Legendary Architect of Apocalypse

....

Cold wind whipped through his hair as Elias sped across the snow-covered landscape, the snowmobile's skis kicking up the beautiful white snow.

It was his first time riding a snowmobile, but it was a truly fascinating feeling. It proved easier to ride than he had anticipated, especially after he had gotten it started. He didn't even have to worry about keeping the balance.

His bones kept him warm while he rode, but the cold winds that brushed against him made him feel colder. It was as if a perfect balance were being created, one that didn't feel even the slightest bit uncomfortable.

Unfortunately, the ride didn't last long. He soon reached his next destination, where another red dot was hovering. He stopped the snowmobile and got down from it.

He zoomed in on the holographic map to see the precise location of the red dot. He followed the direction on foot, and ended up before a tall tower.

The apartment building with the ten floors felt nothing before this Tower that had at least fifty floors. He could even see lights through some of the windows, as if this tower still had electricity.

"It will take some time."

Elias took a note of the windows where he could see light, as it seemed much more time consuming to search through the entire tower.

He walked closer to the Tower, and broke the windows, taking a shortcut. He jumped inside the Tower, only to be met with an even more gruesome sight.

There was a thick scent of blood everywhere, and the entire hallway was littered with lifeless bodies. These people hadn't died from hunger. Instead, it was more as if they were killed by some kind of beast.

He walked past the bodies, wondering just what kind of thing he was here to deal with. Was the red dot he saw, not a human but a mutated beast instead?

Across all the floors, it was the same scene. But a single person in this entire building was left alive. Even the rooms that were still lit up, were just as lifeless.

It took Elias almost half a day to check most of the floors, until he reached the highest floor. The outside world had started to turn even darker with the arrival of night, marking almost the end of the first day.

Elias stepped on the last floor, certain that the mutated beast was on this floor, especially since the blood on this floor felt more fresh than the lower floors.

He approached the room where the red dot was supposed to be present. Once he was at the coordinates, he kicked the door open and walked inside.

"Hmm?"

Inside the room, he had expected to find a mutated beast responsible for the slaughter, but the reality was completely different from his expectations.

There was no beast here. All he saw was a woman dressed in a long, tight-fitting gown. Her long dark hair came down to her hips. He couldn't even discern the gown's original color, since most of it had turned red from blood. And none of that blood belonged to her.

The woman was standing behind a large desk, looking out a huge window that seemed to cover the entire back wall.

............

Material Composition: Human (99 Percent), Temporary Ability Core (1 Percent)

Weight: 55 Kg

Height: 1.7 meter

Material Stability: 5 percent

Extraction Possibility: High Possibility

.............

He didn't even have to ask her if she was responsible for everything that he had seen, as the material composition already gave her away.

Just like Leo, she also had a temporary ability core. But the material stability seemed abysmal. Even Leo had fifty percent stability, while she only had one tenth of that.

"You have a really good scent," the woman said, without even looking back.

"Why did you kill them?" Elias asked, approaching the woman.

"Are you here to avenge them?" the woman asked, looking at Elias' reflection in the glass before her.

Although she was surprised that the person was only a child, she didn't find it impossible. Just like she had gained her abilities, it made sense that there were others as well. She had already known something like that.

"Why do you think we were given these cursed abilities?" she asked Elias, her voice sounding a little melancholic. There was no coldness in that voice that could have belonged to a mindless killer.

She seemed to be questioning the meaning of her existence and these abilities, as if she already had a feeling that it wasn't a treasure but a curse.

Elias already knew the reason these people had received these abilities. It was simply for them to become entertaining prey.

For many, these abilities were helpful for them. But in reality, these abilities painted a big red mark on their back that they couldn't escape from. For them, it wasn't wrong to call them cursed abilities.

In other domains, many of these ability holders had already died while he was going around collecting abilities. Others were in a race against time to collect the highest score as the names of top ranked kept switching back and forth.

He could always take points from the others after they worked hard gathering them. His main priority for the first six days was simple. It was to collect as many temporary abilities as he could.

"Why did you kill them?" he asked the woman while the distance between them was reduced to merely a few meters.

"Because..." the woman mumbled as she slowly turned around. She finally revealed her face, which was covered in fresh blood of her prey that was yet to dry.

"They were delicious," she said, the corner of her lips creeping up in a devilish manner. Suddenly, she jumped forward at Elias, her arms transforming into a beast's claws that came straight for Elias's neck.

"Thought so..." Elias pulled out the gun hiding behind his back, and shot the woman straight in the middle of her forehead.