the next plan, despite the bruised pride.
Over the comms came the order.
[Permission granted.]
"Yes. We'll proceed to the rendezvous point."
Normally, he should have been done before things got this far.
It was practically unnecessary insurance, he thought.
The masked man walked quickly to a nearby empty house.
As he reached the entrance, a thought occurred to him.
‘I wonder if I can really borrow their power.’
The answer was yes, because the creatures waiting inside were no ordinary creatures.
If he had to categorize them, they were dangerous maniacal killers, terrorists, warlocks, classified mutants, and cultists.
They were the kind of criminals a soldier could not help but loathe.
‘But they're strong.’
As the masked man entered the building, the waiting soldiers immediately recognized him and saluted.
"Summon the Uluaz men."