Chapter 89: Ch128. Octavius
Kurt thought for a while, after Cinthia told him where his friends were.
’System, what’s my current power level, comparing to those of the Association members?’
[IF YOU ALLOW ME TO SAY IT MORE PRECISELY THAN THAT, I COULD SAY THAT YOUR POWER LEVEL IS, CURRENTLY, EQUIVALENT TO THOSE BETWEEN A AND S RANK]
It made Kurt think, and after some careful consideration, he smirked.
"I’m going alone."
Cinthia’s eyes went wide.
"But-"
"I do want your help, but first, I want to make a statement to them." Kurt kept speaking, before Cinthia could say anything. "And in order for me to do so, you guys have to keep hidden here, safe... And completely unrelated to me."
Cinthia and the others looked at each other, confused, but before they could throw any questions at Kurt, he just put his mask on, and vanished in the shadows, leaving them speechless.
***
It didn’t take long for Kurt to find the Association’s building, and once he arrived in front of it, appearing out of nowhere, with darkness dancing around him like smoke, the passersby were dumbstruck.
Some of them took out smart cameras and connected to their holowatches, recording the unknown person’s appearance live.
Others stepped back, sensing that their routines had just been disrupted by something out of their comprehension scope.
Kurt, however, didn’t say a word.
He just waited until a few of the Association’s security staff showed up, ready to attack.
"State your name, and business, before we open fire!" One of them shouted.
But Kurt just raised his index finger, slowly shaking it.
"ATTACK!" The man ordered, but suddenly he couldn’t move.
He tried moving his head, but only his eyes were able to move, so he looked sideways, and noticed that he wasn’t the only one unable to move.
’So far, so good.’ Kurt thought to himself, taking a step forward.
Then another one, and one more, until he was as close as possible from the main entrance.
But before he could get in, he felt a surge of energy coming towards him, and dodged.
He didn’t get caught by the blizzard spell cast towards him by just a hairsbreadth.
Kurt smiled under his mask.
’So, you guys want to play a bit more serious, now?’
He raised shadows in front of him, while the blizzard kept coming like a snow storm.
After a few seconds, Kurt could see a woman in her mid twenties, with blonde hair, wearing a black skirt, and a blue jacket.
Her eyes were as blue and cold as winter itself, and after she threw a few more blizzards at him, Kurt finally decided to pull his defenses down.
And all that was left, was the thick ice cover that the woman’s blizzard produced when it touched Kurt’s shadow shield.
"Stop right there, whoever you are!" The woman said. "Or I won’t be so gentle as to throw simple blizzards against you."
Kurt was focusing his senses to see if he could find his friends inside the building, so he didn’t hear much of what the woman said.
However, he wasn’t dumb enough to just throw them all in the same bag as bad people.
And he didn’t want to harm any innocent people, otherwise, his first impression would be the opposite of what he was trying to show.
So he just got a hold of her shadow, keeping her from moving.
Them he had an idea.
He already thought of it in a few other occasions, but never really had a chance to try it out, so he decided it was a good one to go.
He activated the virtual keyboard in his holowatch, and started typing.
And as soon as he typed a sentence, the device’s voice converter spoke.
<I don’t want to hurt any of you.>
<Just tell me where you’re keeping Evellyn Smith and Nikolai Semenov, and I’ll leave in peace.>
The woman’s eyes went wide as she looked at him.
"So you’re with them... Just turn around and leave. I won’t hurt you if you do just that..."
Kurt didn’t understand why she said it like that, but he wasn’t intending on simply leaving.
So he gave one more step forward.
<It’s not like you can do anything but speak, right?>
She gritted her teeth, trying to move but failing.
"I’m just trying to make things easy for you... You irregulars are no match for the Association’s president."
<I’ll give you all one simple alternative.>
<If you’re nothing but following orders, run as soon as I release you.>
<If not, I won’t be responsible for your lives, as soon as you start attacking me.>
Everyone fell silent.
They knew, just by feeling the effects of the ability being exerted upon them, how strong their opponent was.
Which meant that even if they attacked, there still was little to no chance of them getting out of it alive.
"Will you spare us if we retreat?" One of the security staff asked.
<My beef is only with those actively hunting the regulars and irregulars.>
<And with those who locked Smith and Semenov in there.>
Kurt felt the presence before the voice echoed, but he still wasn’t waiting for its owner to actually be there.
"A mask... The power to control shadows, and an imposing presence that makes even my subordinates want to run in fear... I didn’t know I would be meeting you here... Silence."
Underneath Kurt’s mask, his expression showed confusion and despair.
How could anyone from this world-line know about a persona that hadn’t even been created?
The man was wearing a fine blue suit, and his short hair dances in the wind.
But what caught Kurt’s attention the most, was the red glow in the man’s blue eyes.
"I thought you weren’t supposed to appear here, after Rhegal Vir’Dun’s death." Octavius Blake called out. "Yet, you never cease to surprise, right?"
<Everybody, run!>
But they weren’t fast enough as to escape the lightning fast slash that split their bodies in half.
