Suffer Not The Radiant

Chapter 8: The Urge To Murder

Neon's eyes flicked over her weapon, while Brimstone kept a close watch on the teleporter. Reyna and Killjoy were also present, their expressions taut with anticipation.

"You sure he can handle it alone?" Neon asked Brimstone, her voice low and measured.

"He's insisted on it," Brimstone replied.

Reyna bristled at the idea of not harvesting souls, but Neon held her back with a steely gaze. They knew better than to cross Ranesk's path when he was in this mood.

Once Ranesk had disappeared into the portal, they turned their attention to more pressing matters. Reyna leaned in, her voice hushed.

"I don't like this. How are we supposed to harvest souls if he's doing this solo?"

Neon shot her a warning glance, knowing full well Ranesk's opinion of Radiants.

But the conversation was cut short as Ranesk's voice crackled through the radio.

"Area in front of the teleporter is clear."

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"Guns raised,  it's likely that the casualty count is few. there's no doubt there are dozens more in the warehouse," Reyna exhorted her two comrades before they strode through the portal. Despite Ranesk's brawn, Reyna viewed him as nothing more than a simpleton who craved violence. 

 "A  few? If Ranesk's dossier is anything to go by, it's probably much more," Killjoy riposted.The trio traversed the portal, firearms trained ahead, braced for the aftermath of Ranesk's handiwork.But upon entry, silence engulfed the warehouse, a stillness too eerie to befit the recent carnage. 

Massive bullet holes riddled specific sections of the walls, and a pile of dismembered limbs and innards lay next to a collapsed barrier. The neon-red lights signaled an emergency, and the Valorant legion had already been notified.

Ranesk stood in the midst of the destruction, his gaze directed elsewhere as though stalking his prey, basked in the neon-red glow. Upon the agents' arrival, he turned his unsettling stare to them. While Neon and Killjoy felt unnerved, Reyna remained watchful, cognizant that Ranesk was the most formidable human she had ever encountered. To cause this much destruction alone...

"Do what you need to do. I shall dispose of the rest," his voice, deep and menacing, growled before he strode away, presumably to dispatch whatever remnants of the structure remained. 

 "I-I'll head to the terminal," Killjoy stammered as she made her way toward the computer system.

Neon and Reyna remained, shell-shocked, the deafening noise of what sounded like a chainsaw and the anguished screams of the unfortunate souls whom Ranesk had reached filtering through the air."Breaking and entering... and murder. What could possibly go wrong?" Neon quipped, his sarcasm an attempt to dispel the horrific imagery that inundated his mind. 

 "Believe me, if they're weaponizing Radianite, we have far greater issues to deal with. How are you both holding up?" Brimstone's voice crackled through the radio.

"Y-Yeah. We're all good. I'm at the terminal. We'll find the Radianite's location," Killjoy replied, her voice audibly shaken.

"Good, we don't want a fight, find it quickly before--"

"Ranesk to Brimstone, I have captured a Mirror agent," Ranesk interrupted, leaving the other agents and those listening through the radio momentarily stunned.

Brimstone's expression contorted with shock, mirroring that of the other agents.

"Who?" Neon queried via the radio, her voice tinged with disbelief.