Hopelessness.
That was something Sofiya hadn't felt in her life—not at all. Due to the nature of her ability to affect the world around her to be the most optimal for her. She was born in the most optimal way and time. Her parents were incredibly wealthy, and yet not famous enough that it placed her in the spotlight.
Even through life, she managed to wade through without any problem at all—she didn't even know she had abilities for the first twelve years of her life. It wasn't until she started winning in her school's local lottery during their intramurals that she and her parents realized she was a Super.
Of course, that changed everything for her. When she knew that her ability was that she was lucky, she quickly joined her country's military to serve them and share her luck… that was also the time she realized she couldn't share her luck at all when her entire team was wiped out by a Super terrorist, and she was the only one who miraculously survived.
Since then, she started slowly climbing up in ranks—and now, she was just one step away from being the president of the Russian Federation.
So, hopelessness? She'd never truly experience that for herself… until now.
"Peek-A-Boo!"
She aimed her pistol at Darkday's leg to try and neutralize his movements, but her gun once again clicked when he suddenly leaned down, placing his head right at the line of sight.
This was utterly ridiculous.
The ability that has helped her entire life and made everything easier for her was practically being hijacked by the boy—by the creature in front of her.
"Thinking too much!" Darkday rushed at her, swinging the edge of his palm straight at her neck. But fortunately for her, as much as her abilities were trying to prevent her from killing Darkday, it was still working to keep her alive.
"Oh?" Darkday clumsily backed away as he found himself tripping again. The sound of his sigh seeping out from his helmet didn't escape Sofiya, and she could feel he was as frustrated as she was in the situation. Their only difference was…
…this devil was enjoying this situation.
"That didn't work, huh?" Darkday placed his hand on the chin of his helmet, tilting his head as he clicked his tongue several times. "I wonder what else I can do, hm? I could just retreat now, but you already know who I am. Not only that, ah… I told you my real ability. It—"
Sofiya took the chance to fire another shot at Darkday's leg while he was busy talking. But alas, even with him endlessly yapping, Darkday was still perceptive enough to follow the muzzle of her pistol, causing it to just click—no.
This time, it completely jammed.
"Cyka blyat!" Sofiya screamed in frustration. But of course, she still didn't panic. Instead, she took her pistol apart while crouching down, then swiftly tried to stab Darkday's leg with the slide—tried to. Darkday was able to slap her hand away.
"Good try," Darkday said, leaping back to gain some distance. "But I do have to tell you, Defence Minister; even with the difference in our age, even with your ability to alter probability…
…I still believe there's a wide gap between your combat abilities and mine. I am simply… better."
Sofiya stared at him for a moment, trying to look past his shattered visor. And then, with a breath, she did the most sensible thing at the moment.
She ran.
The only thing to do when fighting an unbeatable opponent, after all, was not to fight them at all.
She ran past her sofa, then grabbed what looked like a parachute underneath as she rushed toward the balcony. Before she could reach it, however, several knives flew at the doorway to block her path.
Still, Sofiya didn't panic as she knew that her abilities would find a way to keep her safe—she continued to run… but instead of her ability actually making a way, the sliding door closed on its own to block her.
"Wh…" She stopped in her tracks and then glanced back at Darkday—and true enough, his finger seemed to have just finished gesturing for the door to close. Confusion started to well up inside her, not knowing what exactly he was doing. But of course… Darkday was going to tell him.
"I just made three ways for you to die in this moment, Defence Minister," he started to explain, raising his finger. "The knives will kill you if you continue to run. But I know your ability would do something to stop that, so I chose to close the door so that you would slam into it if you continued to trust it. As for the third way for you to die, well… I'm still here. What I'm trying to say is that I'm trying to overload your abilities, Defence Minister."
"That will never happen."
"I thought of that, too."
"Huh?!" Sofiya quickly stepped to the side as she heard another Darkday talking beside her—and true enough, there was another one. No, not just one… but three, all carrying knives.
"So, aside from overloading it—I will also try to overload… you."
And to Sofiya's surprise, the three just dropped the knives right in front of her feet.
"So, let's do this again… shall we?"
And as soon as he said that, the three Darkdays in front of her started to multiply. And she was so focused on what she was seeing that she didn't realize that another Darkday was right behind her.
She quickly crouched, grabbing the two knives at her feet… but Darkday met her on the floor, grabbing her wrist and then pulling her hand to his neck. And then, it happened.
Sofiya's abilities had limits, and ironically enough, were still bound by the realms of… reality.
Before the knife could go through Darkday's neck… her wrist snapped in half, making the blade swerve and miss.
It wouldn't make sense for the knife to be the thing to snap, after all.
"Kh!" Sofiya gritted her teeth in pain. She was about to let go of the knife, but Darkday held her grip tight… and even placed another knife in her free hand.
Before Sofiya could even think about what Darkday was trying to do, she was completely distracted by the fact that her entire apartment was now completely filled with his clones.
"Do you get what I'm trying to do now?" Darkday whispered. Sofiya didn't really answer, however, as she was pushed by a clone behind her… practically making a sandwich with her in the middle. And very soon, she heard it…
…the sound of bone snapping. Not from her, but from Darkday.
"We're about to do something very interesting."
Sofiya's eyes widened as she realized both the knives she was holding were planted on his neck.
"We are slowly going to get crushed to death by my clones. I deliberately placed the knives next to my neck, so that when everything gets tighter, you would decapitate and kill me… and I get your abilities. Or, I could get crushed to death first… but then you will suffocate to death. Or, well, we both get crushed to death at the same time… but I'll revive, and you'll still be dead. Or, you get crushed first. Lots of choices, right?"
"You…"
"Now then…
…shall we leave it to luck?"
