Chapter 90: Chapter90-Black Day

It's either going to be me or them who will die today... The bullets flew through the air, and I watched as chaos erupted among them. In a surprising turn of events, one rebel was struck in the head, collapsing instantly with a muffled thud. Another was hit in the stomach, falling to the ground with a pained groan. The sudden gunfire caused a brief moment of confusion among the rebels, as they turned their attention toward the source of the noise... "Bring it on, bastarddddds..." I shouted... "It's me against all of you..." I was running at my top speed while thinking as hard as I could. Alright, two down, five to go, including their leader. I need to take out the remaining minions quickly, or I might run out of energy like those sisters did. I'm not too worried because if things get bad, I can always escape with my dash skill. Wait, why not try to win this quickly? I have my dash skill, and if I attack them head-on, I could use it as a surprise to take them all out and gain more experience points... The main problem was their leader, who was standing next to them with a silent stance... Maybe he's just surprised to see me, since it's not every day you see a guy trying to save beautiful maidens. I checked his status and found that I only have a 25 percent chance of defeating him. If he and the others decide to fight me together, which is unlikely, then I'm doomed... I mean, I wouldn't die because I have a backup plan, but they would definitely cause a lot of trouble, which could prevent me from completing the mission. The leader of the rebels, a tall man with cold, calculating eyes, took a step forward and raised his hand. "You two," he barked, pointing at two of his lackeys. "Finish him off. The rest of you, with me. Let's deal with those sisters." As the two rebels advanced toward me, the leader and the other two turned their attention to the sisters, who were barely conscious and holding their weapons... I was really nervous, not because I couldn't beat the guys coming at me, but for another reason. It was because of my plan. If it didn't work, I wouldn't be able to complete my quest. If I didn't take down these two quickly, the sisters would be in even more danger. I took a deep breath and activated my dash skill, feeling a familiar surge of energy course through my body. [Ding! Dash (Level 3) activated!] [Host's speed attribute has ascended to Gold rank!] My speed increased to Gold rank, giving me a six-second window of incredible speed and agility. The world around me seemed to slow down as I moved. The first rebel lunged at me with a daggers, but I sidestepped easily and drove my own blade into his side, just below the ribs. "Urhhh!" He gasped and fell to the ground, blood flowing from his wounded side. Clutching his stab wound, he groaned, "Ahh, it hurts, you m-!" I kicked him in the face with my right leg and said, "Shut up, man. Your voice is annoying." And he immediately fell unconscious after that. Maybe I hit him too hard. The second rebel swung at me from the left, aiming for my throat. I ducked under his arm and slashed his stomach in an "I" shape. But instead of falling like the other rebel, he quickly jumped back and created some distance between us. Hmm, he's definitely smart and knows when to attack and retreat. Hahahaha... I chuckled to myself. Finally, a worthy opponent. But let's see if you can handle my next moveI doubt you will. I anticipated this move, so when he landed, I wasted no time. I called out my gun from my inventory, and it appeared in my hand, catching the rebel off guard. Before he could react, I fired a barrage of bullets at him. Given the short distance, the bullets reached him almost instantly. He tried to defend himself with his daggers, but it was no use. His body was pelted with bullets, and after a few seconds of relentless fire, he crumpled to the ground. This all things happened within 3 to 4 seconds... With those two down, I turned my attention to the leader and his remaining lackeys. They were currently fighting with both of them... Anna was fighting off the others, including their leader, all by herself, while Lia was lying on the ground. Why? Because she had a deep wound on her stomach. Damn it... My plan didn't work... How did this happen? I thought they could defend themselves for at least a few minutes, but they couldn't even last a minute. If they had managed to hold their ground, it would have been easier for me to take down their leader. But right now, one of the two remaining rebels had sneaked up behind Anna. To my shock, instead of attacking Anna, he was raising his sword to strike Lia, who was already injured and lying on the ground. The sight of him preparing to deliver a fatal blow to her made my blood boil without me knowing it... I couldn't let that happen. Using my dash skill again, I shot forward like a bullet, appearing between that particular rebel and, Lia... Unfortunately, my dash skill had just worn off. But I wasn't worriedI knew I could handle at least two of them. I quickly blocked the rebel's attack on Lia with my right-hand dagger. The rebel stared at me with wide eyes, clearly not expecting to see me there so soon. Lia weakly said, "Michael... You... Are here..." I replied, "Lia, just hang on a little longer for my queuh, I mean, for my survival." I quickly dispatched the rebel who had been preparing to strike Lia. Shit, I almost ended up revealing that. With a swift motion, I drove my dagger into his chest, and he gasped before collapsing to the ground. I didn't waste a moment. I turned and rushed toward the leader and the last remaining rebel, who were still engaged in combat with Anna. The leader, was locked in a fierce struggle with Anna, who was clearly struggling to hold her own. Ugh, damn it, she can't hold them off either. How useless is she? While I cursed her in my mind, I noticed something unusual. These guys were so focused on fighting Anna that they completely forgot about me. I was shocked. I get that these guys were mainly targeting the sisters. If they killed them, it would cause huge chaos in Ambrosia, which would greatly benefit TERROR. But still, come on, guys... I'm right here! Look at me! Look! But they were too busy with their fight to notice. Alright, if you won't look at me, I'll make sure you do. A gun suddenly materialized in my hand as I put my daggers away. I quickly aimed and fired. This all happened so fast that no one had time to react including both Anna and, old man... The distance between us was less than 50 meters. The bullet reached the last rebel and hit one of his legs, completely damaging it. He fell down, clutching his leg. The flesh was gone, leaving only bones visible with blood splattered across the ground. He screamed, "Ahhhhhhh, my leg! Sir, help me! Please give me a healing potion!" He begged his leader for help, but the old man ignored him, continuing to fight Anna while keeping an eye on me. Finally you noticed me. I was waiting for ages... "Now, let's finish this fight," I said. I called a random weapon from my inventory, and a sword materialized in my hand. I was confident I could defeat him easily. His fighting style was unimpressive and flawed. When I watched him fight a minute ago, I couldn't understand why Anna was struggling. How could she not defeat this guy? His rank was Gold, but his fighting skills were amateur at best. The previous guy who saved himself was definitely better than him. But, there was always a chance. This could also be a trap to lure me in, but I didn't care. Anna slashed at the old man's right elbow and immediately jumped back to create some distance between them. Unfortunately, she landed right next to me. Why was this unfortunate? Because as soon as she did, she started bitching around again. "Great, now you're in my way," she snapped. "Why do you always have to interfere?" I sighed, trying to focus on the fight while tuning out her relentless griping. I grinned and swung my sword at the leader, forcing him to backpedal. "Yeah, sure. But now you've got me to finish this." The leader glared at me, his eyes cold and calculating. "You're a fool to think you can take me on, especially with your interference." What a cliche line... Huhh... Nothing to expect from a old hag... Anna's eyes softened a bit as she focused on the leader. "Just make sure we end this quickly." As the leader tried to regain his composure, I joined Anna in attacking him. We moved in a coordinated effort, each strike designed to push him back and break his defense. The leader fought back fiercely but clumsily, overwhelmed by our combined assault from different directions. During the battle, Anna occasionally threw a glance at me, her frustration fading as she realized how effective our teamwork was. "Fine, maybe I did need your help," she admitted reluctantly. "Don't mention it," I replied, dodging a powerful swing from the leader and countering with a precise strike. With one final, decisive blow from both of us, the leader staggered and fell. Anna and I stood over his body, catching our breath. Instead of waiting for him to recover, I jumped up and stabbed him in the stomach. But then something surprising happened. Instead of blood oozing out, his body suddenly dissipated into thick air. The last message he left for me was, "Found you..." What was that? What did he mean by "Found you"? Had he been searching for me? But why? Really? A few minutes ago, he didn't even look in my direction, and now his words had me confused. But who was he really? I had never seen a person disappear into thin air before. I thought only monsters did that when they died. Was he a monster? If so, why was he so weak? And why didn't my system mention anything about him being a monster? Did he really die, or was there something more going on? I muttered to myself, "Ah, just ignore it," trying to push the confusion aside. I also heard Anna muttering to herself, "Was he... Kal? No, no, no, that can't be him. There's no way he'd be here." Kal? Who was that? Never heard that name before. I asked, "Hey, are you alright?" My question snapped Anna out of her thoughts. She glared at me and said, "Don't you have eyes? Can't you see I'm injured?" Ugh, she was at it again. I said apologetically, "Alright, alright, it's my fault. I didn't see it." She huffed and gave me her classic anime-style ignore, turning her back on me with a dramatic flair. There was a brief silence between us until she took out a Silver-ranked healing potion. After drinking it, she turned to face me. "Anyway, Pervert, you were a lot of help," Anna said, finally smiling. I said in frustration, "Can you stop calling me that name? I just saved you!" Anna replied, "I don't care..." Fine, whatever. I then put some distance between us because I didn't like being near her much. As the dust settled and the immediate danger passed, we turned our attention to Lia, who was still lying on the ground. With the threat neutralized, my focus shifted to getting her the help she needed. I quickly moved over to her and asked, "Lia, are you okay? Did you get injured anywhere?" I wasn't sure why I was so concerned. Maybe it was just my natural instinct since we were friends. Lia was clutching her bloodied stomach tightly. With a weak voice, she started to say, "Michael, save" Before Lia could finish her sentence, Anna interjected, "Lia, stop it. Get up here." I was baffled by what she meant. I asked, "What do you mean?" Suddenly, Lia stood up from where she was lying and said, "Sister, you ruined everything. I was almost about to prank him." Anna said, "You and your usual predictable pranks." Lia protested, "My pranks aren't predictable. Didn't you see? He almost fell for it!" Anna replied, "He was pretty dumb to fall for that trick." I stared at both sisters, disbelief written across my face. Wait a minute... I fell for a prank? I shouted, "What the hell is going on? A prank? I fell for it? You weren't injured at all?" I stared at Lia, bewildered. She casually replied, "Of course not!" Confused, I asked, "Then why is there blood on your stomach?" With a mischievous grin, she answered, "Oh, that's a secret." A secret? I muttered quietly to myself, "What is going on? These two sisters are going to drive me crazy one day." Anna asked curiously, "Did you say something?" I replied, "No, how could I say anything in front of you?" Then Lia suddenly burst into laughter, saying, "Michael, you're so funny!" I'm not funny... Damn, I shouldn't have rescued them in the first place... *** While I was caught up in the prank played by the sisters, I had no idea that today would be remembered as Black Day in human history. It would be marked by a single person's actions, which would change everything.