Chương 9: Butterfly Effect

The front door to his apartment clicked shut behind him. Lio walked to the small cabinet and began pulling out his Delver gear, laying each piece on the bed carefully. He then reached into his pockets and waistband, and brought out the multiple supplies he had stolen. He frowned. He'd wasted too much time trying to find Ophila that he hadn't had the chance to get other tools and weapons he would need.

His hands began moving automatically, checking the buckles and testing the knots, while his mind worked through a different problem entirely. Should I kill her? The thought arrived coldly, ready to be examined and considered. If she followed through and arrived at the Union building at five-thirty tomorrow morning, the area would be relatively empty at that hour. He could position himself in one of the side alleys and drive the Adamantine blade through her spine.

Regardless of what rune she had, she'd be dead before her body hit the ground. He tilted his head in deep thought. The clear pros were that the anomaly would be eliminated. The pattern would theoretically return to normal, and the loop would stabilize. The cons were that he still didn't understand why she'd caused the change. Killing her wouldn't give him that information. And if she was connected to the loop's mechanics in some way, eliminating her might accomplish nothing.

Lio set down the harness he'd been checking and stared at the wall. There was also the possibility that she was important, and that her ability to disrupt the pattern meant she could also possibly disrupt other things. That meant she might actually be useful for reaching Rion in time. But that was just a small speculation. His hand moved to his chest, where the [Bookmark] rune sat beneath his shirt. He pressed his palm against it, feeling the faint warmth that emanated from the mark.

If Lio killed her, then he'd be destroying the first anomaly he'd encountered. But then again, if he kept her alive, he'd be partnering with a completely unknown variable who might betray him, slow him down, or even get him killed. Both options carried so much risk and potential. Lio's hand dropped from his chest. He picked up the Adamantine knife, testing its weight in his palm. He sighed, making his decision. He would choose to observe her further, testing to see if she was truly useful and not just deadweight.

And if she wasn't… Well, accidents happened in Ghenna all the time. Lio set the knife down with the rest of his gear and walked to the window. The sun had fully set now, leaving Crater City in darkness. He stood there, his reflection barely visible in the grimy glass. His vacant eyes stared back at him, showing nothing. Tomorrow, he would decide whether she lived or died. Lio slid into bed, pulling the thin blanket over himself.

The mattress creaked beneath his weight as he settled in, staring up at the still-remaining water stain on the ceiling. He had just closed his eyes, when the sound of creaking reached his hypersensitive ears. Lio's eyes snapped open, but the rest of his body remained perfectly still. His breathing didn't change, nor did his finger even twitch. To anyone watching, he would appear to be completely asleep. Soon there was another creak, just outside the door.

The door handle turned slowly, the metal grinding softly against the mechanism. Whoever was out there was trying to be quiet, but the old and worn out building was working against them. The door eased open with a drawn-out groan. Lio kept his breathing slow and even, his eyes barely cracked open just enough so that he could see through his lashes without appearing awake. A figure slipped inside. He was a male, judging by the bulky build. Medium height, and wearing dark clothes.

The intruder paused, letting his eyes adjust to the darkness. Then he began moving toward the bed. Lio's mind calmly worked through the possibilities. This could be a common thief, though the fourth Ring rarely produced thieves competent enough to move this quietly. More likely someone sent by the organization chasing Ophila. The figure reached the bedside. Lio could make out more details now—like the gloved hands that held a knife in a reverse grip. The knife moved toward Lio's throat.

In one smooth motion, the blade pressed against his skin. The stranger pressed down hard with enough force to wake someone up, while not breaking the skin. Lio's eyes flew open. He gasped, his body jerking up in what looked like genuine shock. His hands came up instinctively toward the knife, then froze as the blade pressed harder.

"Don't move," a raspy male voice whispered.

"Don't make a single fucking sound." Stolen story; please report.

"I—what—" Lio made his voice come out in a higher pitch, and added a slight trembling to seal the deal. His eyes were wide, darting between the hooded face and the knife at his throat.

"Please, I don't have any money, I just—""Shut the fuck up." The blade pressed down even harder.

"I'm going to ask you some questions. And you're going to answer them. Understand?" Lio nodded frantically, his breathing rapid and shallow. His hands were shaking where they hovered near the knife. A very believable performance for a seventeen-year-old boy that was just woken by a blade to his throat. Meanwhile, behind the terrified expression, Lio's mind was working through his options. The man's stance was a bit off balance, having put his weight too much into his left sole. He really was an amateur.

His knife hand was steady but his other hand kept twitching toward his belt. A backup weapon, or maybe something else? The gloves were expensive black leather, not the cheap kind you'd find around here. And that raspy voice was most likely disguised.

"That girl you were talking to," the man said.

"Where is she?" Lio let his eyes widen even more, forcing his voice to crack.

"W-what girl? I don't—I don't know what you're—" The knife pressed down harder, and Lio felt a thin line of blood trickle down his neck.

"Don't play stupid with me, kid. You were talking to her on your steps not even an hour ago." The man leaned closer, his breath smelling of rotten garlic and iron.

"Where the fuck is she?" Lio filed the clue away in his mind. So they had been watching, which meant there were likely more of them. But this one had come alone, which hinted at either confidence or some sort of desperation. Just what kind of information does Ophila have to warrant this sort of reaction?

"I—I don't know!" Lio's voice rose even more in pitch, bordering on a panicked sob.

"She just—she just asked me for directions to an inn!"

"What else did she say to you?"

"N-nothing! Just… just that she was new to the city and needed a place to sleep!" Lio let a shudder of fear run through his body.

"Please, I didn't do anything wrong, I was just trying to help—""Where?" the man demanded, pressing the knife down harder.

"Which inn?"

"The—the Copper Bell!" Lio stammered, the lie coming out easily.

"It's an inn two blocks down That's what I told her, I swear!" In reality, the Copper Bell was actually one of the most expensive inns in the Fourth Ring—far too costly for someone with patched gear and no money. Ophila would have been turned away at the door within minutes of arriving. The man's grip on the knife loosened slightly.

"You're sure about that?"

"Y-yes," Lio whispered, his voice trembling.

"That's all I know, I promise. Can you—can you please leave now?" The man stared down at him for a long moment. Then he let out a sharp, dark laugh.

"Leave?" The man's voice dripped with a morbid amusement.

"Sorry, kid. Can't do that." Lio's eyes widened.

"But I told you everything! I don't know anything else, I swear—""Oh, I know you don't." The man changed his grip on the knife, the blade gleaming in the dim moonlight.

"But see, that doesn't really matter anymore."

"What—what do you mean?" The man leaned in closer, and Lio could see his eyes now beneath the hood. They were bright and insane, almost feverish, with a sick kind of excitement dancing in them.

"You know what the best part of this job is?" the man whispered conspiratorially.

"It's not the money or about catching that blonde bitch." His grin widened, showing yellowed teeth.

"It's the fucking bonuses." His free hand reached out and patted Lio's cheek almost affectionately, making Lio flinch.

"Like you, kid." The man's breathing quickened.

"Just some unlucky boy in the wrong place at the wrong time. Nobody's gonna miss you." He licked his lips, his tongue sliding over those yellowed teeth.

"And after I'm done with cutting off your limbs... well, waste not, want not, right?" The man's grin widened.

"I'm going to eat you." What? Lio almost raised an eyebrow at the statement. A cannibal? In a thousand loops, he'd never encountered one before. He'd encountered thieves, murderers, rapists, slavers, and every other variety of degradation humanity had to offer. But never a cannibal. It was almost... refreshing. Was this the result of Ophila's new influence on this world? The man continued talking, seemingly enjoying his villainous monologue.

"You know, since you're going to die anyway, I might as well tell you." He leaned back, that feverish grin still plastered on his face.

"I have a rune. Want to know what it does?" Lio's fake trembling didn't stop, but his mind was alert. A rune?

"Every person I eat," the man whispered, "I get a little bit of their strength." He flexed his free hand.

"I killed and ate seventeen people so far, so I have seventeen bodies worth of power, kid. You'll be the eighteenth. And after I'm done with you, I'll be even stronger." His free hand moved to Lio's stomach, his nails pressing down through the thin fabric of his shirt.

"I'll start righttt here. Open you up nice and slow. It'll keep you alive as long as possible so everything stays fresh." He leaned in closer, his breath hot and rancid.

"You'll get to watch me work. What an honor, huh?" Behind his terrified mask, Lio was considering the new information. The rune the man had was definitely powerful and unique. Now he was even more interested in the organization. How had they managed to recruit this powerhouse?

"Please," he continued to whimper, still keeping up the act.

"Please don't—I don't want to die—""Everyone says that," the man said conversationally. His nails dug deeper into Lio's stomach.

"But don't worry. I'll make it slow and painful…" He leaned in even closer, until Lio could count the individual yellow stains on his teeth.

"Don't worry, I've learned to pace myself." His grin widened impossibly.

"I've gotten very good at it." Lio's right hand trembled where it rested near the man's knife hand, seemingly frozen in terror. But his left hand, hidden beneath the blanket, had already found the [Mach Heart] rune on his wrist.

"You got any last words, kid?" the man asked, positioning his knife over Lio's stomach.

"Make them good. I like to—" Lio activated [Mach Heart]. Intense power flooded his legs in an explosive burst. His right hand shot up, slamming his fist directly into the man's nose with the full force of the superhuman speed behind it. Pow! Cartilage and bone shattered, blood exploding across the man's face. The man recoiled with a howl of pain. But Lio didn't give him a chance to recover. His left hand found the rune on his ribcage—the same seven interlocking circles he'd used against the titans last loop.

[Isopolity] The Adamantine knife on his bed shuddered and blurred, until it shot across the room like a bullet. It slammed into the man's knife hand, punching a hole clean through his palm. The man's scream of pain was cut short as Lio's other hand grabbed his throat with a snake-like grip. The terrified expression melted off Lio's face, being replaced by an empty and placid appearance.

"Seventeen bodies worth of strength," Lio said softly, his voice carrying none of the fear from moments before.

"Wow. That's pretty impressive."