Chapter 4

The surge of spirits was unlike anything Mai had ever felt; it pushed and shoved, clouding her mind's awareness as they jostled to get closer to the light that N emanated, using it to draw them closer in order to exterminate them. They crowded around the Giver and Receiver pair down below as though they were the only gateway out of this enclosed hell they couldn't escape on their own.

Beside her, she could sense the fact that Kazuya was taking aim with his ornate pistols. To get the bullets that the pistols needed, he had given her his energy and she was, of course, supposed to receive, convert, and then return the energy in a form more suitable for the weapon.

His energy was something she had never experienced; there was nothing she could do to prepare herself for the onslaught of white hot energy that burned through her veins with an intensity that bordered something along the lines of vengeance.

She could faintly recall gasping out in pain as his energy surged through her, forcing all of the little hairs on her body to stand on end as though she were being electrocuted. Despite the amount of pain that rushed her, Mai locked her jaw and forced her own energy into the fiery surge that threatened to burn her from the inside out.

She was accustomed to her energy tempering, cooling even, the energy of the Giver until it was warm. With the Narcissist, it was different; their combined energies was even hotter.

The warm golden glow that she was so used to returning came back in a fiery, silvery white torrent of unbridled, raw power.

Kazuya directed the deluge of energy towards his pistols, watching the tiny meter on the hilt fill up to capacity with the silvery power. Each pistol could shoot 50 bullets when fully charged. With 100 shots, he could easily take down 100 malevolent spirits.

In fact, he'd been known to take down more than 350 spirits with his two pistols when fully charged if he had the right vantage point. To him, shooting was something more than just simple accuracy; it was an art. Something he'd honed for endless hours, slaving in the practice observatories at the previous Compound, firing shot after shot.

To him, it was all about efficiency. Who said you could limit the saying to just two birds and one stone?

The more he could take out with a single bullet, the better.

As soon as the two meters had been filled, he cut off the flow of energy, watching as the gloves she wore kept the energy at the surface of the fabric and he need only touch the handles of his pistols to her glowing forearms to begin recharging them. Convenient.

Down below, the spirits surged into a helpless, mindless, turmoiled frenzy as they all sought out this power source that promised them the potential to get out. N's jaw was clenched as his cowl was whipped from his head in the frenzy of his pent up energy; the wind swirled, tousling his ashy blonde locks as he focused on being the catalyst. His training clicked into place and he raised his bow, using the big muscles of his back and upper arms to nock and pull back the arrow to the corner of his mouth.

Just as Kazuya had Mai fill his pistols with energy bullets, N had Rin temper his entire quiver of arrows with a combination of their energy. The blazing emerald green of his energy twisted in tandem with her own silvery blue vitality on the tip of his arrow; his arrowheads were broadheads made of onyx, specifically designed to store the energy of a Giver and Receiver pair. His bow sang and the arrow leapt from the string, tearing a massive, blazing rift in the sea of spirits.

3 meters away from her partner, Rin spun, flipped, and twirled as she lashed at every spirit from all directions, never staying stationary. Her training had kicked in as a Chaser and as one of the higher ranking officers of the Guard - her feet rarely paused as she moved in swift, graceful motions, her blade glimmering in the emerald hue that saturated the battlefield.

Krasivaya was swung in a deadly arc, slashing through the midsection of three spirits before she was abruptly swung upwards, cleaving a spirit in half. The dainty chain that was wrapped around her forearm came undone of its own accord and Rin ground her heels harshly into the stone flooring before using her earlier momentum to begin swinging the crescent shaped blade in a small yet ever increasing arc.

Kazuya narrowed his eyes in concentration as he watched the other Receiver cleave through the outer perimeter of the spirits; he had no intention of watching one of his bullets bounce off of the moving, snake like chain.

There.

Without hesitation, he fired, caressing the trigger gently yet surely. The bullet lit the emerald tinged field a startling, silvery white for a flash; the bullet, much the same destructive power as one of N's arrows, pierced through the roiling, yet diminishing mass of spirits, taking with it more than a fourth of the remaining spirits.

Mai was in awe; she'd never seen a Giver work with any form of ballistics in her time of being a Receiver. The power that a single bullet held was beyond anything she'd ever seen. It made her question exactly how many spirits could be taken out with just one shot. According to her quick analysis of the field, she had to estimate at least twenty were taken out.

They were situated at a vantage point that was high enough to render such a shot but low enough that should a spirit be able to sense the brimming energy that exuded from the Narcissist, they could easily get close enough to cause harm. That goes without saying if Kazuya let them, though. The pistols' firing ranging was deadly at this distance - Mai could only imagine the damage it could cause from point blank.

Kazuya sank into his training, his mind wandering back to the hours spent motionless at a prime vantage point, picking off his targets one by one with his pistols as they crossed his path, unknown of their fate. Again, he pressed gently on the trigger, the flash that illuminated the field this time was brighter than the last. He could choose the amount of energy that went into each bullet with a small lever next to the fill level. The tiny button would widen the barrel of the pistol until it was to his preference and use the necessary amount of energy to create the shot. As one would believe, the more energy used, the more powerful the shot.

The reason Kazuya had chosen to amp up his precious fuel use was because N had nocked one of his arrows in place, the tip alight with energy. The moment that the bow sang its deadly song, he'd fired his bullet to intercept the tip. As he expected, N's arrow cut straight through the bullet of energy, causing the entire field to be bathed in a flood of light as the energy shards rained down upon the last of the spirits, decimating them as though they were nothing more than flimsy targets at the shooting ranges all Compounds were equipped with.

There were a few beats of silence as the dust settled, the Giver and Receiver pairs situated at the two levels watching warily to ensure that the explosion hadn't triggered another onslaught of unwanted attention.

Rin let Krasivaya's tip hit the stone ground, the audible 'clink!' dissolving the weary tension that was evident from their combative sequence.

"That wasn't as intense as what I'd imagined," N spoke, raising the cowl back over his head to prevent the debris from settling into the fine ash blonde locks on his head. Rin hummed in agreement, her gaze swiveling up to make sure that her charge wasn't harmed.

"Mai?" Her voice carried over to Mai and Kazuya, the lilting notes of her voice playing along their ear drums. "I'm good!" Mai answered cheerily, willing the energy in her gloves to be stored within the material's fibers rather than resting on top. She rose to her feet deftly, dusting off her tunic and turned to help Kazuya up. His deep indigo eyes glanced at her outstretched hand before looking back up to meet her cinnamon gaze. He stood without her assistance, merely acknowledging her with a curt nod as he brushed past her and towards the metal staircase they'd initially come up.

Mai bristled. 'Too good for my assistance, huh? Narcissist.'

She followed him down the stairs nonetheless.

"We have a few more hours until sundown; there has to be a reason that there was so much spiritual activity here," Kazuya stated, his lace up combat boots clunking against the dull metal as he went to meet up with the other pair. He could hear the petite brunette behind him grumbling irately to herself and had to wonder for just a moment if it was about him.

N nodded in agreement, turning his head to analyze the surroundings. The exterior was plain, nothing ornate seemed to stand out, yet he could feel a prickling in his consciousness that forced him to stay alert.

He scanned the rows of windows, going first from the fifth and working his way down to the first. He could vaguely see a change in building material between the third and fourth floor which would lead to the conclusion that there was first three stories, and then renovations had occurred to add the remaining fourth and fifth floors.

"What would an inn have that could cause so much spiritual activity to congregate here?" Mai questioned softly, large brown eyes wandering around and roving over the meticulous detail of the ornate metal railings, her eyes spotting something that looked out of place.

"There. What's that on the fourth floor?" Mai asked, her head tilting as she began to make her way towards it. Rin deftly swung her crescent shaped blade attachment so that it hooked onto a pole on that floor and took a running start, her small feet finding multiple purchase points as she bounded up the metal railings. She pulled herself over the railing of the fourth floor before Mai had reached the bottom of the stairwell.

'Show off,' Mai thought with an endearing smile on her face - Rin loved to show that she was on her A-game at all times.

"Rope. A hanging rope." Rin called out, holding the knotted length in petite hands, the thick coarse hemp was dirty and looked dark with age, as though it hadn't been used in years. The petite raven haired female turned it over in her hands for a few seconds before her features darkened.

"What is it?" Kazuya asked sharply, his indigo eyes zeroing in on the Receiver. Rin looked up at him, her sterling gaze piercing in the growing gloom.

"The rope isn't just dirty. It's coated in blood," She stated softly, using Krasivaya's tip to cut through the base of the rope. She swung back down to the ground level where N simply scoffed at her.

"Of course it might have blood on it. Hanging usually mean that the rope chafes against the victim's neck which would cause the blood to stain it." N was busy polishing the onxy arrow heads that he could salvage from the massacre. Rin shook her head gravely before meeting their gazes one by one.

"No. This blood is fresh."

Yes, yes, I know it's been entirely too long but I've literally had this chapter stored in my drive for over a year and I totally forgot about it and I'm super sorry. I also need to go back and edit the first three chapters, they're awful, God. Why didn't anyone tell me?! You guys have fun with this chapter. I'm at a writer's block, so supply me with plot bunnies on where you want this to go..