Conrad raised his hand slightly, signaling the man on the rooftop.
"Put the gun down, on the ground. Then come closer."
He tightened his grip on the injured man just enough for the message to be clear, then added,
"If you talk, I'll let you go."
The man with the sniper rifle hesitated.
From the rooftop, he looked down at Conrad, then at his friend on the ground.
The injured man's face was pale, sweat dripping down his temple, one arm hanging uselessly.
His eyes were wide, silently begging.
The sniper's fingers tightened around the rifle.
Doubt crept in.
Conrad noticed it immediately.
He did not give the man time to think.
"You have three seconds to decide," Conrad said.
His eyes lifted, locking onto the sniper's position.
"After I kill your friend, getting to you will be child's play."
That was enough.
The sniper swallowed hard, fear finally overpowering hesitation.
He stepped back from the edge, disappeared for a second, then hurried down the stairs leading to the alley.
When he reappeared, his rifle was already slipping from his hands.
It hit the ground with a dull metallic sound.
"We're just mercenaries," the man blurted out quickly. "Hired hands. That's all."
Conrad loosened his grip slightly but did not release the injured man.
"We have nothing to do with you personally."
"We were paid to stop you, that's it."
Conrad looked at him for a long moment.
Then he smirked faintly and thought.
"These guys are really dumb,"
"Try to kill someone. Fail. Then apologize and expect mercy."
"Do they really think the world works like that?"
He shifted his gaze back to the sniper and spoke again.
"Name."
The sniper blinked.
"W-what?"
"Your employer," Conrad clarified. "Give me the name. And the location."
The sniper hesitated again, instinctively glancing at his injured friend.
The man on the ground groaned softly, pain cutting through his breathing.
That sound broke whatever resolve remained.
The sniper clenched his teeth.
"Lionel," he said finally. "And Etila. Kakin secret officials."
Conrad's eyes narrowed slightly.
The sniper continued quickly, afraid silence might change Conrad's mind.
"They're… not normal either. I don't know exactly what, but they have powers."
"They're hunting anyone in the city who looks into the Staff of Germanis."
He shook his head.
"You're not the only one."
Conrad nodded.
"Where are they?" he asked.
The sniper swallowed again.
"Mountain Base," he said. "Krimonof. It's close to the city. Old military facility."
Conrad released the injured man at last.
The man collapsed to the ground, gasping.
"Thank you," Conrad said.
The words sounded genuine.
He bent down and picked up a small pebble from the alley floor.
It was nothing and did not seem weird. Just an erratic action, so the sniper did not care about it.
As his focus was on his friend and trying to get out of the situation they were both in and save their asses
Then, without warning, he grabbed the neck of the man who ambushed him and tried to get into close combat with him, and again without waiting any other second.
His fingers closed around the ambusher's neck.
The man's neck twisted at an impossible angle as Conrad crushed it with force.
Blood sprayed briefly as the spine snapped.
The ambusher died in less than a second, his body going limp before his mind could even process what happened.
Before Sniper could scream and run from the impending death
Conrad flicked the pebble that he had already coated with the "Ryu" at the man.
It crossed the distance faster than a bullet.
The stone pierced the man's skull cleanly, exploding out the other side with a sickening force.
The man dropped on the ground like a sack of potatoes while the blood started oozing out from his head. There was no need to get close to him at all; all the life force the sniper had vanished in less than three seconds.
Conrad stood there for a moment.
"I don't like being ambushed."
He looked down at the two corpses for a moment and nodded to himself as he thought.
"I'm not kind enough to let you two go after trying to kill me..."
"I am not that dumb."