(Despite how much UnusualSamurai hates it, Star will be introduced in the next chapter. Sorry buddy, but we sometimes have to do things others hate. Forgive me.)

(William's House)

William sat in his bedroom, talking to Riivrax on the phone.

(William)"Say what now?!"

(Riivrax)"Yes, it's quite a shock. We've received that letter just three minutes ago."

Riivrax's organization, dubbed the Riivrax Foundation, had received a frightening message this morning. It read,

"Dear William Zai, I know where you live. I'm going to kill you. The Riivrax Foundation shall give this message to you in 24 hours, or else I'm going to kill the hostages I've recently aquired. If you want to save them, meet me at the Booznian Province, I'll be in a farmhouse waiting for you, the location of the farm is on the back of this message. If you fail to appear by 11:35 PM, I will kill my hostages and get more, so don't be late. If you bring Zoozai, they will die. If you bring the Elite Guard, they will die. If I see anyone else besides you and Riivrax, they will die. Be there.

From, Killer Queen"

(William)"So, Gohma's hired assassins to kill me, huh?"

(Riivrax)"Seems like it, but why would he send it to us if he knows where you live?"

(William)"He probably figured out that I would just tell you guys."

(Riivrax)"I guess, what do you think?"

(William)"There's nothing much to do, but to go there like he said. He's going to kill innocent people if we don't, we have no choice..."

(Riivrax)"It appears so. Let's not keep him waiting, then."

(Some time later: Oozai Realm)

The Booznian Province, one of the many kingdoms in the realm. The race itself consist of beings who are nearly identical to Humans, yet are born with skin white as snow, and have above average strength. They typically run farms and trade their harvest with the surrounding kingdoms.

Killer Queen, AKA, Yolmah. An Oozai mercenary, known for his capabilities of stealth killings. In most of his jobs, the bodies of his targets were never found.

(Riivrax)"I've actually been involved with several cases dealing with Yolmah's previous killings, but I could never catch him even once. But I have a new strategy this time."

He summoned a ring of tear drop-shaped bullets around his finger.

(Riivrax)"You know how to use Bullet Magic, right?"

(William)"Yeah, who doesn't?"

(Riivrax)"It's been said that Yolmah has trouble in hand-to-hand combat, so he tries to keep his distance in assassinations. No matter what he's got planned, we'll have to use bullets to defeat him."

He spotted a apple tree, about 20 meters from where he stood. With great speed and precision, he fired all five of his bullets and blew a hole in the middle of the red fruits, without ripping them off the branch.

(William)"Whoa! That's what I call shoot'n!"

William summoned his own bullets, heart-shaped ones, and fired at the tree. He managed to get the through four apples just fine, but the fifth hit the stem instead.

(William)"Dang! That last one was so close"

(Riivrax)"Not bad, I'd give that 82 points. But listen, William. ...Have you ever killed before?"

(William)"Wh-What?! Of course not, I'd never kill anyone!"

(Riivrax)"Then you know what happens when an Oozai takes a life for the first time?"

(William)"Yeah, their LV increases, right? What does 'LV' even stand for?"

(Riivrax)"It stands for 'Love', but that's actually an acronym, which means 'Level of Violence'. The Oozai of the first generations invented the term when they noticed changes in their mental state after killing others."

(William)"I kinda knew that part, but why exactly are you telling me this now?"

(Riivrax)"I just want you to be prepared for anything. This is situation where anyone can be killed if they're not careful, and where one of us might kill this man."

(William)"D-Do you think...I might have to kill him?"

(Riivrax)"I don't want that to be the case, but it is a possibility."

(William)"I mean, I get it that we're going after a killer, I totally get that. But even if I'm in a situation where I'm going to be killed, I just don't think I can bring myself to do it, even to protect myself."

(Riivrax)"...I understand. Just be on guard."

(Later)

The two made it to where Yolmah said he was waiting, a big green house with a brown barn on the left side. It was unnervingly quiet, not even the wind blew.

(Riivrax)"There doesn't appear to be any signs of life. Could it be that he already killed them...?"

The Prince walked over to the barn, then the house, placing his hands on both structures.

(William)"...No, there's nothing in the barn, but there are at least three or four people in this house."

(Riivrax)"How did you-"

(William)"I'm a Pink Oozai. Along with creating life, I can also sense it. I can feel life energy in the area by touching enclosed places, then I can get a rough estimate of how many are in there."

(Riivrax)"Truly remarkable you are, William. If only I was born pink."

Cautiously, William opened the door to the farmhouse. Just like the outside, the inside was completely void of all sound.

(William)"He must be waiting in one of the rooms."

(Riivrax)"Can you sense which one?"

(William)"Let's see...... I feel the strongest soul in the right side of the house, all by itself, but the other three are difficult to pin down."

(Riivrax)"Let's go to the first one then, that's got to be him."

The Oozai were heading to the next room, but William suddenly came to a halt, as he heard something from the kitchen. The ominous silence was now replaced with what sounded like creaking wood, but saw nothing when he looked inside.

(William)"Was it my imagination? No, that had to be real, there's no way I didn't just hear-"

(???)"Look over here."

(William)"Huh?"

(???)"Hey, I said look over here."

He turned left and right, but didn't see anyone or anything.

(William)"Wh-What was that?"

(???)"Didn't you hear me? Look down."

He did as the voice told, and nearly bolted up, as he saw two red eyes with black slit pupils staring back at him from a raised floorboard.

(Like this.)

(William)"What the?! I-It's you!"

(Yolmah)"Yes, and now I'm going to kill you."

The two just stood there, staring for what seemed like hours.

(William)"R-Ri-"

(Yolmah)"He's preoccupied with the trap I set for him."

He suddenly jumped out from the floor and pointed his left hand in William's direction. The skull on it opened up, and the Oozai could hardly make out some shiny within it. In a split second, a silver dart shot out of the gloves. William countered with two bullets, one knocked the dart into the wall, and the other went through the assassin's shoulder. Yolmah stumbled back, clutching the wound for a second, before attempting an escape through the hole in the floor, only for it to be blocked by William's barrier.

(William)"You're not getting away that easily!"

(Yolmah)"Then one of us must die in this room."

He went to fire another dart, but this time to Oozai clocked him right the fight, followed by a number of body blows. Thanks to the small room, along with all the furniture within, there wasn't much room for Yolmah to escape. With one last punch, Yolmah was knocked through the wall, then suddenly disappeared in a puff of smoke.

(William)"Huh? How did...?"

(Riivrax)"William?! Are you okay?"

(William)"Pretty much, but what were you doing?! He said there was a trap in that room you were just in!"

(Riivrax)"Well he wasn't lying. I found the hostages he was talking about, two Booznians, they were unconscious in a wardrobe. Just as I discovered him, Yolmah came up behind me and shot some dart...and did this..."

He showed the boy his left hand...or what's left if it. His hand was melting like a wax figure under a hot flame. William's hands became green and began to reverse this with a healing spell.

(William)"Wh-What happened?!"

(Riivrax)"Yolmah's specialty is quite kills, so he uses a type of chemical weapon in his bionic hand known as a 'DT Dart'. As the name suggest, it's a piece of harp metal with a tiny bit of raw Determination, which is toxic to organic matter before it's refined. Buts that's besides the point, you took him out here, didn't you?"

(William)"Yeah, but it wasn't actually him. He apparently knows the duplication spell, and used it on himself!"

(Riivrax)"That explains why he suddenly ran off, he felt that his copy was defeated. I doubt he'll give up right away. Let's just rest here for a moment, until the house owners awake at least."

For about an hour and a half, the two Oozai waited in the farmhouse, keeping watch for any signs of Yolmah. And since William made contact with his copy, he could now detect his soul, and how far it is.

"Purupurupuru... Purupurupuru... Purupurupuru..."

(William)"...?"

(Riivrax)"What? It's the popular ringtone around here!"

The blue Oozai took out his cellphone and answered it.

(???)"Hello, this is the Riivrax Foundation Intelligence Branch."

(Riivrax)"It's me, what happened?"

(RF Member)"Sir, it's about Yolmah. We've discovered that he had broken another Oozai by the name of Dol out of Level S of Kogron Prison recently."

(Riivrax)"Dol? The Immortal Oozai??"

(RF Member)"Yes, and it's possible that he's sided with Gohma as well."

(Riivrax)"Well isn't this grand...? Anything else?"

(RF Member)"Unfortunately, yes. We've also heard that at least two or three assassins are on the move, most likely for William's soul."

(Riivrax)"I see. Then we'll need to take care if this one quick. Riivrax, out."

He hung up, then turned to William.

(Riivrax)"Now we got even more assassins after you."

(William)"Gee, this Gohma really wants me dead, huh?"

(Riivrax)"We'll worry about them later, can you still feel Yolmah's magic?"

(William)"...Yeah, he didn't get too far."

They went outside and followed the invisible trail past a nearby drainage channel, and came to a halt between two steep hills.

(Riivrax)"What's wrong?"

(William)"He's here, but I can't see him. Could he be hiding somewhere?"

(Riivrax)"There aren't any rocks or trees in this area to hide behind."

(William)"Then, he just might be using the-"

Out of nowhere a DT Dart hit William in the neck.

(Riivrax)"William!"

(William)"Urk!"

Without a second thought, he ripped the dart out and threw it, along with the piece of flesh it latched onto with its barbs. He immediately used his healing spell, closing the wound.

(William)"That was close, thought I was done for a second there!"

(Riivrax)"Did you see where it came from?!"

(William)"Yeah, up there, on the left hill."

(Riivrax)"What? But how?"

(William)"Like I was saying, he's using an invisibility spell, as well as suppressing his magic so that I can't directly locate him."

(Riivrax)"Then how're we supposed to find him?"

(William)"Don't worry, I got an idea. Stay near me."

The young man crossed both index fingers and thumbs, creating a tube-shaped barrier with holes big enough to shoot through, followed by a ring of heart-shaped bullets. For a few moments, there nothing but the sound of a fly buzzing.

(Riivrax)"Zai, what exactly is your plan?"

(William)"Yolmah's without a doubt moving around, and he'll definitely try hitting us with those darts again, but only through the holes I made."

(Riivrax)"Hm, that plan might just work! As long as we have no blindspots, we can-"

A dart suddenly hit Riivrax in the shoulder, causing it to melt.

(William)"Huh?! Where did he-?!"

He immediately twisted the top of the cylinder, and tried to heal Riivrax again. Another dart his the boy's palm, quickly reducing it to mush.

(Riivrax)"D-Don't worry about me! Just focus on defeating the enemy! Find out where he is!"

The assassin Oozai spoke to them using telepathy once more.

(Yolmah)"It's too late now, you cannot win. As long as keep up my invisibility and magic suppression, you will never fi-"

One of the bullets went flying, and Yolmah suddenly appeared with a small hole through his shoulder.

(Yolmah)"Huh??"

(William)"Surprised? You should know what Pink Oozai like us are capable of doing. I turned that DT Dart I got hit from earlier into a fly, and since it was in your possession, it followed you."

(Riivrax)"Amazing! The magic of a pink Oozai is truly amazing!"

(William)"Now eat this, Yolmah!"

Lowering the barrier, William gave the assassin a number of life energy-infused blows, sending him flying into the hill. Seeing as this fight was over, Yolmah opened a portal with his own pair of Dimensionsal Scissors and escaped.

(Riivrax)"Well, he got away from me once again..."

(William)"Hey, we did beat him, didn't we? *Begins to heal Riivrax*"

(Riivrax)"Yes. Let's just hope the other ones aren't so powerful...William?"

(William)"Yeah?"

(Riivrax)"...You're gonna be a great ruler someday, you know that? Just wonderful..."

_____________________

Codename: {Killer Queen} AKA, Yolmah

Occupation: Assassin

Body Count: 700,000

Bounty: 200,000,000 Yuld

(Yuld is the currency Oozai use. It's monetary value is that of two Yen.)