Outside the farmhouse…
BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!
Hundreds of azure bullets bombard them from every angle. Overwhelmed, Manya gets loaded with bullets.
“Tsk!...「 Sanguis 」!” Bogdan exclaims.
His veins begin pulsating throughout his body. Quickly, he sprints across, dodging the bullets. He grabs Manya and leaps away onto a nearby building incredibly fast, avoiding the gun fire.
“WHERE DID THEY GO!?” The shooters say as they cease fire.
The shooters close in and back up against each other, gathering in an all round defensive position.
“Dammit that hurt!” Manya shouts.
“How are you awake? Scratch that, how are you alive? You took so many azure bullets..!” Bogdan replies.
“Guess I'm just built different! Kekeke!”
Manya jumps out of Bogdan's hands and scans the floor for a bit.
“This one should do!” He says, finding and picking a stick off of the floor.
Manya continues, taking a deep breath “Alrighty then, 『 Energy Cannot Be Created Or Destroyed 』: Divine Su-”
“Wait.” Bogdan interrupts, blocking his way with his arm.
“Look.” He continues, pointing at the shooters.
The shooters look like villagers, they are all malnourished and clothed in rags. A large portion of them are children and elderly people. They look terrified.
“Hmmm…Okay then.”
Manya then jumps down from the building onto the floor below.
“Wait, what are y-!?” Bogdan says, as Manya plummets to the ground.”
THUD!
Manya lands, cracking the concrete floor as he smashes onto the ground.
“Let’s talk.” He says.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGHHH!!!” They scream, panickingly shooting at him.
“Sigh…So annoying.” Manya says,
He sits on the ground as they continue to shoot him. Eventually however, they all run out of ammunition.
“Are you done?” He says, cracking his neck.
“HOW IS HE STILL ALIVE!?”
“WHAT IS HE!?”
The shooters scream in horror as they tremble in place.
“Let’s just calm down, just tell me what’s going on and I won’t kick your asses.” Manya assures them.
“W-WHERE IS THE TALL GUY THAT WAS WITH YOU!?” A bold villager inquires.
“He’s up there on that roof.” Manya points.
“YOU IDIOT WHY WOULD YOU TELL THEM?” Bogdan screams from on top of the building.
“We beg of you!..Let us kill him!!..Before it’s too late!!!” The villager responds.
“What do you mean ‘Before it’s too late’?”
“...TIMES UP.” An elusive voice says.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
The villagers scream as their bodies burst it into flames and blast apart into devastating explosions, decimating the surrounding area.
Manya and Bogdan are engulfed in the explosion with no escape.
The echoing sound of feet treading through snow resonate across the explosion site.
“Mmmmmm… I can smell it. The scent of some tasty young boys!” [The Brummies!] - SugarCube.
Another one of them runs further ahead and scouts the area.
“They’re gone!” [The Brummies!] - “Lord” Krinj
“...” [The Brummies!] - Incognito
The outskirts of the outer city…
“Cough…Hang in there kid..i’ll get us to your friends in no time.” Bogdan strains his voice.
Shreds of Bogdan's skin are dangling off of his body. He is missing an arm and has Manya slung over his shoulder. Manya has third degree burns all around his body and he is out cold, his injuries are minimal compared to Bogdans.
Bogdan staggers through the icy wasteland of the outer city. Jolts of pain course through his mangled body as his blood stains the white snow below him, leaving a crimson trail behind him.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Bogdan arrives at the entrance of the farmhouse and immediately collapses.
Inside the farmhouse…
“...Someones here. Are Manya and Bogdan back?” Kenzo ponders, as he approaches the front door.
He already has his blood-sword prepared as he cautiously opens the door. His senses are heightened, ready to kill. The icy wind bites his skin as he steps out.
In the distance, a familiar silhouette lies lifelessly. Kenzo steadily treads over. He sees it. Bogdan’s disfigured body, staining the snow, with Manya lying burnt next to him.
“Shit...Lando get here!” Kenzo shouts.
Lando lazily slugs out of this house as if he had just been woken up.
“It’s late…What is it?” Lando says, rubbing his eyes.
As Kenzo stares urgently at Lando, the gravity of the situation begins to sink in. Concerned, Lando begins making his way over to Kenzo.
“Is everything ok-” Lando says, before being engulfed with shock.
He sees them.
“Quickly, get Manya!” Kenzo says as he lugs Bogdan's humongous frame over his back.
The next morning…
As the morning light creeps through the windows of the farmhouse, Manya awakens from a bed in the farmhouse. Memories of the night before begin flooding into his mind. But as his mind starts to wander, a sweet aroma glides up his nose and pulls his body towards the source. He follows it through the corridor, all the way downstairs and into the sitting room. Where he finds Kenzo, Lando, Bogdan and the mysterious girl relaxing, enjoying pancakes with maple syrup.
“Oh Manya you’re up, help yourself.” Lando says.
“Oh, I will!”
Lando drops his fork before taking another bite.
“Alright I'm tired of ignoring this, both of you had terrible injuries but they just vanished overnight. I need answers!”
“I would say it’s likely due to Manya’s ability. He manipulates kinetic energy so he likely reflexively uses it to increase blood flow and accelerate tissue repair in injured areas.” Kenzo chips in.
“You are quite an intellectual.” Bogdan replies.
“Well, I read. Still though, I can't think of a reasonable explanation for how you survived that. Your injuries were a lot worse than Manya’s too, to the point where I thought you would certainly die. Although I'm guessing it has something to do with your taint.”
“Yeah, it makes no sense!” Lando agrees.
“Well, we’ve already been through alot together so I suppose I can reveal my taint to you. 『 Cheat Death 』, the ability to fully recover when on the verge of death.”
“Holy shit, that’s broken.” Lando replies.
Manya is still stuffing his face with pancakes while everyone is talking. He begins taking the pancakes from other people's plates as well, until he arrives at the mysterious girl’s plate.
“Who the hell are you!?” Manya shouts.
“Don’t bother, she won’t say anything. That’s the girl we found-” Lando says before being interrupted.
“I’m Alice, nice to meet you!” She replies.
Landos jaw drops.
“Why are you still here? Get lost, this place is only for people in my gang… UNLESS YOU’RE HERE BECAUSE YOU WANT TO JOIN ME!?”
“Tsk. We’re not a gang!” Kenzo exclaims.
“Mhm, No way.” Bogdan agrees.
“Well I guess I can join temporarily, you guys seem strong. And I wanna get off the continent as soon as possible.” Alice replies.
“Very true, it now seems impossible for me to return to the Chamomile District [V]. I’ll have to figure out how to leave Sepentria before worrying about getting to Sin City.” Bogdan agrees.
“I guess that works, soon enough you’ll both be begging to stay. Kekekeke!” Manya cackles.
he continues, “What a pain though, how are we gonna get out of here when everyones trying to kill Bogdan…”
“We just have to kill the man in charge.” Kenzo replies.
“We don’t even know who that is. And even if we did, if they’re anywhere close to being as strong as The Seven Deadly Sins or as a military captain, we’re screwed.”
“The Brummies.” Alice says.
“Huh?” Lando asks.
“They run all the districts in Sepentria in the shadows. They couldn’t get to the Chamomile District [V] because their ties with Smooth Groove and the nation of Vostok made them practically untouchable.”
“But why act now? Why suddenly try and kill me?” Bogdan asks.
“I have no idea, but there’s one thing I do know. If The brummies want you dead, you will surely die.”
“Kekekeke! No way in hell, no one can kill my friends.”
Manya takes a final bite of pancake, finishing what is left.
He continues, “Now then, let’s go. We’re gonna kick these bummy guys asses!”
“N-now?” Lando asks.
“Yep! Get ready cause we’re leaving now!!”
