What is going on?!
I didn't even get to ask before Olivia grabbed me and started bolting for it, the tall red oni carrying me in what most people would know as a princess carry.
I wasn't even in a state of mind to protest as I was just completely confused by what is happening right now.
"Olivia? What is going on?"
"You're being targeted, my Lord! I don't know if they are recently planted within the ministry or they were already there to begin with… But I know they are already making their move on you!!"
"They? Who is 'they'?"
"Other countries that do not want us having a Mortal God of our own, my Lord! I would have thought they would not try to take you out so soon but it seems like we've underestimated them!"
Really? They would even go that far? Even though we are under threat of Anomalies overrunning our World, you would still try and backtab each other and compete?
I suppose I shouldn't even be surprised… There's a reason why the Earth is still fractured into different countries right now. Sure, there's fewer individual countries since a lot of them have merged together to form a single nation instead, but even now they're still competing with each other.
I should have expected that there would be some people who saw me as unnecessary competition instead of a potential ally and try to take me out before I could grow too strong for them to eliminate.
"Do we know who it is?" I asked while still being carried in her arms.
"As of right now, no! We only have some suspicion that there were people belonging to this category! Please forgive us, my Lord!"
"Again, Olivia… Let's focus on what we can do now instead of dwelling on what has already happened. What is the plan?"
"First thing is to get you to safety my Lord! The entire ministry has been compromised at this point! We cannot trust anyone right now!"
Is this seriously happening right now? I've barely even started my role as a Mortal God for a week, you know? And now we've found out that our own government has been compromised?
She carried me into another building nearby, ramming her shoulder against a door that led to a staircase leading downwards.
Without hesitation, she started her descent until she reached a door that had a keycard reader beside it.
She finally let me stand on my own and reached towards her suit pocket, only to freeze up as if she realised that what she was looking for wasn't there.
I guess she must have dropped it during the explosion or something.
She growled in frustration before pulling back her fist to punch at the door, blowing the entire thing off its hinges and making a crashing sound past the doorway.
Olivia reached out her hand towards me, "Hurry, my Lord!"
I didn't even think and just took her hand, allowing her to half drag and half carry me as I ran behind her while trying to keep up with her inhumanly long strides.
The corridor was weirdly featureless and smooth and it was quite clear that no one had been using it for quite some time with how much dust there was down here. Thankfully, the lights still functioned well enough and our path was illuminated by the ceiling lights as we continued to run.
Finally, we reached another door which I realised was a lift and Olivia pulled me in after her and pressed a button on the elevator, prompting the door to close shut.
Feeling my stomach sink, I realised we must be moving upwards again and I only needed to wait for a while before the ding from the elevator signified that we had reached our destination.
As soon as the door opened, however, we were met with the sight of several masked men standing directly in front of the elevator with their pistols pointed directly at us.
Olivia let out a roar and jumped out before they could even react, crashing into them like they were bowling pins and sending them flying.
There were a few gunshots and I assume that these people weren't the only one that was waiting with their guns drawn so I leapt out after Olivia.
I tried to focus on the familiar feeling again and materialised the purple smoke around me, though this time I tried to focus the buff purely on Olivia and myself and excluding these assailants.
That seemed to work as I saw Olivia punching at another guy and the shockwave released from that punch was enough to blow even the ones who were standing a distance behind her target away.
I joined in, looking for targets and found some easily enough standing beside the lift I had just exited.
They were trying to shoot at Olivia but she was moving too fast and erratically for them to actually land a hit on her.
And because they have been so focused on her, they didn't even realise that I was leaping towards them before it was too late.
I struck the guy closest to me without holding back, his neck snapping with a loud crack as my fist collided with his face.
I could feel the bone underneath being smashed before the guy was sent flying away, crashing through his comrades and also taking them with him.
Let me make one thing clear here… I am not a hero. I am not above killing people either as I'm not delusional enough to say something stupid like I have to preserve human life or something to the best of my ability.
If these people are prepared to try and kill me, then they should be prepared to be killed in turn and this is exactly what I'm doing.
I heard another gunshot and Olivia let out a cry of pain, prompting me to turn to see her clutching her upper arm which I assumed she must have used to block the bullet that she could not avoid.
Her attacker still had his gun raised and she was forced to take cover behind a pillar as he fired again.
I looked around and picked up one of the guns that was dropped on the ground, taking a moment to aim and fire at the guy.
His head was knocked to the side as the bullet pierced through his skull, prompting him to collapse onto the ground with a loud thud.
Some of the remaining masked men realised I had also joined the fight and tried to take aim at me instead.
I fired a few shots blindly as I dove behind a wall for cover, my shots managing to nail one guy in the chest but missing the rest.
However, that was enough as it gave Oliviar the distraction she needed to come out of cover and punch out her lightning at the masked men, the streak of lightning striking against one guy and arcing over to electrocute the two people next to him.
I also leapt out of cover and fired a few more times with the new weapon I appropriated, hitting another attacker in the head and another in the thigh before running out of ammo.
One attacker thought he was safe and jumped out from around the corner intending to shoot at me.
I reacted by throwing the empty gun at full force, the weapon smacking him in the face hard enough to break into two and scattering its internal parts everywhere.
The masked guy also fell backwards like he had been smacked in the head by a brick, which in this case he might as well had been.
I turned towards Olivia to see if she needed more help but I found her lifting up the last guy by the neck for a moment before she started shaking him.
"Who hired you?! Who are you?!"
The guy choked out something but then raised a middle finger at Olivia.
The red Oni was obviously not amused as she tossed him towards the wall, the guy slamming head first into it and his head exploded from the impact to scatter his brain matter and blood all over the wall.
Damn… Remind me not to piss her off.
I then went up to the guy I had shot in the thigh, the guy still rolling on the ground and clutching his thigh after I shot him.
"Hey, don't suppose you can reveal where you came from and who hired you? It will be easier for everyone, you know?"
"Arrrghhh! Fuck you!" He cursed , his voice muffled by the mask.
Well… Whatever, I suppose this was something to be expected.
As I got ready to put this guy out of his misery, Olivia leapt over to him and picked him up by his head.
Without so much as a moment's hesitation, she slammed him into the wall beside her, squashing the guy's head with a pop and reducing his head to a blood stain on the wall.
She turned to me, her arm now bloodied from the guy's blood, "My Lord! Are you alright?!"
…
Remind me to really never piss her off…