Destined To Die

Chapter 21 - A Completed Power

-21-

-A Completed Power-

Jun stepped over the crowded rooftops of Malta in the din of the nightlife below, feet barely making a sound as he moved with an unnatural grace. The buildings were rarely more than three stories tall, modern imitations of classical terracotta rooftops built along the waterfront, many with pools built alongside. Multicoloured lights flashed below to the beat of thumping music that resonated through the air, half-drowned out by the cheering of a crowd below. Some kind of festival, Jun hadn't bothered to learn the specifics. It didn't matter, really, the noise and distraction would only help give him cover.

He leapt from one rooftop to the other, the wind rising beneath him to carry his body over the street below, a deep blue flashing of light illuminating him from beneath as he cleared the full distance with ease and landed on the ledge beyond. He was close.

Koyane's notes had suspected a man named Francis Descartes of buying a particular item at a black-market auction in Kazakhstan nearly sixty years ago. Descartes was a man with a taste for antiquities, amassing a considerable fortune from illegal arms dealing in his youth. While Francis Descartes had died nearly a decade ago, his grandson, Jacque Descartes, had inherited a great many things. It was rumoured that the majority of his grandfather's collection of antiquities was housed in his private estate in Malta. Jacque was a young man that had always been rich through no effort of his own, touting a collection of dusty old relics to reflect some vague substitute for refinement, frivolously spending the family fortune on the fastest cars money could buy, and more than a few private yachts.

In truth, Jun didn't care how Jacque Descartes spent his money. The cash he burned through was as meaningless as his unearned sense of self-importance. Small men thought that wealth bought power, but Jun knew better. Power bought power. Everything else was an illusion.

He touched down on the outer wall of a large compound, set aside from the surrounding beachfront properties. The walls were mostly decorative, though Jun clocked about a dozen armed guards patrolling the facility. Lightly armed, chosen more for their stature than anything else, focused mostly on patrolling around the garage set into the far side of the property. Disappointing.

Jun's attention was focused squarely on the wide window set into the third floor of the small mansion, a balcony hanging out to give a grand view over the seaside boulevard, dim lights illuminating the interior of the open-plan floor. On the balcony he could make out two distinct figures looking out onto the sea, one of them presumably Descartes. It hardly mattered.

Jun's racing steps took him across the courtyard at blinding speed, Amaterasu's blade held lightly in one hand, weighing almost nothing in his grip. He did his best to cast aside thoughts of the beast beneath the earth in Norway, how he'd watched as it so easily dispatched The Palatine, before turning away. One detail lingered in his mind, watching the primal destroyer ascending the steps before fading away, Akane falling forward from its disintegrating form. There was something tying the two together, something Jun didn't understand, but if anything could level the playing field between the two it was Amaterasu's relics. The power of a higher deity was nigh incomprehensible to mortals, and one with the strength of the sun goddess behind him would surely strike down such a monster.

The air gathered beneath Jun once again, the wind howling as each leap propelled him further and further up the side of the building, feet barely touching what small ledges he found in his path. His vestments splayed out behind him as he sailed over the railing of the third story balcony, landing lightly beside the pair that were leaning against the ledge, deep in conversation, having not noticed his approach.

"Jacque Descartes, I presume?" Jun asked, raising his blade towards the young man's chest.

"The fuck—" the man began, taking a moment to process what was happening, staring down at the gleaming blade only centimetres from his heart.