As Bishuti Predicted
The incident unfolded exactly as Bishuti had predicted.
I bolted upright in bed the moment the commotion erupted, flicking on the light. The first sight that hit me was a massive python impaled by a dagger, tangled in a heap with Bishuti—who was clad in his stealth suit—rolling across the floor.
"This guy actually came crawling in...."
Right after the meeting wrapped up, Bishuti had reviewed Colossus's analysis and pointed out a flaw in the security net. He claimed it was deliberate. Leave one intentional gap, he said, and the assassin would slither right in on his own. When he bluntly announced he'd use me as bait, I flat-out refused.
The problem? Elama had overheard the whole thing. He marched over and smacked the back of my head.
'Do it if he says to. What's there to worry about with that ox-head watching your back?'
And just like that, I ended up huddled under the covers in full protective gear—bulletproof vest, helmet, the works—shaking with anxiety.
Of course, I'd put Colossus on standby too, just in case Bishuti slipped up. It was scary enough without that, but I couldn't even sleep, had to keep the contact lenses in, and my eyes were burning like hell.
Still, they caught him. Small mercies.
"...Haha, fine. I'll admit it. You win."
For some reason, the assassin pinned by Bishuti was chuckling like he'd heard a great joke.
Staring at a talking snake wasn't exactly a mood-lifter, especially one gunning for our lives. The bankers watching him giggle nonchalantly—even with a dagger lodged in his body—were all pulling faces like they'd seen something gross.
"I lost, so no choice. Ask whatever you want, except my client's identity."
"Can't fathom your confidence. Your life's in my hands."
Amid the chaos, Bishuti alone kept his gaze ice-cold and steady.
Please, for the love of—don't lop his head off in front of me just because he's an assassin.
"What I'm saying is, the idea that I'd die by your hand is all wrong. I'm surrendering now because finishing the job without killing anyone looks tricky—not because I can't kill everyone here."
The mystery assassin snickered for a bit, then twisted his serpentine body.
-Kuduk
The dagger-impaled section popped off like a puzzle piece. His form began shifting into a human.
The rocket shooter from earlier had been human, so where'd the python come from? Transformation ability, huh. In a world where magic was real, stuff like this barely fazed me anymore—it just felt... normal.
"No clue what your angle is, but him opening his mouth is suspicious. Neutralize him properly. An escape would be a nightmare."
"Agreed. No reason to humor an assassin's words."
Elama and Razma looked eager to just off the guy, but Bishuti saw it differently.
"Complete the request without killing? Explain."
Bishuti eyed the assassin, still bound head to toe in metal rope but grinning like he owned the place. His expression was conflicted—like he knew something we didn't.
"Just like I said. No plans to kill you lot or that newlywed couple snoring in the other room. The job was to scare 'em into splitting up, no deaths."
-Puk!
Bishuti's combat boot slammed into the guy's face before he could finish.
"You expect us to buy that in this situation?"
A normal human's skull would've shattered on impact. But the assassin turned his head translucent and jiggly like jelly at the moment of contact, absorbing the blow completely.
"Ease up, bro. You can't kill me."
He reshaped his face back to normal and spoke to Bishuti like he was offering friendly advice.
"I could still dice you all up anytime. This toy can't hold me. I'm playing nice right now purely to finish the job."
It didn't sound like a lie. The assassin twisted his limbs at bizarre angles and slipped free of the restraints in a blink—faster than we could react.
"Watch closely."
-Tsupat!
I opened my mouth to ask what the hell we were supposed to watch, but his hand blurred into an afterimage.
I fixated on his clenched fist, wondering what was up. Then he slowly opened his palm. Four thumbnails sat there.
"......!!"
Pain exploded through my scalp a beat late. Elama, long numb to pain, and Bishuti, who'd barely dodged, were fine. The rest of us—me, Isaac, and... wait, Elama too?—let out delayed groans of agony.
Bright red blood poured from the right thumbs of me, Elama, and Isaac.
We'd kept our distance, but he'd somehow transformed just his hand to pluck our nails one by one. Impossible.
"Crazy...."
The assassin toyed with the spotless nails like he was juggling air, flicking them up and catching them. He was clearly savoring our reactions.
"Plan A was half-kill you clowns and drag you to the target. Threaten to off the lot unless they stamped those divorce papers."
-Pisuk!
He dodged Bishuti's military dagger and kept talking.
"But turns out there's a pro who can slip my senses. Yeah, this white-furred minotaur bro here."
He smacked Bishuti's strike away with his forearm. In that instant, I unleashed Colossus, whom I'd been holding back with commands.
Intruder Elimination Sequence Activated.
-Kwaaaaa!!
Colossus burst from behind the pillow, leaving a golden trail in his charge. The monatomic gold energy flared to max output in a beam saber. The light blade extended long enough to cleave a person in half, slashing straight down at the assassin's crown.
-Bwoong!!
The air ionized into plasma from the superheat, filling the room with a weird stench. But Colossus's strike whiffed. The bastard transformed his body at unbelievable speed, dodging the Bishuti-Colossus combo.
"Told you, no interest in fighting. The nail thing? Just to prove I gave it my all."
"You've been spouting bullshit since—"
"Whoa, bro. Chill and hear me out."
He leaped back to perch on the windowsill, hands raised like he was calming a wild animal. I figured we should at least hear the guy out, so I commanded Colossus to stand down.
"Like I said, I could kill you all. Got a real knack for this stuff. But you, minotaur bro—you're the 'Twin-Horned Reaper' with a rep in Dimension 25, right?"
"......"
Bishuti clicked his tongue, naked hostility in his eyes. Didn't like the nickname, maybe?
"Heard the stories. Not cocky enough to think I could pull this off without a single death with you on guard."
"Sounds like you could kill me if you didn't hold back."
"Duh. But the client specifically said no kills."
Colossus's scans showed no wavering emotions, no killing intent. He might be some psychopath who offs people without malice. But the lens data had zero lie-noise mixed in—everything checked out as truth.
"Me bailing means the pay's too low for the difficulty—I'm refusing the job. Can't do it without kills, and tangling with you means I'd take some hits too."
"Not a failure, then. Client fed bad intel, so you're walking. That it?"
"Spot on. I keep my record clean, and the newlyweds across the hall don't have to split. Win-win."
I desperately wanted to hand this guy over to the cops. But even Bishuti—our top fighter—and Colossus together couldn't subdue a pro hitman like this. No way to hold him here. Too risky.
Best to let him slink off as he wanted, maybe.
Elama and the others shot me glances. I'd told them before: Colossus's radar plus my eyes could read intents pretty well—not Mira-level, but close enough.
They wanted confirmation through me that the assassin wasn't bullshitting.
I nodded once. Elama let out a groan. Still looked unconvinced.
Truth be told, I was struggling to buy it wholesale too. Simple reason.
"If you really had zero intent to kill, why fire an anti-tank rocket at the bank counter?"
If the job was just scare the Vainaus couple into divorcing without deaths, no need to launch explosives at the outpost.
But the assassin's reaction? Totally off the wall.
"What're you talking about? Mine was a fake loaded with tear gas. Never even exploded."
"What?"
Bishuti took the shock hardest.
"Impossible. Colossus sliced the warhead—it was packed with explosives."
"...What?"
Now he was floored.
"No way... I was told non-lethal for sure...."
He kept muttering, face falling like a kid who lost his toy.
"Can't even ID your own weapons properly. Tricky powers, sure—but third-rate assassin material."
"...You done talking, bro?"
Bishuti's taunt lit a fire under him. I didn't know much about killers, but this one was a motormouth. Or maybe just this weirdo.
"More importantly—can you prove that? You might look like a moron to you guys, but if the arms dealer screwed me, shit's about to hit the fan."
We traded quick looks. Maybe there was more to this mess we didn't know.
If talking him down worked, worth a shot. Everyone nodded tacit agreement.
"Colossus, pull blackbox data."
One record confirmed. Displaying cross-section of anti-tank rocket warhead.
A vivid super-slow-mo hologram of Colossus's visual data projected into the air.
"That Gamel prick—no wonder he ghosted... He fucking backstabbed me?"
The assassin's face turned beet-red with rage, like a ripe tomato.