Chapter 6 - 6: Dark Variant
Big Joe was confident and stood more relaxed than everyone else.
He wasn't as shocked as others since it wasn't his first time seeing a Variant. He had crossed paths with variants before in his life. And during the two times, he saw them, once he actually managed to kill a variant.
Even though it was years ago and the Variant that was killed was not only a weaker one but drunk as well, it still helped him gain confidence in himself.
It also helped him gain much respect amongst others. He often told these stories to the people that came to this restaurant. It fanned his pride a lot. So, now that another opportunity was present in front of him, how could he let it go?
In fact, he had been waiting for another variant to go rogue for many years now. He always kept a gun with him for that very reason. He also practiced shooting every now and then.
Big Joe had remained silent until now to attract as little attention as he could. He let Lucifer cause havoc inside the Restaurant on purpose. He wanted his entry to be as magnificent and dramatic as possible.
He also wanted to be seen as a "savior" by others.
Now that the moment was right according to him, he took out the gun from underneath the counter and aimed it towards Lucifer.
After he was ready, he shouted, "Everyone, be careful! That kid is a powerful Variant! He is probably an Evil Dark Variant!"
The people who knew what Evil Dark Variant meant grew even more scared. They were the Variants that hated humans and wanted to rule them. There were even many organizations of those Variants. It was said that they rarely appeared in public sight. What was one doing there?
Lucifer was already indulged in his own thoughts, so it took him a bit longer than expected to get out of his trance.
He soon turned towards the origin of the sharp voice. But just as he did, a bullet pierced through the left side of his chest.
Once again, the situation inside the restaurant had shifted. Big Joe's action had brought back the hopes of all the people present there. It was as if their souls had almost left their bodies, but the moment their savior appeared in the form of "Big Joe", the souls finally came back inside their body.
Cheers erupted inside the restaurant as the bullet pierced through Lucifer's body.
Lucifer couldn't help but drop to his knees, right in front of everybody's eyes. It was the first time he had been shot.
"Yes!"
"Big Joe killed the monster!"
"Good work! No matter how powerful these Variants are, they can't survive being hit directly with bullets!"
"That kid is dead!"
People that were as silent as chickens previously started laughing like tigers.
"Hahaha, he was showing off a lot! Good riddance! I was right; he was a slightly powerful beggar but still a beggar," the man who had abused Lucifer earlier sneered at him again.
"Now he can atone for his sins in hell! I hope God forgives this child, who went astray and became evil." A woman in her mid-forties pitied.
The customers started laughing as they saw Lucifer being shot. They were scared before, but now they had calmed down as Lucifer was already dead in their eyes.
Being relieved finally, they were laughing happily.
Unfortunately, their happiness didn't last for long. Slowly, more and more people started closing their mouths as they realized that Lucifer hadn't fallen yet. Despite being shot, he was still kneeling. His body hadn't dropped to the ground.
It was still in the same posture with his eyes closed. He didn't move even an inch as if he was a statue.
As for his wounds, the few people who had a clear view of his wounds were able to see that it had healed already.
They were about to tell others about this strange phenomenon when they got a chill down their spines as they saw Lucifer open his eyes.
Lucifer soon rose to his feet. He stood as tall as before.
The ones that hadn't noticed his wounds heal also saw him stand suddenly. Their laughter got replaced with dread.
"W-what? Can he even heal from that? Impossible!" someone spoke on behalf of everyone as the tables turned yet again.
Once again, the fear chained the hearts of people as they realized that the man they faced wasn't a normal Variant but something entirely else. They had never heard of a Variant who could heal himself.
Just what was he exactly? How could he heal himself? Was he even a human?
Questions piled up inside their minds making their thoughts go haywire, but they couldn't find any possible answers to satisfy their piqued curiosity.
Lucifer looked towards the man who had fired the shot and began striding towards him.
Big Joe was stunned to see Lucifer still alive and moving as nothing had happened!
Before that, he didn't feel scared but now, he was not only feeling scared, but he also felt a chill running down his spine as his feet froze in place.
But he was too stubborn to give up. He kept firing as the distance between Lucifer and him lessened with each passing second.
Lucifer didn't look like he was getting affected at all as he closed in on the man. This time, he didn't even halt, let alone kneel as bullets pierced through his body. Lucifer was taking those bullets as if they were nothing, completely unaffected.
It did hurt him, but he had already gone through more pain than anyone here would have imagined. This little pain didn't even make him frown now.
He stopped right before the counter, which was the only thing between him and the man.
With one hand, he grasped the wooden counter and threw it behind him, like it didn't have any weight.
It wasn't clear if it was intentional or just a coincidence, but the counter flew behind him and crashed right before the entrance of the restaurant, blocking the only path of exit. At that very instant, the whole Restaurant had become a prison that no one could leave.
Lucifer walked in lazy steps towards the man who was holding the gun, as he spoke in a hoarse voice, "You all hate me. For what? The Doctors hated me. For what? Wasn't humanity a good thing that was worth protecting? Why did it become a nightmare for me?"
The more he spoke, the louder his voice got, as if he was letting out the tsunami of rage that was built inside his heart.
"Why? Why did my parents think humanity was worth it? Why did they sacrifice themselves for you? Why?" He yelled, his fists balled, eyes bloodshot red as he glared at everyone.
"That is all an illusion, isn't it? The illusion that makes people think that humans are good when you are the real monsters, isn't it right? Your smile, your kindness, your gratitude, everything is a facade." His voice didn't shake at all as he screamed in a sinister tone, leaving everyone to tremble in fear.
Big Joe kept stepping back as he continued shooting, but soon he realized that he couldn't step back anymore. His back was already resting against the wall.
Reaching out his hand, Lucifer caught the gun, which had already run out of bullets.
As soon as his hand touched the rigid texture of the gun, it started deteriorating. Within seconds, the gun was utterly destroyed.
Big Joe's was horrified and stunned. His eyes turned as round as saucers as he stared at Lucifer, but he didn't know what he could do. He could see the grim reaper right in front of his eyes, and it was none other than Lucifer.
He wanted to run, but there was no path. Furthermore, he was regretting his decision to offend this god of death! Why did he have to be the hero? He knew that if he could go back in time, he would have chosen to run away secretly instead of trying to be the hero and shooting Lucifer.
"Tell me why?!" Lucifer roared furiously as he caught Big Joe's hand.
Due to his rage, he failed to control his strength even a little.
Crack!
As he caught the hand of the man, the force was so extreme that the bones of Big Joe's hand were crushed instantaneously.
Big Joe screamed in anguish like a dying pig who had lost a limb. However, the pain of his hand being crushed wasn't all that made him scream.
His body had also started decaying, which was causing him even more pain. If the "burning in inferno" was a thing, that was what Big Joe was feeling right then.
Big Joe's body also turned to ash, forever disappearing from this world. His body decayed faster than the previous man; it looked like each second Lucifer's strength was increasing by a few folds.
"Everyone! We can't escape today. He won't let us go! We must join hands to kill him! Even if we die, we will take him to hell with us!" one of the men, trapped in the restaurant, asserted as he picked up a chair and ran toward Lucifer to attack him.
Seeing no other hope, the others also decided to give it their all this time.
Lucifer peered at the man, who was charging towards him. He also started walking towards the man.
The only difference between the two of them was that one anxiously ran towards the other. In contrast, the other walked lazily without emotion, almost like an emotionless puppet on a mission to kill.
The man swung the chair towards Lucifer's face. Lucifer didn't even make an effort to dodge or stop it as if he wasn't bothered by the attack at all. The chair hit his head and shattered into pieces.
His head had also started bleeding because of the injury, but he didn't care. The bleeding stopped promptly, and his head healed right in front of everyone's eyes, but the blood remained on his face.
Closing his fist, Lucifer directed his punch for the chest of the man. A single punch… a single punch was all it took to crush the man's ribs as he flew away like a paper plane.
The man slammed on the wall of the restaurant, which proved to be his end. He died instantly.
After killing the man, Lucifer didn't stop as he continued attacking without any stop. He was like a true beast that only knew one thing, and it was to "kill" on sight.
The people who were inside the restaurant could only bully a powerless kid. However, in front of Lucifer, a Variant, they were like fish on a chopping block.
The slaughter continued inside the restaurant, and bodies started piling up wherever Lucifer walked. Not a single person was alive after taking attacks from him. His single blow was enough to end them.
Soon, the restaurant's ground was filled with bodies and ashes. It looked less like a restaurant, more like a battleground now.
Everyone was dead except one person. Only a single person remained in the entire restaurant, which was filled with dead bodies and ashes.
The slaughter that Lucifer committed was frightening, but he didn't feel even a bit of remorse. He had killed a lot of people, but he didn't regret it in the least. In fact, he didn't feel anything.
His heart was utterly emotionless now, and his face showed the same. His blank stare scanned the place and stopped right at the last person who remained.
"Stop! I have already called the Awakened Protection Force! The APF will be here to catch you soon; you should escape while you still can. If you waste time on killing me, you won't be able to escape in time!" The man spoke, his voice trembling, but his warning didn't stop Lucifer.
Seeing Lucifer not stopping, the man became even more nervous. He couldn't find anything that could protect him, but he thought of giving it one last shot.
"Maybe you don't know about the APF because you're young! APF is made of the most powerful Variants of this country! Their only task is to capture the Dark Variants that misuse their powers and punish them!"
"You might be strong against us, but you're nothing in front of the strongest Variants of APF! You still have a chance! Leave me and run away! Save your life!" He screamed, closing his eyes as he shivered both inwardly and outwardly, knowing Lucifer, who he saw slaughtering everyone a while ago like a grim reaper, was close to him.