Autophagy

After losing his balance, Song Lei tumbled and fell to the side. Just before he was about to hit the ground, he pushed himself and somersaulted. Landing on the ground, Song Lei raised the monocle and searched for the shadow.

'Where is..? Oh, Fuck...' Song Lei thought. He couldn't see the shadow anywhere, indicating that it could only be behind him. Song Lei did his best to tense his leg muscles and push himself forward but he couldn't manage to do so in time.

He felt an eerie feeling on his back. In an instant, he felt his mind shaking.

'What... Is this..?' Song Lei thought. He tried to keep himself from fainting. He stumbled forward and fell to the ground. A faint pain spread across his body as he started gaining his motor functions back. As soon as he had the energy to get up from the ground, Song Lei launched forward and picked up the monocle from the ground.

After doing so, he turned around and searched for the shadow. It was standing there with its back towards Song Lei. It was walk-floating towards the corpse of Hector.

Song Lei started walking towards him, however, he felt his consciousness wavering again. He fell down on the ground again as the innards of his backpack poured out.

'I... Need to do something...' Song Lei ran through his mind. 'I know this feeling... The shadow has injured my soul...' Song Lei assumed. He had experienced the same feeling back when Isabel drained half of his soul. Fortunately, he had a really strong soul that wouldn't be hurt as easily as a normal human's. If that wasn't the case, he would've died instantly at the attack of the shadow.

Song Lei looked at the things that had poured out of his backpack and tried to think of something that could come in handy. His initial assumption of the shadow having a core was totally wrong. Cutting it up until it died also didn't seem like a proper option. So his only remaining choice was to figure out an unorthodox way to deal with it.

As he kept looking through the things that had poured out of his backpack, Song Lei's eyes shined.

'That's it!' He shouted in his mind. A tool had picked up his attention. That was the taser that had been produced by Aston. 'Why don't I just electrocute the monster? However... Would electricity have an effect on the shadow? Would it even be able to touch it?' Song Lei thought as a frown appeared on his face. His eyes darted back and forth between his soul dagger and the taser.

A wide smile appeared on Song Lei's face. He felt his weakened body rejuvenate with energy. He looked at the shadow once more and memorized its speed and location. After that, he put the monocle aside and took the taser in one of his hands, and held the soul dagger with the other.

With the energy running through this body, Song Lei launched forward at the place that the shadow would be at. He closed his eyes and focused on the ethereal energy filling up the place. He tried to grasp what was around him. Although he couldn't see the monster, he could slightly feel the soul dagger penetrating its ethereal form.

He could imagine the shadow smirking mockingly. Thinking that Song Lei had launched his last desperation attack that wouldn't do anything.

'This is the stupidest thing I've tried in a long time...' Song Lei thought. Contrary to what he was thinking, there was a genuine smile on his face. 'This is fun!' He shouted in his mind. Readying his will, he pressed the taser on the soul dagger and fired it.

"I'm taking you down with me, bastard!" Song Lei shouted as he felt his body being electrocuted alongside the shadow. What relieved him was the fact that he could see the faint outline of the monster. It was wriggling and disappearing into thin air as Song Lei kept his finger pressed on the trigger of the taser. Fortunately, his muscles that were constantly contracting because of the electricity didn't let go of the trigger.

As Song Lei's sight started plunging into darkness, he saw the shadow disappear totally. Finally knowing that he could relax, Song Lei dropped to the ground.

'I... Did it...'

...

"Oh? You're awake?" Aston's voice resounded in his ears. His voice sounded like he was deep inside a cave. Song Lei coughed dryly and licked his lips. Unfortunately, there wasn't any moisture left in his mouth to wet them. He did his best to wake himself up from the sluggishness. He felt as if his head was deep inside a pool. Muffling every noise around him. The imaginary lack of oxygen made him unable to utilize his brain to the fullest.

As he kept struggling inside his head, Song Lei felt a cold sensation on his forehead. This cold sensation was like a helping hand, pulling his consciousness out of the deep lake.

As Song Lei's eyes became focused and his brain went back to its normal state, he gasped for air and coughed violently.

"W- Water..." Song Lei muttered. His mouth and entire esophagus felt like the Saharan Desert. Grabbing the water Aston handed to him, Song Lei started gulping it down like a monster. The water rejuvenated his body, washing the bitter taste that constantly alerted his neurons.

After gulping down half a liter of water, Song Lei threw himself back on the bed and sighed.

"Thanks..." He muttered. He was worried that it had been a long time since he had been knocked unconscious. "How long did I..?"

"Sleep? It has been a day since then," Aston explained with a smile on his face. "Those three bodyguards came back as you expected. After handling them, I went back to your side. You were lying unconscious on the ground."

"How was that man?" Song Lei asked. Hector had kidnapped a commoner that couldn't pay their debts. He had even threatened him with harming his family.

"He reunited with his family," Aston said. "I made sure that there weren't any traces left behind. I also made sure that the man didn't speak about us to anyone."

"Hopefully, he will be grateful and won't expose us," Song Lei said. "Anyways, when are we going back?"

"There isn't much left to do," Aston said as he opened and looked through his backpack. He took out his purse and shook it, only for a little bit of money to come out of it. "And it seems like our funds are running out so..."

"It's best if we go back now. After all, we have finished the mission," Song Lei said.

"Mm... Rest a little bit more," Aston said. "I have some things to deal with and I will probably not be back for a few hours."

"Sure. Have fun," Song Lei said. He rolled to the side of his bed and went back to sleep. He wouldn't be able to sleep properly for some time after they departed from Brighton.

Leaving Song Lei's side, Aston exited the home and walked towards the predetermined meeting place. William would be waiting for him there. William was the person that had contacted Aston from the Secret Blood Order.

Walking through the garbage-filled streets of Brighton, Aston managed to reach his destination in no time. It was already late. There already weren't many people on the street at these hours of the day. The fact that they were meeting in a secluded location made this even worse. Aston hadn't seen anyone on the streets for more than five minutes.

"You did a good job," Aston heard a voice resound. He stood at the entrance of the dark alley, silently staring into it. The darkness was mesmerizing as if it was trying to pull Aston in. "And that friend of yours did a good job too."

"Thanks..." Aston muttered without any emotions. He didn't know what to feel about being praised by this person. After all, he had next to no knowledge about William.

"You will be leaving the city tomorrow, right?" William asked. He took a few steps and left the dark alley. As soon as he did so, his face appeared in front of Aston.

"Yes. We have finished our mission already. If we go too late, the orphanage will get suspicious," Aston explained. He switched to his other leg to support his weight and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "How will you guys give me tasks then?"

"We won't be giving you any," William said. "For now, you should first finish your training in the orphanage and graduate. In the future, we will need both you and your friend Lewis."

"Huh... Do you really need to bother Lewis with this? I can deal with every mission you give me," Aston said. He didn't want Song Lei to get mixed up in this.

"Unfortunately, no. Lewis is a godsent talent. Honestly, he is much better than you at being a mercenary that can deal with any job he is given," William explained. "Unfortunately, he would be a bit hard to control. After all, he doesn't have much to him."

"Yeah sure..." Aston muttered. He didn't want to listen to William's gibberish anymore. After all, if the Secret Blood Order wanted to come after Song Lei, he wouldn't be able to stop them from doing so.

"See you later...."

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