Divine Celebrity 146 (Patreon)

As much as I appreciated Megan returning to help me as I charged forward, I had to keep my attention on the men jumping out of their car. 

Even as they extracted themselves from the wreck, they were shocked that the collusion had ended up with their armored, bulletproof car being ruined. I might have chuckled at the show if they hadn’t left the car with their guns drawn. 

It was a dangerous threat … though not enough to make me collapse in fear. I might have been more afraid before the System transformed to grant me extreme powers, but the current situation was different. I was more than confident enough to handle them from such a close distance. 

“Put your hands on your head and go down—“ one of them started, his gun pointed at me, only to be interrupted by a gunshot. 

One that came from behind me. 

Even as I continued to rush forward, I couldn’t help but pay a fleeting glance to my back, and saw Megan there, out of her car, using her car door as cover as she raised her gun. A ditzy small 38mm that would only inconvenience the target unless it landed on an artery … and, considering her hands, trembling in fear, it would be a miracle for her to hit the broadside of a barn. “Drop your weapons, or next time I start shooting your head,” she declared. 

Unlike her hands, her voice didn’t tremble, managing to almost hide the abject terror she was feeling. I had to admit, that I was truly impressed with her actions. Not only did she return for me, but also she pulled a gun to defend me despite the horrible odds. 

Of course, both her approach and her weapon of choice were absolutely horrible for the situation, turning her into little more than a distraction. Still, I appreciated the move. 

It might have been adrenaline, or it might been poor decision-making. But what it clearly wasn’t was not understanding the situation. The abject fear she was displaying showed that she was very much aware of one important fact.

She was risking her life in a desperate situation. 

Of course, the situation wasn’t as desperate as she thought, and her help was more hindrance than assistance as it limited the actions I might have been willing to take … but regardless of the pragmatic assessment of the situation, I was touched. 

I never had anyone put themselves at such a risk to help me. 

I appreciated it. 

So, in light of that, I decided to change my initial target from the nearest attacker to one that was at the back of the line, who had been aiming for Megan. As I continued to rush, I kicked a stone in my way, aiming toward his gun. 

However, the crack that reached my ear was shocking. At first, I thought that I had hit hard enough to break my foot … but a glance downward confirmed that it was not the case. 

Then, I realized a more interesting fact. The sound came not from my broken feet, but from the stone I kicked. Reflexively using my Intent to quicken the stone, it broke the sound barrier and flew as fast as a bullet … and hit my target. 

I was glad that I targeted the gun-wielding hand rather than his head, as the rock flew as fast as a bullet, but it was considerably heavier, hitting his hand with all the momentum of a high-caliber weapon. 

Destroying it completely. 

“Sniper, take cover,” another attacker shouted in panic, ignoring me for a moment as they turned away, treating an imaginary sniper as more important than an unarmed man rushing toward them. A smart choice. 

Wrong, of course, but still smart.

One of them dragged their wounded friend to the cover, leaving two to deal with. I caught one of them before he could even slip into the cover, and grabbed his arm. He turned, aiming his gun toward me with his other hand. 

But when I flipped him with a basic judo throw and slammed him against his friend, that ended in failure. I grabbed his discarded gun — though I created a layer between my fingers and the gun to as not to leave a fingerprint just in case — as I aimed the gun toward the third one, who had been dragging his friends. 

He froze. “Tell me, are you from the Brotherhood?” I asked. 

“What are you talking about?” he said, his voice smooth and confused. I had to admit, I was impressed. If it wasn’t for my enhanced senses, enough to see his pulse getting faster at the mention of the Brotherhood, I might have actually believed it. 

“Good, if you’re not from the Brotherhood, I don’t have to use you to send a message to Paul, and kill you without a problem,” I answered, the intimidation working wonders to convince him that I was telling the truth. 

He was afraid, yet he didn’t say anything. 

Impressive loyalty. 

The Ancient Brotherhood might be even bigger trouble than I expected. It was why, when the other car stopped and the people started to get out with their guns raised, I acted merciful … and aimed exclusively at their knees and gun-wielding hands. 

I didn’t kill them, but a shattered kneecap was enough to keep them out of commission for months. I wanted to send a message. 

But I also didn’t want to leave evidence, so before I started shooting, I gathered my intent and used it to radiate, trying to fry any electronic device in a thirty-feet radius, which included all of their devices including any dash cam they might have, with the exception of my devices. 

“I think that’s enough lesson for you lot,” I said as I looked at them. “Tell that little arrogant shit Paul that, when he sends his dogs next time, he’ll collect their corpses. Understood?” 

Their leader nodded even as he clenched his leg, trying to stem the blood flow. I used my Intent to radiate just enough Recovery energy to reduce the bleeding a bit, so none of them would die of blood loss. 

I didn’t know if it was the best way to handle the attack, but I couldn’t just let them go without harm … and killing them was an escalation I wasn’t ready to. So, I dropped the gun, letting them think that I was careless enough to leave my fingerprints on the scene, and walked away. 

Of course, even without looking, I was using my Intent to measure their exact reaction, ready to intervene if they dared to attack me. None of them did, which was interesting. It wasn’t just fear. Likely, Paul wasn’t the only one with magical abilities they had been exposed to, which meant they were careful enough to realize that when I turned my back toward them, it might not just be stupidity that made me reveal such an extreme weakness. 

Megan was there, watching me with a shocked expression, her beautiful face blanched white. “Come drive with me,” I asked her. 

She looked even more shocked at my casual words. “T-this is a rental. I need to drop it back,” she whispered. 

“Oh, don’t worry about that, Our friends here will handle that,” I said, then I turned back, looking at their leader. “You will, right?” I asked. 

“O-of course, sir,” he said. 

I turned to Megan once more. “You see, that’s handled,” I said as I gestured at her. “Now, come and we can leave,” I said to her. She looked at me, shocked, but she still started walking toward me, shocked. 

I looked at her, no less surprised the moment she grabbed her bag and started walking. I wasn’t shocked by her steps, which were unsteady, and not just because of the shock. She was wearing stylish pumps, and the ground was hardly smooth enough to allow a steady walk. 

Nor I was surprised by her amazing dress. She was wearing a red dress that complemented her hair color, but it was somehow both casual and sexy, enhancing her natural beauty and coming across as promising without revealing more than a hint of cleavage. 

No, I was surprised by the sudden echo of arousal I had felt from her, one that came from lust. And, it was far more different than what Miriam had been feeling. 

What Miriam had displayed was something simple and surface, an animalistic desire to be dominated roughly, with no after effect than just a simple touch. Megan had something different, one that managed to echo in my Lust Romain without the sense of inferiority Miriam displayed, her emotions echoing with many different layers. 

To her credit, she managed to hide her churning emotions far more effectively than I expected while she covered the distance, and soon stood in front of me, her beautiful lips parted slightly. I opened the passenger seat, and gestured her in. 

“Thank you, kind sir,” she said, though I could see just how much it took from her to reject the desire to kiss me. 

Instead, she took her seat, and I took the driver’s seat … and we drove away.