Asa didn't say anything more. He leaned against the car body and looked up at the brownish-yellow sky.
Over these past few days, he had been deliberately controlling the frequency and traces of his use of magic.
The Corporations hadn't discovered his existence yet, but if he really caused a major stir, given the intelligence capabilities of Militech and Arasaka, it wouldn't take long for them to dig up everything about him.
It wasn't that he feared the Corporations; he just didn't want to get involved with this world's powerful elites for the time being.
Out of sight, out of mind. Once his abilities were sufficient, he could just deal with them all.
As he was thinking, his ears suddenly twitched. He snapped his head around to look at Rebecca, who was searching the corpses.
The corpse of the Wraith on the ground wore a Yaksha mask. A large pool of blood had spread beneath him, and he showed no sign of life; by all accounts, he should have been dead.
However, Asa clearly sensed that the corpse's heart was slowly starting to beat again, and as Rebecca stepped closer, the heartbeat grew faster and faster.
Cyberware, a Second Heart!
"Watch out!"
Asa shouted out loud.
Rebecca was startled by the shout and instinctively turned back, only to see a figure already lunging in front of her.
The black-haired man, his face full of anxiety, pulled her into his arms, shielding her view with his back.
Immediately following were the sounds of gunshots and the dull thud of bullets tearing into flesh.
Rebecca's mind went blank. Before she could understand what had happened, Asa, who was holding her, had already spun around. The revolver in his hand spat fire, and high-explosive ammunition blasted that insidious Wraith into a mass of unidentifiable shredded meat.
"Well, my marksmanship is actually pretty good."
Asa looked down at the girl in his arms.
"Are you okay?"
Rebecca finally snapped out of it, and the others on guard duty had already surrounded them the moment they heard the gunshots.
Sascha was the first to arrive. She saw the shotgun lying next to the pile of shredded meat, and her blood seemed to freeze instantly.
She rushed behind Asa and saw a dense cluster of bullet holes. His dark coat had been turned into a sieve, and red blood was seeping out from countless wounds.
Even more shocking were the several bullet holes clearly visible on the back of his head.
Sascha's legs went weak, and she almost collapsed to the ground.
Rebecca, protected in Asa arms, also noticed something was wrong. She felt the arms holding her gradually losing their strength.
"Hey, how are you doing?"
Rebecca supported Asa with all her might, her heart a whirlwind of emotions.
Asa eyes were open. He parted his lips as if to say something, but only coughed up a mouthful of bloody foam.
Maine, Dorio, and Pilar gathered around, and even the recently arrived Panam Palmer, Mitch, and Scorpion stopped in their tracks nearby.
Looking at the shocking wounds on Asa back and those bullet holes in the back of his head, everyone's faces darkened.
Scorpion was the first to shake his head:
"Taking a shotgun blast to the face from this close... his whole body's been perforated. There's no saving him."
Mitch and Panam Palmer didn't speak, but they let out soft sighs.
Death always seems so far away, yet it is omnipresent.
Maine and Dorio exchanged a glance, both feeling that the scene before them was absurdly surreal.
A Wizard who had lived for over two hundred years was dying like this at the hands of a mere Wraith lackey?
Maine found it even harder to believe. Before they set out, the Wizard had been so confident; how could he fall just like that?
Could it be intentional?
Sascha knelt on the ground, frantically pulling out Nanomeds, MaxDocs, and Bounce Backs, injecting them one after another into Asa body. Her voice carried a hint of a sob:
"Hold on, Boss! Didn't you say you were going to take me to get my revenge?"
Rebecca stood there, watching everything helplessly. This was the first time she had been saved, only for her savior to be on the verge of death an instant later. Even with her experience, she didn't know how to handle this.
The two people closest to him only heard Asa mumble a few words, his voice so low it was almost inaudible.
"What did you say?"
Rebecca leaned in, trying to catch Asa words.
Asa gaze briefly lost focus.
He heard the system's notification sound.
[Congratulations, you have confirmed a new bond 'Partner' with the key story character Rebecca. Rewards are available for collection.]
It worked.
He breathed a sigh of relief internally.
Asa indeed hadn't noticed beforehand that the Wraith had a Second Heart installed; after all, his perception didn't cover the minute changes in every single corpse.
But in all honesty, at the moment the gun fired, with his reaction speed, he could have completely pulled Rebecca out of the line of fire and killed the opponent with a backhand shot.
This was an opportunity the Wraith had created for him with his life; he couldn't let it go to waste.
The opportunity was too good to miss.
Now that the rewards were in hand, continuing the act would truly be bullying the kids.
Shedding tears for him... once is enough. Next time, let's shed something else.
Asa stood up, his complexion returning to normal.
"Alright, time is tight and the mission is heavy. Let's head to the next point."
He yawned, his tone casual.
He was met with the stunned gazes of Rebecca and Sascha simultaneously.
The two of them had just surfaced from a massive emotional wave, and their brains hadn't had time to process this sudden reversal.
Maine and Dorio looked at each other. Maine first showed a 'just as I thought' expression, but then his face darkened again.
Was this guy just using the opportunity to hit on his teammates?
The Nomads trio was completely stunned. The man who was dying a moment ago with several bullet holes in the back of his head was now ruddy-faced and full of vigor, speaking louder than anyone present.
Panam Palmer looked suspiciously at the injector still clutched in Sascha's hand. Could it be that the hacker hadn't injected a Nanomed, but some kind of Adrenaline Booster?
The three looked at each other, none of them able to figure out the situation.
A moment later, the convoy set off again. Asa sat in the back seat, struggling to fend off Rebecca's teasing from the side.
"Rebecca, stop it!"
"Are you really not injured?"
Rebecca tugged at the blood scabs around the bullet holes in his coat, her head in a daze. She felt like this was either a dream or some cliché plot written by a third-rate author.
"I told you before, a Wizard doesn't die that easily."
Asa straightened his collar which had been pulled askew.
Rebecca finally withdrew her hand and leaned back into her seat. She crossed her arms and pouted.
"So you were just messing with me? Mr. Magician?"
Sascha, sitting in the passenger seat, turned back and rolled her eyes at Asa.
The Boss had ill intentions; he was tricking the girl again.
Sascha turned back, her thoughts drifting.
She had only been at the Divination Shop for a few days, yet she had been worried sick about the Boss to this extent. Thinking about it calmly, it did seem a bit strange.
How should she classify this state of mind? She didn't want to figure it out for the time being.
She heard this was called an office romance? The secretary does the work during the day, and at night she gets... done...
What am I thinking? Stop it!