Koyuki didn't exaggerate.
The Beast
Lewy du Rézny walked down the brightly lit streets with a brisk stride. His hands were in his pockets and he appeared like a late commuter on his way home. The average person would not have realized that this hunched figure was in fact ready to strike down anybody that would even so much as close in on him.
"Can't shake him off." He whispered with clenched fists. Ever since Lancer had made him aware of the observer he had been trying to avoid him. Whoever it was had followed him to his home base after visiting McNeil. The moment he realized that they had been found he had been on the move. He had spent the entire day trying to lure the guy out of hiding, but without success.
"You will never escape them Lehnsherr. That Servant has his eyes everywhere." Lancer told him telepathically.
"Those puppets could never keep track of me." Rézny dismissed his Servant's words. "That Master is the real problem."
He stopped below the underpass of a highway. Down here there was barely any light. It led straight into an underground tunnel, so the weak red lights ahead barely spend any contrast on his silhouette. Dark red shapes everywhere.
Lancer materialized next to him and glanced back with his one eye.
"Lancer?"
"Ah… I just sensed a familiar presence." The black knight crossed his arms and kept looking into the direction of a construction site a few blocks over. The half-built house was noticeable due to the bright yellow crane.
"Go."
"Are you certain, Lehnsherr? If I leave you behind now there is no telling if I will return in time." Lancer's words were reasonable, but he seemed to speak them out of formality alone. They both knew already where this was going.
"Take out as many enemies as you can and I will do the same." It sounded too easy and it probably wasn't. But one didn't join the Holy Grail War to sit idly by and observe.
"May you take their heads with glory." Lancer's parting words had a slightly sardonic edge to them, but Rézny would ignore that like he always did.
The knight kicked off the street so hard that he shot into the direction of the next street in the blink of an eye. His speed was remarkable.
Without turning back Rézny pulled out the brass knuckles from his pockets and slid them into place over his fingers. This was it. He had lured them away from the crowded areas and stood ready in a relatively controlled space. Now he would wait…
"Good shit!" The moment he had relaxed his legs a little, a man's voice echoed through the underpass. "You're great! Exactly what I wanted."
Rézny turned around slowly. The enemy had reveled himself much faster than anticipated. This at least proved that he had been that close on their trail the entire time. When he faced the guy who was actually clapping his hands slowly, he furrowed his brows.
He didn't recognize him. Despite his extensive research he could not tell the lanky man's identity. It was not unusual for wild cards to appear in a Grail War. He had expected that at the very least some Masters would hide their identity in some way. But this guy was not from any famous magus family he knew off. And he studied them all.
Rézny exhaled and focused on his opponent's body language. He was acting rather casual, but for some reason he could not suppress a feeling of alertness. Something about that one revealed blue eye was unnerving. And his entire right face half was covered by dark-blue hair.
"I told my Servant to leave and you appear… as expected." He said with balled fists. The brass knuckles dug into his skin.
"I ain't stupid. That thing is stronger than me, nothin' to it." The man replied uncaring. His accent was light, but he was definitely a foreigner. Which meant he must have been from a magus family after all, but which one? "I wanna kill you, because you smell like you're strong, but also cuz you're human. Not like those things." He spat out when talking about the Servants.
"My name is Lewy du Rézny." Rézny replied without missing a beat and completely unfazed by the comment about killing him. "I am affiliated with the Clock Tower and will be a future Enforcer-"
"I don't give a fuck who you are." The man interrupted rudely. "I'm here to rip your heart out and consume your strength. That's all." He finally pulled the hands out of his pockets
"…" Those were some confident words. Obviously a sociopath. Rézny took a mental note.
"Fine, shit. Name's Leroy Derickson. Not like you'll be able to remember anythin' after you're dead." He begrudgingly introduced himself after seeing Rézny's expressionless face.
Derickson? Scandinavian. Common last name. No viable clue.
Still, hearing that name roused something inside Rézny's mind. Almost like the distant bell of a church among the loud noises of a busy marketplace. He could almost make it out, but not quite.
"Very well Mr. Derickson. The fact that you haven't ordered your Servant to attack me yet indicates you actually mean your words."
"I told that bastard not to interfere." Derickson replied while cracking his neck casually. His empty gaze was directed at the highway above them.
Rézny nodded slightly. The presence in the shadows would have been unnoticeable to almost any person, but his training at the Burial Squad had enhanced his senses far beyond human limits. Even so, he assumed that the Servant made himself detectable on purpose, perhaps as a warning.
No matter what Derickson might have claimed, his Servant could always intervene in the fight. He had to keep that in the forefront of his mind for the following clash.
"Then I accept your challe-"
Blam!
Rézny quickly dodged the bullet with his superhuman reflexes. The metal projectile of death grazed his dark hair, but no harm was done. He squinted his eyes. Derickson had pulled a gun from his dark blue jacket without hesitation. In the middle of his casual antics he had just initiated the attack. A dirty move, but he didn't seem to think so.
"Way better than that fucking coward already." He smiled and empty smile. Then he unloaded an entire magazine on Rézny.
Instead of trying to dodge them all, he pulled out his Black Keys and materialized the blades. In streaks of silver he cut down ten bullets with blurry movements.
"Hahaha…" Derickson cackled. "This is more like it!" He seemed ecstatic that Rézny could keep up with his shots. He slammed a second magazine into the gun and at the same time hit an incoming Black Key away with the empty one. Afterwards he kept shooting.
Rézny deflected two bullets, but was surprised by the return of both… Derickson had ricocheted them back with two more shots! The former Executor ducked under the crossing bullet and rolled to the side to dodge the next shots.
That aim was super-human. Even the best marksman would be unable to be that precise. The gun must have been Derickson's Mystic Code. What was its ability?
He didn't have the time to think about it as the shower of bullet continued. Each shot was unpredictable as they sometimes got flung off lampposts, car spoilers or other random objects. Yet all trajectories ended right at Rézny's vitals!
He cut down the bullets while jumping back and forth. Being on the defensive was fine, he would eventually exhaust his enemy's arsenal, but being passive was a good way to get killed by surprises as well.
In one fluid motion from his vest pocket he shot six Black Keys at Derickson. The unknown magus didn't even flinch as he moved his head to the side to dodge two and then kicked up his leg to fling a third one into the remaining three. His boot was slightly cut by the blade he had kicked up, but his movement was so fast that it could barely register on the impact.
The Key got stuck in the ceiling and Derickson shot back.
It soon became clear that they were equally matched in a ranged battle. Although the blue-haired fighter's shots were unpredictable, but Rézny was used to the unexpected. His presence of mind was far exceeding any surprise attacks the gunman could throw at him.
Just as unrelenting in his skill, Derickson was dealing with the Black Keys as if they were slow moving toothpicks. The street around him was skewered in a dozen of them by now, but his clothes didn't even have a single cut. One of the blades had been flung into a doves nest and sent the birds chirping in a panic.
Cling, clang- Swish!
As the last Black Key was deflected by the gun's butt, Rézny's punch came so fast it even caught Derickson off-guard. He took it straight against the cheek and was pushed back about a meter.
With a low crack he forced his head back into position, with the imprint of the brass knuckles on his face. Blood was flowing from his mouth and nose, but he grinned.
Rézny jumped back to bring some distance between them. That man had just taken one of his punches and kept standing. Did he underestimate him?
"Pfft." He spat a mix of salvia and blood on the street and hit the gun against his head repeatedly. "I actually felt that."
Definitely tougher than he looked. Considering his intense hostility, Rézny designated him as a target that needed to be eliminated. No attempt at suppression or capture anymore.
Bang!
Of course he kept shooting. But for the first time since the start of their fight, Derickson was moving as well. Rézny had not taken note of it, but it occurred to him now that he hadn't managed to move his enemy a single centimeter up until that punch.
He was walking forward without hurry, but his shots were far from slow. Rézny needed to react faster than before. Each shot was harder to deflect and he even got grazed across the shoulder once from a ricocheted shot. As long as he was in the cone of the gun's muzzle he was vulnerable.
He instantly flicked his hand down.
"Izzat some kinda sign language?" Derickson's hollow eyes were following his movements and he hesitated for a moment. The next second he looked up in surprise. Rubble was crushing down on him!
Rézny jumped forward and clutched six Black Keys between his fingers. His trap had worked. The Keys Derickson had carelessly kicked into the highway above them were under his full control, so he just pulled them down to tear some of the cement support out of the ceiling.
The heavy pieces of debris crushed down on the helpless magus and shook the street. The loud rumbling would probably make people in the area aware of something, but this battle was over already. The large pile of rubble was unmoving. It had crushed Derickson completely.
Rézny was of the opinion to better be safe than sorry, so he raised his blades to stab into the pile.
Crack…. Crunch… Crrrrkkk…
The sounds went down his spine like a bad omen. The next moment he had to block a large piece of metal pipe thrown his way.
"What?" He widened his eyes. A distorted claw had risen out of the rubble. It was vaguely human, but bloated and red. With claws as sharp as the talons of draconic creatures.
And now it was cutting through cement like it was paper.
Derickson rose from the rock dust and debris while coughing, then he cut the large pieces apart with his left claw-hand. He growled as he kept slashing the pieces apart until his rage finally subsided.
His heavy breathing was accompanied by a deadly glare.
"Fucking hell- that was a close one- lemme just kill you for that!" His face was twisted in a mix of anger and disturbing happiness. His formerly empty expression had changed to a bloodthirsty lust.
Rézny held his blades in a defensive position. He analyzed his enemy.
Only the left hand had undergone a drastic change, the rest of Derickson's body still appeared human. He could not sense anything special about him at all. Those claws were dangerous, but his human hand was still firmly holding the gun. Meaning he didn't lose his mind… yet.
'Transmogrification.' Rézny concluded with a focused gaze. It was an ancient art, barely even related to magecraft. The way of reshaping one's body into the form of a beast. The original goal was to turn oneself into an animal, but the art had been perverted to the extent of creating monstrosities that even actual beasts would despise. The practitioners had been mostly eradicated around the turn of the 19th century. The Church had declared it a blasphemous magick.
To think that anybody was still practicing in the modern age, let alone use it for battle… It was a sickness that needed to be nipped in the bud.
"Who taught you that?" He asked and reflected the red light of the tunnel behind him on his blades into his enemy's wild left eye.
"Hahaha…. A pathetic old man who's long dead." Derickson kicked the remaining rubble away from him (his strength was shocking) and hunched forward with his claw extended to the side. "I could tell ya where he's buried if ya wanna burn his brittle bones, but s'not like you'll make it out of here alive, riiiight?" His malicious grin was white in the darkness-
Rézny moved the Black Keys downward to deflect the incoming attack, but the claw cut through them like butter - and then some! With a twist of his hips he had managed to avoid getting gutted, but the gun was already pressed against the back of his head.
Bangbangblam-
Three shots, but only two ever left the muzzle. The first two were cutting through the former Executor's hair, but the third was impeded by the blade of a Black Key that went straight into the gun. The bullet got stuck and the entire tool of death was twisted out of Derickson's hand. Rézny twisted around him and grabbed his arm. He moved it over his back and bent it so harshly that it cracked under the strain.
"Graaah!" Derickson cried out, but then butted his head backwards against Rézny's face.
A brass knuckle hit Derickson in the kidney and sent him stumbling forward. His counter attack had been entirely futile.
Rézny was not letting up now. Once you gain an advantage, never stop until your enemy is unable to resist anymore. The next blow was enhanced by a rune on the knuckles and cracked Derickson's left shoulder blade. Blood splattered across his jacket, but he did not care.
Swing-
The claw spun around and almost sliced Rézny's fingers off, but the brass knuckle blocked it. Still it received a crack. Just how sharp were these things?
The gun hit him against the face, but he pushed through the pain and kicked his knee into Derickson's side. They separated with gasps, but immediately clashed again.
Gun against elbow. Black Key against claw. Knuckle against chest.
As they exchanged blows they suddenly heard a familiar rumbling below their feet. A car was coming their way. Rézny squinted in displeasure. This was bad timing. The headlights of the car were already throwing their shadows across the tunnel. He tried to move back, but Derickson shot at his feet with a malefic smile.
He swung after his gun, but the talons blocked the impact enough to deflect the main force. Then he swiped his feet and shot him in the stomach. Of course Rézny had to block it with his brass knuckles, but that cost him precious seconds.
The loud sound of the horn was reaching their ears. The driver had obviously not expected to see two grown man stand in the middle of the tunnel entrance. It was a one-way tunnel too, so there was no room to circumvent them.
Rézny had looked at the incoming white car for just a moment, but even that was too long. Derickson rammed his head against his solar plexus with full forced and then smashed the handle of his gun against his head. The disorienting spinning of his head led to him going to one knee.
The gun was once again pressed to his head.
"Never ignore me again, bastard." He pulled the trigger.
"Hurgh!" His adrenaline strained body was moving beyond its limits. The gun was so close that he could not possibly have blocked the bullet. But he had already moved the gun to the side with a desperately angled punch!
The bullet hit the tire of the car.
Rézny spun around and pushed Derickson in the direction of the tunnel.
The screeching and swerving car reached them.
"Outta my way shithead!" Derickson who had been lying on the ground and would have been crushed by the car, instead raised his claw hand and cut it open… the entire front of the car received three giant deep cuts and then flung it into the air! The car spun in the air for several seconds before it finally crashed into the walls and then screeched against the curvature of the tunnel until it stopped a total wreck somewhere in the new darkness created by the crushed lamps.
There was no doubt that Derickson's strength was ludicrous. At the very least his transmogrified arm could go beyond anything he had displayed before.
In the background the car was smoking, but it did not go up in fire or explode like they did in movies.
"…" Rézny felt a tinge of guilt for the driver's demise. He would have preferred to avoid casualties like this. But when fighting a beast there was no telling what the mad creature would do.
Rézny stumbled to the side as he received a heavy blow to the head then almost in trance, dodged a bullet, except it got ricocheted back against his calves. Even in the heat of battle Derickson's aim was beyond good. The searing pain on his leg was not stopping him either though.
With a flip back he jumped against the tunnel wall and then kicked off, flying straight over the shooting madman. As he passed him he stabbed his blades into his back, but only went shallow. A few drops of blood were his only reward as he slid across the tunnel's paved floor.
"Elusive prey, but not fast enough!" Derickson was kneeling on the ground… his hands were tracing the blood trail Rézny left. The red fingertips moved up… and then the freak started licking the blood with his red tongue. "You taste- sososo sweet!" The madness was starting to take over his face.
"Abomination…" Rézny said in disgust and went into a boxing stance. Someone who went for the ancient art of transmogrification should be expected to also be a cannibal perhaps, but his disgust was unavoidable. He had seen many monsters eat humans alive… and not all of them were animals. The cruelest beast of all was sentient and mad after all.
The next bullet swished past him, aimlessly. Derickson had lost himself in cackles, so he missed. Rézny stepped forward as if in slow motion and countered the incoming claw with calm motions. Then he hit the freak in the chest with the force of a rune boosted punch and all his strength. The result was expected. The surprised mage's ribcage was torn open and Derickson was flung into the tunnel wall. Blood was gushing everywhere.
Rézny's right fist was shaking. He had used too much force; the recoil had shaken the bones in his arm. Sprained. It had been a long time since he last used this stance at full power.
"Urghg… grrlgle… Heeeh…" From the impact crater he could hear the gurgling and pained death throes of the foolish Master he had incapacitated.
He stepped forward and pulled out a new Black Key. He would end his life swiftly as his only mercy. The blade went straight into Derickson's throat.
Grab.
Rézny's eyes widened. Derickson's human gun hand was tightly grasping his arm. The grip was so tight he could not shake out of it.
"Gegrjerk…" He could not talk with a blade in his throat, but it was obvious what he was trying to say. His mad expression was filled by a twisted grin. Blood was gushing from his mouth, but he laughed.
"…!" Rézny knew he could not hesitate. A cornered beast would do anything to take him down with it. He moved his other fist fast enough to break the sound barrier and crushed his enemy's skull…. Or would have.
His heart stopped. No… his entire body stopped. The fist that was aimed for the temple of Derickson's bloody head was not moving anymore.
He watched in terror as Derickson slowly pulled the blade out of his throat and let it clank onto the ground. Then he grabbed Rézny's free arm that was unable to move and… pulled it to the side until it cracked. It did not break due to the rune enhancement, but if it had been unprotected it would have snapped off like a twig, that's how strong the claw hand was.
"Kurrkrk… haaah… Pwetty… ggouud." To his unending despair, the mage's throat was closing up. The blood flow stopped. His words became more intelligible.
Why couldn't he move? Not even his eyes would move. His entire body was stuck… It was as if… time had stopped only for him.
That one red eye kept staring at him in amusement and burning passion. Red? Derickson's eye was… red?
"Krrrk… better. That hurt like fucking hell. I haven't felt a pain like that in years." He rubbed his throat and then punched Rézny in the face so hard that his nose broke. He was flung back, and slid across the floor until he hit the opposite wall. In the next moment he regained feeling in his body and the pain flared up across his arms and nose.
What was that? What was that? WHAT had he done?!
Rézny panicked. He had to cut his skin with one of his blades to focus up. There had to be an explanation. Derickson… he wasn't human. There was no way. Unless the transmogrification allowed him to have heightened regeneration? He had never heard of that before!
"What's up Unibrow? Shit your pants already?" Derickson grinned his toothy and bloody grin and picked the gun back up from the ground where it had fallen after his painful contact with Rézny's fist. Although the wound in his chest was healing slowly, he seemed to be still out of sorts. His legs were finding it hard to stay in place and his back didn't go straight.
"What… are… you?" Rézny regained his cool through deep breathing and then got up from the painful position he had been lying in.
"You ain't as surprised as the other guys I killed. Prolly not the first time ya've seen this kinda thing?" He looked at his claw as if it was a fascinating trinket. "That makes it more fun for me."
"Are you a Dead Apostle? Which parent do you serve?"
"The hell? Do I look like a stinkin' vampire to you?" He seemed to feel insulted and shot a bullet at him. Of course it was deflected, but Rézny held his hurting arm from the sudden motion. "I'm alive… and I'll kill ya. That's all there's to this. That's the way of the strong."
"Strength for the sake of itself is meaningless." Rézny could not see a shred of interest for philosophy in that man's eyes, yet he felt like rebutting him all the same.
"Says who? You Unibrow? Well fuck that. If you're dead that means I was right and you were wrong." He readied his claw. "And anyway, you still didn't give me enough of your life force… this won't satisfy me!"
Derickson moved forward rapidly. Rézny was hesitant… he still didn't understand how the freak had stopped his movements. But…
Their fists clashed. Rézny gritted his teeth as he pushed forward and ignored the ringing of his bones. He wasn't dealing with a human here. Whatever Derickson was, he had to give up on measuring him in human standards - even if he was a magus - and treat him as a beast that required extermination.
His left-right punch combo was followed by a kick to his enemy's side. It was a feint and afterwards he sliced right through the madman's right arm. His reflexes were good, so he did not get his limb cut off, but the blood gushing from the wound proved how strong the attack was.
"Draah!" He spun his arm around… and splashed the blood into Rézny's face. He covered his eyes, but that motion left him wide open. The claw slashed across his chest. "You're tough prey!" He laughed madly.
Rézny's chest was glowing with the rune of protection. It had made his body more durable for just a moment, but it was short-lived. His last ditch defenses were getting used up.
The next slash was diverted by his upwards kick and then he slammed the gun aside with his elbow. He flipped forward and kicked Derickson against the head, which made him stagger. The next moment he stabbed two Black Keys into his shoulders and made a hand sign.
"Kyrie Eleison!"
The Keys were glowing bright and Derickson screamed in pain.
The holy sacraments didn't affect him much… meaning he was really not a vampire. This level of damage would even be caused to a normal human when hit by the sacrament and prayer.
Before Derickson could fully recover, he grabbed the man's bleeding (but also regenerating) arm and twisted it until he finally let go of the gun. He grabbed it and then smashed it into the ground with his brass knuckles. The gun was crushed beyond recovery. The hundred pieces were spreading across the tunnel.
"Ungh!" The one moment of distraction was enough for the claw to slash his back. He had moved with the attack, so the scratches were light, but he still felt the burning.
"That was my favorite gun, asshole." He licked the blood from the claw and made some inhuman sounds. The slobbering was revolting.
Rézny rolled back and then jumped on his feet. The pain from several parts of his body was irrelevant. He had taken out the Mystic Code of the enemy magus and wounded him severely. Seeing how he could regenerate only at a certain pace, it was clear that crushing his vitals would be enough to kill him completely.
He mustered the carefree figure inside the low red tunnel light. Despite all the rapid movements Derickson's hair had never stopped covering his right face half. His blue eye was looking at him with excitement. He was completely unreceptive of danger. Did he not take him seriously?
"Give me more… you are worthy prey after all… you have sooooo much life force…." He muttered something and then sauntered over to him.
He was about to do it… Rézny felt a strange tingling in his neck area. His sense for danger was over developed. This sort of '7th sense' was rarely off. Derickson raised his head and looked forward with a spread open red eye!
But Rézny wasn't in front of him anymore. He had jumped up with rune boosted legs and was now on the ceiling. All the Black Keys spread over the battlefield were at the tips of his mental control He had infused them with enough prana for one special use each. Time to use that.
"I'm up here abomination!" He called out to him. Revealing one's location so foolishly was a rookie mistake, but…
"Ya think this is a safe distance?!" Apparently Derickson was pissed off that he tried to run. "I'll come up there to fuck you up!" He jumped against the tunnel wall and rammed his claw into it. His grip strength was enough to crush the bricks. And he made good on his word, he climbed the ceiling in seconds.
Rézny flipped across the ceiling and rammed another blade into it to stay up, dodging Derickson's attack at the same time. Then he had to flip over when a huge pile of bricks was thrown his way. He punched through another one. Even without the gun, Derickson still had a ranged option… even if he had to literally tear it out of his surroundings.
Then he jumped over…
Too fast. Rézny realized he could not dodge in time even if he moved to the side, so instead he let himself fall from the ceiling!
"Realign… Skewer!" He clapped his hands together. At the same moment his body stopped moving again. He felt the cold icy sensation of immobility spread across his body. Derickson was glaring him down as he came rushing forward. Impossible. Could he really stop time?!
Twenty Black Keys flew at the madman from every direction and in his mid-air trajectory he could not dodge. He only managed to deflect half, the others stabbing into his limbs and back. He twisted his face away in pain.
"Gah!" Rézny crashed into the ground. His body could move again, but just a little too late to lessen the impact of the fall. Whatever his 'time-stop' was, it apparently didn't work when Derickson lost focus. That was too close for comfort.
No time to contemplate. Rézny's shirt and vest were torn to pieces already, so he threw them aside. Only his bare torso was reflecting the red light now. His muscle-bound arms were angled back. The wounds across his skin were more crimson than the light red tunnel lights, so they made a strong contrast.
The runes on his cracked brass knuckles glowed up red. This was the final attack. As Derickson was falling down in agony, he would completely and utterly annihilate his head with a single fire-boosted punch.
Time seemed to slow down, but this time for both parties.
He moved his arm back and then twisted his fist upwards in a spiral like motion.
"Perish in the flames of judgment… AMEN!" He threw the punch that had enough force to make the ceiling crack from just pressure alone. Fire engulfed his fists, but he did not even feel its burning sting. Derickson's hair fluttered to the side and his right eye was revealed-
Fliiiing
Something almost soft and fluid twinkled in the air. It was moving through Rézny's brass knuckles and cut them to pieces… then it went for his forehead. The sharpness-made-reality cut through his skin and would slice open his skull!
Derickson landed in front of him and held his claw forward. It had grabbed whatever was about to kill Rézny. The former Executor could only watch in horror as the claw moved over his face and then was cut in two.
"You piece of shit…" The blood covered beast growled. "MASKED BITCH! I told you not to interfeeeeere!" He roared into the tunnel. His half torn burning waist was not impeding to him as he stumbled forward into the tunnel and shouted at something that wasn't visible.
Rézny lowered his fists and held his chest that was covered in cold sweat. He couldn't believe it. Derickson had just saved his life. It was his own fault too. He had reminded himself not to forget about the Servant, but he did anyway. This was a beginners' mistake. But why did he have to be saved by…
"Why?! Come back here!" He shouted with anger he couldn't even explain. With fury pulsing in his blood he turned around to confront Derickson, but he was already gone. "You dare run from this!?"
His exhausted shouts were pointless, but he needed to make his frustration known. He was so close to exterminating a monster, but instead he had been saved by the very thing he despised.
His dehydrated head was hurting. Gathering his thoughts was a daunting task now.
The only thing on his mind was that he needed to exterminate him. He needed to erase that thing from the world. It was his duty. It had been seared into his body. The need to kill all inhuman abominations. The teachings were his guide and life.
He pressed a hand against his broken nose to channel that burning pain. For a few moments his mind blanked out. Then he regained his sense of self.
The Church didn't control his actions anymore. He was his own man. Derickson was meaningless. The only thing that mattered was the Grail.
Bringing his shaking arms under control, he took one step at a time. Until he reached the car wreck. Despite his beaten and sweaty body he still had the strength to tear the bent door off and look inside. What he saw inside was expected, but still unpleasant.
The driver was a middle-aged man, perhaps an office worker. His white polo shirt was covered in red. His jaw was twisted in an unnatural way. The metal pole of the tunnel's wall structure had drilled itself straight through the car's floor and the seat… into the man's chest. He was impaled.
His delirious tortured eyes reacted to the shifting light of Rézny's entrance.
The poor man was still alive. A corpse that hadn't realized its death yet. His broken jaw moved a bit and he made unintelligible sounds.
There was no hope for him. Rézny could see that his lungs were pierced and pretty much anything between that and the lower back. It was a miracle that he was still alive. A horrible and unjust miracle.
"I am deeply sorry." He leaned forward and sat down on the passenger's seat. The smell of blood, oil and smoke was nauseating, but it didn't matter to him. "You may rest now. I wish that you find peace in the next life."
The Black Keys were made for the reaping of lives. Neutral and unbiased. Their blades were directed at whoever the wielder wished to send off to the next world. Sometimes deserved, sometimes unfair.
The movement was short and unspectacular. The man's body went limp.
Ending the suffering of innocents… How many times had he deluded himself with those words in the past? It never got easier for him. And yet his hands had moved with machine like precision, unwavering and swift.
How did a killer like him deserve to fulfill a wish so pure?
If he doubted himself now he might lose the will to finish the path.
