The Reincarnated Hitman

Chapter 20: A Detective Vs A Teleporter

A Pragma researcher once said, "an individual’s factor is only limited by their imagination."

Of course, that theory had been disproven multiple times already, with multiple experiments.

However, for certain individuals, this still held true, and Riley was one such individual.

At first glance, her Factor appeared to be suited solely for investigative work, but she had quickly learned otherwise.

Simulation, that was what her Factor was named, but even that didn’t fully encompass what it truly was.

Aside from [Crime Scene] and [Replay], there were quite a few other things her Factor could do, and one of them was what she just used against Iris,

[Substitution].

It allowed her to switch places with any object created by [Replay], but just that wouldn’t be enough to fool the teleporter, so she had to get creative.

Just before Iris did the feint and teleported to her back, Riley created a clone of herself with [Replay] before switching places with it.

If Iris hadn’t teleported for a second time, perhaps she might’ve noticed Detective Riley’s form glitching for a second.

She recovered from the hit and looked at the opponent...or rather, opponents before her.

Riley was now standing beside an almost perfect replica of herself, one that made it impossible to distinguish the real one from the fake.

"How interesting," Iris said as she stood back up, "I’m guessing that’s your Factor? Illusions?"

Riley didn’t respond; after all, that would be the most obvious giveaway.

"That’s quite unfair, love," Iris said, seeing that her opponent hadn’t said anything. "I’ll just have to find the real you."

With that, she disappeared, reappearing beside Riley at an angle that would allow her to reach the real one, even if the figure she was currently targeting was merely an illusion.

Iris’ extended arm passed through the first Riley and aimed directly for the second, but before she could reach her target, Iris’ world suddenly flipped over.

"Huh?"

Was all she could let out as her back slammed into the ground. fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm

Thanks to [Crime Scene], Riley immediately got information on where Iris reappeared, and she executed a shoulder throw the moment the teleporter was within range.

All Iris saw, as she lay on the ground, was a leg headed for her head, forcing her to teleport to safety just in time to avoid it.

"Are you trying to kill me?" Iris couldn’t help but ask as she watched her opponent stomp where her head previously was. fгeewebnovёl.com

"I don’t kill," Riley responded, "but I do have to knock you out one way or the other."

"By trying to stomp on my head?" Iris let out, "Don’t you think that’s dangerous, love?"

In response, Riley just shrugged, "It worked before."

She placed a hand on her chin as though deep in thought before adding, "Though he did end up slipping into a coma for a few months, I’m pretty sure I have better control of my strength now."

"Is that so?" Iris muttered, though she still had a kind smile on her face; annoyance was all she felt within.

This woman is infuriating.

Was all she thought, but she let none of it show on her face. After all, she also had a couple of tricks up her sleeve.

Iris teleported towards Riley again, but just like her previous attack, this one also only reached a clone.

Before she could recover, Riley grabbed her, put her in a choke hold and tried pulling her to the ground. Unfortunately, just before they could reach the ground, Iris disappeared again.

This was the problem with fighting a teleporter; conventional combat logic didn’t apply.

The moment you thought you had them, they simply weren’t there anymore.... or at least that’s what Riley thought as she looked at Iris reappear a distance away from her.

This time, Iris didn’t say anything; instead, she just disappeared again, and [Crime Scene] immediately picked up that she had reappeared behind Riley again.

Just as she had done the previous few times, Riley switched places with a construct of herself.

This time, though, something seemed to go wrong as [Crime Scene] suddenly informed her of an attack coming directly at her.

Riley was forced to put her left arm up to block a kick from the side, aimed directly at her head.

She was forced a couple of steps back before recovering and looking at her opponent in surprise.

"Surprised?" Iris asked, her smile fully back now. "My factor isn’t just teleportation, love."

"Anything I’ve tagged, I can pull back to me," She glanced at Riley, "Including you."

In other words, the moment Riley put her in a choke hold and just before she disappeared, Iris had managed to teleport again, she had tagged her opponent.

Riley clicked her tongue in annoyance.

If the opponent could always pull her back whenever she switched places with a construct, then that meant [Substitution] was now rendered useless.

"Don’t give up now, love," Iris said with a grin as she looked at the expression on Riley’s face, "this is just getting fun."

Riley let out a sigh, put up her fists before saying, "Come at me then.

"I’ve got a better idea," Iris said, her smile widening, "how about you come at me?"

With her words, Riley suddenly felt herself being pulled, and the next second, she was suddenly in front of Iris, whose hand was aiming for a face grab.

***

Meanwhile, Liam silently stood in the elevator as it ascended toward the upper floors.

"I wonder if she’ll win," he muttered as he leaned on the elevator wall.

Of course, as a Gamma-ranked awakened human, Riley was quite strong, especially when it came to the application of her Factor.

But there was also the undeniable fact that Iris was also Gamma-ranked, which meant the fight between the two would be far from easy.

"I’m sure she’ll be fine," Liam then pushed himself off the wall as the elevator let out a ding.

He was about to step out when he suddenly froze at the scene before him.

Just a distance away from the elevator was a familiar girl in a wheelchair.

Lea.

Her skin had turned completely pale, as though every drop of blood had been drained from her body.

That, however, was clearly not the case, judging by the steady stream of blood dripping from her nose.

Liam’s mind went completely blank as he saw this, so much so that he didn’t notice the person behind her, until they started singing.

"The white-haired hitman rode up the lift,

Looking just for you.

Waiting at the top was little sister, too.

A pill in her blood,

And poison in her veins.

So she’s only got a few more minutes,

Before she fades away."

By the end of the song, the man was leaning closer to Lea’s face, his split tongue out, as if in attempt to lick her.

But just before it could reach her face, something with a silver gleam suddenly passed between them, cleanly cutting off his tongue and causing him to reel back in pain.

Liam, no Zero, finally opened his mouth as he said,

"Step away from her."