«The doors are open, the cameras won't see you. - Cortana instructed me as I approached the main LexCorp building, which was close enough to the Daily Planet that it was literally across the park and a couple of streets.
With the help of Cortana's powers and nanosuit, as well as muggle repelling charms, I had no trouble getting into the building itself undetected. Soon I was in the lift to the upper floors, and then up the stairs to the floor where Lex was now resting. Across from the lift was the desk where Mercy was sitting, so I took the stairs.
Opening the electronically locked door, I entered the cosy and well-appointed room.
«Turn left to bypass Mercy and approach Alexander Luthor's office. - I heard Cortana's voice and followed her advice. I soon found myself in front of the door to my brother's office, which I slowly opened and stepped inside. The office was more than spacious, bigger than Lena and I's flat by a factor of three. There were no cameras in the office, but there were various sensors.
Lex was sitting on the couch, a glass of wine in his hand, and he was looking at the big TV, which was showing various shots of the superfight. Although yesterday Lois had released another article where she had applied the word 'superman', so soon that was how he would be known to the world. Soon, instead of shots of superman, the pictures switched to a general spending schedule, this one Lex himself had switched remotely.
«The office is equipped with state-of-the-art occupancy sensors, silent alarms and fire suppression. - said the AI.
«Mercy, bring me the Cadmus project files. - Lex spoke into his communicator. Meanwhile, I was looking around the room, trying to figure out how to proceed. The original plan had been to use Murasame, whose poison would kill him 100% of the time, and it was unlikely the doctors would find anything, since the poison was magical. But with the wand, I have more ideas, and the easiest thing to do is to start a fire and stop him from getting out of the office.
«Cortana, can you find out anything about Project Cadmus? - I asked quietly, being in the farthest corner of the office under disguise and spell.
«Most likely Alexander Luthor's main computer is disconnected from the general network, so I need to connect to the local network to get data. Come closer to the computer and I'll try to connect. - I did what Cortana said, but Alex was off to the side talking to Mercy.
«There's access.
Nodding at those words, I pulled out my wand from the Chat and walked over to the wall behind which was a large cluster of different wires.
«Call a short circuit in the whole building or cause a power outage, even if it's just for a second. - I said and prepared my wand. When the lights flickered for a moment, the sensors 'accidentally' switched off, and I did:
«Flash. - I cast a spell, and the tip of my wand lit up a little, and the wall began to glow from the inside of the wires. I walked around Lex and pointed my wand at him... and stopped. That would be like killing a human being. Even if it wasn't literally my own handiwork, it would be the death of a human being, albeit one as rotten as my older brother. But that hesitation didn't last long, and I don't know exactly why, perhaps because of Stark's experience or Albedo's, but I pulled myself together.
«Confundus. - I said, watching as Lex was disoriented for a moment, his mind jumbled and he just stood there. The fire was getting worse and smoke was starting to fill the office.
«Mr Luthor? - Mercy on the other hand tried to open the door and failed. She could already smell the smoke, but the door wouldn't budge.
«Confundus. - I said again when I noticed that Lex was regaining his comprehension. Theoretically, you could study "imperio" and tell him to kill himself or throw himself out the window, but to me, it would be less of an issue if he suffocated to death by carbon monoxide from a fire caused by a short circuit. - Confundus. - I sent the spell at him again, and Lex was moving faster and faster away from the spell by the minute, clearly starting to panic.
«Kha, kha, what...
«Confundus. - I sent another spell, and he collapsed, starting to crawl towards the door. Because of the suit's regenerative oxygen system, I didn't have to worry about smoke or other gases. My disguise, on the other hand, was already over, and I was standing at full height behind Lex.
«Mercy... open the... kha... door. - He was banging on the door, and his secretary was doing her best to open the door. She even tried to de-energise the whole floor so that nothing would prevent her from opening the electronic door, but Cortana wouldn't let her.
«Confundus. - The spell hit him in the back and he turned around coughing and looked right at me. In the visor of the suit I could see my pulse and I was clearly having a rapid heartbeat, besides, the suit was registering adrenaline in my blood because of what was happening. I could see Lex's incomprehensible expression when he saw my figure, and there was a glimpse of fear and even despair.
«Xha, what have I done to Ulia? Xa..." he coughed again. I mean... I had a hard time looking at it, but I forced myself to continue. I'm in a world of danger, a world where there is no room for weakness, or else those I care about might get hurt. I wanted to eliminate him simply because of the knowledge of his future, for no clear reason. Perhaps, if it wasn't for the information that he decided to get rid of me and my sister from the sin, I wouldn't have dared to take such a step. But it was he who decided to simply place an order for our elimination, with no conversation, no questions asked, and no regrets.
He was unconscious and sprawled on the floor, it wouldn't take long for a man to die from carbon monoxide, especially since its concentration had increased quite a bit, and all the windows were closed and the smoke was piling up in the office.
«Dead..." I said quietly, ignoring the fire and smoke. Soon the door opened because the building was blacked out, apparently Mercy had made a deal. But immediately it was too late to do anything, for Lex had been in a room with a high concentration of carbon monoxide for over ten minutes, his brain most likely already dead. Mercy couldn't even immediately spot the bodies when she opened the door because of the smoke.
It was my first murder. And yes, I was the one who killed, even though I didn't pull the trigger or break his neck. I was the one who didn't let him recover for long, and I was the one who started the fire. I've heard that some people can feel absolutely nothing when killing a person, as if they just... stepped on an ant. I've also heard of various mental illnesses that people get after seeing death. Now I don't know if it's my abnormalities that made me do this, or the effects of assimilation.
As I turned to look at the building a few hundred metres away from the fire, I heard a loud bang as Superman flew in and smashed through the glass, apparently trying to help Mercy.
I hadn't even been in this world a week before I'd decided to make a full and conscious killing. And if you think about it a little longer, it wasn't just about keeping myself safe, it was about getting Lex's wealth, his company, and the opportunities that came with it. So I'm no better than those bastards who kill for money. That's what Lex did to our parents, and now I'm doing it to him. I guess it runs in the family. I'm relieved that I didn't kill an innocent man, and no one else was really hurt by it.
«Judging by your body readings, you may not be feeling well right now..." Cortana's voice came through. - I'm not good at calming people down, but I can tell you I'm better than you. - I saw her avatar in my visor. - Maybe your blood relationship is affecting you or the fact that you killed him. All means are good in war, and from the data I got from you, I can tell you that life in this world is not much different from that.
«You've calmed me down. - In the flat I put the suit in Gachi's inventory and lay down on the bed, falling asleep almost instantly.
***
«It's Rias-sempai! A first-class hottie!
«Be my girlfriend!
«What did you say? Do you know who you're talking to, you bastard?
«Hit him!As a Demon, the Gremory heiress could hear all the shouts and praises in her honour, which she enjoyed, but she had other things on her mind right now. The first beauty of Kuo Academy was thinking about her possible future.
«President, tell me what's eating your soul, if, of course, a pathetic servant like me deserves to know. - Her Queen said with a look of innocence and offence as she entered the office of the Occult Club.
«Akeno... - Rias couldn't help but frown. She didn't like lying to her friend, but to say so much about Chat and her possible future... she didn't want to be taken for a lunatic.
«Oh, the president called me by my name..." she put her hands on her cheeks in embarrassment and looked away.
«Stop clowning around. - The girl exhaled heavily and only now noticed that her rook and friend Koneko Tojo, who was sitting on the sofa and eating biscuits, was looking at them.
«Koneko, how's your assignment going? - She decided to change the subject and sat down on the couch.
«He's disgusting and perverted. - She answered her indifferently, her face unchanged. - But yes, I sense a strange energy from him, perhaps dragon energy. But it's too small to track, and if I hadn't been concentrating on it for a long time, I wouldn't have noticed.
«I see. - Rias nodded, expecting something like that. As strong as Issei was, he was still a powerful pawn. If she asked him to become a demon, he would probably not refuse, but would just stare at her breasts and drool.
Still, her outlook on life has changed a bit this week, and the prospect of being a sacrificial lamb to be rescued by a "hero" doesn't appeal to her, even if it is romantic. And she likes such romantic stories... but looking from the outside at the events that could happen because of her weakness, she exhaled heavily again.
«President, are you alright? - She was distracted from her musings by the voice of the 'Horse', Yuta Kiba. He politely kept his distance between them and looked at her with concern.
«I'm fine. I was just thinking.
«It's been happening a little too often lately. - Akeno said, having already brewed the tea and set the mug in front of her.
«Do I... notice much?
«Very much. - Koneko nodded and a hint of excitement appeared in her "emotionless" gaze.
«I'm sorry, I don't mind telling you, but... it's hard to believe. More than that, even I didn't believe it at first, and I was trying to figure out if I was under the influence of fallen magic or something.
«Rias, you should try it. She'll probably tell you about her imaginary boyfriend. Are-are, Rias, I could help you find a worthy candidate. - smiled at her Queen.
«We are ready to listen to you and help you if you need it. - Kiba said somewhat militantly, as if he was preparing to watch her back.
Rias took a breath and thought about what to say. She didn't want to lie to them, but she hadn't even told her brother about the Chat and its capabilities, because she was worried that he would get worried and ban her somewhere to make sure she was safe. In the rules of Chat there is no prohibition on disclosure of information, but she realises that she can't talk about it on every corner. Chat is her trump card, especially with her possibly new friends there. Tony-kun's advice and suggestions have helped her so far, and she's learnt about his world and the fact that he's a mage and an alchemist, well a swordsman on top of that.
They would most likely meet at some point on the same Mission, still the Chat Points would come in handy. She saw a couple of interesting items that she wouldn't mind acquiring. It would be nice to get a Longinus for herself, but there were other things, like the "Bloodline Mixture", which, according to the description, should fully unlock the power hidden in her blood... she'd read something like that in a manga somewhere, it sounded interesting.
«I'll tell you, stop looking at me like that. - the princess of the Gremory clan has given up. But then she'll get back at it in training.... Demoness indeed.
***
patreon.com/posts/124888009