But as he was about to pull the trigger, Felix leapt forward and kicked his hand upward, shooting at the ceiling.
"The hell?!" Taken by surprise, Harbinger clutched his throbbing arm and looked back at him, his blue-eyed enemy now on all fours.
Felix dropped to all fours, with a limb dangling on the ground. A stance reminiscent of a wounded animal. He shot the disheveled man a feral glare, with pupils like slits. A predator focusing on its prey, taking one small step at a time.
"Is this why you're called the Black Cat?" Harbinger shouted, his voice cracking with rage, "What have they done to you, boy?"
The blue-eyed agent began bouncing around the room, jumping above one server to another. Left, right, left right, leaving cracks on the black glass, closing the space between them.
A vein popped in the older man's forehead as he grew increasingly frustrated.
But when the blue-eyed agent finally lunged at him, Harbinger aimed exactly where he would be, expecting it, and immediately fired straight at his forehead. A blue light flashed from Felix's face, shooting his body towards one of the black pillars.
As he crashed, the rogue lowered his gun and let out an exhausted exhale. He ran his fingers across his disheveled hair, trying to compose himself.
Blood poured from Felix's face as he let out a weak cough.
"Still alive? Time to put this kitty down for good." The brown-haired man pointed his gun one more time. As he pulled the trigger, however, there was nothing but a hollow click. He had run out of bullets.
Felix's eyes opened slowly, his pupils no longer slit. Disoriented, his vision struggled to focus. A chunk of his cheek had been blown off, leaving a gaping bleeding hole across his face.
"Tsk…" Harbinger grabbed the blue-eyed agent by the throat and slammed him against the wall, "Enhanced humans? This is supposed to be the pinnacle of human strength? The next link in the evolutionary chain? Don't make me laugh!"
His grip tightened as he leaned in, "What makes enhanced humans so special? What makes you so special?!"
Struck with a barrage of spiteful questions, Felix looked at him, revealing the bullet that he caught in his bloodstained teeth.
"Huh?!"
"Ptoo!" He spat it at the old man's face.
"You little!" An enraged grin formed on the man's face as the shard of lead struck his cheek, staining it with blood and saliva.
Harbinger squeezed his neck tighter, asking, "Please, explain to me how a novice like you, the poster boy of Project ASTRAEA, reached rank thirteen?!" Frustration bleeding through the ex-agent's words.
With only one useful arm, the blue-eyed agent grappled against the hand choking him. His face swelled as he struggled.
My rank? What does that have to do with any of this?
Sweat dripped over his mismatched eyes, turning Harbinger's manic face into nothing but a vague blur. With barely any air getting into his lungs and brain, Felix's consciousness was quickly fading into black.
But before he could pass out, he faintly heard Harbinger's ridicule, "Who would have thought… that Nocturne's little brother… would turn out to be so pathetic?!"
As he uttered those words, small, ephemeral blue sparks erupted from the wound on Felix's other arm.
He's right, I've done nothing to earn my place… It's probably nothing more than the whims and expectations of the higher-ups.
But who cares?
I'm not gonna die a second time. Not on my first mission. Not when I haven't achieved anything.
I still have to honor my promise. I will rise higher—
And you're in the way!
A sharp slash whipped against the wind, followed by a dull wet thud on the ground.
Felix's wounded arm was raised towards the ceiling, set ablaze with a fiery blue haze pouring out from his wound.
Harbinger's eyes slowly descended to where the sound came from, where he saw something familiar wrapped in a sleeve, leaking with blood.
He shifted his gaze back forward, his face went pale.
"Huh?" Realizing his arm had been cleanly taken off, his voice cracked, and he clutched his dismembered arm.
Freed from his grip, Felix took a deep gasp, finally able to breathe. Each breath burning his lungs. While he supported himself against the wall, his body became enveloped by thousands of flickering sparks.
Harbinger bit his lip, his expression contorted into rage. Attacking with his remaining arm — but the black-haired agent took the hit without moving.
In front of him was the same agent, with the same raven-black hair, and the same blistering wound on his face. But now, he was bathed in a blue glow that outlined his body.
Azure sparks glistened around the child of stars, and wiry strings of electricity started to form from his wounds, weaving and sewing his cheek back together, reforming the missing parts of his face.
Harbinger tried to pull back his arm, but the blue haze clung to him.
"Let me go!" With a loud, desperate cry, the veteran swung his foot, kicking Felix dead in the face.
The countless dots scattered, and he slipped out.
Only for the particles to flow like flames, weaving, spiraling.
"What…" Harbinger's mouth trembled at the sight of the crystalline structure, "The hell is that?!"
It was like a miniature star formed around Felix's body.
Sections in the structure thinned, gaps stretched where enhanced human's gaze lingered.
"MONSTER!" Harbinger shouted.
Felix's glowing blue eyes widened.
The veteran's instincts screamed for him to run, but his body faltered, a few seconds too late to respond. He was only able to turn around and take half a step forward.
Then, the blue star burst —
Crystallized haze exploded from Felix, scattering little blue glitters that illuminated every part of the server room. The silent shockwave blasted Harbinger through a row of servers, shattering the black pillars in his path.
With slow aching steps that lifted up the rubble around him, Felix approached the fallen ex-agent with a snarl.
Once again disheveled, Harbinger tilted his head up. Standing before him was the man he had taunted, wrapped in cold, silent rage.
"P-please… spare me…" Lying atop the broken black pillars, he pleaded, "I'm just doing what they told me to..."
"By who? Who ordered you to do this? What are they after? Why did you disappear from the agency?" Felix snarled, grabbing the old man by the collar and fired a flurry of questions.
"He took everything… He said he'd give her back… He said he'd give her back if I did what he told me to…"
"Give who back? Who is he?! Tell me before you bleed out!"
"Her… her, her! HER! GIVE ME BACK MY WIFE!!" The rogue screamed.
Felix recoiled as Harbinger began to convulse violently, dropping him to the ground. The broken man sniffled. "…I can't… even remember her face… My beloved… please forgive me…"
"I see." He concluded, the blue haze that enveloped his body dissipating into wisps of powdery blue light. He picked up the gun on the ground, "If that's all you can offer me…"
"Please… don't… don't kill me…"
"No loose ends." The blue-eyed agent reloaded his silver pistol, "You'll forgive me, won't you?"
Harbinger's looked up at Felix with tears in his eyes, reflecting the glowing aura that he emitted, and began to chuckle, "It all makes sense now, Julius…"
"What? Who's Julius?"
"That power… the Fallen Sun… The Child of Stars… It's you! You're the one he's afraid of! Felix Ast—!" A wet gag sputtered out of the ex-agent's throat.
Green bile splattered out of the old man's mouth as he laughed maniacally.
With a mix of disgust and shock, the blue-eyed agent took a step back, only to notice undissolved pills and capsules from the vomit.
"Drugs?" He squinted, "…Steroids?"
"Please… don't kill…" The broken man pleaded, falling to the floor.
Felix's hand trembled as he aimed his gun at Harbinger's head.
But before he could pull the trigger, a memory intruded in his head. One with a soft smile, and a warm ember glow. The words echoed in his ears, "You're a good, kind person, aren't you?"
The blue haze that enveloped him dispersed, and his smile faded along with it. He looked to the side and clicked his tongue.
"You're an Elite Agent… have some pride, damn it." With a disappointed sigh, he fell to the floor and glared at him with pitying eyes.
Harbinger let out a soft chuckle and closed his eyes, turning completely silent.
Felix sat on the floor and let out a deep exhale, exhausted from the battle.
After all this time, I didn't know what to expect… But I guess I was hoping for something different. Like those battles Luna used to have.
He clutched his shirt, as if to squeeze something beneath it. His expression sank.
Blood dripped from his nose as his veins glowed, illuminating his flesh from within.
"Urk…" He winced. His expression quickly changed to panic, as an uncontrollable blue fire burst out, crackling into streams of electricity, "Huh?!"