1 The Chase

Quick muffled steps along with the sound of monster's growling and vehicles moving freely, resounded throughout the vast run-down city.

Old ruins and remnants of what was once a great city was all which could be seen around as the young man ran with all he had. His ragged and tattered clothes, along with his worn-out shoe soles, made his situation much worse than he had originally expected.

His lungs and heart filled with pain from the lack of rest and oxygen. It was the hardest and longest he had ever ran in his life. For he knew what awaited him if he stopped.

So he continued to run. His pants getting seemingly heavier with each passing second, but he continued to push forth. After all, for the first time ever since he was born, he had found his hope.

"Stop right there!"

"If you don't, we'll kill you!!"

Voices resounded from behind him, they were already catching up, even though he had gotten a head start.

"Damn, Hunters…" The young man muttered with hateful eyes.

'I'll kill them…' He thought to himself as he continued to run.

But despite thinking that, even he knew the difference in strength between him and a hunter. Even he wouldn't stand a chance against the lowest ranking ones, if they caught him, it'd be instant death.

He desperately looked around at the broken down buildings surrounding him, when suddenly, he felt a chill go down his spine.

It was a feeling he knew too well, blood lust. He subconsciously, leapt to the left to avoid it, causing him to roll over as he landed.

The moment managed to scrape his left arm on the floor, giving it a few cuts, but as he got up, he noticed a much bigger, deeper cut which seemed to have recently formed on his shoulder.

It was as if a knife had grazed it as it slashed by. Blood quickly began to flow down, shortly after. The cause was obvious, right before he had jumped he had heard a sound similar to a jet go by him. It was a wind spell.

'Those fuckers…!'

They were really aiming to kill him. After getting up, with no other options, he quickly changed his course to the left and ran into the broken down building which was beside him.

The entrance was broken down and the coast was seemingly clear, entering a building was his worst option at this point as he'd have no way to escape. In worst case scenario, it'd be infested with monster's, and in that case, it'd really be over. Despite knowing that, he didn't have any time to think it through. And so, he dashed inside.

————————————————————

A group of four men, could be seen running, pursuing after a target. They each carried strange advanced rifles and wore cloaks which covered their Armour and build, but just by looking, one could tell that they were big.

They stopped in front of a broken down building before scouting and looking around. One of the men, signaled at the one on the back, to keep watch outside, and make sure nothing got in or out. He was most likely the one calling the shots as the man quickly complied.

The other three, including the one calling the shots, walked inside, quickly scouting the inside of the building as they did so.

"Anything on the radar?" He asked, looking around.

It was dark, broken glass filled the floors as filth filled the air. Dirty, and unkempt. There were only two visible floors from the outside. Originally, there would have been more, but whatever was there, was torn off, leaving only a two-story building.

"Tsk, somethings wrong with the radar. It won't stop bugging out." Replied the scouter

"Well then, fix it, and while you fix it. Stay down here, Me and Scavenger are searching upstairs." Said the man as he flashed a light up the stair case.

After making sure there was nothing there, they both began heading up the stairs.

"What if I find the kid?" The scouter asked

"Kill him, but make sure nothing happens to the artifact." Said the leader

"Understood." He replied with a wide and excited smile.

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Quiet, too quiet. The only sound the young man had heard, was a conversation coming from downstairs, but that had only lasted for a moment, ever since, there's been no sound.

The young man hid quietly in a cold and dark room on the second floor, behind a large, broken down wardrobe, barely tall enough to cover his height.

He sat still, forcing himself not to make a move or sound, however his nerves showed no mercy as the more he tried to hold it in, the harder it became to breathe. His heart was racing, demanding more and more oxygen.

His quiet, yet fast paced breaths, grew ever so quicker and louder. The feeling of standing in the palm of death's hands, had never felt so real before to him.

But he hadn't given up. All he had to do was sit quietly, and wait for them to go. That was the only choice he had.

The young man, looked down at the strange capsule which he carried. It was made of some type of unbelievably durable metal, and contained a strange red crystal which was surrounded by some an also durable glass.

There were also strange visible circuit patterns engraved in the glass and metal. However, the young man had no clue as to what it meant or was.

Whatever it was, it was clearly valuable, the fact that they had chased him, with the intent to kill for this long, was proof of that fact.

The longer he stared at it, the colder he felt, the dimmer the pain all over his body grew. He also noticed that the blood off his right shoulder was seeping towards the capsule, but had no means to stop it or clean it, nor was he worried about it.

'I found it… I won't hand it over… Even if I have to die…'

*Snap*

Suddenly, the sound of a snap resounded through the room and as he looked up to see what it was, he found himself staring straight at the face a grown man with wide open eyes and a smile which sent chills down his spine.

"Found you~" He muttered excitedly

In that moment, a single word popped up in the young man's mind as he felt as if he saw his life flash past his eyes. 'Death'. His life was over.

"Get up." He ordered as he pointed the gun at the young man's face

The young man slowly got up from his hiding spot with his head hung low and his arm wrapped tightly around the capsule.

Happy that the artifact was kept safe with the young man, the man quickly moved his hand toward the trigger to finish him off and steal it. When suddenly he noticed, the young man was smiling.

Confused, before finishing him off, he wanted to know what could have been so funny, but right before he asked.

*Boom!*

The sound of an explosion came from downstairs, following the sound of gunshots being fired off rapidly. The faint sound of electric bursts could also be heard.

"What!?" He asked as he turned to the doorway.

Faint glows could be seen coming from the hallway. Their weren't any windows in their room so he couldn't exactly see what was happening.

"Hey!? What's going on down there?" He asked as he placed his arm on his ear

[W-We're under attack! It's a horde! R-Requesting Back-up!]

"A WHAT!?"

"Ha… Hahaha…"

Suddenly, the young man started to laugh. A cold, yet joyful laugh, just strong enough to send chills down the man's spine. He now knew that the young man did something.

"Y- It was you! What did you do?!" He asked as his finger was placed firmly onto the trigger.

Upon seeing this, the smile wiped itself off the young man's face as he muttered.

"Again… And again… And Again… And Again. You enjoyed it, didn't you? You hunters take things from others with no regard for how it might affect them, then you use your power and authority to silence them…"

The capsule on the young man's arm began to slightly glow a bright red as he said so, causing the man's worries to grow.

*Bang*

"I SAID WHAT DID YOU DO!?" He asked after firing off a warning shot right next to the young man's head

He missed on purpose, warning that the next shot was going to be a hit. Despite that, the young man didn't stop.

"And now you're coming after me… Physically, I'd never be able to beat you which is why…"

He pulled out a cracked sphere out of his pocket. Sphere was the shape it resembled, but it was no where near being a perfect sphere in terms of shapes. It looked more identical to a frozen tear.

Upon seeing it, the hunter's eyes widened as his arm began to tremble. He could no longer steady his aim as he appeared to recognize what it was.

[DEFENSE BREACHED!! REQUESTING BACKUP!! H-HELP!!]

"GAAAAAAAH!"

"BOSS- AAAAAAAH!"

"WE CAN'T-"

The sound of screaming came from down stairs as growls and the shrieks of monsters could be heard, all the while the man continued to panic.

"A-An… Angel's T-Tear… H-How!? HOW DOES A NOBODY LIKE YOU HAVE IT!?" He shouted as he pointed the gun once again at the young man.

Angel's tear. No one knew for sure what it was, there were many theories. But the most believed one was a sphere formed from the compression of magic in a way different to the formation of a magic stone. It was confusing but this way, supposedly attracted all the monsters in the area, giving it, it's name. The tear of an angel.

Because of how dangerous it was, having one in one's possession was illegal, and it would be seen as a nationwide offense, to not only the city or safe point where one was residing, but to the people in it.

Just carrying it, would result in one being legally sentenced to death after unimaginable torture to find out the source. Selling it or buying it on the market was also illegal. They weren't allowed to be brought anywhere near cities.

Yet this young man, had it. How.

"Shoot. We're both dead either ways. I have a few regrets but it's fine… After all, that look on your face…"

A smile could once again be seen on his face as he muttered "To see such a prideful peace of shit make such a face… It's such a great feeling…"

The artifact began to glow brighter and brighter as more and more blood began to flow through it's circuits. The wound on the young man's arm was only getting worse.

And upon hearing those words, the man snapped. He pressed down tightly on the trigger aiming straight at the young man's chest, causing a concentrated yellow electric volt to be discharged straight after.

In that instant, as the yellow volt passed through him, hole was formed on the young man's chest before he fell over. He landed on his back, quickly breaking the angel's tear, causing a loud ear piercing scream to be released.

It was in this moment, that the man had realized, he had made a mistake. He felt his heart sink as he slowly turned back to the door.

The more broken it became, the more monsters it would attract, but now it had completely shattered.

The artifact rested on top of the young man's chest which now had blood pouring out at crazy rates. There was no saving him. It was over.

However, even in that situation, with the light of the glowing artifact on his chest, blinding his sight, he still curled his hand into a fist and raised his middle finger pointing it at the now horrified hunter as he muttered.

"I… to…ld… you…"

However, the hunter was too distracted by the glowing artifact to hear it.

"I-It's not over… Right… This artifact… It might be able to save me… I'll just-"

The man was interrupted, as a dark shadow passed through the room in a single motion. In that instant, the walls and everything in the room, including the man, was cut.

His waist was slashed in half, causing his the top half of his body to slide off before flopping to the ground.

And that was the last thing the young man saw, before everything turned dark.