The Pursuit Of Genesis

7 : Two sides of the same coin

While William tried to get on his feet, Sallos, tightening the grip on his spear, rushed toward William with a greater speed. The blade of the spear shone brighter as he reached closer to William.

Boom!

Before the spear's blade reached William's neck, a strong blasting sound echoed in the area, followed by a wave of dense energies towards Sallos' translucent dome. It worked as a distraction, and William evaded Sallos' blade. He, still holding the crimson spear earlier manifested by Sallos, hastily backed off.

As the energy wave collided with the barrier with the echoing sound, the barrier of the dome disintegrated in the air, grabbing Sallos' attention. He tilted his head and glanced behind William, toward the direction of the blast, to notice a woman dressed in red.

"Stay away from William," the voice came from behind, and Charlotte appeared at the place, holding something which resembled a shotgun. "You're a thousand years early to kill him." Her voice roared in the area.

I refreshed my memory to remember reading about a weapon, which functioned similarly to one she possessed. A battle rifle, but uses the accumulated cursed energy of the user instead of bullets to fire a shot. The accumulated energy is concentrated at a single point and pushed forward in the form of an energy wave, making it more precise.

Sallos glanced toward Charlotte through his disappearing translucent dome. It didn't affect him much, and he stood still for a long moment. William kept observing, trying to read the flow of his energies and predict his next potential move.

Heavens, That was close. William said to himself. "Never forget the heroic entry, do you, Charlotte?"

"Only if you didn't turn off your device signals. I would have reached earlier." Charlotte said with a touch of frustration in her tone. "You had clear orders to not close the communication signals!"

Sallos stood still, with his emotionless face the whole time. The dark colour, by the time, had spread over half of his other hand and was gradually taking over his white body. Charlotte walked forward and stood some distance behind William.

"Got a new weapon?" Charlotte said in a low voice.

"It's not mine."

Charlotte glanced at Sallos and back at William. "You managed to snatch his spear. Impressive."

Sallos struck down his spear, fixing it in the concrete junk, spread all over the place.

"Charlotte Rose. . . we meet again."

"I see your respected comrade did not accompany you." Her tone was calmer than before. "Was he tired after our last encounter?"

"He was not needed this time," Sallos coldly replied. "After how things ended last time, I did not expect you to send someone to this place again."

"I see the corruption had not just stopped on your face," she replied. "After how things ended last time, after that look on your face last time. . . I, for some reason, was expecting you would have a change of heart, change of thoughts."

William glanced at Charlotte. What are they talking about?

"We had a place to call 'home'," Sallos said. "We had calm, peaceful lives. . . until centuries ago, humans in this reality, drowned in their lust and jealousy, attempted the Genesis. It was Astharoth and Valefor, who took us in. Made us feel like we deserve to live, and made us part of his most precious purpose. My honesty stays in his feet, I serve him for his noble purpose."

"And what does it cost?"

"The cost doesn't matter," Sallos snapped. "This life of mine is but a small contract, in fulfilling his noble purpose, and that is all that matters."