Ascenders Rift

Inside of the gloomy car basement, several men in black stood before their car's taillight with MP5 suppression enabled submachine guns as they stared at the haggard man in a hooded sweater, standing by his car. He stood at their center while trembling as he looked no different from a rabbit caught by a bunch of wolves. One slender-looking man that wore a similar black suit with a shiny watch, a flat top haircut and dark shades above his aquiline nose stood even further away from them, being only a few feet apart from the cornered rabbit.

He stared at the man and spoke, "Doctor Ghost, there are some things that shouldn't be done in this world, every place has its order, and now you've broken that rule."

Cline hearing these words didn't feel that this was going to turn out well. He opened his mouth to speak, "Wait, I can explain..."

"Shh...!" The man immediately replied as he placed his finger onto his lips, cutting off Cline's words; Cline then fell into silence as he saw his action.

The man nodded and continued, "You have broken a rule that should have never been touched, and now, we'll have to teach you the price for that action. Don't blame me, Doctor Ghost, blame your own... curiosity..."

Cline hearing this couldn't stay quiet to wait for death, he spoke again, "Wait, who the hell are you people? Would the council even go so far over such a matter? I know that what I did could be considered illegal, but there's no such reason to push for this kind result."

The man snickered at those words, as he replied, "Ah yes... it seems we might have had a misunderstanding. I'll humor you as a final act of courtesy."

Upon saying this, the man placed his hand within his chest compartment of his suit. Cline gulped as he felt that he was going to take out a gun, but soon after, Cline's eyes relaxed when he saw the man took out a strange-looking black card with unique markings.

'What kind of group is this?' Cline thought as he eyed it carefully.

The man seeing Cline's look smiled, spun the card on his finger as he spoke, "The council? Hehe... sorry to say, but we are from much higher up the ladder."

After saying this, the man's eyes behind his shades grew cold as he raised his hand and snapped his fingers while shouting, "Do it!"

The moment they heard this; the others promptly rushed forward to take down Cline. Cline seeing their actions, felt like wetting himself as he cursed in his mind, "Oh shit! Oh shit! How do I get out of this?"

He wanted to move but couldn't as if the fear held him in place, the man with the flattop looked at Cline coldly as he was waiting to see him fall into depression as they slowly tortured him to death. Yet, it was at this time, when all seemed to be under his control there was a change.

"Well, isn't this cute," A cold voice said, sounding across the entire basemen as if it came from all directions.

"Who's there? Come out immediately!" The man with the leader of the group yelled as he looked around in weariness, the other men who were previously charging towards Cline halted their movements and looked around with sharp eyes.

Suddenly, the sound of objects rapidly moving through the air resounded, as with five consecutive hits and a resonant piercing sound, the foreheads of the men that charged towards Cline were impaled by shimmering knives.

With a thudding sound, the bodies of these men fell onto the ground in a headfirst manner. Not long after, a pool of blood had formed around their heads. The man seeing this narrowed his eyes as he stared at a specific direction with an in-depth look while in thought, 'He's even capable of hiding his Battle Will from my senses, just who is this man?'

At this time, only a few men that stood behind the man with the flat top hairstyle were alive. Their eyes shone with a hint of fear, but as they were professionals, that expression soon vanished as they pointed their submachine guns in the same direction.

Cline, who was previously trembling, was shocked by the current scene; he thought to himself, "Am I being rescued? Who would have such strength to go against this group?"

Not long after, the sounds of footsteps sounded from a dark region as the dark-skinned Nelly had appeared with a cigar in his mouth and one hand in the gun patch of his trench coat. His bald head reflected the lights from the car's taillight, as his hawk-like eyes stared at the men before him with ease.

The area grew silent as the haze drifted across the ground due to the soft winds that rustled Nelly's overcoat. Soon, the leader of the men had spoken with cold-looking eyes, "Who are you? Which group are you working with? Don't you know that you're meddling in state affairs?"

Nelly, hearing this shook his head and replied with an apathetic expression, "Who am I? Sorry but, I'm merely a cleaner..."

The leader made a strange look as he spoke, "Cleaner? An assassin? Hahaha, well, this is hilarious, an assassin interfering with our business. You must truly be seeking death, kill him!"

The men no longer held back; they aimed their guns and pressed the triggers scattering an array of silent bullets towards Nelly's position.

Nelly scoffed at this scene; he then jumped, causing his trench coat to flutter about as he avoided the previous bullet storm that riddled the ground and cars with holes. With a twist in the air, Nelly took his arm from his gun patch, revealing a modified M9 pistol with a silencer, he pressed the trigger repeatedly as it made a few muffled noises.

The car lot lit up with bright flashes of light that came from both his and the other men's gun muzzles, but after a few seconds, Nelly had landed on the ground directly in front of the shocked looking Cline.

His coat dancing behind him as a few bullet holes were visible at its corners. Nelly then tossed away the cigar from his mouth and placed his other arm in the coat's pocket as he stared at the scene before him.

At this time, the bodies of the men with submachine guns collapsed onto the ground with perfect headshots. The cars shot previously then began to make noise, as their alarms went off.

The leader of this group knitted his brows as he saw this, he promptly pressed a button on his watch, which sent an electrical surge across the area shorting their alarms. He then looked at Nelly with a severe look before his face took on a business-friendly expression. He spoke with an inviting tone and an utter disregard for his previous companion's lives, "You're good, maybe even better than I imagine, this kind of skill ranks amongst the elites of elites. Why not join us? If you come and work with us, we can forget that today ever happened? No matter what you wish for, we can grant you that desire."

Nelly smirked at those words as he replied, "What I want, no one in this world can grant me."

The man saw that Nelly was determined to be stubborn to the very end, he no longer tried to convince him as he sighed while rolling up his sleeves when he spoke, "Such a pity, you're good, but at the end of the day, humans are limited by their frame. If you were to join us, you would have been enlightened on the path that supersedes humanity, becoming a new being in entirety. You might even be able to take part in a brand-new age, but sadly, you won't live to see it."

After saying this, the man's body changed slightly as a dark power came over him. Soon, he became shrouded by a dark robe as a sword appeared in his hands.

Nelly knitted his brows at this as he thought, Alan was right, they are quite the active bunch aren't they, tsk! It seems like I'll have to use those rounds...'

"Hahaha, how is it? Are you feeling fear yet? Don't worry; I'll make it quick as a sign of courtesy," As the man said this, his body blurred and vanished.

"Oh, crap! What the hell is he?" Cline exclaimed as he looked at the scene in horror.

Nelly clicked his teeth and spoke, "Get to cover; I'll deal with him!"

Cline, hearing this nodded and ran towards an area where he could hide from this danger. Nelly's hawk-like eyes flashed when his pupils shifted from side to side rapidly. Soon, Nelly's eyes then narrowed when he gazed towards a corner as he curled his lips and muttered, "There you are..."

When Nelly said this, he shifted his body to the side and narrowly dodged an arc of white light. In a second, the leader had appeared beside him with his sword that cut a scar on the paved ground. He looked at Nelly through the corner of his eyes as he sneered, "Oh, you're quite flexible, but it's not enough…"

"We'll see about that," Nelly answered as he aimed his gun and fired a few shots.

Bang-bang! Suddenly, two silent bullets bolted through the air towards the leader, but as if they were in slow motion, the leader sneered as he pulled himself backward and chopped his sword towards them at a rapid rate.

Ting-ting! With two clanking noises, the bullets were redirected towards two sides, as the leader continued his attack movement by leaning his body forwards and pressing his foot against the ground. His medieval robes fluttered behind before his figure blurred and appear in front of Nelly.

"Let's see you avoid my slashes in frontal combat!" The leader shouted as he slashed his sword a few times, creating a blurry picture of white lights.

Nelly seemed as if he couldn't react to the movements, the shimmering edges of the swords cutting towards his body's vital spots in almost an instant. Yet, it was at this moment, Nelly's hawk-like eyes flashed as he swayed his body from side to side, narrowly dodging each attack as he used one of his arms to lock the sword-wielding hand of the leader.

"This…" The leader said in shock, but he didn't have time to ponder what happened in detail, he saw the M9 pistol in Nelly's hand twirled as he aimed it at his head with his free arm in point-blank range.

With a swing, he tossed the sword in his unoccupied arm, twisted his body to the side as if he was dancing a circle around Nelly.

At this moment, Nelly's arm seemed to blur leaving behind remnant shadows as he tracked the spinning figure of the man and fired repeatedly. The shots of his M9 pistol sounded again, sending a few bullets at various angles towards the leader. Yet, while most of them missed the final bullet was headed directly for his chest.

"Oh no! I'm dead!" The leader shouted with a panicked expression for an instant, but the bullet had already hit his chest, Nelly seeing this relaxed his guard for a moment, but his eyes soon narrowed, as he heard a clanking sound.

Moments after the leader had vanished and appeared directly behind Nelly's unguarded back, his lips curved into a sly smile when he spoke, "Or not! Try dodging this one you shit! Flash Sword!"

With a shout, he acted a hidden skill from the system as his sword glowed in bright lights when he struck towards nelly's heart in a flash.

Nelly had already sensed the danger when the leader vanished; he pulled his body backward with uncommon reflexes as he left behind a remnant shade, causing his back to almost reach the ground. The moment he did this, a flash of light swept above him as the man in the cloak appeared with his sword that had just cut apart the air above Nelly.

The sword sent out a flash of light that cut apart the walls in the basement, leaving a deep scar within its surface.

"What? How did you avoid my special skill?" The man said in alarm, as he was still in sword swinging posture leaving him vulnerable, his eyes could only stare at Nelly's face bellow him.

Nelly merely answered while pointing his M9 pistol at his head and pressing the trigger, "Go find out in hell!"

The man seeing this scoffed as he spoke, "Hmph! A small pistol cannot pierce through my skin much less my system equip...eh?"

As he was about to mock Nelly's gun, a clicking sound was heard on the M9 pistol as it started to glow in neon red light around its grooves. Soon, a charging noise sounded as the pistol fired a glowing red bullet twice the speed of normal ones.

'Oh fuck, it's a Military Special Class M9 Pistol! How did he get this?' The man's eyes flashed with despair when he pondered but couldn't hear the answer as the bullet had long since ripped through his head, blowing it apart and scattering his brain across the area.

With a flopping sound, the corpse of the man fell onto the ground as Nelly quickly push himself back into standing posture with one arm. He then took out another cigar and lit it before giving it a puff as he spoke, "How foolish, you let your guard down, and yet you wear the look of a professional. Truly an amateur..."

As he said this, he turned and saw the somewhat shaky Cline walking over. Cline gulped as he looked at the corpse and spoke in a stuttering tone, "M-M-Mister... a-a-are you here for me as well,"

Nelly looked at him with his sharp eyes and replied, "That's correct; pick up your things it's time for us to get moving."

Cline's face sunk as he heard this; he gritted his teeth and asked, "But why? Why me?"

Nelly looked at Cline as if he was looking at a fool as he spoke, "You do realize that you're involved in something much larger than you simply sharing classified data, right? This group is going to chase you to the ends of the earth. Now that things have come to this, only we can protect you, and we are doing this because we've found that you have certain knack and expertise that might just be of use to us. Does this answer your questions, Mr. Cline?"

Cline, hearing this paused for a moment before he gripped his fist and replied, "I understand, thanks for the help."

Nelly snorted at these words and replied, "Good, let's get moving, we've wasted enough time."

As Nelly said this, he pressed a button, and the taillights of a black car lit up from a corner of the room. It drove itself over towards their position before both entered.

Vroom! With a revving sound, the wheels of the car spun on the ground, causing the haze to flow around it before it stormed out of the basemen at high speeds. While inside the car, Cline looked around nervously at the rapidly vanishing buildings, it seemed he had never seen a car move at such speed.

Nelly, on the other hand, was calm, his eyes shifted towards his cell phone, which soon after rang. He picked it up and answered, "I've got him."

"...." The voice on the other side remained silent for a moment before it replied, "Good work Nelly, I'm about to get started on my side as well."

When Nelly heard this, he paused for a bit before he spoke, "Be careful, Alan."

"Heh, always a man of few words, but I'm glad to hear that coming from you. Don't worry; It's not so easy for me to die. We'll meet up once I'm finished here." Alan said before hanging up.

As this happened, Nelly's eyes shifted towards the side, gazing beyond a sea of buildings as if he could peer beyond them to a faraway place when he muttered, "The MSS... takes me back to those years,"

Following his words, the car revved through the night before vanishing like a streak of light beyond the distance.