The Killing Time

Chapter 15

"Ah, yes. It’s good to see you working here again."

‘I had better do something to stop prolonging their conversation’

"Shall we proceed to move to the destination place? The faster we finish this verification, the better result both parties will receive. Don’t you think so?" Axel asks.

"Please lead the way, Mr. Brainer."

Axel cannot help himself to look back at Dan, the receptionist clerk. Who at a glance has managed to make elder Raisen smile at him? Making it appear as if two old friends were reuniting after a long time apart

‘I must be imagining things. How did a receptionist clerk make a strict elderly person like Raisen smile like that?

In the middle of questioning the impossible images he has seen; Axel shakes his head with all the power within his neck to push away unnecessary thoughts that could be in the way of the plan.

‘Focus! Focus Axel Brainer!’

"Is there something wrong, Mr. Brainer?" Raisen asks.

"N-no elder Raisen, there is nothing wrong. I’m just trying to shake the fatigue I got from capturing Selina Hayes. Please forgive my rude behavior."

By using an arrogant tone, she answers, "Very well, Axel Brainer, just makes sure your fatigue didn’t take too much of my limited traveling time."

"Don’t worry, elder, because we have arrived at the place."

An old abandoned warehouse made Raisen’s eyes go wide after looking at it. She never expected to find Selina Hayes in this kind of place, no matter how wounded she was.

‘Is Selina Hayes really captured by this person? A nobody that is not even associated with the Black Circle?’

"It may look old, but this warehouse was able to contain a dangerous assassin such as Selina Hayes."

To leave an impression that he has not set up anything that could threaten Raisen’s life. Axel takes the lead in entering the warehouse first, as some way of signaling safety inside.

"Where is she, Mr. Brainer?"

He ignores her question and steps forward instead, all to grab the metal chain in front of him.

"What are you doing, Mr. Brainer?" once again, the impatient elder cannot wait and throws yet another question at Axel.

Jingling!!!

He pulls the chain down and a silhouette of a woman slowly emerges from the shadow, tied to the chain.

"I present to you, the former associate of the Black Circle, Selina Hayes. I had to anesthetize her beforehand to avoid unnecessary troubles."

Mr. Brainer, are you using a dirty method like drugs to win against her? Truly a peculiar method to use."

"Against Selina Hayes, who was gifted with assassination skills, this kind of method is needed to survive from her. I have to admit, it's less honorable, but it’s more successful in terms of the result."

‘Have I been underestimating this brat? Selina was known to be almost at the same level as her adoptive father, yet he was able to deal with her.’

"I think seeing Selina Hayes in person was enough as the verification, elder Raisen. With this, I am expecting you to hand me the information I had requested."

Axel’s breathing becomes heavier, he puts his hand in the back to hide the cold sweat on his palm, because Raisen keeps staring at Selina, who was still tied up, for five minutes.

"Elder?"

"Shush! Take her down, Mr. Brainer, I would like to have a closer look at your self-proclaimed Selina Hayes."

Axel walks closer to the chain that was tying the woman and pulls the chain down according to Raisen’s order.

Bang!

A hot bullet was shot out of nowhere and grazed his hand, "RAISEN!!! I can’t believe you’re trying to kill me as soon as you get your hand on Selina Hayes. It is truly a shameful act by one of the respected elders from Black Circle."

"HOW DARE YOU! TO ACCUSE ME OF DOING SUCH A SHAMEFUL ACT!!!"

Bang! Bang!

The second gunshot has forcefully ended the quarrel between them. Axel and Raisen are more interested in looking for a shelter to hide from another gunshot.

"Elder, pass me a gun and I'll give you a good distraction to take this person down."

"I do not trust you, Axel Brainer! Even if I carry a gun, I am not going to lend it to you."

"Then I'll use mine."

Axel takes out a gun from underneath the boxes that he used as a cover and starts shooting in random directions.

Bang! Bang!

"If you want to stay alive, lend me a hand, elder! Now is the right time to make use of your assassination skills." Axel shouts at Raisen.

While Axel is busy shooting in random directions, Raisen is more interested in tying her hair and ripping the skirt for better movements.

"Elder Raisen, now or never, we need to work toget-"

Axel was in a frenzy when he realized Raisen had just vanished and left without saying anything to him.

"Where the hell is she?"

'Shit! I hope she will have a hard time looking for Selina in this spacious place. Now I should switch to another place with a better view.'

Bang! Bang!

He lurks in the shadows and uses the stairs to reach a higher place.

'Weird, why has the gunshot stopped?'

***

‘It seemed the only option was to kill this audacious person by myself. Relying on Brainer will not give me any good result.’

 Bang! Bang! Bang!

"The source of the gunshots is approximately twenty meters behind. That’s probably the location of the shooter," Raisen mumbles.

The elder swiftly throws a tiny knife at the source of the gunshots and moves closer while lurking in the shades.

‘It seems my knife has managed to inflict damage, given there is a gap between the next gunshots. I should move closer to this person’s range.’

Once again, Raisen takes advantage of the shade and moves closer to the shooter’s position, throwing another knife in that person’s direction.

This time, she didn’t continue to lurk her way to the shooter because no more gunshots were coming from that person.

‘Why did the shooter stop shooting?’

Bam!

One of the knives Raisen threw at returned to her when the elder’s mind was busy thinking of a logical answer.

Her gaze was centered on the knife that was stuck near her face and she ignored what was in front of her.

"HELLO, ELDER!!!"

The shooter had shown herself in a blink of the eyes to push Raisen against the boxes, bringing a rapid terror with her to frighten the elder.

 "My dear Selina, have you finally chosen to show your cowardice face in front of me after hiding in the shadows for a long time?"

Raisen gives her a jab on her waist, then she continues the attack by pushing Selina down with a claw-like palm in synchronization with her left leg, which was placed behind her opponents’ beforehand.

Selina was pushed behind, but when her back touches the ground, she takes advantage of the fall and rolls her way back, and stands up, as if nothing had ever happened.

"Not bad for a grumpy old lady." Selina mocks.

"I may be old, but at least I have a better taste in appearances than you and the unmatched pattern of your mask."

No one dares to avert their eyes from each other; the two assassins keep looking at one another to launch an attack.

Bang!

Selina raises her hand first to shoot Raisen, and the elder reacts by throwing another knife to get rid of her gun.

"What are you shooting, Selina?" with a grin Raisen mocks Selina for the missed she has made.

Seeing Selina coming at her in a rush, Raisen reacted by secretly taking out a little dagger from her sleeve.

Stab!

Raisen’s sudden thrust only managed to break her mask and carve a scar on Selina’s pretty face.

"Your reflexes have improved quite well, Selina. Sadly, you are not fast enough to protect your face from a scar."

In the middle of Raisen’s taunt, Selina throws a dagger at her face in a rapid hand movement.

Drizzle...

"It seems your reflexes have deteriorated, Raisen. Given how you failed to avoid that level of surprise attack, it is shameful, especially for someone with a high position like you. Don’t you agree?"

Selina’s mockery has touched a sore spot in Raisen’s heart. Her face has turned blackish-red like a demon portrayal in a painting.

Suddenly, Raisen sways her left arm, and a tiny light is reflected under her delicate arm.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Selina leisurely evades all those gunshots aimed at her and chooses to lurk in the shades.

‘Now, let’s see how you fight inside a thick smoke elder.’

Selina was throwing a little ball that was hissing while spreading a little smoke everywhere.

"Tch! I need to tuck one of my sleeves into an emergency mask to counter her strategy."

Raisen holds her breath and thorns her right sleeve to make a temporary mask. It was a sloppy one, but it could block the smoke from entering the elder's lungs.

Swish!

A flying dagger comes at Raisen, cutting inside the thick smoke, yet she can catch the handle and throw it back to where the dagger came from.

"What a child play Selina!"

Flying daggers from different directions keep coming at Raisen instead of Selina’s answer to the mockery this elder has thrown at her.

‘It’s no use; she’s planning to stale time and traps me inside this smoke. I need to get out of here, before what she has planned works out.’

As she is about to step out of the smoke, Raisen groans in agony. She feels unbearable pain coming out of her left-back.

"Where are you going, elder? I still want to have another conversation with you inside this smokescreen."

"Under normal circumstances, you will never have my back as easy as this! Consider this my farewell gift Selina Hayes!"

Raisen swings her left arm, which holds a dagger, backward to get an upper hand against Selina. Her effort to attack first was left in vain because the opponent could defend it.

The failure to land a clean attack did not stop Raisen. At the same time, her right foot was flying to take Selina off balance while switching the dagger to her right arm.

"We do know that the same trick will never work twice in a row, isn’t that right, elder?"

Selina closes the gap by holding Raisen’s arm to give a clean hit on her jaw. Not a lethal attack, but enough to make the elder’s vision blurry for a moment and get rid of Raisen’s mask.

"This is just the beginning, Raisen. Death is an easy punishment for a betrayer like yourself."

Selina steps back to merge herself with the shades, making her existence disappear like a ghost.

"ENOUGH OF YOUR INSOLENCE, SELINA HAYES!!" Raisen shouts while regaining her blurry vision.

"What made you so angry, Raisen? Could it be you are having difficulty accepting your current state?" Selina mocks Raisen.

‘Good, she’s still close to a rage, and I could finish her with this dagger.’

Raisen carefully takes out a special dagger from her thigh; it is coated with a transparent liquid on top.

"One stab and you will die for real this time, Selina Hayes!" Raisen mumbles.

Suddenly, Raisen jumps to the side because her instinct has whispered to her to do so to survive.

‘The injury on my back has limited my mobility. Nevertheless, I cannot stay still and become an easy target, and this smoke is unlikely to disappear in a short time.’

"Why has my vision gotten blurry again? Was the weapon she used coated in poison?"

"Breath this smoke, Raisen, and remember everything you have done to me." Selina’s words have been echoing within the smoke.

In the midst of hazy vision, Raisen sees a familiar silhouette approaching her, "It can’t… be! It's not possible! You should have been dead, Gary Hayes!"