Chapter 17: Cursed City(5)
1127 Words
“What’s going on? It’s like they’ve seen a ghost,” the man mocked as he kept conjuring fire in his hands.
Suse scanned the place with her eyes. It was strange. People were watching the scene, but no one was scared—it was as if they didn’t care.
“If you’re revealing yourself, that means you plan to turn yourself in, right?” F16 asked, taking another sip of his cocktail.
“Hey, I’m the justice around here. That’s supposed to be my line,” the sheriff replied sarcastically.
“But I got tired of leaving behind charred corpses. This time, I want to talk to you. Even if I kill you, they’ll just send another group, and it’ll be the same hassle.”
F16 noticed he wasn’t lying. He finished his drink, stood up, and left a few coins on the table.
“Let’s talk outside then,” he said as he walked out.
The man with the wide-brimmed hat smiled broadly as he followed him.
“That’s what I like to see. I knew I could reason with you.”
Suse and Lin decided to follow them. If things went well, the XCP might surrender and avoid an unnecessary confrontation.
When they stepped outside, they saw the man sitting in the center of the town, perched on the edge of the well.
“You see… I know that to you I’m some kind of monster, but I used to be a normal person,” the sheriff began to explain.
“This is a small town. The bandits did nothing but loot, hurt, and kill our people.”
F16 watched him seriously. He already knew where the story was going.
“My sister and I could barely catch one or two. It wasn’t enough… until one day, he arrived.”
The man raised his weapon.
An elegant, golden revolver with ancient engravings.
“He gave us abilities. To me, to my sister… and to the whole town. We became the ones who fought for justice.”
“Wait… the whole town?” Suse asked from behind.
Lin looked around.
Doors were opening. Windows were lifting. The townsfolk watched in silence.
“Hey… this is strange,” Lin murmured.
“After that, we restored order. We wiped out the outlaws, and the Old West became safe again.”
The man smiled.
“My sister Lidia and I became justice. Then you arrived—the XCP organization. You tried to destroy our peace. He told us who you were.”
Felix tossed a coin into the well.
“So I want to ask you… now that you know my reasons… could you leave and let us keep dispensing justice?”
F16 simply sighed in response as he stretched his neck.
“I see. Two main XCPs… another XCP as the origin… and the entire town is an active anomaly.”
He signaled to Suse and Lin. Both understood and prepared themselves.
Felix’s smile vanished.
“Sorry, man. We’re not heroes. We keep the world stable from things like you,” F16 continued as he kept stretching.
He activated a chip on his wrist.
Strange gloves formed around his hands, glowing with a viscous purple energy.
“Shall we begin?”
Felix’s skull ignited.
His skin burned away, revealing a flaming skull. Two revolvers now burned in his hands.
Without warning, he fired.
The bullets didn’t travel straight—they twisted, tracing spirals of fire.
“Watch out!” Suse shouted.
She deflected several with her katana, but one exploded against the ground, sending out a wave of heat.
Lin leaped forward, transforming his limbs into beast-like legs.
Felix spun one of his revolvers.
The bullets fused in midair, forming a pulsing sphere of fire.
“Alright… enough warm-up.”
F16 advanced and shattered the sphere with a single punch.
The purple liquid on the gloves evaporated… absorbing into his body.
His muscles expanded. His veins bulged, and his eyes sharpened.
“…I still can’t get used to seeing that substance,” Lin murmured. “They used it when I was captured. The SX substance.”
How could normal people face monsters that shattered reality? At first, the organization asked itself the same question.
No matter how many weapons they had or how much training their recruits received, a human was still human—so they came up with an idea.
To create a d**g that would push humans beyond the limits of humanity itself: the SX substance.
F16 propelled himself forward at incredible speed while the sheriff kept firing, but every shot was dodged by F16.
In just a few seconds, he was in front of the XCP, its guard wide open.
Pam!
The first punch connected, launching the sheriff backward and shattering the fountain.
Clack!
Pum!
A knee strike was the next blow to land on the XCP, who was still trying to figure out what had hit him.
“Looks like he’s going to do all the work,” Suse said, not daring to enter the fight.
Felix fired again, now more composed.
One revolver fired piercing rounds, the other thermal explosions.
F16 dodged, but one bullet grazed his side and exploded behind him, burning his back.
“After all, he’s an F, right? It’s normal for him to fight like this,” Lin added, still waiting.
Within the XCP organization, there are different letters depending on the role you obtain beyond that of a normal agent. Some roles are known only to high command, while others are common knowledge.
I – Investigators
“s**t!” Felix growled. “You’re different from the others.”
The flames around him expanded, forming a scorching ring.
F16 took the damage but didn’t seem to care.
He dodged one shot, blocked another with an SX-hardened forearm, and landed a direct punch to Felix’s torso.
Pam!
A – Administrators
Felix was sent flying, but he rolled and fired from the ground.
F16 took a hit to the shoulder, stepping back once.
Felix smiled.
“Alright… now I’m having fun.”
F16 accelerated.
A punch. A knee. A hook.
Felix tried to fire point-blank, but F16 grabbed him by the neck and slammed him into the ground with overwhelming force.
F – Fighters
“You’re under arrest, Mr. Justice,” F16 said, looking down at Felix.
He had won.
“Then it’s time to—”
Bam!
But before he could do anything, a bullet lodged into his shoulder.
When he turned his head, he saw a skeleton in clothes holding a g*n.
“Sir F16, we have a problem,” Suse said as she looked around.
The townspeople had changed.
Every single one of them now had the same skeletal appearance, weapons in hand, all aiming at them.
- Writer
