„Irelia!" The bulked man in black armor called her name.
"What's up, Roger?" The woman clothed in a dark, fitted suit responded.
"We have a new task to deal with."
"How so? We merely came back from the field a couple of hours ago."
"Yeah, I know, but it seems there a pretty nasty situation in slums."
"As far as I'm aware, our government doesn't really care about the poor. What's the matter?"
"Two of our comrades have been found dead there."
"It isn't something new," Irelia responded with a sigh. "In slums, hundreds of people die every day, even our boys sometimes die there. There is something else that you aren't telling me."
"Unfortunately, Capitan," Roger admitted. "They're found skinned, gutted. The blood was forming a decent pool under their hanging corpses. They didn't seem to fight back. It seemed as if they were hunted, and they massacred."
"There are only a few people in the city that could kill our soldiers, and none of them would be able to achieve it without a fight. What does our command presume?"
"That we're dealing with something much worse than the poor who are leaving down there. We're tasked to find out what happened and to kill that son of the bitch who killed ours."
"What about their armors?"
"Ripped, crushed, torn, it's complicated for me to describe it. It seems that they weren't offering much of the safety again the killer."
"I haven't seen the weapon that could easily pierce through our second-skin. If I recall correctly, there are such creatures that could do it, but we'd know for sure if any of them were in the city."
"I know, ma'am."
"Who died, Roger? You seem touched." The Capitan asked.
"My brother and Skype," Roger exhaled slowly.
"We'll find who is responsible for it, and I'll personally make sure that the punishment would be slow and cruel." The pink-haired woman announced, patting the shoulder of her subordinate.
"Thank you, Capitan."
"Don't mention it, we have someone or something to hunt. Get the team ready in 10."
"Ay."
When the man turned around and started to run into soldiers' quarters, the officer couldn't help but wonder, what would they be forced to face with. The sudden task seemed a bit suspicious. There were just too many ifs about it, none certain information. They'd have to search an enormously broad area in a search for god-knows-what. To make the matter worse, the civilian might be involved in the possible shooting. They'd have to watch out not only for themselves but for those poor bastards that were living in slums. Irelia knew that for the government, they're worth less than dirt that was lying on the streets. The Capitan knew what the life down there looked like, after all, she's brought up there. She couldn't help but feel pity for those who weren't so lucky as her. She made a mental promise that she'd do anything to prevent the casualties in the civilian. With that promise in mind, she headed into the hangar where she'd await the arrival of her team.
20 minutes lates:
The sound of the transporter's engines was overwhelming. Even though the Captain was using the muting system, the sounds were about to make Irelia go insane. To be honest, she hated the air vehicle that was being provided to them, it's too loud, too slow. Fortunately for her, the flight was about to end as they're preparing for a landing.
"Do we have any additional intel?" The officer asked through the voice-com.
"Additional bodies were found during our flight," Amanda informed her.
"How many?"
"Six according to the records. All of the killed folks were the part of the slum's mafia."
"None civilian were killed?" Roger asked.
"Negative, it seems that whoever or whatever is killing them chooses only armed units," Mathias added.
"Where were the bodies found?"
"In the sewer, ma'am," Amanda replied.
"Were they crippled?"
"Yeah, skinned and gutted. The only difference is that this time, the killer didn't hang them. The bodies were left to rot inside of one of the passages," Arthur answered.
"So as for now, we know that we're dealing with someone or something capable to pierce through our armor. The hunter, as I'll call it, is wasting its time to perform some kind of ritual after killing its prey. It's crippling the bodies, presumably collecting some sort of trophy. It's choosing only the armed people, so we can assume that it won't attack civilians. The problem is that we don't know where it can be right now. The distance between the first found bodies and the second scene of the crime is enormous. The hunter covered the length of a few miles between the two kills. For now, there are no connections between the attacks aside from what I have already mentioned." The blond-haired woman summed up.
"Thank you, Marrisa," Irelia said. "As you can see, the task ahead of us won't be trivial. We need to search at least a quarter of slums, and even then, we aren't guaranteed that we'll find it. As much as I don't like to say it, we need to split. We'll form eight groups of two, each of them will be assigned to cover on the area, that I'll upload to the system in a second. Remember, the hunter will probably treat us as its next possible prey. Be careful, if you see it, don't engage, mark your location, and wait for the rest of the squad. I don't want any casualties today, one of us has already lost a dear person. If you didn't know, the hunter killed Roger's younger brother. When it did it, the task became personal for us. I want us to revenge Marty. Did I make myself clear?"
"Yes, sir." The squad replied.
"Good, let's make the hunter prey."
30 minutes later:
"Another confirmed kill," Matt said through voice-com. "Mathias, Joe it's near your position, can you check it?"
"Sure thing, we'll respond in a few," Joe replied immediately.
"Roger that, be careful, guys," Irelia added.
"We can join them, we aren't that far from that location," May stated.
"Do we have permission to move?" Sam asked.
"Permission granted." The officer responded. "Tia, Roger, Arthur, Mike, aid them as well."
"Acknowledged," Mike responded.
In an instant, the Capitan bit her lower lips, she had a feeling that something terrible was going to happen soon. She had a feeling as if she's being watched from afar. Something wasn't right. She swallowed a gulp that appeared in her throat.
"Team, be extra careful, I have a bad feeling about the hunter," Irelia whispered.
"Aight, Capitan. We're nearly on the spot, eta 2 minutes," Mathias informed her.
"Proceed slowly."
"I see the bodies," Joe said. "Oh, God. They were massacred. There are at least 10 dead mafia members there, not crippled."
"It can mean that the hunter is nearby," Mathias added. "Guys, eta?"
"5 minutes," Roger stated.
"10 minutes," May replied.
"Roget that, I'm putting through what I see," Mathias said.
When the transmission got decrypted, the officer could take a look at the slaughter that had taken place there. Irelia spotted nearly instantly that the majority of the dead were almost cut in half, there were parts of the bodies cut off. The bloodstain was covering most of the available space. The transmitted scene look dreadful, she didn't see such bloodshed for ages, their missions were always finished cleanly with the least casualties possible. It seemed that the hunter didn't care about such matters.
"One of the mafia members is still breathing," Joe informed. "It's female, her right arm was torn off of her."
"Check if she remembers how the attacker looked like," Roger ordered.
"Ok, coming closer."
The officer literally stopped breathing as her subordinate was closing the distance between him and the severely-wounded woman.
"Hey, you. Still breathing?"
"Not for long," The member of the mafia breathed out slowly, coughing with her own blood.
"How so? We aren't going to kill you, at least not for now."
"She'll return here shortly." The wounded whispered.
"She? What does she look like?"
"It's just the goddess of death, it's Gurth."
"You're really a fanatic, aren't you? It's childish to believe in gods."
"You're about to meet her yourself."
"If she's as gorgeous as you believe she's, I'll meet her with my dick hanging and waiting for her."
"She'll rip it off of you. Take me, my goddess." The woman mumbled.
The next action happened too fast for Irelia to spot it at first sight. She heard the groan of the dying woman when the small object hit her straight into the chest, opening it with ease. Joe's vizier was covered in blood in an instant, the little mist-like cloud was created from the blood that erupted from the deadly wound.
"Fuck!" Joe shouted. "What the fucked happened?"
"Joe, Mathias retreat!" Irelia ordered.
"Joe, to me," Mathias shouted.
The soldier ignored the shouts of his comrade, and turned around, looking at the object that ended up the life of the gangster. It's was a small kunai that had a strange looking gem put into its hilt. It's beaming unnatural green light that was so interesting for the man. Before he could reach it, he heard footsteps.
"Joe, get the fuck out of there," Mathias cried out.
Before the man noticed, the new shadow fell upon him. When he rose his eyes, he saw a white-haired woman of average height whose face was covered by the mask. The aura around her was terrifying, she seemed taller than she indeed was, she looked like the goddess of death that ascended on this world. Before he could do anything, she ended his life. With incredible speed, the woman reached for the kunai and slashed through the throat of the man. The armor didn't stand a chance, the blade pierced it as if it wasn't there. The soldier started to choke on his own blood, but it wasn't over. The hunter hid the dagger instead of she reached for two curved blades that were attached to her wrist. In a time shorter than a heartbeat, the avatar of death stroke again. Irelia could see as the legs and arms of her friend were being cut off of his dying body.
"Joe!" Mathias and Irelia cried out.
"You crazy bitch, you're gonna pay for that," Mathias shouted, charging with a drawn sword at the woman.
From Mathias's point of view, more details about the hunter could be noticed. She's clothed in some semi-transparent, semi-shattered armor, or rather some pieces of it. She wore a small chest piece, reduced pauldrons, massive gantlets, an armored waistband that covered her ejected pelvis, and high boots that were reaching till her mid-thigh. Her white hairs were put into the ponytail that was clipt high. Irelia must admit, the huntress looked terrific. She's as beautiful as she's deadly. She's felt bad for such thoughts about the monster that just butchered her soldier, but she couldn't tear her eyes off of the huntress. She's like the perfection that took hold upon the living body. The feeling of admiration toward the woman was immediately replaced with dread. It took her too long to process the information, that Mathias was charging at the butcher, he's charging at his most certain death.
"Mathias, retreat!" She cried out, her voice breaking down.
"Screw it, I'll kill that bitch for Joe." The soldier responded with a wavering tone of voice.
"Mate, you're dead," Tobias said. "May God saves you."
The huntress didn't move an inch. She's watching the charging man, her whole frame taunting the soldier to fight her, to start the fight that he couldn't win. If she didn't wear a facemask, the officer was sure the smirk could be seen on her face. The distance between Mathias and the huntress was vanishing rapidly. Only a few more seconds and they'd be in the reach of each other.
When it happened, the time seemed to slow down for the Capitan. She's all too aware of the confidence that was emanating from the butcher, it's the confidence that was forged from the vast experience, it's forged in the blood of her enemies. The huntress allowed Mathias to take a few steps more before she threw herself at him. It became known all too soon that her comrade, wasn't a match for the woman. The white-haired dodged all of the slashes, dancing between them. In a matter of seconds, she's standing right before the vizier of the soldier. Her eyes were dark but calm. No emotion could be seen inside of those orbs in a color of blood. The huntress enveloped her left arm around Mathias's neck while her second hand reached for the knife. In action too quick to accurately observe, the butcher beheaded the soldier. In less than a few minutes, Irelia lost 2 of her soldiers, 2 of her friends. It's so hard to believe that trained commando-troopers could be killed with such ease. When the helmet finally fell down on the dirt of the alley, all that the officer could see were boots of the white-haired. The butcher stood still for a couple more seconds before she turned around and disappeared.
"Take care of their bodies, and please stay grouped," Irelia whispered.
"Yeah, we're dealing with something far superior to us," Roger admitted.
"Let's hurry before some scavengers disgrace their corpses even more," Leona said.
"We're nearly there," Arthur informed them. "We're at the entrance of the alley."
"Wait for Tia and Mike," Irelia ordered. "She's able to kill two of us without breaking a sweat, it won't be difficult for her to repeat it. We must be even more careful than normally."
"I see them," Mike said.
"Good, clean the bodies, then wait for the rest. It seems that we need to rethink our strategy."
20 minutes later:
"Another confirmed kill," Amanda informed. "This time, it's just a slaughter. The small clinic, a few streets from us, was the target. Dozens of dead bodies there, according to the police. Civilians, all of them."
"It wasn't the huntress we met," May stated. "She didn't kill a single civilian, and to further prove it, she didn't consume her prey's corpses. The new hunter already did it, some of the bodies are half-eaten, it looks like someone just let a lion into the clinic."
"For the fuck sake, as if we haven't had enough problems yet?" Matt cursed.
"Yeah, our problems just doubled themselves," Irelia responded gravely.