Noroi

Chapter 10: Two Fights (New Beginning Arc)

Yaegresea Kingdom, Yaegresea Castle, Evening

"A gun? You really don't have to go so far. You haven't even said a word to me." The man pulled the trigger as Noctis swiftly moved past it. "Fine then." Noctis ran towards the man, keeping his eyes on the trigger and when the man will pull it. Another bullet was fired and pierced Noctis through his hand. "Argh." He looked in the direction of the shot to see nobody in sight. "A sniper?"

Noctis stepped back from the man and ran over to the nearest statue, using it for the cover. "This is an assassination. Someone wants me dead." He dropped his kunai on the ground so he could teleport to it later. "And where have the people of this place gone? What is happening around here?"

He peeked his head out slightly to see the man walking towards him. "I need to deal with that sniper first...But how? It's hard enough to move around with all this snow."

Noctis tried his best to sense the Sniper's Zen. To his shock, the pressure was faint. "Is he dying?"

He had wondered if Halline had done it, but he could ask later. Noctis went out from his cover and bumped into the man. He stepped back and threw a punch only to see the man catch it and fling Noctis into the sky. "Is this raw strength?!"

Noctis teleported to his Kunai behind the statue and grabbed it, turning the corner again and stabbing the man. The kunai got stuck in some sort of metal. "The hell are you?" Noctis shoved it to the ground with all his force, kicking its gun up to his hand and shooting two bullets into its head. "No blood. It's literally a robot?"

"Did you have fun?" Halline appeared out of nowhere, making Noctis jump slightly. She peered over his shoulder to look at the robot. "Oh, so you had one as well."

"The hell? Where did you leave to? I had to fight this guy alone." Noctis noticed Halline was out of breath, and eased up a little, knowing she was also fighting.

"I got bored of defending the castle and decided to go for a run!" Halline smiled as proudly as she could, annoying Noctis.

"You...went...on a run? During a mission? I'm meant to be your bodyguard for this mission!" Noctis folded his arms.

Halline looked up to the sky. "Bodyguard?" She thought for a moment. "Oh yeah, sorry, I keep mistaking this for a date."

Noctis was silent, giving Halline one deadly stare. He remained silent for a while. A long while. Halline stood in silence as well. It was awkward.

Noctis coughed. "Moving on, do you have any theories on why they would attack us like this?"

"It was the Magic Council," Halline announced so calmly. "If you check their necks, you can see a serial number. The first two number refers to the fifth lowest floor of the Magic Council Tower."

Noctis looked at the robot's neck to see the serial number she was talking about. "So what? Why did the Magic Council do this?"

Hallie closed her eyes, focusing on the wind breezing past her skin. "I don't think they planned on killing us. I think you can work out the rest."

"A distraction..." Noctis grabbed Halline's hands which were freezing and teleported back to Asrale City using one of the Kunais that he placed.