All two bullets found their mark, striking each target right in their forehead.
They dropped instantly, their momentum carrying them forward a few steps before they crumpled to the ground in a heap of dark cloaks.
He was so accurate that he even astonished himself. He lowered the pistol, the barrel of the pistols smoking slightly while he took a moment to look at the bodies.
They lay limp on the forest floor with dark blood spurting out from the clean holes in their heads, staining the refreshing green grass of the forest with a deep crimson.
They were two men, dressed in dark, tattered cloaks with hoods that shadowed their faces. They carried daggers with strange inscriptions on the blades.
He leaned in for a closer look but couldn't decipher the foreign text. Although right now he had bigger problems than that, therefore he didn't pay it much heed.
The system hadn't pinged. The quest wasn't complete.
There's more of them.
He turned to leave but glanced back at the bodies one last time.
Well, this isn't the first time, if you count that pilot. But it sure feels different seeing it up close.
He wasn't a psychopath. He knew he had just ended three lives. He knew they had families, dreams, and most likely people who cared about them. But he had just turned all of that to dust in mere seconds.
He was perfectly aware.
And yet he didn't hesitate.
They aren't related to me. They don't matter to me. They are of no benefit to me. So why should I care?
That was all there was to it. A cold, simple logic that had kept him safe in his old world.
I'll probably have to do this more from now on. This is a different world, after all. And who knows what sort of monstrosity have I been spawned into? He thought to himself, wondering about the things he'll have to face from now on.
Things that would be completely unknown to him.
Yet ironically, it wasn't that much different from his old world. Only the setting had changed. The rules were still the same.
A sarcastic smile touched his lips when he dawned upon this realization. He left the bodies behind and moved forward.
He held the pistol firmly in his hands while keeping them steady.
The dense forest began to thin out, the thick canopy of leaves giving way to a more open sky.
The undergrowth was replaced by tall, swaying grass and a few trees that were scattered across the area in no particular pattern.
"Stay alert, we're almost there."
A voice. It was low, but it cut through the air. It came from up ahead.
He froze instantly, dropping into a low crouch and melting into the shadows of a tree near him.
After a moment, he moved forward again but this time he was much slower and quieter.
His movements were calculated, carefully placed so that he doesn't make any sound that could give away his location.
He crouched behind a thick bush near the source of the voices and eavesdropped on the voices that were coming from there.
"The time is almost up. What the fuck are Cameron and Jaxen doing?" a man's voice said.
Allen peeked through the leaves. There were two men dressed in dark clothes up ahead, and they seemed to be waiting for someone.
Their outfits were also similar to the men he'd met beforehand.
Doesn't seem like they're gonna meet Cameron and Jaxen again.
He shifted slightly, leaning out to get a better view of the area.While at the same time being careful enough to not expose himself.
Since the forest wasn't much dense, he could see ahead for quite a good distance.
There was a faint waterfall that fell into a pond, from which the incoming water then drained into a small trail of a river.
In the pond, near the waterfall, he saw a girl.
She had long and silky silver-colored hair that came down to her waist, along with a pair of crystal red eyes that looked like beautifully placed bixbites when seen in contrast to her snow-like skin.
She had a serene expression on her face and was completely naked. It seemed like she was taking a bath under the waterfall.
The water poured over her figure, which looked as smooth as a marble statue. Her physique was well-proportioned, with a slender waist and ample breasts that highlighted her delicate curves.
Her pale white skin was smooth and hairless in every place. All of her seemed to be perfect in combination, creating a quite contrasting scene when looked in comparison to this dark and gritty forest.
It was as if she was a fallen angle, who did not belong in this vile place.
Due to his father Allen had seen a lot of women of high society in his old world and yet he would be outright lying if he said that she was not prettier than all of them combined.
After observing carefully for a bit, Allen then looked back at the two men in the cloak and tried to analyze the situation to the best of his abilities.
An ambush? No, they look more like assassins. System, are those guys the only "hostiles"? Or is the girl included?
[Recon and data processing capabilities are unavailable at the current level.]