A long, long time ago, Karil realized something.

Despite their very similar appearance, the gangs of Nostramo could not be considered human, they simply didn't deserve the word.

At best, in Karil's opinion, they were a kind of close relative of man, a kind of crazy close relative with no sense of morality to speak of.

Their brains had been tortured by the world of psychedelics and madness to the point of near crushing, and then they began to crave blood, they began to crave violence, they began to crave the groveling and caution of others.

All of these factors, piled on top of each other, allowed them to murder others with abandon, without even needing a reason, and the biggest problem was that in Nostramo, it was all normal.

Karyl saw nothing but absurdity in it - until one day it dawned on him.

They weren't human.

After finding that out, Khalil went about his business.

Yes, he called traveling around Nesting City killing gangsters a job.

In fact, as far as he was concerned, the job was fine, except for the fact that it was somewhat unique, unpaid, and in a hostile environment....Other than that, it was fine.

He took his job with a hundred and twenty thousand pounds of caution because he knew how dangerous the gangs really were.

They had guns, weapons, everything they needed to kill - and the bottom line was that they usually weren't afraid to die.

You have to use something special to make them afraid.

His power allowed him to kill like a fish out of water, and because of that, he couldn't see some things that only mortals like Karil could see.

He did not know what a rare virtue prudence was.

"I am pressed for time....You better be worth my waste."

Khalil sighed and jumped from the gargoyle, falling hard as he passed through the frozen cloud of condensation, his cloak chasing him, his black hair dancing wildly in the wind, but his eyes so bright they were almost frightening.

Twenty-five seconds later, he landed on the ground without a sound.The blue light in his eyes had begun to turn the raindrops that fell from the sky into icy condensation, and they stayed for a moment before falling again, pulverized.

And he didn't.

Standing still, Kalil took a deep breath and closed his eyes, his darkened vision illuminated by some kind of light.

A blurred shadow danced, twisted, not far from the abstract world, flailing and full of despair.

He knew who it was, and Carlyle sighed softly.

Can you really take on this responsibility, you naive little monster?

Khalil opened his eyes, and at the same time, an icy feeling of vomiting began to linger in the back of his throat.

Immediately after that, a muffled voice came from just the right place across the distance, as soft as a father's, whispering something vague.

It was trying to get him to talk back, and he came close to complying.

Once more, Khalil suppressed the urge and sneered.

No, not today, don't you dare, you thing that hides in the darkness.

Clutching the sharp blade in his hand, he began to run across the eerie roof of the spire.

It seemed to be a convention that all those who were qualified to build houses in Nostramo unanimously chose this eerie style, which was just as well, at least it suited a ghost.

The masonry trembled beneath his feet, the curtain of rain was ripped apart by his speed, and with chilling cold and quietly rising anger, Kalil began to approach his goal.

He leapt silently through the night, shaped like a drifting ghost.

Then - at the end of this run - the

The ghost began to laugh maniacally.

-----------------

"Have you heard anything?" a man asked.

"All I hear is failure," a woman replied lazily.

She was leaning against her motorcycle, poking at the small of her left arm with a small knife made of bone.It had left a lot of bloody marks, and she seemed to be enjoying herself immensely, not wanting to stop at all.

"No, no Dill, I'm serious," the man turned his head and said, "I really did hear something."

"Do me a favor, Caro, keep your mouth shut."

Still slouching, Dill raised her eyes and looked at Carlo, snorting contemptuously, "We lost the convoy, which means we failed, so just shut up, okay?"

"Don't mention it."

Carlo furrowed his brow and seemed a little angry; he had a face split in two by some kind of paint; the top half was pale, the bottom half scarlet; this interesting contrast made his appearance look hideous at the moment.

But Dill didn't buy his argument, and she sneered again.

"If it wasn't for your asshole son of a bitch saying you saw that thing go that way, we'd still be following the hordes and killing people right now, maybe we'd have mixed up a few drugs for a hit when it was done, and you have the fucking nerve to say that now?"

"I told you to stop talking!"

Carlo growled low, pulling a shotgun from his motorcycle in the rain and aiming it at Dill.It was rough, the guard wood even had burrs there, and Carlo looked at her, gasping for air, and spoke in a single word.

"I said I heard something....You idiot cousin!"

He snarled suddenly, the outburst of emotion coming without warning and not in the usual gradual way - he seemed to go from mildly pissed off to angry in an instant.

Carlo threw down his bike and stumbled over to Dill, pressing his gun against her forehead.

The force was so strong it almost knocked Dill off her bike."I told you I heard something!I heard it!I heard you!I'm not lying!I heard you!"

"Okay, okay, you heard me....Shit," Dill let out a small curse, "Get that thing out of my head, Carlo.Damn, you're really sucking paint out of your brain."

"I hear you!"

Carlo yelled, grabbing his shotgun and turning to run, Dill furrowed his brow and watched as he inexplicably disappeared into the rain, unable to stop himself from cursing again.

"What a fucking dead idiot, is he full of shit in his head?"

Feeling bad, Dill shook her head and started her own bike again, intending to head back to the gang's territory and get some sleep.

As for Carlo's bike - let it stay here, the civilians wouldn't dare take it, the Scarlet Finale logo was obvious on it, they knew what would happen if they took it.And the other gangs......

Ha.

Deal couldn't wait for them to take it, so that Scarlet Endgame would have a reason to go to war.And Karo......Honestly, she wasn't even on her radar.In fact, she couldn't wait for him to die now.

But a scream that pierced through the rain interrupted her otherwise thoughts and movements.

Dill furrowed her brow and turned her head that way, the darkness and the curtain of rain obscuring her vision, and the sound of the downpour hitting the ground was such that she never heard anything else.

She stepped out of the car and discreetly drew an automatic weapon from the side pocket of the motorcycle, turning to the rain and calling, "Carlo! Is that you?!"

There was no answer, only the sound of acid rain crashing into pulverized bones.Dill began to feel a chill come over her, a sensation that was unnoticed and struck her spine the first second it appeared, sending shivers down her spine.

"What the hell...................................................."

Muttering, she stood hesitantly with her weapon raised, not sure if she should keep going or turn her head and leave it all behind.

As she pondered, she suddenly noticed out of the corner of her eye that the rainwater flowing beneath her feet had changed color.

The muddy rainwater flowing downstream past her leather boots had changed from its original dirty color to a bright scarlet, and the chilling cold bubbled up again, but this time it came not from the back of her spine, but directly in front of her.

She shuddered and looked up.

"Who is it?" yelled Dill. "Who is it?Come out!Come out!"

"Shhh..."

A soft voice came from the rain curtain, piercing it with unerring precision and reaching her ears."Keep it down, someone's sleeping."

Dill's face jerked as she tried to pull the trigger, her finger not doing what she wanted, a flash of silver light grabbed her, piercing the rain and the palm of her hand holding the gun.

With a snap, her automatic weapon fell to the ground and was quickly washed away by the rain into a dark corner, not even giving her a chance to retrieve it.

"No-!" she screamed.

In the midst of the pain and fear, Dill heard someone laughing in a low voice.Then the voice spoke again.

"Yes," it said mildly. "Will you also meet your companion?"

A head was thrown from the rain, hitting Dill's torso with unerring precision.Her eyes widened as she caught the head cautiously on instinct.

The eyes stared lifelessly into the sky, the jaws cut open, the tongue hanging between the parted jaws, bits of broken flesh stuck between the tawny teeth.The upper half of the face was pale and wan, the lower half all scarlet.

That's Carlo's face.

No, that was Carlo's head.

She didn't try to run, she didn't try to fight, she just wept like all the innocents who had died under her in the past.Carlo's head fell beside her, staring lifelessly.

Fear shattered her, completely.

Then a pale hand reached out and lifted her chin.

"Don't cry," Kalil said softly. "Crying is a human prerogative, and you are not one."

There was a flash of silver light.

The headless corpse collapsed to the ground, its limbs still twitching from the nerve reaction, but it didn't matter anymore.

Khalil turned his head slightly, the blue light flowing softly under his eyes, and the bloodied ghost floated over from the other end of the rain curtain, his eyes closed and apparently still unconscious, his eyebrows furrowed as the rain traced his face.

"Logically, I should thank you for the motorcycle - but I usually just thank people."

Khalil laughed a little, deciding to end the night with a sense of humor he didn't like.He wiggled his fingers and the Spectre sat on one of the motorcycles and even started the engine.

"Let's go, Spectre, but be careful," Khalil said as he smiled."This is your first time on a motorcycle, it's important to ride safely."

Seconds later, the two motorcycles crashed through the rain and drifted away.