Midnight Prince: Empire of Sin

Boris was a Hunter.

Before being a mafia boss and even before being an assassin by trade. No matter how strong he was now as a Gold rank being that was assessed by the association, being near the top of the hierarchy of the hunter path, he always kept his habits and skills as a Hunter to himself.

What would be the best path to take when you were in a situation where it was simply impossible to correctly assess the skills and power set of the enemies? And the danger they would thus pose to the individual's life…

Standing on even ground, he looked up straight at the man clad in pure darkness— the individual that basically came floating out after he jumped out of the window of the cabin.

His tongue moved as he licked his lips and observed his surroundings in a calm and composed manner.

"Damn. It seems like I have met a tough nut to crack."

He grinned, speaking with highly boastful words and confidence in his voice, masking the caution and trepidation in his heart.

"Do you even know who I am? Do you think that the Bratva will let you go after doing this?"

He continued to speak using boastful words but was only greeted with utter silence in return…

"So this is how you hide your true self, huh?"

Boris' smirk stopped stretching across his lips as he heard the words leaking out of the individual's mouth.

"I see. I guess Hunters do have to play smart to survive out there on the world— ruled by the supernatural, after all."

The voice of his opponent, the enemy with unknown capabilities in question, was hard to decipher. It was as though his whole persona was shrouded in mist and coming from a distance far away from his reach.

"Boris… is that your name? No surname, I presume. Just a criminal from a faraway land. An ex-KGB member too, also worked in the army and was hailed as a proud patriot and loyal soldier of the country. You received the Medal of Merit for all your hard work and was even hailed as a Hero of your country. Even going as far as to reach the Gold Rank in your early thirties—, you are also considered a Genius with the potential to become an Executioner in the future."

The voice fluctuated at the mention of the word Genius, as if he found it rather amusing to utter such a word for the man called Boris, but outside of that slight fluctuation, there was nothing more that was said by the unknown individual.

"In fact, the Government was even about to bestow you a divine weapon from what I have gathered. God damn, you truly had an interesting life, haven't you?"

The false smirk that once adorned Boris' face could be found no more. His expression was progressively becoming colder and colder while the grip on his gun tightened as he readied himself.

"You had it all. Honor, wealth, respect, love, comradeship, adoration, and even a future already prepared for you to cruise through. Your life was perfect in a way and yet…"

Boris looked up with a grim look on his face,

" —Yet you betrayed everything and became a filthy criminal who can do nothing but kidnap a young university student… a normal kid… Wow, how the mighty have fallen."

"Hahaha…"

A cold laugh leaked from Boris' lips as he spoke to him in a chilling voice, "You truly anger me."

"Heh. Thanks. I am learning the art of trash talk these days. Glad that it was effective at the very least…"

Slowly, the shadowy figure landed on the ground…

"Are you going to ask me why I became a criminal now?"

"Hmm?"

The man tilted his head before leaking out a small laugh, "I am sorry. I am not really interested in your life beyond what was told through the files I obtained. Either way, your Fate was already decided the moment you chose to cross me. Plain and simple"

There was an infuriating nonchalance in the words of the cloaked man now standing before him but while Boris was angry, it was nothing more than a surface anger that he was showing the man to get him off his guard.

Fiery like a leaking volcano on the outside but cold like an iceberg on the inside. He simply kept his cool, not letting himself be swayed by the words of his opponent.

He had been observing him all this time, trying to find a hole in his guard. But the problem here was that there was virtually no guard in his stance to begin with. The man was not even holding a stance before him, merely standing with a non-chalent gait.

This alone gave him more than enough information.

'A mage type? The EMP attack as well as the lightning strike should have been done by him and he can even fly. Did he make a contract with some powerful entity? Powers related to lightning or something similar?'

This wasn't all.

Boris continued to move slightly even as he spoke with the man. Making sure to spread his sense wide.

Though he was talking with someone in front of him, he clearly remembered how that man appeared close to him without any warning whatsoever.

'Teleportation? Invisibility? Illusions?'

He had fought people of this type and they were all extremely tricky to deal with.

'Chances of dying are pretty high.'

Boris breathed out as he relaxed his shoulders and steadied his breathing. When had the chances of dying ever been low in the business he was involved in?

All his life, all the fights he went through had always been an uphill battle. He was used to being the underdog as were all the hunters out there.

"What is your name?"

"Honestly? I suck at choosing a name. For now, simply call me Prince."

"What an unfitting name. You look more like a grim reaper in your current attire."

"I know, right?"

A light banter, the two laughed simultaneously, as if they were simply having a friendly chat. But there should be no mistakes. An unavoidable fight was about to ensue between the duo.

"What do you want?"

"Oh? You are willing to negotiate?"

"Why shed blood if it's not necessary? You should be one the Black Phoenix's hounds right? I have seen documents about you and truly, I do not want to fight against you if it's not necessary."

"I promised to get back the two people you kidnapped and I want the Mermaids under my control."

"Ah…"

"Seems like the negotiations have broken down."

No sooner had the words left the lips of the Prince that Boris attacked him in full force.

Boom~!

Unlike what many seemed to think, mages were not necessarily bad in close combat. Thinking that they would be helpless in such a situation would bring about a swift death to the assailant and nothing else.

Even so, mages were definitely not specialists and between keeping distance or diving in, the choice was made pretty easy and fast to make.

Bzz~!

Electricity sparkled and rushed to strike at him but Boris did not stop his ferocious charge.

"Activation."

Faster than the lightning could reach him, Boris reacted to the onslaught of the Prince. He hadn't spent his time chatting up for no reason. This was a necessary move for him to follow through on what he was setting up all this time.

Light flashed when the electricity struck his body but when it dissipated, his attire had transformed into something else.

His body seemed to become covered in a black substance, giving the impression that he was wearing armor and soon this substance changed form, growing larger and larger with each passing moment.

The armor had nothing stylish about it. A huge mass, a large armor that left no places unprotected, and a black helmet with a horn at the top that kept his expression hidden from plain sight.

He looked like a Knight straight up from a medieval Grimdark fantasy novel and his armor seemed to gleam under the moonlight as it emanated a sense of ruthlessness that was easily distinguishable by the most normal of individuals.

[~S.K~] and Makarov were undoubtedly two of the best smiths in their respective domains in the world of hunters. But they were far from being the only ones.

[Magic Knight Armor: Model — Buster Rino]

A simple name for a simple and brutal armor. One that was created by a blacksmith in the UNA using ancestral knowledge and spirit imbuement.

BOOM~!

The ground sank under his feet, and the earth shook— there was not even a speck of dust left on the armor as it took the electricity head-on as though it was nothing. Meanwhile, Boris' speed skyrocketed rather than slowing down under the weight of the extremely heavy armor…

Bang~!

[Smash!]

Another crude name for an extremely boring but surefire technique. However, Boris had never been one who cared about such a fallacy.

All that mattered was one thing.

Efficiency… and this skill was indeed efficient.

A distance of nearly ten meters separated them but the air seemed to undulate under the might of his fist before an explosion of pure power destroyed everything on its path as it reached the target— Boris' target.

A large explosion ensued, bringing up clouds and even smoke while making the presence in the night even harder to detect but this changed nothing for Boris. n(.1n

His armor was able to go beyond simple physical sight and observe the flow of Prana in the surroundings. A skill that he would have never mastered had he not donned this armor but a simple piece of equipment changed everything for him.

This was why he knew.

'It was an illusion.'

He had made sure to avoid all eye contact until he could ascertain one hundred percent if his enemy was indeed an illusionist and it seemed like it was the right decision.

Even so, he punched in the direction of the illusion as if he was fooled.

[Team A. Your position.]

[The sniper team is ready]

[Very well. Keep yourself at a distance of 1, 2, 3, and 4 kilometers. Determinate who gets noticed. Concentrate all our firepower beyond 10 kilometers. Is the Dragon Lance ready to fire?]

[Yes!]

[Very well guys. Consider this fight as a raid. No need to go soft on Ammo use.]

Under his helmet, he grinned menacingly.

Boris was a Hunter.

Fighting fair had never been on his agenda from the very beginning.