Chapter 39: What A Single Man Did
A tough-looking automatic beast of burden on four wheels pulled up right in front of Theo’s building. It looked vicious, its headlights set into the grille like the menacing gaze of a creature molded by pain and brutality, and the whole frame sat low and heavy on its wheels, as if it had been built to run something over and not slow down for it.
From it, Aide Lance stepped out. He wore his suit, but without the jacket, and over the shirt he had strapped on protective gear, a pauldron across his torso, guards at the elbows and knees.
Frank came down after him, somewhat equipped himself, and offered a sheathed pale blue sword. Aide Lance received it and hung it on his waist without looking, his eyes already somewhere else.
Three more Heroes stepped out of the fierce ride. One looked slightly older, one was a brunette beauty, and the last kept a hood pulled low over his head.
"What are we dealing with here... and we seem to be traveling incognito. Is there any reason for this, Aide Lance?"
The older man inquired, his voice straight to the point and slightly gruff.
Aide Lance did not respond immediately. Instead he glanced around, then turned to the older Hero.
"You’ll see when we get there."
He turned to Frank.
"Where is it?"
Frank was already on his tab. He zoomed in on it, sounding confused.
"I mean... it seems right here... but then..." His words trailed off, and his gaze went up.
Aide Lance followed it, and his brows knitted together.
"What? That... can’t be."
Frank hesitated and returned to the tablet in his hands, scrolling to see if he had gotten something wrong.
But Aide Lance’s gaze narrowed. And then he suddenly lunged forward.
"Sir Lance!" Frank shouted, but it was too late.
"Comb through the area and make sure everywhere is safe, and meet me up in one minute!"
He said this as he dashed towards the building. As he reached the edge of the entrance, he leaned down, his knees bending low. Frost spread beneath his legs, crawling out across the ground in a pale sheet. Then he jumped, and barely a second after his feet left the ground, a platform of ice shot up to meet them, rising fast and carrying him all the way to the rooftop while he stood on it with his hands in his pockets, his hair dancing in the waves of the winds.
He finally reached the rooftop, and for a moment all he could do was stare.
Then he leaped off his platform of ice and onto the edge of the rooftop. He stepped down, drew his hands from his pockets, and walked cautiously towards the center, looking around him with surprise as he went.
Pools of violet liquid spread over the floor, so wide and so deep that his fine Oxford-style black shoes left ripples with every step. The elongated, scaled bodies of these serpentine creatures littered the ground, all of them slashed clean and left to bleed out where they lay. The rooftop was quiet now, the only sound the slow drip of blood off the ledges and the wet give of his own soles. Some of the cuts looked rough and torn, but plenty of the others were smooth, drawn through scale and muscle in a single clean line.
’Did he teach himself?’
Confusion set in, and with it a swarm of questions. Aide Lance paused at last and looked forward.
’Wow...’
Theo was on his knees, leaning on his sword. He was bathed in violet blood, so soaked in it that even his black hair was wet and clinging together in dark ropes. His head hung low, then slowly lifted.
When Aide Lance’s eyes met Theo’s, his next step faltered.
Theo sighed with relief.
"Goodness, help came."
He glanced back.
"But it’s too late though. The gate is closed."
Behind him, the gate that had caused all this trouble was no more, like it had never existed in the first place.
The man stood before Theo, still speechless, blinking as he took in the scene around him. He tried to add up what he was seeing and lost the count twice over.
’All of these monsters should amount to about fifty? And they’re all something a group of six C-Ranks with a good formation would struggle with but be able to take down. And...’
He paused and really looked at Theo.
"Mr Theolyne... did you fight all of these, by yourself?"
Theo glanced down at the litter of corpses on the ground and the blood pooling everywhere between them.
"I might have to spend the entire day cleaning. Will these even wear off..." he sounded slightly mad.
Then he turned back to Aide Lance.
"I never thought it’d be possible to." He looked at his hands, turning them over as if the calluses might explain something. "But I got used to it, after killing about five of them. It’s not easy though, their scales can be very tough."
Aide Lance nodded.
"Yes, Mr Theolyne, I very much know how tough their scales can be. You’d need at least a Rare-grade weapon to cut through toughness like that."
He glanced at Theo’s sword, at the plain, unremarkable length of it.
’That however does not look like a Rare-grade.’
For a moment he was silent, just processing, and then the next his hand went to his face and he was laughing.
Theo tilted his head slightly in confusion.
"Gods, what was I thinking? You’re above S-rank, of course. You’re a monster like them."
He sighed and dropped his hand.
"Mr Theolyne, I have a lot of questions, I hope you don’t mind?"
Theo struggled a bit but pushed himself up. At the same time, the door that led to the stairs opened and four people burst out of it, all poised to engage in battle.
"The perimeter is clear, sir!" Frank shouted as he reached the rooftop.
The other three Heroes took in the litter of serpent corpses, then looked to Theo, then to Aide Lance. Weapons that had come out ready lowered by degrees, and no one seemed sure what to point them at.
For a moment, Theo looked at all of them and turned back to the Aide.
"There’s no problem answering your questions, but right now, I need to check on my wives. One of them is probably mad at me right now."
Theo sighed and walked past.
Meanwhile, Aide Lance only blinked.
’H-He has a wife? But he is so young... even I don’t have a girlfriend. How does he have a wife?’