When heroes Bleed

The kidnappers stepped back slowly, unable to comprehend what they were seeing. Minato let out a heavy breath, the sound escaping through his mask.

Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't even dream of this. I owe Alec a lot.

He formed a fist and assessed the current state of his body, calculating how much time he had left at this level.

All right. Let's make this quick.

He taunted them with a beckoning gesture. "Come on. Don't be shy now. Let's dance."

Two of them rushed him, enraged. The first came with an overhead slash. Minato blocked it with his right arm and landed a punch to the midsection with his left. The blow was already amplified by the gauntlet, but a secondary delayed impact followed a shockwave from the point of contact that rendered the man completely unable to move. He flew backward and crashed into his companion.

The second attacker readied his weapon. Minato wrapped tendrils around him, lifted him into the air, and scanned the onlookers who were still frozen in uncertainty. One of them tried to hide a bag.

So you're the one. That makes this easier.

He hurled the trapped attacker at the group and charged with a burst of speed.

"I don't have time for this. I'll take you all on right here and now."

The aura users readied their weapons. The mages prepared their spells. Tension thickened the air. Minato's breath was strained; the effects of overclocking were wearing off rapidly but he couldn't falter.

He took a deep breath, regained focus, and made the first move. His tendrils lashed out all at once. The attackers barely reacted in time, blocking the onslaught while the mages behind them sent forth a barrage of basic spells one by one. What they lacked in raw power, they made up for in quantity.

Pinned down, Minato could only block the rain of fire with his wings. He folded them in front of himself and hardened them into a shield. Then, without hesitation, he released a burst of mana from his feet and shot forward like a missile, breaking through their defenses and leaving them in shock.

He set his sights on the mages.

He released more tendrils, wrapped them around three of the casters, and pulled them toward him. He landed a heavy headbutt on the first, knocking him out cold, then sent the other two into the air and slammed them straight into the ground.

Three down. Two mages left one of whom held the antidote.

Ana rushed him alone. He blocked all her sword strikes. She pulled out a second blade and imbued both with aura.

"I'll admit it, kid you're strong. I didn't know spoiled brats at the academy could be as skilled as you lot. Makes me sick just thinking about how a third-circle aura user like myself is struggling against a brat."

Minato remained silent. His breath was weakening. Fatigue piled higher with every second. All he could do was wonder.

Third circle? Aura user? What is she talking about? I thought everyone used mana.

He glanced around and saw the strange energy the non-mages were using.

Aura. So that's what they're using. Doesn't matter. I can ask the headmaster about it later. Right now, I need to give everything I have left.

He let out another heavy breath through the mask and locked eyes with Ana. She took it as her chance to strike.

She charged with a flurry of slashes. Minato could only block. At first the attacks seemed to deal no damage, but he began to be pushed back little by little as she grew faster and faster.

"What's wrong, kiddo? Not so talkative now, huh? Come on, keep trying! Fight back if you can! I can't kill you with a smile on my face if you don't fight back, fight back, fight back, fight back!"

She sounded more delirious with every word.

I can't find the rhythm to her attacks. It's like she's getting faster the crazier she becomes. Hoping for an opening is pointless right now.

The other kidnappers looked on in relief, thinking Ana had gained the upper hand. At that moment, they failed to notice that other people were still present.

Lillith, half-dead and barely conscious, released a bolt of lightning at Ana. It struck true, throwing her off balance. Ana looked at Lillith with rage and turned to attack her.

"LILLITH, YOU BITCH I'LL KILL"

Lillith, though weakened, forced a smirk. The single moment she gave Minato that brief distraction was all it took.

The onlookers saw him winding up for an attack. Edmond and Garrick screamed.

"ANA, FOCUS, DAMN IT!"

Ana looked back, confused. Then she saw Minato pulling back his right arm for a single punch. He sacrificed the shadows shrouding his left arm and poured everything into the right.

This is my only chance. I'll pour everything into this. The secondary impact isn't enough. I need to make sure she's out for the rest of the night right here and now.

He reinforced his arm again and again, building a gauntlet stronger than before. Then he coated his entire wrist in pure mana, forming something like a concentrated burst.

The punch landed directly in her stomach. The secondary impact hit. Then the third. And on top of it all, the raw mana burst was released.

Ana flew backward through the trees and collapsed, unmoving.

The toll on Minato was immense. He could barely keep the armor up, but he couldn't stop now. His tendrils grabbed the remaining attackers and pulled Edmond close.

"The antidote. Give it to me. Now."

They accepted defeat. Edmond scrambled to hand over the vials. Minato took them, breathing a sigh of relief as his armor began to dissipate, leaving only the base cape and the tendrils restraining them. He relaxed.

The effects of overclocking hit him all at once. His center of gravity wavered. He forced himself to stay standing.

Then he heard a voice behind him.

"Stop right there, brat! One wrong move and your friend's head comes clean off!"

Minato turned slowly. The boss, the one he'd knocked out at the start, was awake. He had Tristan held tight, a sword pressed to his throat.

Minato, powerless, stepped back.

"Yeah, just like that." The man grinned. "You really did a number on my guys. I gotta hand it to you. Say why not join us? The pay's good, and you can get anything you want in this damn place."

Edmond and the others tried to argue. The boss silenced them.

"SHUT THE HELL UP! The kid alone almost wiped out the lot of you. If I can get my hands on him, it more than makes up for the useless ones. So what do you say, kid? Why not join us?"

"I'm here for my friends. So no." Minato's voice was quiet. "Let them go, and we can all go our separate ways. No one has to get killed. Please let my friend go. I don't want any bloodshed here."

Minato looked at Tristan, who could barely speak. "Minato… I'm sorry."

The boss laughed. "Poor kid sounds like he's about to cry. Listen here I only have so much patience. Agree to join us, we can head over and get the slave contract done, and we can go kill the incoming guild members. Forget these other brats their lives are over as of tonight. No bloodshed, my ass. Don't you understand what this is? Where we are? You think you can still act like a kid out here with your whole 'no killing' shit? Listen, all four of them will die. All because you didn't kill me when you had the chance."

The world fell silent.

He began to slice Tristan's throat.

Minato lunged forward.

A single sound shattered the quiet: BANG.

The forest fell still.

The adventurers from the guild's response team arrived moments later. They saw Minato holding Tristan tightly in his arms, hyperventilating. The attackers lay on the ground, fear etched across their faces.

The adventurers approached Garrick. "What happened?"

Garrick, in shock, could barely form a coherent sentence. Edmond started talking instead.

"That kid's a monster. It was mad enough he took us all on, but then right as the boss was going to slit that kid's throat it happened so fast I didn't even see it. All I heard was a loud bang, and the boss just… died. Fell flat on the floor."

Garrick's voice cracked. "The boss is dead the boss is dead the boss is"

He screamed.

Minato administered the antidote to Tristan first, then stood and looked at the body of their boss. His eyes were cold and still. He stepped over it without a word and gave the rest of the antidotes to his friends as they slowly came to.

A guild member approached him. "I'm sorry to tell you this, but we need you and everyone here to come with us to the guild for questioning."

Minato remained silent. His friends managed weak nods. He pointed toward Lillith, who was barely clinging to consciousness.

"She needs immediate attention. And I have questions for your guild too. Let's go."

The journey back was silent. The mood was heavy. They gave Tristan and the others recovery potions to help them regain strength. When they finally left the forest and boarded a carriage back to town, Minato stared out at the empty land, seeing nothing but the sight of the man he had killed with a single shot.

They arrived at the guild. The other adventurers chatted quietly as Minato led his friends inside. At the reception desk, Ellen saw them and rushed over with worry.

"You guys, what on earth happened out there? Are you"

Minato stopped her and looked her in the eye. His voice was cold.

"You're asking that now? Who the hell gave you the right to worry over them after it was your negligence that put them in that situation?" He paused. "Give me one reason. One reason why I shouldn't rip every single person here to shreds. Answer me."

He enveloped the entire lower floor in shadows and pointed tendrils at every adventurer present.

"Make one move and your head comes off."

His friends tried to calm him down. "Minato, relax, it's okay. The guild isn't to blame"

"Not now, Tristan." Minato's eyes never left Ellen. "Tell me, receptionist, how the hell did you screw up this badly that my friends' lives were in danger?"

A voice called down from the stairs.

"You must be Minato, correct? Mariah speaks highly of you and your abilities. I see she wasn't wrong."

A young man with a monocle descended the stairs. His blue hair bore a striking resemblance to Mariah's. She jumped into his arms.

"Big Brother!"

"I'm glad to see you're safe, Mariah." He looked at Minato. "Thank you very much for saving my sister. Would you be so kind as to settle the hostility? I will personally answer any questions you have."

Minato relaxed. The shadows retreated into his cape.

"Thank you. My name is Alistair Veymaris, son of Duke Veymaris and leader of the adventurer's guild. A pleasure to officially meet you, strongest first year of the royal academy, a talent that could rival the third prince."

Minato hesitated, then forced himself to accept the handshake.

"Minato. Minato Caelestis. A pleasure to meet you."

Alistair looked at the boy's shaky hands. He sensed not just fatigue, but something more dangerous taking root in his heart.

"Now then, Minato if you'd like, we could take a break here. You can come meet me whenever you want, and we can address your concerns. What do you think?"

"No need. I find it hard to believe the guild was in on this, so we'll take our leave."

Minato turned with his friends and headed for the door. Alistair called out.

"Minato one moment, please."

"What is it?"

"Allow me to apologize for this situation. I owe you my sister's life. Not just that, but as someone of my standing, I let an outsider worse, I let a child stain his hands with blood because I failed to take proper precautions. Please do not see your actions as vile, but rather as those of a savior."

Alistair bowed his head.

Minato softened for a moment.

Then he heard a voice. The dead man's voice.

Murderer.

The visage of the corpse held onto him. He tensed, turned, and left without a word.

Late into the night, they returned to the academy. Minato entered his room swiftly, ignoring Celis' attempts to speak to him. At the dead of night, he lay in bed, unable to sleep. All he could hear was the voice of the dead haunting him.

Then he saw it: his parents' deaths. They lay dead in front of his old house, just as they had before but this time, the one holding the gun was Minato himself. He stared at their corpses as they crawled toward him, asking:

Why would you ever kill someone? Our son is no murderer. Give us back our son, you fake. You killer.

He screamed and woke in the night.

Unable to close his eyes, he could only stare into his reflection in the mirror as night turned to day and the sun rose, bringing with it a brand new morning.