Zarek stopped walking, his eyes narrowing. There shouldn't be anyone in this region just yet that was a Rebirther. Unless…
His thoughts flickered to the missing corpse of that little freshman. Was he involved in this? It was very possible.
But it was hard to tell what sort of choices he might have made. For all Zarek knew, the little boy applied some pressure to his parents and ended up going to a completely different school.
If Zarek put himself in the little boy's shoes, there was no reason to stay put here after realizing he had been reborn.
His first life was wasted because Zarek killed him too soon. And staying around here would guarantee that he would run into Zarek too quickly, and the end result would likely be the same.
If the boy was smart, he would likely also guess that Zarek was a Rebirther as well, considering how calm he was and how easily he reacted to everything. Knowing that, he would know that there would be no way for him to possibly catch up with Zarek just based on a little bit of training he would have to finish before the apocalypse descended.
Essentially, if Zarek were that little boy, he would do everything in his power to get away from here and the influence of Zarek, then roll the dice somewhere else and hope for a better outcome. All things considered, if he prepared a few things in advance and trained properly, he would be in a much better position than the vast majority by the time those Tears filled the skies.
However… all of that was assuming that the boy was still on his First Rebirth.
Who was to say that he hadn't already experienced his second life, gone through all of that, built up a great deal of experience, only to finally come back during his Second or maybe even Third Rebirth?
This was the trouble with dealing with Rebirthers. Zarek couldn't possibly know which Rebirth the boy was on right now unless he laid eyes on him. But even then, it would be more of a guessing game than anything else.
Then there was the possibility of something else entirely. The possibility that it was another Rebirther that had come here to lay claim to his territory.
Zarek's lip curled into a grin.
"Zare—!"
Chi. BANG!
The window of an adjacent store burst, the slicing claws of a Dexterity Type slashing out. It almost looked like a long, lanky worm spilling out of the shrapnel of shimmering crystal with how lanky it was.
But when its arms moved, its joints snapping like whips, the acceleration was almost as fast as the ancient weapon in the blink of an eye.
Yet Zarek caught its wrist out of the air.
All of the creature's momentum stopped in a single instant. But then Zarek pulled it forward even harder than before, twisting his torso in the same action and driving his elbow right through its head.
The sound of a shattering skull and mincing brain meat filled the air as the creature slumped to the ground, its Godsfall Droplet having gone with it.
"Sorry," Zarek said, "I got distracted by something. Good job staying alert."
Priya blinked and looked down at the Turned before shaking her head. It didn't seem like he was distracted at all. Was he trying to coddle her like a baby?
She didn't need coddling or participation awards.
Zarek chuckled as he pulled Priya along.
"I really was distracted. But even if my mind is, that doesn't mean my body is."
Zarek said these words quite calmly, his gaze shifting toward the distant rooftop of a mid-rise a few streets away. But there was nothing there to be seen.
…
"Who is that? It's a newcomer, where'd he come from?"
Silence greeted the question.
"Hey! Can you hear me?!"
"Fuck off. I'm here just like you. How the hell am I supposed to know? Do you think I have the name of every person in the state memorized or something?"
"Well, just say you don't know, then!"
"Enough." A strict feminine voice called out. "Boss is still in that portal thing. We can't do much against a guy like that. That was one of those evolved ones and he killed it with one hit."
"What good is all that fancy martial arts stuff to a gun? Put a couple bullets in him."
"Stop. You don't know what Talent he has. What if he can just teleport behind you and put a knife in your skull? Stop being stupid."
"Then what the hell are we supposed to do?"
"I don't know? How about WAIT and OBSERVE like the boss said, hm?! Let the others make the stupid mistake."
BANG!
The meandering bicker came to an abrupt stop as a foot smashed through the steel door to the roof.
Zarek and Priya appeared out from the other side of it, their guns already trained on their targets.
The three tried to scramble to their feet, but the calm voice of Zarek made them feel as though they were thrown in a cellar.
"Move and a bullet runs through you. Simple enough to understand, right?"
The three had already fallen on their butts and palms, staring up at Zarek and Priya with fear painted all over their eyes.
"Now, let's keep it simple. Names and affiliation."
The three looked to one another.
"Don't try it. I can feel your energy moving. The moment one of you tries to activate your Talent…"
BANG!
A head split, one of the men shuddering once before slowly falling limp.
Fear painted the faces of the one remaining man and woman.
"Now, let's try this again. Name and affiliation."
"M-my n-n-name is T-T-Thalia. W-we… we work f-f-for the A-Angels."
Zarek raised an eyebrow.
The Angels… they were a gang known across the country, actually. But after the Apocalypse, they split into countless factions, and it wasn't until around five years from now that they were forced under one banner again…
By a man who Zarek knew for certain was a Rebirther.
Was it a coincidence?