Silent Killer

He questioned the layout of the game. It was too spread out to be able to get kills. ‘This is set up for deaths. These events that happen are unpredictable. You don’t even get points for killing the creatures that spawn. Nobody has attacked us at all and it's been over 15 minutes. The next event is closing in too. Not that people aren’t killing others, but the same people are definitely getting killed over and over again because of the regeneration time. That means…”

Izumi: “So, this girl is somewhere here?”

Welpen: “No. I’m not sure where she is. That’s why I came with Astro. I came to find her. It’s still my goal and I need to keep searching. It doesn’t look like she is here, but if anything, she will be in the upcoming tournament. If she isn’t there, then I have to look somewhere else with Astro. I wanted to ask that man if he saw her, but Astro pulled me down here and a lot happened. I think his name was…Shin.”

Izumi: “Shin? I don’t know him. Is he important?”

Welpen: “I guess so, yeah.”

Izumi: “Don’t know him or how I ended up here either, but I like it here. Playing these games always and buying cool weapons is awesome. What else could you ask for?”

Welpen chuckled with Izumi at that comment, although Welpen thought she was joking, when she really wasn’t.

Astro: “Izumi! Welpen! We have to go! Now!”

He jumped down and grabbed the two of them and jumped in the boat.

Welpen: “Wh-What’s going on?”

Astro put the back end of his scythe in the water where the knob opened and fire propelled them forward like an engine.

Welpen: “Thissss is tooooo faaaasssttttt! Aaaaastro, whhheere are weee gooing?!”

The boat quickly sped off to the clock tower without Astro saying a word. Izumi sat back with her arms crossed, still mad at him. Welpen looked in the sky where the timer was at 0 yet again. ‘That was quick,’ he thought. He still didn’t know what was going on as they reached the entrance of the clock tower though.

Astro pushed the boat away and slowly creaked the door open. There were many floors to this building and without mana, he wasn’t sure if he could kill everyone here without struggling. All he had to work with was the sounds around him.

Izumi: “Hey, hey. What’s the big idea? What was that all about?”

Astro: “Shhh! Be quiet. Neither of you say a word until I say so.”

Inside was an empty room with some tables that were scattered. Stairs ran alongside the walls levels above them with multiple floors. They slowly walked in behind Astro. Above them, they heard a man’s voice in anger and frustration. He seemed to be kicking the floor.

Astro signaled them to follow him to the back corner where they could hide behind a table. Izumi wouldn’t move though. Astro looked at her and whispered, “Let’s go. Come on, Izumi.”

Izumi: “No! Screw off! I’ll play this game my own way.”

She ran up the stairs to the second floor where she met a horror filled scenario. Welpen and Astro chased after her to see a single man killing someone over and over again as they regenerated. It was a woman with what seemed like black and purple hair, but neither of them could really tell what was going on. Her face was being split open over and over again to the point you couldn’t even tell she was a human.

???: “This is my prey. Go find your own.”

Welpen: “Hey! Let her go! She’s suffered enough. You have enough points. Look at your score. 85, that has to be enough. Leave her alone!”

The man didn’t respond, but instead continued to laugh as he kicked and kicked over and over again. Sometimes, he would kick without letting her even regenerate, but he didn’t care if he was getting points or not it seemed like.

Welpen wouldn’t stand for it. He charged at him with his father’s dagger. Before he could even get close, the man’s head was chopped off and in front of him stood Astro with a bloody scythe. 5 points appeared above his head.

Astro: “Don’t get me wrong. I don’t care about either of these two people and I do want points, Izumi. But…I have something more important to do right now and that’s to protect this kid. These two were in the way. Now, what’s say we settle this for good?”

Izumi stood behind Welpen with a dagger aimed at his back.

Welpen: “Huh? I-Izumi? Wh-What are you doing?”

She was smiling from ear to ear and looked as if the grim reaper came down and possessed her soul specifically.

Izumi: “When did I give it away?”

Astro: “I speculated from the beginning, but during the mushroom raid. I saw you purposely get bit and turn as if you knew what was going to happen. You immediately rushed towards me even though you hadn’t fully turned into one of those things yet. I saw it in your eyes.”

Izumi: “Agh. How careless of me. I just couldn’t wait. Playing the nice girl was exhausting. I only knew what those creatures did from a previous game in the past too. I just got lucky to be able to use their abilities and receive a death token for it.”

Welpen started to cry. He couldn’t believe the situation before them. He didn’t want to believe Naoki. He thought she was a true friend, but her betrayal became engraved in his mind now.

Izumi: “I don’t want to kill him. Actually, I like him. He’s influenced my thinking a lot. I was going to just kill him at the best moment possible, but for the first time in my life, I actually felt bad doing that.”

Welpen: “Izumi. W-Why? What did I–?”

Izumi: “Shh Welpen. Don’t say another word. You didn’t do anything wrong. It’s just who I am. Don’t blame yourself for anything.”

Welpen: “I refuse to believe that. Why can’t we just talk like we did and laugh and joke around. What happened to that?”

Astro: “You’re not gonna convince her kid. The only thing you did was change her mentality to not kill you. Everybody else is fair game.”

Welpen: “Tch! Damn it! Why am I so helpless?!”

Astro: “What’s the plan here Izumi. Let him go.”

Izumi: “I didn’t quite like that comment earlier towards me, but I’m willing to forgive you for that. After all, you’re probably the strongest one here. You could kill me easily right now, probably before I stuck this knife in him. But, all I want is those two on the ground right there. I’ll have hundreds of death tokens by the time the game is done.”

Astro: “Deal.”

Izumi: “Ha! Done. Take him.”

Astro: “We’re going, Welpen.”

He picked him up and sprinted up the stairs to the top. He counted as they went. There were 28 floors. They stayed upon the 26th to a room that was built like a nightclub with a bar. Welpen ducked behind the bar as Astro stood up and looked for danger.

Astro: “Don’t blame yourself. She’s to the point where she can’t be fixed. Nobody here can. These people crave the concept of death. They don’t care if it’s them that dies or if they kill someone else. All they want to see is blood.”

Welpen: “I-I...Agh! This sucks. I hate it. My body is shaking and my blood is boiling. I feel sick. I feel betrayed. I hate this feeling. Well, what are we gonna do now?”

Astro: “Unfortunately, this event isn’t over. The water is rising. This is the only place that is going to be remotely safe. However, I don’t know if it’s going to reach us here. People will start flooding in eventually. Stay down there and don’t move. In the next 5 minutes, your so-called friend might even come up here not realizing what the event is. I’m going to have to kill everyone that comes up those stairs.

Welpen: “Here. You can have my bow. I don’t need it.”

Astro: “No. I won’t. I’ll kill them only with my weapon. I don’t need that. Keep it. You might need it. Remember, you don’t run out of arrows. It’s all magic arrows. Keep firing away if you’re ever in a bad situation…Alright, stay here.”

Astro snuck to the other side near the stairs and waited for people. Some time passed and voices began to yell and scream. Blood splattered all over the walls of the floors and the sound of piercing daggers reached to the top. The water rose to the level below them. Most people were gathered there, but a good amount were missing.

‘Did everyone stay on their boats? No. They are on the outside of the clock tower walls climbing to the top. That smartass is going to kill them all. Idiots. You have nowhere to go. He’s going to gun you down arrow after arrow,’ he thought.

At the top of the clock tower was a figure with his face and body hidden with a ripped dark blue cloak. His red eyes shined through the hood seeking blood. He aimed down the clock tower with his bow and shot down those who climbed up the sides. Bodies fell and splashed into the water. He continued this over and over again, never tiring as the water rose even more…

Astro’s voice echoed through the buildings as he killed over and over and over. Welpen dared not to look. The water seeped through the wooden floors eventually to their floor, which flushed everyone to where Astro sat. His points racked up in favor of his mindset as well. He could protect the boy and gain points here. People took longer to regenerate in the water, so Astro quickly took Welpen and ran up to the top floor, but avoided the ladder in the middle of the room that led to the top on purpose.

People’s screams reached up yet again as everyone began to fight to the death on each floor. Astro and Welpen hid in a small cubby in a dark area of the room. He peaked the door a little and they watched as arrows flew across the room and blood spilled onto daggers.

Welpen saw a familiar face.

He whispered to Astro, but he already knew who it was too. Octavious was laying down in the corner opposite of them, however he didn't even see them enter. Welpen looked closer and spoke.

Welpen: “Is he…Sleeping?”

Astro: “The hell. Stupid idiot. I’d be shocked if he hasn’t died yet.”

Water started to reach the floor and they could feel their clothes getting wet. Octavious finally woke up, not at the commotion of the constant killing, but at the water that reached his face.

Welpen: “Astro, what do we do? It’s going to drown us.”

Astro: “Hold on. We’re going to go up last. Wait till it rises more and people go ahead of us.”

Welpen: “Astro sir, it’s at my neck now. I’m not as big as you.”

Astro: “Hold on. Hold your breath for as long as possible and then I’ll pull you out.”

Welpen: “Agh crap, it’s at my head. I’m going under.”

20 seconds passed by and Astro felt the boy’s hand banging against his leg.

Astro: “Stupid idiot. Is that your limit already? Alright, let’s go. It’s at my shoulders anyways.”

The building shook as chaos spewed from everywhere. Astro grabbed Welpen from underneath and headed towards the ladder finally. He stared down Octavious as he went, who still sat in the corner like a rat waiting for cheese.

The water suddenly stopped and a lot of people froze, but most continued to kill. Astro, Welpen, and Octavious were the only three people still in the room. The water remained steady until it rapidly flooded back down the stairs and drained from the rooms within seconds.

Astro and Octavious looked at each other momentarily before sprinting downwards away from everyone above them who screamed loudly while they killed.

Welpen: “Ahhhh! Too fast again!”

As soon as Astro reached the bottom of the door, he opened it and drew his scythe behind him on Octavious.

Astro: “What do you want?”

Octavious: “I-I thought we were a t-team. Aren’t I a part of you guys? I rushed down here because I thought you were going to leave me.”

Astro: “Tch. Hurry up. People are coming down the stairs. Once I split this water, you rush down to the nearest boat at the end with us and we are leaving here. Let’s go!”

As the water split, many people tried to follow alongside them as they shot arrows in their direction, but Octavious and Astro, who was carrying Welpen still, escaped and avoided them. The water crashed back down on the others that washed them away and the fighting continued at the clock tower as the three of them sped off in the distance.

Welpen: “Octavius! Hahahaha! You made it. You sped off at the beginning and I got nervous that you didn’t want to be with us.”

He chuckled nervously.

Octavious: “Well, I am utterly sorry for that, but! I am good now! I got scared and ran off in excitement!”

Welpen: “You were scared, but ran off excited? I’m confused.”

Octavious: “Yep! Scared and excited! The two best things in life. But, the question is young boy, what is scarier? To be scared or to be excited about something?”

Welpen: “Uhhhh, I guess to be scared?”

Octavious: “Indeed! Correct! Right! True! All of the above! Scared is to be scared, but excitement is also to be scared, but to be scared about something is scarier.”

Welpen: “Ummmm, I’m not sure what to think right now hehe.”

Astro: “Stop messing with the boy. If you’re gonna join our team, then join it. Do it through your dagger. That should work.”

Octavious: “H-How dare you. I am not messing with young Welpen here. I am simply expressing my views and values. Now, what’s our plan for the tournament? I figured we could discuss it early and get a game plan. Although, I don’t know how prepared we can be. These tournaments rarely ever happen. I’m not really sure what is going to happen, but I know we can buy things with death tokens. It’s going to be a 3v3 tournament and the winners get one wish of anything they want.”

Astro: “Great, so everything we know already. Good info. Let’s focus on getting out of here first and finishing this game before we do anything.”

Octavious: “Hmph! Mr. I’m so great and perfect and you should listen to me. What about my feelings?”

Astro: “I’m about 2 seconds away from not letting you come with us.”

Octavious: “Ah! No, no, no, no, no. Please, please, please. I’ll shut my beautiful mouth. See? Zipped sealed.”

Astro: “We’re getting off here.”

Before them, about a mile away from the clock tower was a shack similar to earlier, but the top was covered by glass and the bottom platform was much larger and made out of glass as well. They awaited the next event as the clock ticked down at the 7 minute mark. Arrows still rained down from the clock tower at multiple people. Even at this distance, Astro could see the bright number above the figure’s head…

250.

‘Yeah. I knew you were worth more than what you gave off,’ Astro thought about the figure. ‘Let’s just see how good you really are.’