Nikolai's eyes scanned over the symbol for a moment before his left hand shot forward, grabbing Xiao by the neck, suspending him mid-air.
"Stop, this isn't a joke... please." He was blacking out, this couldn't be happening. His hands weren't under his control, he had to stop himself from choking the life out of Xiao.
Xiao was starving for air, but he wasn't panicking; he could last for a few minutes easily. "Do not close your eyes, either accept me, or kill me if you will not." His body was limp as he spoke.
Niko turned away, his grip on the wooden blade tightened, his jaw tense. He thought for an eternity before finally relaxing his grasp, and Xiao fell to the floor on his back.
Xiao got up coughing, "...So you are with me?"
"No, I just can't kill you, I'll hand you over."
Ah, the overseers, Xiao mused, they'd have him executed for being a member of the cult, surely. It was a guiltless way of doing things, but unfortunately...
"You do not want to do that, if you know what is good for you."
"Hah! Resorting to cheesy villain lines, are we?"
"Aina, that is her name, yes? It would be a real sha-"
Nikolai lunged, tackling Xiao to the ground. His sword hit the floor, he didn't need it. His flurry of blows were precise, powerful, and meant to hurt.
Xiao desperately tried to resist, but the position was disadvantageous, and the blows were painful and repeated. He was losing consciousness, this won't do.
Xiao kept his open palm on Niko's chest, and Niko's eyes widened as he tried to jump back, but a second too slow. A spark of golden energy burst forth, blasting Niko off of him and onto the wall a dozen meters behind, the concrete cracking at the crash.
Xiao got up with a wince, his body was in pain, and his breathing was ragged. And as he stood straight, Niko was already staggering to his feet. Jīngjí was good for making distance, but it didn't hit very hard, a real shame, Xiao sighed.
Niko's face was contorted with anger, pain, and another emotion he couldn't quite make out. But that was the least of his worries for now. Niko's adrenaline began spiking as his muscles surged with power, and his heart began a drumroll; it was kill or let her be killed.
Niko began a mad dash at Xiao, his run now akin to a raging bull. There was no place to dodge, so Xiao decided to confront. He kept his glowing palm forward; he would have to be precise or he was done for.
11 meters
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8
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5
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2
NOW! Xiao pushed his arm forward at his torso as Niko's eyes caught the shoulder movement, ducking as his spine cracked at 3 places with the whiplash. Jīngjí narrowly brushed against his scalp, Niko balled his fist and swung. An audible crack reverberated across the room as his fist connected with Xiao's jaw, blood splurting as his jaw and teeth cracked with the punch, sending him flying.
Niko slowly stood straight, the rushing adrenaline couldn't completely mitigate the pain of a cracked spine. He would need to keep the adrenaline going unless he wanted to collapse in agony.
He didn't have time to brood or agonize, he had to end Xiao now, he limped towards Xiao's laying body. He stood above Xiao, Xiao's mouth was open, blood pooling below, teeth cracked and broken.
He raised his foot above Xiao's neck, his leg trembling, just as he steeled himself and was ready to stomp, he heard a sound. A mix between a gurgle and a groan, source: Xiao.
Niko was tempted to end the foul beast's words right here, but the decade of friendship and overwhelming confidence of victory held him back, let him have his last words.
"I... Die... Aina... Dies." Xiao choked out between the blood, pain and broken jaw, immediately falling unconscious after the words.
Niko's chest twisted in a loop, what does he mean? Are there more cultists? Who? Niko debated whther to take it as a desperate plea or as a warning, and after agonizing for a bit, he pulled his leg back. He couldn't risk Aina, and now this meant he couldn't report Xiao either, he would be surely killed.
Izzogha was wearing off, the adrenaline wouldn't last much longer and now he had to somehow contact the infirmary, for himself... And that thing. Niko took a long, deep breath, filling his lungs to their maximum capacity before letting out a deafening shriek for help.
"TRAINING ROOM!"
With that the last of his adrenaline wore off and the after effects hit his body, and he collpased to the floor, fainting before the true extent of the pain could hit him.
Sagiri? Aaliya? Sara? Niko considered each one before removing them from the list. It had been a month since the fateful day, and he was stuck in the Infirmary, and all he was allowed to do, was rest.
Never had he been in such bliss, no responsibilites, no work, only sleep, eat, shit and sleep some more. A cracked spine was something that needed complete bed rest, he got lucky there. Ever since that day, Aina visited him every single day, chastising his idiocy, crying over him being alive and a mix of both sometimes.
He hadnt heard any news about Xiao, his alibi was clear, they had a bad disagreement and they solved it like 2 respectable gentlemen would, a duel. It wasn't perfect, but it worked. Xiao wasn't caught since Niko wasn't questioned at all, so he had a way to hide the symbol.
During the rare waking moments Niko had, he began thinking and planning, how many more? Because Xiao did promise him Aina's death if he died, so there were indeed cultists among the squad. Every single female member of the squad Niko could remember, he began analyzing on whether they could be the cultists. It was futile, after all, his best friend of 11 years turned out to be one, but hey, no point sitting around doing nothing.
Niko considered telling Aina, but knew the moment she heard of it, she would cause a fuss and that would set whoever or whatever is there to kill her.
There was also the issue of Xiao asking him to break the wall, so this was a plan the cultists had. Why? It's a well known fact that Backlanders kill cultists too without hesitation, makes being a cultist all the more idiotic too.
"Why do people even join the cult?" Niko blurted out accidentally one day, hands behind his back, deep in thought, not realizing Aina is next to him.
"... Huh?" Aina raised an eye brow. Before Niko could say anything, she began speaking again.
"Those blasphemers apparently believe the Sludge Lord will grant them strength, they believe after death they're promised a place in his toxic cathedral. A heaven of sorts, but of course, it's madness. All they deserve is too be forever tormented by the Goddess, after a shameful death" Aina spoke out, the hate very clear in her words.
Ah, noble suicide? That makes sense... Maybe they think pushing his agenda forward will grant them more? Niko nodded solemnly, this was an issue, they're not sane.
Well, at the moment, only he was aware of this plan, no specifics but he had something to work off of. And this meant... He had work to do. If only, it wasn't him who was selected to be recruited by them, he could be sleeping peacefully right now. But, instead, he had a sector wide secret plan to thwart now, the wall going meant his relatively peaceful lifestyle wouldn't be any longer.
This month of bed rest was the calm before the storm, before he had unimaginable amounts of work to do. What a pain.
"Nikolai? I am overseer Ji woo, and I have a few questions to ask, and you don't have a choice but to answer."