Eclipse Hunter - Volume 1 - Chapter 7

"Mr Avery, this is the roof." Secretary Kyle remarked as he reached the roof with Theodore Avery. Upon opening a door, they came across the terrifying fight outside. Theodore was stunned, unable to believe the existence of regular human beings who could fight on par with Dark Sun. As Dark Sun's head surgeon, he was fully aware of the invincibility of this creation. Kyle frowned and drew his gun. Five continuous shots reverberated as he finished off five of the terrorists, who were nothing more than sitting ducks. Theodore turned around, looking at Kyle with incredulity. "Oh, please don't be surprised. As head secretary for the Solaris Emperor, it is a necessity to be equipped with skills of self preservation," Kyle said calmly, "Mr Avery, even though I don't want to rush you, please finish your task quickly. The current economy is very unstable, I need to get back as soon as possible." "In addition, due to safety reasons, it would be preferable to return to the special office." Kyle calmly watched the inhuman fight, secretly astonished. The years spent with the Solaris Emperor had not been for nothing. His face remained outwardly schooled to indifference. Theodore Avery paused, "Do you not care about Devon Solaris?" Kyle smiled politely, "The Solaris Emperor does not want me to care about him." Unbelievable... Theodore was caught between laughing and crying. but he had to quickly finish what he came here to do. He lifted an enormously long, black suitcase and shouted, "Dark Sun!" Dark Sun had long since noticed Theodore's arrival. In his desperation to get near Dr. Avery, he was slashed twice by the relentless kidnappers. "Put it down and leave!" Dark Sun roared. Kyle responded immediately by whisking Theodore off the roof and then sealing the heavy door shut as per emergency protocol. At the same time, Dark Sun ran over to the black suitcase and pressed its top. Four silver lines spread outwards from the suitcase from the position of his hand. The suitcase suddenly opened along these lines with a bang. The object inside was separated into three parts: a silver rod segmented into two sections and a curved blade in the grip of deep-red skeleton claws. Dark Sun rapidly assembled the Reaper's Scythe in two steps. He then hefted and swung the scythe in an arc, its large blade immediately blocking all the attacks. Dark Sun jumped up and straightened. He smiled coldly while wielding the Reaper's Scythe, which stood taller than himself. His innocent yet terrifying aura made him seem like a devil in the guise of an angel. "It's time for the hunt. Dark Sun will hunt down all who oppose gege. There will be no mercy!" The enemies began swarming him, but Dark Sun's accurate yet rapid dance with the Reaper's Scythe created an impenetrable wall. The addition of this weapon changed Dark Sun's attacks completely. He no longer had to worry about his fine steel claws not withstanding the blows. He knew that it was almost impossible to break this scythe. The scythe was formed from special alloy created through the very latest technology. The amount of money invested in gathering just the raw materials was unthinkable. Any attempts in gathering the same materials to create a second Reaper's Scythe would be in vain. Naturally, the gigantic and durable blade was incredibly heavy. An average person would have difficulty in just lifting it, let alone using it as a weapon. However, this heavy scythe was best suited for Dark Sun with his strengthened muscles and skeleton. The heavy weapon, combined with his unnatural strength, multiplied his destructive potential. His nimble and perfect movements allowed Dark Sun to brandish the Reaper's Scythe at an unbelievable speed. Only a cyborg like Dark Sun could fully exhibit the prowess of the scythe. Its first victim was the slow moving, double headed axe wielding terrorist. The invincible and terrifying scythe sliced through not only the heavy axe, but also the terrorist's muscular body.

The terrorist's eyes nearly popped out in astonishment. Blood dripped slowly from the hefty man's forehead and he fell to his knees. A single red line slowly emerged, starting from the middle of his forehead, extending to his nose, throat and even his chest, splitting him in half. Suddenly, his head cracked, showing glimpses of a large piece of milky-white matter with traces of blood and greasy-smelling yellow fluid. It then fell onto the floor with a splat, smashed like bean curd. His body fell, the two halves falling in opposite directions. Various pink internal organs streaked with blood were visible. His heart could still be seen beating faintly away. Of course, since its owner was separated in two, it could only pulsate weakly a few more times before finally growing still. "Stop!" Enclosed within the helicopter, Devon Solaris continued his attempt to break the glass. He didn't want his little brother to kill people, to be stained with blood and most definitely didn't wish to see him carry that kind of weapon – A scythe! Oh god! What had their deceased father been thinking? He must have treated his own son as a demon, a grim reaper. Why else would he want to create such a weapon…? However, Dark Sun didn't want to let these people off. Anyone or anything that posed a threat to his brother must be eliminated… Despite having sliced through such a massive object, the scythe did not decelerate in the slightest. The kris wielder could not react fast enough and was suddenly tossed into the air… He looked down to realize that his body had remained on the ground while only his head was airborne. However, that was not the end. Though the hoodlum wielding the dual katara crossed them to defend himself, the Reaper's Scythe still forcibly cut through the two weapons, slicing the hoodlum's chest. But the Scythe was not long enough to pierce through his body. "Scythe, extend!" Dark Sun made use of the microchip in his brain to command a simple device within the Scythe. The tip of the scythe suddenly extended and pierced through the hoodlum's heart, killing him instantly. After witnessing the massacre, the remaining terrorists grew scared; thoughts of retreat formed as they took a few steps back. However, before they could escape, an ice-cold feeling cut through one of the terrorists' waist… The morning star-wielder, who had been a little distance away, was overwhelmed with fright. He hurriedly began running towards the door. "Reaper's Claw, release!" As Dark Sun faced the last survivor, the red skeleton claws released it's grip and the scythe's blade spiraled towards the kidnapper, nailing him to the ground. His limbs convulsed momentarily before becoming still. "Reaper's Claw, return!" The blade spiraled back into the air and returned to its original position with a clang, completing the Reaper's Scythe once again. Dark Sun stood quietly. "Hunt complete!" A sinister chill pervaded the usually bright and sunny roof of the building. It was as if the blinding rays of the sun were not enough to conquer the man standing silently amidst a pool of blood. Belatedly, the sound of glass being pounded upon caught Dark Sun's attention. With a faint smile on his face, he turned and walked over to the helicopter. As he pulled open... no, ripped the entire door off with his slim arms, Devon Solaris sprang out. SMACK! The crisp sound of a slap resounded across the rooftop.

"Why did you do that?!" Devon exclaimed. He seemed as if he wanted to scream out all his long-accumulated worries, regrets and discontentment. But at that moment, only the echo of his words remained. Daren was stunned; he never thought that his gege would actually hit him… Devon buried his face in his palms when he noticed Daren in his shredded, blood drenched clothes, holding his enormous scythe and looking like a demon that had crawled out from the depths of hell. With a choked voice he said, "Don't you understand that I don't want you to be like this? Why can't you be a normal boy? Don't let your hands be stained with blood… Don't be like… the demon father always said you were." Daren was utterly perplexed. He had never seen gege like this. He could only pat gege's back helplessly and cautiously apologised, "Sorry, gege, Dar won't dare do this again." Even though Devon could not accept the image of his brother committing a massacre, he never truly blamed him. He had always understood that this was not entirely didi's fault. He could only place the blame on their late father or… himself. It was he who had forced Daren's hand when he placed himself at risk! "Promise gege that you will behave like a normal boy and not commit such terri… dangerous stunts again." Devon took a deep breath. He would absolutely never use adjectives like 'terrifying' or 'frightening' to describe his little brother. Never! Daren looked at gege in a daze, a fearful expression on his face. "What's wrong? Do you not want to make this promise?" Devon became anxious and shouted hastily, "Promise gege now, be a normal boy and never do such dangerous things again!" Suddenly, explosions resounded seemingly from below, closely followed by violent tremors. Devon was startled. He hugged didi closely, and considered carrying him to the safety of the special office, only to realize that didi was no longer a seven-year-old kid. Although he looked slim, Daren was a cyborg weighing over 90 kg. Despite exerting his full strength, Devon barely managed to lift him off the ground, much less carry him. By then, the explosions were just underfoot. Daren lowered his head saying, "Gege… Dar is unable to grant your wishes. Dar is no longer a normal boy. You can order me to stop using all my abilities... but gege, all the operations that Dar has undergone will then become meaningless......" "Dar…" Devon hesitated. He never imagined that didi would think that way. The explosions continued to grow nearer, rending the ground asunder and sending debris flying. Devon quickly hugged his little brother, not letting any of the stray debris hurt him. Even though he knew that didi was stronger than him, and that he himself was probably the one who really needed the protection, Devon just could not leave him be, after all he was the older brother… Devon stared blankly as massive wings suddenly extended from didi's back, and engulfed his entire body in its shadow… "Please let Dar protect you, gege… It's not just gege who wants to protect Dar, Dar wants to protect gege too." Devon lowered his head to look at his brother, who was shorter by half a head. The little brother who had barely reached his chest had already grown so tall… As the building began to collapse, Daren hugged gege firmly. They did not fall despite the floor crumbling beneath their feet. Devon looked down to find his feet dangling in the air. The massive wings of steel began to beat, propelling them in the direction of the wind and towards the blue sky. "Gege, I just realized that I no longer hate Father…" Devon was taken aback, No longer hate Father…? He could not resist looking at Daren to verify whether his smile was forced. How could he not hate Father after so many years of inflicted torture? Daren revealed a smile that appeared as pure as the white clouds in the sky, "Ge, look at how pretty the sunset is!" Devon turned to see dazzling shades of red, orange and various other colours bathing the setting sun. Unable to contain their brilliance, several stars had peeked out in the darkening sky. The residual brilliance of the setting sun juxtaposed with the night sky had a peculiar beauty, just like... the innocent yet vicious Dark Sun. Devon trained his eyes on his little brother's face, only to see the latter's adorable and happy expression. "Being able to protect gege is really fantastic. Ge, Dar truly thinks this way. Gege, can you stop hating Father? You see, if not for Father, we wouldn't be able to fly in the sky like this." Daren smiled at gege while leisurely changing their direction of flight, thoroughly enjoying the caress of the evening breeze. This was the blue sky he had yearned for ever since he was young, and to be able to fly freely in it was the greatest enjoyment. "Are you happy, Dar?" Devon suddenly asked. Daren blinked and nodded furiously, "Yes, I'm really very happy! Today I met a good friend (Ezart shivered), fought with a strong student (Shain Baylian covered his mouth and sneezed elegantly) and most importantly, I protected gege!" "Is that so…" Devon revealed a gentle smile and said, "then you must promise gege that you will be as happy as you are now, everyday!" "Okay!" Daren readily replied. The blissful silhouettes of the two brothers faded into the sky. Devon smiled contentedly. As long as you're happy, no matter what you want to do … Go, do whatever pleases you. If you want to destroy the world, I'll prepare the ammunition. If you want to destroy me, before you kill me, call me ge one last time. Didi, gege will no longer restrict you. I'll do my best to protect you, your freedom and let you fly freely in your own sky. I swear to protect you, my didi; you and your freedom. To be able to protect gege is really wonderful. Ever since I was young, it had always been gege protecting me. Now, it's my turn to protect gege. Originally, Dar had resented their father's antipathy in forcing torturous, drawn out operations upon him. However, he now felt truly relieved that he had accepted those operations. Those agonies had given him the strength to protect gege. As if it was fated, Father's hatred had given him strength. Gege, both Dar and Dark Sun were born to protect you. I swear I'll do my utmost to do so.

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