Dex and Renzo were confronted by a band of four hitmen, each of them bearing military-grade weapons emitting an aura, that seemed to have been imbued with essence that could result in certain death if even one of them were to mess up.

“Yo Dex, this might not end well for us…”

Renzo said to him with a slight thought of worry, seeing as if the hitmen were quite experienced, and seemed to know Essence, as seen from the hitman who had the mysterious scroll in his pocket that caught Renzo’s eye.

The band of hitmen, wearing a dark garment suit, and glasses that acted as a cloak to hide their identities, watched as their two targets gazed at them from a distance, with a clear intent to eradicate them. All of the hitmen had thoughts of worry and doubt but shook that off, remaining confident about their plan and strategy.

“We have to be careful with him, and their leader over there.”

Said one of the hitmen, tightly gripping his sniper rifle with his right hand while subtly gritting his teeth, the two outlaws lingered for the band of hitmen to approach them. He pointed his index finger at Renzo and then to Dex, who was hiding his poison-laced twin daggers and other equipment to fool the hitmen into thinking that they weren’t prepared.

Dex and Renzo patiently anticipated the band of hitmen who were waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. They countered by standing where they were, in an open area where there were no open blind spots for the hitmen to possibly enter.

“Let’s not waste our time standing here, this mission starts now.”

The leader of the hitmen proudly proclaimed, bracing to strike at any moment, enabling his lightsaber that shined brightly with a sinister, dark red light. It created a reddish glow that was witnessed throughout the entire department store, and anyone who had caught a glimpse of it instantly fled the area.

However, one of the hitmen, who held the mysterious scroll, was scared to fight the two outlaws, his face was filled with fear for what was to come.

“G-get away from me you behemoths! I can’t take this anymore!”

Cried out the hitman, as he tumbled down on the floor with his hand stomped over by his comrade, who refused to let go of him.

“We’re in this together… Either we live free or die in this mall. No in-between.”

Said the hitman, who attempted to motivate his comrade to fight for the sake of their mission, but it didn’t seem to work out successfully. The band of hitmen already lost out on two of their members, and they couldn’t afford to lose any more. Dex and Renzo noticed the commotion between the group of hitmen who planned to assassinate them, and knew that this was the perfect time to strike.

“Get ready, Dex… We’re in for quite a treat!”

Exclaimed Renzo, wielding his katana in a combat-oriented stance, fully set to opposing the hitmen from above, who originally planned to attack the outlaws first by attacking them from behind. But now, the tables have turned against them.

Both Dex and Renzo hurried to the railings of the second floor of the department store, where the hitmen resided, panicking over the ruckus that stirred over their two companions. With one of the hitmen looking down at the two outlaws, who seemed to have unleashed their Essence from their bodies.

Using Light Step, an instinctive technique that allowed a living being to walk and jump in the air, they easily dashed to the second floor. One of the hitmen retreated as they saw both Renzo and Dex leaping in the air, the other prepared their weapon. Choosing to fight rather than to flee.

“We have to stop them, now!” cried out one of the hitmen, swiftly grabbing their sniper rifle as he carefully aimed their sights on Renzo. However, his efforts were already futile, as Dex deflected the shots fired, whilst Renzo was already on the second floor, balancing himself on the railings.

Dex stepped on the railings to balance himself and lunged at the hitmen. The hitman aimed the sniper rifle once again, and shots were fired. Dex dodged the bullet, narrowly avoiding death. Dex found himself back on the railings, twisted his body midair, and proceeded to kick the hitman in the Brachial Plexus.

The hitman was sent flying to the left corner of the mall, where the kitchen equipment was kept, he was knocked down and paralyzed for a few seconds from the kick. 

“Shit! I think I might have killed the dude!” Dex screamed in panic. 

Whilst this was happening, Renzo was pursuing the second hitman who remained in the area, abandoning his partner who fled the store out of disbelief. 

Renzo looked around the mall, trying to figure out the location of the fled hitman. In the distance, he heard Dex screaming out of shock. Curious about what was currently happening, he went over to the railing and shouted back.

“Dex! Don't mind that one! He's still probably alive! Go look for the other one!” 

Renzo shouted at Dex. He heard this and responded while looking back at the hitman who went unconscious from the fierce kick that he initiated. 

“Got it!” said Dex, leaving the area where the unconscious hitman resided.

Renzo looked down and saw one of the other hitmen who remained in the area, he was the leader of the three, and not a single thought of fear ever crossed his mind. Gripping his deadly lightsaber on his right hand, he said this:

“This shall be the end of your story, weakling.”

The leader of the band of hitmen proclaimed while Renzo gazed back at the reflecting reddish light of the lightsaber, reminiscing of his past when his grandfather was killed back when he was still in his youth. His eyes widened, and entered his fighting stance.

“You’re going to regret ever saying that.”

Renzo’s eyes seemed to have been imbued with a mysterious ghastly blue aura, and so did his katana, coated with the same ghastly blue aura that his eyes had. In the blink of an eye, he suddenly vanished from the hitman’s field of view, creating a slight fissure on the floor that left the hitman completely baffled.

“Now the real fun truly begins!”

The leader of the hitmen unleashed his Essence and imbued it into his lightsaber, amplifying its power significantly, and causing Renzo to create a slight smirk on his face. Renzo slashed the hitman using his sword, creating a shockwave that knocked over the school supplies in the area, making them fly and scatter all over the place.

However, the leader deflected the attack by quickly retreating to the other side of the store, where the attack wouldn’t be as effective as it would be on close range. But even with all that, he was still partially wounded, with a tiny cut in his face.

He carefully wiped the blood out using a tissue box from one of the aisles, when suddenly Renzo appeared again, and fiercely kicked the leader downwards, breaking multiple of his ribs and his left arm.

This attack created a shockwave across the aisle, knocking down the cabinets where the items were stored, but the leader vanished once again, with no clue as to where he could be. Renzo looked around, taking a deep breath and relaxing his entire body while closing his eyes in search of the leader.

The leader was seen at one of the pillars of the mall, hiding himself from Renzo who severely injured his left arm and ribs, essentially making them useless during the fight and offering a massive disadvantage, now that he couldn’t use both of his arms to fight efficiently.

“Shit! This can’t go on like this for any longer!” 

He cried out in pain, but silenced himself using his right hand so that Renzo couldn’t detect him. Renzo was slowly getting irritated, and desperately needed a way to find him without revealing his presence to the leader of the band of hitmen, or else he would flee from the store and escape.

All of a sudden, Renzo grabbed his sword into a combat-oriented stance, closing his eyes and focusing on inserting as much Essence as possible into his sword. He sighed deeply, with the air changing its direction downwards, as if it was being absorbed into Renzo’s body.

“Just so you know, you did this to yourself.” said Renzo, warning the leader of the band of hitmen.

He took a deep breath, relaxing himself and letting his instincts control his body, closing his eyes as he imagined the scene of a captivating horizon, clearing his mind of any distractions and thoughts.

"𝓢𝓸𝓾𝓵 𝓓𝓲𝓼𝓹𝓮𝓻𝓼𝓲𝓸𝓷 "

Renzo exclaimed, unleashing his Essence Ability, the extension of an Essence User’s spirit, summoning three ghastly beings that he called “Spectres”. They looked like shoguns from the Nara period, but with a bluish tint, and seemed to be intangible, phasing through walls as they wished.