No one dared to move a single muscle. No words were spoken, filling the already tense air with a heavy silence. Tensed up, Scarlet's subordinates awaited the signal for them to storm the room, whereas the doctor and the hostage-held nurse hoped for the situation to be handled quickly. Yet, both Scarlet and the Jay in front of her remained composed.
As if he tried reading her mind to predict her first move, that Jay kept staring into her eyes. However, he realized that time was precious to him due to his wounds. Thus, he made the first move, causing a chain reaction. True to his words, he strengthened his grip on the nurse's neck.
However, the moment the nurse let out a sound, that Jay's hand fell to the ground. And while the nurse was coughing in pain, that Jay stared at the bloody floor in bafflement.
"As long as I'm here, I won't let you hurt anyone." Scarlet declared, standing tall in front of him. She swiftly swung her blade to shake off the blood on her blade after she had cut off that Jay's hand in the blink of an eye.
One stabbing wound in his right side, a hole in his abdomen, one missing arm, and one missing hand. In his current state, that Jay was at a clear disadvantage if he were to try to fight Scarlet. Despite knowing that, he continued glaring at her sharply, not showing any signs of defeat or nervousness. Brushing off those wounds, he simply stood up and attempted to casually walk past Scarlet and her men.
"Where do you think you're going?" Scarlet asked sharply, stabbing that Jay's calf when he got behind her.
"You've threatened and harmed innocent people. There's no way I'd let you go."
While Scarlet's subordinates entered the room to help the doctor and the nurse, that Jay sneakily applied wind magic once more to attempt an escape, but Scarlet caught on to that and immediately restrained him by grabbing his head and slamming him to the wall.
"Those two police officers... What have you done to them?" Scarlet asked fiercely, pressing that Jay even further into the wall.
Before having received the message that he was threatening a doctor while taking a nurse as hostage, Scarlet had been in Jay's room right after the fight between him and the other Jay. Whereas Erik checked up on the unconscious Jay, Scarlet noticed the dead bodies of two men who wore police uniforms.
At first, she thought that they were her men, but after taking a closer look, she realized that they were impostors. That explained the mystery of the two officers who had previously left their posts, and also how so many intruders managed to storm the building, as those two were most likely the culprits behind unlocking the other entrances. However, that left her with the question of what had happened with the two people who were the actual owners of those uniforms.
"If you want to know exactly what happened to them, you should ask those two guys in Jay's room. But I doubt that dead men can talk." the other Jay responded, his tone indifferent.
Scarlet let go of him. Instead of asking further questions, she took a few steps back, allowing him to turn around.
But when he looked at her, confused by her actions, he was suddenly slashed. Scarlet's sword cut him deeply across his upper body.
"Try answering again. If you choose to joke around again, it will be your left leg." Scarlet declared, with her words turning the air heavy. Her eyes were looking down on him, appearing even more intimidating than the tone of her voice. She did not care about that Jay's current state and his wounds. Even if he were to die from the wounds she was to inflict on him, it would not matter to her now. Despite knowing that she should act accordingly as a police officer, her emotions took over.
Unable to cling to his fresh wound, the other Jay leaned on the wall. He somehow had to find an opportunity to run before it was over for him. Should he storm another patient's room? Search for healing potions? He came up with a few ideas, but most of them could only be done once he was to flee from there.
"Chances are high that they are dead..." he said, his breath ragged.
Scarlet's eyes twitched for a moment. Not just her, but the subordinates around her were also affected by that information. While some were shocked and saddened, Scarlet's expression was blank.
Having told her what she wanted to hear, that Jay quickly searched for an escape route, rushing out of the situation with the assistance of wind magic. However, the moment he left and flew into the hallway, a sword was thrown from behind and pierced his back.
"Ugh...!" he groaned as he fell face-first to the floor.
"You're making a grave mistake...! If you kill me, then you won't be the same anymore...!" he added, strained. He tried to get up, but failed.
Scarlet, who had already caught up to him, did not utter a word.
"How come you and Jay have almost identical status windows?" Scarlet asked. Her voice was filled with anger but also with puzzlement.
Without asking for consent, she used [Appraisal] on him to learn about that Jay's identity. However, just like last night, she witnessed a status window with censored information.
"Whatever. We will get everything we want to know out of you after taking you into custody." she proclaimed, shaking her head lightly.
Scarlet glanced at him as he was crawling forward, leaving a big trail of blood behind.
"I can't die here...!" he muttered through his gritted teeth.
But as he said that, his vision kept blurring more and more, and he felt his body losing the remaining strength he had left. It was only a matter of a few seconds until he, too, would lose consciousness.
When Scarlet blankly looked at the motionless body, her subordinates joined her, as well as the doctor and nurse they had rescued.
"Could you please check his status?" she asked the doctor.
"S-sure!" he replied, still riled up.
He crouched down and checked on that Jay. And thanks to his skill, the doctor was quickly able to give a diagnosis.
"He's-"
But before the final verdict was given, Scarlet's head began to ache strongly out of nowhere.
"Hngh!" she groaned in agony, grabbing her head with both hands.
"Captain!"
The others checked up on her, but Scarlet did not hear anything. Instead, her head was hurting as if it was about to explode. Her body also heated up, making her feel like smoke was coming out of her body. She fell to her knees, still trying to fight against the pain as blood flowed out of her nose.
She continued screaming, attracting the attention of the other officers guarding the rooms on that floor, the hospital staff, and even the patients.
"D-doctor, what's happening to her?!"
"I don't know! E-even my skill can't detect the issue!"
As more and more people surrounded her, Scarlet was becoming dizzy. However, before she blacked out, she noticed something strange in the air. Without her actively summoning it, her status window appeared in front of her. But instead of being in the center of her vision like usual, it was placed further to the left, leaving enough space at the right.
Her eyes widened slightly as she tracked dozens of pixels suddenly flooding her field of vision, forming a concrete shape. Those pixels started from the top and created a familiar rectangular shape.
[Name: Jay ???
Title: ???
Level: ???
...]
"Impossible..." Scarlet weakly muttered.
And as the status window of the dead Jay appeared right beside her status window, her eyes closed, and she collapsed on the spot.