New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

*Shluck* *Thud*

As soon as his hand hovered an inch over Kary's skin, something flashed, and the hand fell to the ground.

Blood splashed on Kary's arm, her gaze icy, almost uncaring, as she stared at the man's now stumpy forearm.

The man didn't scream, much to his credit, but his pained grunting was immediately followed by the sound of guns pulling out and shouting.

"Put the gun down! Down! Now!"

The situation turned into a shouting contest, and a game of chicken, neither side wanting to back down.

Alex, in the meantime, was ready to pounce at a second's notice. He would kill anyone and everyone in the room if he needed to.

No one would touch a hair on Kary's head.

Kary bent down to the man who was grunting in pain, holding his stub amidst the chaos, and smiled at him. But it wasn't a happy or comforting smile.

"Here. Let me help you stop that bleeding."

The moment her hand lit on fire, the man's eyes went wide in fear. But he wasn't fast enough to crawl away, as she jammed her burning hand directly on his open wrist.

This time, the man could not stop his shout from escaping his lips.

"Aarrgghh!"

The chaos almost immediately stopped, in reaction to the pained shout, and the old man watched in horror as the young woman he had ordered taken was now burning his bodyguard's arm with her hand!

"Just what the heck are you people?! Men! Kill them!" he shouted, his voice cracking in fear.

Five loud bangs echoed simultaneously.

Followed by four dull thumps.

The bodyguards all had one smoking hole in their foreheads as they hit the ground, lifeless.

The Mayor fell to his ass immediately after, his face devoid of any blood.

A loud sigh echoed in the hallway.

"God dammit… You couldn't just have them stand down. Now I have an even bigger mess to clean up…" the mercenary complained, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

"You, and you, escort the quarry to his room. He needs to clean up and change. The press conference is in five minutes…"

He pointed to two of his men, who nodded and lowered their weapons, flanking Alexander.

Kary rose to her feet, looking disappointed.

"I was cauterizing his wound… What a waste of mana…"

"Thank you, Ma'am. Less blood to clean up. But you also need to get ready."

Seeing her looking at him with a disinterested gaze, the mercenary frowned.

"Go on! Yip yip!"

Kary scoffed at his rudeness but followed behind Alex and his new bosom buddies.

Inside her mind, she was still in shock, of how quickly the situation had devolved into death. But she wasn't as affected as she had hoped.

'Is New Eden getting me too comfortable with death?' she wondered.

She felt bad five men had to die for the old shit in the lobby, but no more. This worried her a bit, but she brushed it aside.

As she and Alex entered the room, leaving the two goons at the door, she looked at Alex's unbothered face.

"Do you feel any remorse for them?"

Alex turned to glance at her, his face still icy.

"Not a drop. They were not taking you away without paying the price. If something, getting shot saved them a lot of pain."

Kary frowned at his words.

She was hoping he would reassure her, tell her it was okay to feel a bit of remorse. Instead, he reinforced her feeling that it was okay that they died.

Almost like they deserved it.

This was an alarming way of thinking. She only hoped it would not become a common occurrence.

As she started undressing, to go have a quick rinse in the shower, since blood had splattered on her earlier, Alex got changed.

He took a moment to reflect on his actions, but no matter how he spun it, he felt like he had done nothing wrong.

'They were going to take her. Maybe even harm her. No. I did the right thing…'

When Kary popped back out of the shower, she quickly patted herself dry before sliding into a black dress she had prepared for the press conference. She kept thinking about how easily Alex had accepted those men's deaths, and it troubled her a bit.

She was so lost in thought; she didn't hear him come into the bathroom behind her.

Alex hugged her from behind, laying a kiss on her nape.

"I know this is not something you want to hear. But I will say it because you need to hear it. Death is a horrible thing to happen, I know. But if anyone tries to harm you before me, I would turn the world into a river of unending blood to protect you.

"Think nothing of those monkeys. They were trying to take you away, possibly to harm you. It was self-defence."

Kary sighed.

She knew he was brushing over this too easily. But she was also turning the thought in her mind, and her brain kept telling her it was just self-defence.

Hearing him confirm this thought eased her heart a bit.

"I just think we shouldn't take lives like this and brush over it so fast. What if it becomes too easy for us to take lives and we become heartless monsters?"

Alexander spun her in his arms.

"We are not monsters for defending ourselves. They attacked us."

Kary stared into Alex's eyes, trying to detect any wavering in his emotions, but found nothing but steel resolve. He believed in his words entirely as the truth.

"Fine. I'll leave it at that. Let's go, we are awaited downstairs."

Alex kissed her on the lips, which she reluctantly responded to. He understood her feelings, but didn't think they were necessary.

He knew he was acting cold-hearted. But sometimes, the world is cold-hearted with you, so you must respond in kind.

They walked out of the room, where the two goons flanked them once more, and walked toward the elevator. Already, the five bodies were gone, and the blood was being wiped clean.

Kary turned her head away from the sight, whispering to herself, "It was self-defence. It was self-defence," almost like a mantra.