Is it Wrong to Copy Abilities in Apocalypse?

"You will survive."

The moment Karina heard those words, her eyes widened and her gaze quivered—it was a lie.

Alex was speaking a lie; she could tell, and she was sure that Alex said it because he knew she could tell.

That means that the number he asked for was not there, causing her to grit her teeth in helplessness.

'Do I have no other choice...?'

She muttered inwardly.

She hadn't been just walking down the path along with Alex; she was thinking of ways to move forward with her plan if the number of items Alex wanted was not there, and she did come up with a plan, but...

*Step**Step*...

Successfully executing it was a different matter.

She knew that she wouldn't be able to run away, so she moved forward, wanting to at least make out how many there were.

"L-Let me check."

She shuttered, nervous about the chances of her plan succeeding; she just wanted to move closer to Alex.

"Stop."

But as Alex's cold words echoed through the cave, along with the arrowhead pointed at her, she knew that the chances of her plan succeeding were very low.

"Move another step, and I will let you live."

Another lie from Alex, making the times he needed to do the same thing get lowered to 3, but as he kept lying, instead of speaking the truth, Karina's brain gears moved, reminding her of Alex's actions from before.

'I can make him come closer!'

She exclaimed inwardly, bringing another dagger out of storage and pointing it at her neck, ready to slit her own throat, but Alex wasn't having it this time.

*Woosh*

Even before she could move her hand up, Alex dashed toward her.

The distance between them wasn't much, so it helped Alex, making him reach Karina before she could even do what she wanted.

How could Alex have known that bringing him closer was her plan from the start?

*Grip*

*Clang*

He held her wrist and twisted it around, forcing her to the ground just like before, making the dagger fall off her palm.

"You should—"

He spoke, his voice cold as he knew that even if he didn't get all he wanted and he couldn't get more from Karina, he had to end things now, but just then...

*Step**Step*...

"Man, I wish I could fuck the boss one day..."

"Keep wishing, as it's never gonna come true, you dumbfuck."

The sound of steps was heard, along with the voice of two men walking together, heading right toward this spot, causing Alex's eyes to squint and a cold glint to pass through them.

Karina, on the other hand, froze for a second; her eyes widened, but as soon as the realization hit her, she knew what was happening.

This place was only allowed to enter if one was bringing in an artifact or relic; other than that, no one was supposed to come here, except Karina.

That only meant one thing...

'They are bringing items!'

Yes, that was probably the reason for the ones moving in; Alex, however, didn't know that.

To him, they were just two more enemies walking in on him, and with them inside the cave, Alex would've had to fight three of them at the same time.

So, he gritted his teeth, brought his dagger out, and pushed it toward Karina's neck, his palm moving toward her lips, wanting to stop any sound that was going to leave her mouth, but before he could...

"W-Wait! Y-You can't do this!"

Karina's hushed and panicked voice was heard.

She was still busy with her thoughts that she just might survive, but the moment she felt the cold metal touching her skin, her eyes widened in terror.

She could see hope again, and that same thing made her turn desperate again; she didn't scream, though, as she knew what Alex could be thinking.

Alex, however, frowned, pausing for a moment before he covered her lips, and with a cold look on his face, gripped his dagger.

*Grip*

"HMMMMMM! HM! HMMM!!!"

Karina, on the other hand, started to panic, her eyes widening to the maximum, and the next second...

*Woosh*

Alex jumped away from her as her head, which he was holding, turned into a ball of flame, causing his knife to pass through nothing but flames.

His eyes sharpened, and a frown made its way to his forehead.

"Why can't we just steal these two artifacts, man? We will just say that we didn't find any."

Just then, the voice of one of the men moving toward the cave was heard.

'Two artifacts...'

Alex's eyes squinted as he heard those words, and Karina, who was now crawling away from Alex, let out a suppressed yell.

"Two more! Isn't it 5 plus now? Why are you trying to kill me then?!"

She didn't speak out loud, as she knew that Alex wouldn't even listen to her if she did it, so she showed him that she wasn't trying to call for help or anything like that.

Alex, who heard her words, had his frown deepen before he took out his bow, and knocked two arrows over it.

"You know about the boss's ability, don't you? Do you think you can lie to her?"

The voice of the guy was now much clearer; the guy was probably right in front of the cave.

"Get the items."

Alex, on the other hand, aimed his arrow at Karina, gesturing for her to get the items.

That was all he said; it was not like he needed to say anything else, as his intentions were clear from the cold look in his eyes.

"A-Alright."

Karina, raising her hands in surrender, nodded, slowly moving toward the entrance of the cave, knowing full well that a single act of being over-smart could get her killed.

It wasn't that Alex didn't care about her meeting up with the guys coming in—he did—but the thing was that he was prepared for it.

Even if she were to attack him with the help of the other two, he would just kill them, as both of the arrows had one kill written over them the moment they were knocked on the bow.

*Strain*

He just pulled the string, his eyes squinting, a serious expression marring his face.

"B-BOSS!" X2

The guys at the entrance of the cave, however, had their souls tremble the moment they saw Karina walking out of the cave, moving toward them with a cold expression.

"Give me the items you brought, and go to the main hideout; I need to have a long chat with you guys."

Her frosty gaze made the guys realize that their words were heard by her, causing them to gulp a mouthful of imaginary saliva, but they still took out the artifacts they had.

They didn't question why Karina was here, nor did they see nervousness hidden deep beneath the cold exterior of Karina, as right now, they were more concerned about the 'long chat' with Karina.

"Here." X2

Both of them hurriedly passed the artifacts to Karina, but the moment they did...

*Woosh* X2

The sound of metal cutting through the air was heard, causing the guys to frown in confusion, and Karina to widen her eyes.

Her head snapped toward the point Alex was hiding, only to see arrows headed straight for her.

'Ah, so he was never going to let me live...'

She muttered inwardly as she saw the two artifacts in her hand.

She realized that all he wanted from her was to get these artifacts out of those guys' inventory, and now that she had done it...

*Pierce* X2