System Breaker: Surviving Apocalypse with Nine-Tailed Kitsune-Chapter 41: Familiar Thief

The two of them blinked a couple of times, unsure how to react, until Eve’s hand moved suddenly toward her revolver.

Her hand, however, barely had time to wrap around the grip as Damon was already in front of her. He grabbed her wrist, stopping her from reaching the weapon. The girl retaliated with a punch, but he ducked under and kicked her foot from under her.

Unfortunately, she managed to grab hold of his t-shirt, pulling him down with her. The two of them scrambled across the store floor for a couple of seconds before he landed on top of her, holding both of her wrists above her head.

"If it isn’t the thief..." he said with a satisfied smirk.

She tried to break free for a moment before she simply gave up, her red lips curving into a smile.

"Still stalking me? Must be really obsessed, huh-"

"I’m not here to joke around," he quickly cut her off. "Give me the reward you stole, and I’ll let you walk out of here alive.

"And if I don’t?"

"You die." His tone was unusually flat.

For a couple of moments, she simply stared at him, as if trying to guess if he was bluffing or not, but after failing to see even a hint of hesitation on his face, she let out a disappointed exhale.

"Fine-" She didn’t get to finish the word as a sudden thud echoed from the side.

While still wrestling on the ground, both of their heads turned to the side to see a tall woman wearing exactly the same dress as Eve, with a pair of identical heels. Her silver-white hair cascaded gently across her shoulders as she stared needles into Damon. Although both of them were beautiful, it was hard not to notice how much better the dress looked on Kitsune.

Damon, however, would not have a chance to admire that beauty as his gaze drifted between Kitsune and Eve, and he quickly realised how this whole thing looked.

’This isn’t what it-’ He began to explain, but using that moment of confusion to her advantage, Eve used her legs to kick him to the side and scrambled up to her feet, pointing her revolver at him before he had a chance to fully raise to his feet.

But although she was aiming at Damon, Eve’s eyes were locked on Kitsune, who was staring back at her with a cold look in her crimson eyes.

"Fox... woman?" Eve tilted her head, clearly confused.

At the same time, Damon had already risen to his feet. He watched Eve closely, ready to react at the slightest movement.

It was only when Eve’s gaze turned to Damon that she realised that he was not surprised by Kitsune’s arrival. At the same time, she recalled how he travelled with a small fox companion, and that’s when it hit her.

"I didn’t take you for that kind of man," Eve suddenly said.

"What?" Damon tilted his head.

He wasn’t sure what she meant, but he also didn’t really care as something else took priority in his mind.

"The reward. Give it back, and I’ll let you walk away." He said with a final tone.

"Honey, I’m the one holding the gun-" Before she could even finish her sentence, Damon moved.

BANG!

Eve managed to pull her trigger once before, Damon grabbed a hold of her wrist, lifting it high into the air and away from any targets.

Eve’s eyes shifted toward the shallow wound on Damon’s shoulder.

He sidestepped just enough for the bullet to only graze him as he charged forward, reaching her before she could pull the trigger the second time.

"You know, I think I’m starting to like your grip on my wrists," she suddenly said.

But Damon wasn’t about to play any more games with her. He tightened the grip on her wrist, causing her to drop the weapon.

"Rough..." she murmured as her revolver clattered to the floor.

"How about we just kill her?" Kitsune said as she moved beside Damon. There was something cold about her that Damon had not seen before.

"Last chance," he said, turning his gaze away from Kitsune and back to Eve.

"It’s here," Eve replied with a slight grimace, wiggling the fingers of her raised arm.

Damon eased his grip on her wrist, allowing her to lower her arm and reveal a large dark metal ring on her finger.

"This was the reward... It raises vitality by 20 points."

Damon’s eyes widened at the words.

Vitality, the exact stat that allowed his new ability to run longer. It was exactly the kind of boost he needed to make the most of his new class, and now it was within his grasp.

His lips curved into a satisfied smirk as he wasted no time reaching for the ring. But as he tried to pull it, nothing happened.

"Huh?"

He tried a couple more times, but the girl’s hand simply moved with the ring as if it were glued to her.

"Ow! You can’t just yank it off!" Eve exclaimed.

"She’s right..." Kitsune began to explain, "Relics are bound to a soul. You need to give it to someone willingly."

Eve nodded and pulled the ring off before giving it to Damon.

He accepted it without hesitation, and when he did, a loud notification rang in his head.

[You have received a Relic: Vitality Ring]

Unfortunately, he had no time to even put the relic on, as Eve suddenly collapsed to the ground.

Both he and Kitsune stared at the girl’s unconscious body for a couple of moments before they turned to one another.

"Is she dead?" Kitsune asked. Her tone appeared to be back to her usual self.

"I don’t think so?" Damon replied, not really sure.

He knelt down beside her and quickly pressed his finger against her neck.

"She’s alive-"

Suddenly, the girl moved, turning toward him. Instead of her usual sly expression, he saw something else, something resembling fear.

For a moment, she seemed to be looking for the right words, or perhaps debating if she should even say whatever it was she wanted to say, before she finally found the courage to speak.

"Insulin... I need insulin."