Nemesis, Vol. 1

Lester Nelson / The Student IV

"Wow, I'm surprised you know of him. He was famous for holding hostages in bank robberies and other stick-up crimes. He eventually ran into the law and was arrested. Now, he sits on death row, counting the remaining days he has left. It was reported that he had mob ties, but that was never proven." Bob relayed.

"But still, how is he in the simulation?" Sofia asked.

She remained curious about the technology that recreated a criminal she so happened to already be aware of.

"We can implement every criminal with life sentences into the simulations to better our own experience in the best way possible."

Lester began smiling, angling his stiff jaw in our direction. This wasn't good. We're wasting our time talking about the target in front of us, we should be using that time planning our next move, but now it's too late. Lester began walking towards us, dragging his tool of destruction as if it were a toy.

"Um... Guys?... He's coming straight at us!"

"Separate!" Sofia shouted.

We all divided quickly from the staircase. Sofia stood tall in front of Lester while Paul and I were adjacent to him. We all gave each other enough space to evade any attack the enemy made without getting in the way. 

Lester jolted his weapon downward in a hammering motion towards Sofia as if he were playing whack-a-mole. That's probably how he viewed us, nothing more than annoying moles. 

Sofia stepped out of the way. Her face was as calm as the sunset in December. How could she be so calm in front of a catalyst of destruction? Was she immune to the pressure?

Sofia remained the closest to Lester, who began smiling again, this time in my direction. You can't unsee that haunting grin. It's as if he enjoyed this or the very idea of what he can do. A simple motion strong enough to crush a human being as if it were nothing more than littered cereal. 

I did what any normal person would do with him walking towards you, I froze.

"Run!" Father shouted.

He had way more initiative than me, who was glued to the floor. I... I can't... was this fate inevitable, was this it? I thought the entire room would fall completely into darkness. The lights were dim, much more than before as if this were to be the demise of a broken soldier. 

Wait. There. There's a light, it wasn't much, but there it was, looking back at me, waving. And so I did, I went straight for it, it was the only thing bright enough to ensure survival. 

It just so happened to also be in between the legs of the malicious beast that hunted me down, his thirst for blood was palpable, so much so that the stench got stronger every step he drew closer to me. A simple slide, well, not so simple, it was similar to a sliding base runner stealing second in the nick of time, well that's at least how I imagined it. A slide in between the gap of the beast was enough to give me a secondary exhale. Had I acted a second later, maybe that second exhale wouldn't be so sweet, would it?

"But maybe his legs are his weak point, after all, you slid through his legs without him paying much attention to it." Father added.

Yeah, I figured that too.

Lester smirked again, this time in Paul's direction, this was more than a sign of emotion, this was a pattern.

"Guys! I figured something out!"

"What is it?" Sofia replied, her face still as calm as a frozen lake.

"Whoever he smirks at, he is choosing that person as his next target."

"But he just smirked at me." Paul replied.

Lester acted accordingly, by going after Paul next. This was like a video game boss battle or something, I guess the thought of that made it easier for me. Lester beamed at Paul faster than a freight train, but Paul still managed to easily dodge the predictable hammer of the convicted. 

Paul swung his fist straight into Lester's chest, but the impact was similar to a bird flying into a glass window; the glass remained perfectly intact while the bird's carcass dropped.

"You actually thought that would do something to me?!" the demon spoke.

"Get out of there!!"

I tried to warn Paul, but it just wasn't enough, Lester swiftly capitalized on Paul's mistake by swinging his hammer sideways, straight into Paul's arm. Paul did manage to block the counterattack, but he still faced a large difference in physical strength, he was tossed into the wall like a rag doll even after the timing of his block was perfect.

"Shit..." Paul gasped.

"Paul!"

It was shocking that even after his perfect block against the ferocious swing, it was as if he was caught off guard, the block did as much as a still column would do.

"That looked like it hurt..." Father added.

"Yuki! We need to focus on the enemy, Paul can take care of himself."

"Tch..."

This sucks, not the fact that he was so easily thrown, but that I couldn't think as clearly as she did on such short notice. How does she do it? If it wasn't for her commands, I'd still be as stiff as concrete.

"I'm ok..." Paul replied.

It was obvious he wasn't, his arm looked like dead leaves hanging from a houseplant.

"Another thing I figured out during his attack on me... his legs, that's his weak spot."

As I finished giving my team the information necessary for victory, the ogre decided to smile again, this time in Sofia's direction.

"He's coming for me this time, maybe you can attack while he rushes at me, Yuki."

She's willing to be a decoy just to allow an attack? But how? How would I be able to make an effect? We're taking a risk here, what if his legs aren't his weak point.

"That is possible son, but his momentum from running could trip him, which would do some damage."

Lester didn't wait much longer, his pursuit began again in the direction of Sofia. She stood in place, not even attempting to prepare herself to dodge his lethal hammer, she trusted me. Why?

"Yuki, now!" Sofia shouted confidently.

I acted, without much thought, I just went straight for Lester. What am I doing? This isn't sane or logical at all, running straight for the reaper himself, just thinking about it made sweat stream down my temple. But there's no going back now, I have to do this, my teammates are depending on me, she trusted me enough to ignore potential harm, I can't let her down, I won't let myself down. 

I went for the same athletic slide that allowed me to continue, this time aimed straight for Lester's ankles.

The slide swiftly knocked Lester off his feet, his momentum carried his body straight at Sofia, which she habitually dodged. Lester slammed straight into the wall that stood behind Sofia and particalized away similar to the first enemy that I encountered.

"Yes! Let's grab the hostages and go!"

"Mission Complete." JIL relayed.