The rain was coming down hard making the back alleys of Rusthaven look like rivers of dirty black mud with neon lights reflecting off the water. Kaito stumbled forward holding one hand against the cut on his ribs and the hand holding the dagger really tight. It hurt to breathe. His health was not good it was 42 out of 180. He could see that he was losing blood it was going down a bit every few seconds. The bounty mark was still in his vision it was, like a heartbeat always there reminding him of his situation.

  【Shade’s Mark – Active】

  【Bounty: 200,000 ? – Kaito Amamiya: “Core Traitor and Node Saboteur”】

  【Aggro Radius: 50 km – Trackable by affiliated debtors】

  He had barely made it three blocks from the Anchor before the first hunters showed up. The Crooked Anchor was still fresh in his mind when a pair of debtors appeared. These debtors were wearing trench coats and they stepped out from a doorway. Their eyes were glinting under their hoods. One of the debtors from the Crooked Anchor area raised a crossbow. The other debtor drew a serrated machete. The hunters from, near the Anchor were clearly looking for him.

  The crossbowman said "this is money". Shades mark is really easy to see it stands out like a light.

  Kaito did not bother to reply. He quickly ran to the left into an alley his boots making a big splash in the puddles that smelled really bad like old rust and rot. A bolt came flying past his ear hitting the brick wall and breaking into pieces. Kaito felt a pain when he jumped over a big crate and his health points went down to 38 out of 180.

  He ran until his lungs really hurt and his legs could not go anymore against a warehouse wall that was falling apart. The rain hit his face hard. He slid down to the stone floor the dagger shaking in his hand. The hunters were getting closer and closer. He could hear their boots hitting the ground and their low laughs. The hunters were there he thought about the hunters and what they would do to him. The rain kept hitting his face. He held the dagger tight waiting for the hunters.

  Two people joined the group. Now there are four of them. One of these people was the guy with chains on his fists from the inn. He still had the cut that Kaito gave him. The chain-fisted brute, from the inn was. He cracked the knuckles on his hands that were wrapped in old rusty chains.

  The boss told him to bring me alive he said in a deep voice. The boss did not say how alive I had to be.

  Kaito and the others moved forward slowly trying to surround them so they could not get away. Kaito pushed himself up from the ground. Everything looked blurry, to him. He held up the dagger to protect himself. His hand was shaking. "Come on then " Kaito said in a voice. "Let us see how many of the people Kaito can take with Kaito when Kaito dies."

  The big guy attacked first. Kaito dodged the chain that was swung at him then he swung his weapon up and cut the mans arm, which started bleeding.. The other guys were too fast. One of them kicked Kaito in the stomach. He bent over. Then another guy punched him in the face. Kaitos health was really bad now: HP: 19/180.

  Kaito fell into the mud face-first. Some hands grabbed his hair. Pulled his head back really hard. The person with the machete got down on their knees. The blade felt cold, against Kaitos throat.

  The man said that Shade wants a message delivered. You should tell Shade himself when you see Shade, in the debt pits.

  The blade pressed into Kaitos skin. His skin. Warm blood trickled down Kaitos neck. Kaitos vision started to get dark around the edges.

  Kaitos health points went down. It was 7, out of 180 then it changed to 4 out of 180. Finally it became 1 out of 180.

  Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

  The critical status light is flashing red. This means something is really wrong with the system. The critical status is serious. It is flashing red to get our attention. We need to do something, about the status right now because it is flashing red. That is not a good sign.

  【HP Critical: Death Imminent (10 sec)】

  【Final Chance: Struggle or Accept】

  Kaitos mind was screaming inside. This was not how it was supposed to end. Not after all that he had been through. He tried to struggle. It was no use. The grip, on him was too strong. The machete was coming down ready to deliver the blow. Kaitos eyes were fixed on the machete he knew this was it. The machete was going to kill him.

  Then—

  Something dark moved across the floor it was a shadow that moved. The shadow moved.

  Not the hunters’. Something faster. Something silent.

  A person fell from the roof of the warehouse like a cloud and landed between Kaito and the people who were attacking him. This person did not make a sound when they landed. They were wearing a cloak with a hood and the rain made the cloak blow out like a balloon. The person had a curved sword in one hand and it looked really scary because it seemed to suck in all the bright lights from the street. In their hand they had a small gadget that was beeping purple.

  The machete man swung first. He was really going to hit something. Then the newcomer did something. He just flicked his wrist. This weird violet energy came out. It was, like a whip. It smashed into the machete mans blade. The blade broke into pieces in the middle of the swing. The machete mans arm went numb and it just dropped down it was useless now. The machete man could not even move his arm after that.

  The big guy let out a roar and came at them. The chain made a whistling sound. The person, in the hood moved to the side their knife flashing in the light. It cut through the chain links and then it cut through the big guys shoulder. Blood went flying. The big guy yelled in pain stumbling backwards.

  The crossbowman fired his crossbow. The bolt that the crossbowman fired never reached its target. The violet whip cracked again. Wrapped itself around the bolt that the crossbowman fired in mid-air. The violet whip then yanked the bolt aside. Snapped forward to coil itself around the crossbowmans throat. The person, with the violet whip gave one pull on the violet whip. There was a crack. The crossbowmans body dropped to the ground.

  The last debtor tried to run.. It was too late. The figure quickly moved forward the blade swung in a curve. The blade made one cut across the back of the debtors knees. The man fell down. Started screaming. The debtor was really hurt. The figure had used the blade to make the debtor fall. The debtor was now, on the ground. He was screaming loudly.

  Four bodies are lying in the mud. It took less, than ten seconds for that to happen. The rain is coming down hard and it is washing the blood away almost as quickly as it is falling. The rain is falling fast that you can barely see the blood before it is gone.

  Kaito looked up his chest moving up and down fast and his eyes started to see things more clearly. That is when he saw the person who saved him turn around. The hood of their jacket. Kaito saw the persons face. It was a woman with features and really pale skin. She had tattoos that looked like circuits on her skin and they were glowing a little bit with a violet color. The woman was probably in her mid-twenties. Her eyes were cold. She looked like she was thinking really hard about something. There was no kindness, in her eyes. She just looked like she was trying to figure something out.

  She got down beside him. Looked at his condition without touching him. She was checking his status to see how he was doing.

  She said "I am still breathing." This is really something. Most people who owe money and have been marked by Shade do not live for, than five minutes after Shade takes control.

  Kaito coughed up blood. He looked at the person. Said "Who the hell are you?"

  She leaned her head to the side. "You can call me Revenant if you want to or you do not have to call me anything all. Names are not really important where we are." She took something and made of metal and pressed it to his chest. It was a patch that stuck on with a whooshing sound. He started to feel warm. The bleeding stopped. Revenant looked at the numbers for his health. The Revenant said his health points were at 9, out of 180 then they started to go up slowly.

  【Temporary Buff Applied: Emergency Node Patch – HP Regen +5/sec (300 sec)】

  Kaito said in a voice "You are not saving me because you are being kind."

  Revenants lips curved a bit. "You are very perceptive" he said. "I need someone who already has Shades attention. You are a distraction when you are around. I have some business to take care of with some brokers who think the fine print is the law. They think that if it is written down in the print that makes it true. I have to deal with these brokers who think fine print is law.

  She stood up. She offered a hand that had a glove on it. Water, from the rain was dripping down from her hood.

  Get up Core Traitor. It is time for us to go now. If we do not move more people will come.. The next time they come I might just let them finish what they started with the Core Traitor.

  Kaito looked at the hand then he looked at the bodies. Then he looked back at her. He was still really angry. This anger was burning inside his chest. It was burning hotter now because he had just come very close, to dying.

  He took her hand. She pulled him up. It was really easy, for her.

  The man said "Shades empire". He was really angry. I want Shades empire to be broken he said.

  Revenants eyes sparkled with excitement. "That is good " he said. "Then we are looking for the thing, the same target."

  They disappeared into the mist together. The alley was quiet now except, for the sound of the rain and the away hum of Layer 0. Layer 0 was coming to life looking for targets.