Too close.

It was simply too close to dodge. Instinct took over, and he swerved violently, the vehicle's front smashing into the wall.

BAAAAAAAAAANG!

The resulting collision almost made the world around him turn fully black as he slammed his head against the steering wheel, only to jolt back in the next moments.

"Haa,"

"Haa,"

"Haa,"

The sound of his own hard exhale reached him, quickly followed by the realization.

"I'm alive. I'm still alive."

Through the fully cracked windshield, the mangled front of the vehicle came into view.

He was still breathing, miraculously unscathed despite not having worn a seatbelt.

Almost immediately, he recalled what had happened earlier and hurried out of the vehicle, running down a couple of steps.

'Hey, are you alright?' he called into the shadows, watching a figure gradually lift itself to its feet.

"Thank God, you're alive. Hey, you, piece of shit. Can you not look at where you... "

The words died in his throat as he watched a horror unfurl.

The silhouette slowly got onto all fours but didn't rise any further.

Even worse, his shadow suddenly grew, bones creaking with each movement, and before Lontan's eyes, the monstrous silhouette of a beast consumed his form.

"Mon… monster…"

It dawned on him, and he sprinted back to the vehicle. Yet he hadn't traveled far when

BOOOOOOOOM!

A crater opened up right before him, the resulting power sending him reeling back, falling on his butt.

BOOOM!

BOOOM!

The echo of heavy steps reached his ears, and he turned to find the monster standing before him.

A gigantic being of over seven meters tall, its body covered in lurking golden veins with full golden hair.

Those huge jaws of it shocked Lontan down to his bones, and he almost fainted when he saw the claws.

The monster was like a wolf.

No, the right name was a werewolf from one of those stories.

"You… Stay back!"

Lontan shouted, trying to retreat, but the creature's claws found his neck, dangling him helplessly in midair.

But it didn't strangle him tight, allowing him to talk.

"You… You don't wanna mess with me."

"I swear it… I'm Sir Lontan! Second Division Head of Neural Mech Tech in Mechara."

"I… I run billions of Nv-dollars transactions, and my life is termed B-grade Protect."

"If you kill me… you'll be chased to the end of hell and killed, I swear it!"

He threatened, but all he received was the creature's amused gaze as it lifted him toward its face.

Lontan was lost for words.

As much as the creature before him looked like a beast, looking into its golden eyes, there was intelligence in them.

A sharp intelligence that was easily seen through staring even in its eyes.

"So… Sir Lontan, is it?"

The creature's word rumbled deep in its thick throat, and Sir Lontan's jaw fell in shock, though fear left him no choice but to respond.

"That's… that's right."

A glint crossed through the creature's golden eyes.

"You are a B-grade Protect, you say?"

Sir Lontan flinched as the creature's other hand moved, one of its claws stretching towards his face.

"I… I swear it! I swear! The proof is in the car!. You don't want to do this!"

He screamed in horror watching the finger come close, until it was a few inches from his eyes before stopping.

If it moved by even a single inch more, it would tear through his eye, blinding him in an instant.

'A B-grade life protect, hmmm,' Everlearn thought, continuing, 'The man isn't exactly crazy high on the rankings.'

'After all, Mechara Organization has people with A- and S-grade life Protect.'

'If he had been an S-grade Protect, he would have made it into one of the higher-ups, but… a B-grade still has its use…'

"Believe me, all those that the Mechara Organization has marked as a threat have all been eliminated. But...we don't have to make it reach that level. What do you want? Money? I..."

Sir Lontan tried to offer, believing the creature was weighing whether to kill him or not.

BOOOOM!

The ground shook as the claws gripping Lontan's neck released, sending him crashing to the ground.

His butt stung from the pain of the fall, but adrenaline from the horror wouldn't let him feel it.

He stood frozen as the massive monster slowly shrank, its veins disappearing, until in the next moment, it vanished entirely.

All that stood before him was a blue-haired young man, with flashes of receding gold in his eyes.

He smirked as he looked down at him, yet despite his transformation into a much younger man, Lontan's fear did not wane.

If anything, it intensified.

His hands reached out before him as he watched the claws slowly receding into normal human flesh.

'A Corer?'

It coursed through him, and he grabbed at the hand that helped him onto his feet in a jerk.

"Sir Lontan. I am Ever, here to give you the most important deal of your life."

"Will you take it or leave it…" he asked.

Lontan was obviously smarter than he looked.

He replied almost instantly,

"Take it! I am very interested in taking it…"

"That's good to hear. Let's start by going back into the car and going somewhere… right. Hmm?"

Everlearn said, turning back and heading towards the vehicle.

Sir Lontan unconsciously turned his head behind.

There, just a couple of hundred meters away, was the outside world with cars wheezing by.

He could make a run for it and be free from the monster's grasp, but in the end, he turned that idea down.

Speed wasn't his best forte.

It was intelligence, and right now every part of it was telling him not to act rashly.

A time would come when he would, just not now.

And with that term accepted, he continued into the car with the boy.

Moments later, the LED lights flickered through the dark alley, and the vehicle carried on its journey as if nothing had happened.

And just like that, Everlearn had gotten himself an important piece:

A high enough ranking personnel of the Mechara Organization…

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