The victim looked different now.
Not just injured. Not just desperate.
Wrong.
His eyes were bloodshot, the red so deep it almost looked black in the dim light. Veins spiderwebbed outward, thick and angry, like they were trying to escape. His lips were curled into a smile that didn’t belong on a human face. It was too wide. Too relaxed. Like he wasn’t afraid of dying anymore.
Like he knew something I didn’t.
Then I realized there wasn’t just one of him.
There were six. No. Seven.
My breath caught in my throat.
They stood in a loose circle around the katana wielder, each body performing separate movements, dancing around as if taunting him.
My brain refused to accept it.
Clones.
He made clones.
One of them lunged. I didn’t see the katana move. A sharp, clean sound split the air. The clones froze mid-step.
Then his bodies collapsed into dust. They fell apart like dry ash, scattering across the floor.
“Fools. That was surprisingly simple.” Muttered the man.
Another clone rushed in from behind, it’s stance ready for a fatal surprise attack.
The katana wielder turned slightly. Another sound. Another body turning to dust.
“Ha! Are you really one of the strongest agents of the Second Genesis? The Aegis is getting weak after all…” He remarked. They kept coming from different directions.
The wielder moved with stunning speed and precision-so fast that I couldn’t even see them at all. Every swing was perfect.
Before long, the air filled with gray particles, floating in slow, lazy spirals.
But they weren’t losing. The clones weren’t dying fast enough. They were adapting.
One ducked under a swing that should have cut its head off.
Another stepped back before the blade even reached it.
They were predicting him.
They were learning.
Strangely, the katana wielder looked… calm. Relaxed, as if his life wasn't actively being threatened.
Afterwards, I would find out that this was because… it wasn’t. In fact, it was the other way around.
The clones stopped advancing.
They circled him slowly, smiles spreading across their face like they’ve already won.
The katana wielder raised his sword in front of him. And held it there. Nothing happened.
For a second.
Two seconds.
Then I felt it. Pressure.
It was subtle at first.
Like the air had thickened. Then, my ears popped. The ground beneath his feet cracked with a quiet snap. Thin lines spread outward. The clones hesitated. The entire room went eerily quiet. Then - he swung. The motion was slow. Too slow. My brain screamed that it wouldn’t work. That he’d miss. That he’d die.
The blade cut through empty air.
Nothing happened.
Then every clone froze. Their bodies began to crumble, collapsing into dust all at once. 500 bodies, gone. The dust drifted through the air like snow. My heart was racing so fast it hurt.
What… was that?
The katana wielder lowered his sword and stood there for a moment, catching his breath. Then, he turned his eyes locked onto mine instantly.
They were sharp, dangerously cold and filled with precision. I froze instantly, intimidated by his mere presence. I could sense there was something off about him. Something… inhuman.
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He started walking toward me, his steps echoing throughout the room. I couldn’t move.
“You,” he said in a calm, controlled voice. “State your identity.”
My mouth tried to open, but nothing came out.
“I am Ren Kurogane,” he continued.
The name meant nothing to me, but the way he said it made it sound like it should. Almost as if I was supposed to recognize it.
At my lack of expression after he mentioned his name, he seemed surprised.
That only lasted for a second, before he started studying me. His eyes scanned my face, my posture, my hands. Judging. Calculating. Then, he relaxed.
Just slightly.
And that’s when it happened. A hand burst through his chest, covered in blood.
His blood.
Ren’s body jerked.
His mouth opened, but no sound came out. The hand pulled back.
Blood poured out of the hole in his chest. Finally, he collapsed, his katana slipping from his fingers and clattering against the floor.
I couldn’t believe my eyes. Because standing behind him was…the victim. Alive. Impossible! My brain broke. I watched him die, the remains of his bodies shattering away like dust, disappearing into the smoky air.
But there he was now, standing there like nothing had happened.
Like death meant nothing.
“Thank you,” he said. His voice was calm. “You were a wonderful distraction.”
I stared at him, my hands trembling from fear.
“Oh,” he said suddenly. “Where are my manners?”
He gave a small bow. “My name is Silas Veyne.”
He gestured casually toward Ren’s body. “And that,” he said, “was a nuisance.”
Ren lay on the floor, his empty eyes stared at nothing. Dead.
Silas looked back at me, and his bloodshot eyes locked onto mine. For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then he smiled wider.
“You’re interesting,” he said.
Interesting? My stomach twisted.
He turned and walked away.
Just like that.
Leaving me alone with the corpse. My legs feeling weak and my brain tattered, I looked down at Ren.
He was really dead. My eyes drifted to the katana beside his hand.
I don’t know why I reached for it.
Maybe curiosity.
Maybe instinct.
Maybe stupidity.
The moment I touched it, it felt cold. Heavy, like an actual metal sword.
Then, I heard footsteps behind me.
“This is Evelyn Cross of the Aegis Division.”
I turned.
A girl stood at the entrance.
Her posture was cold. Her eyes were sharp, piercing at me with her intense gaze.
“State your name and affiliation loudly and clearly,” she said.
As she talked, crystal threads extended from her fingers, glittering in the dim light.
“And maybe I won’t kill you.”
Why does everyone want to kill me?
The threads shot toward me, faster than I could ever have imagined.
I raised the sword instinctively.
They hit it, and stopped. The threads vibrated violently, failing to cut through the hard steel. Both of us froze.
She looked. Not at me, but at the sword. Her expression changed into that of fear and hopelessness-the expression that someone had when they knew they were going to die.
Then, her eyes shifted to Ren’s body. She looked back at me, her breath quickening with each second. She took a step back. Then another.
Then she turned, and ran.
I just stood there, confused.
Why did she run?
I looked down at Ren again. At the blood. At the ruler in my hand.
My hands started shaking. I needed to leave.
I ran. I ran as fast as I could, up the tunnel, out the school field, and exiting the school entirely. I didn’t care where, when or how, I needed to get away as fast as possible. Although I didn’t have a clue where I was running to, I subconsciously guided myself back to my house. Safety. Protection, from whatever the hell I just witnessed. I slammed the door shut, and retreated to my bedroom. It was night by now, and I really felt like my brain needed refreshing after what had happened. Then I looked at my bed.
No.
No way.
I wasn’t sleeping there.
Every time I slept, something happened. Something strange. I was NOT going to do that again. Not after what I went through.
I sat on the floor instead, resting my back against the wall. My body ached, and my head hurt, the pain helping me stay conscious.
It was working. I wasn’t sleeping! I’m not getting one of those visions again, whatever they ar- Uh oh…
The world shattered. I was running, for the second time. But not in my body. In hers.
Her thoughts echoed in my head.
Ren was dead. Ren Kourogane was dead. No. He can’t be. He’s one of the strongest agents we have.. The thought echoed in my mind, continuously, as if I uttered it enough times Ren would come back to life.
I ran through the white marble hallways, pillars streaming on each side, until I reached a set of large wooden doors. I hurriedly pushed them open.
Inside was a man. A tall man, wearing a suit and sitting behind his desk, working away at some paperwork. He barely noticed I was there.
He was calm. Cold. Watching every step.
“Ren is dead,” I heard myself say.
The man froze, just for a second.
Fear flickered across his face.
Then it vanished, as quickly as it had appeared.
“I see,” he said calmly. “I will… rearrange things.”
Rearrange things?
“That’s it?” I asked.
“Agents are also to remain on high alert,” he replied.
I hesitated. “What about the boy?”
The man smiled. I was cold and unsettling. I could feel myself restraining a shiver of intimidation.
“No,” he said. “I will deal with him personally.”
Fear crawled down my spine.
Then, darkness.
I opened my eyes. I was back in my room. My heart raced, my mind feeling heavy. That wasn’t a dream. It felt… real. Like all of the other visions. Fatigued, I hurled myself onto my bed, falling into a deep sleep, escaping from the crazy reality