"Huh?!"
The man was fit and firm. He was wearing gray armor, holding a sword and shield, and had a diagonal scar running across his face.
Cabrera gave no pleasantries.
"What are you doing here?"
"I came to help, but I guess I was wrong about who needed it"
Cabrera approached the man and then...
*Clap*
They shook hands.
"Hahaha, you haven't changed one bit"
The contrasting atmosphere dissolved the tension.
"I could say the same about you"
"It's been four months, but I heard you're making waves"
After a few seconds, their laughter subsides.
"I came running the moment I heard, but now there's nothing to do"
Cabrera smiled. He had a good relationship with Red Hook, and this was their leader, Braham Kron.
That said, he didn't expect their arrival.
Kron's gazes washed over the slew of dead bodies, when his eyes widened.
"Isn't that Saber?"
His hands point towards the Fire Scar leader.
"Yes, I killed him"
Kron stared at Cabrera.
"They are not going to let this go"
"I don't expect them to"
"What?"
"They won't live to see dawn"
"CABRERA!" Kron panicked.
"We will strike fast and hard"
Kron calmed down a bit.
"You can't take them on"
"I don't need to, they are not here"
A spark lit up in Kron's head.
The top gangs had gone to war for one reason or the other, leaving the bare minimum to protect the base.
Cabrera's voice snapped him to reality.
"Tell me, those left, are they much stronger than him?" he said, pointing towards Saber.
Kron wasn't sure.
Cabrera nodded.
"Are you in or not?"
Kron starred.
"If this goes wrong, we'll all die"
"We'll be killed either way"
He had already killed one of their men.
"So we'll kill them first"
Kron rubbed his face. This whole plan was crazy.
Heaving a heavy breath, his gaze was now stern.
"What do I need to do?"
—------------------—-----
"What's taking them so long?"
He had sent Saber to ensure the operation was properly carried out.
Lemin always considered the smaller gangs as eyesores. Since he was now the boss - though temporarily - he planned to wipe all other gangs except White Kings, as they weren't to be touched.
This was the first step to doing so.
But…why were they taking so long?
Did something happen?
'No' he shook his head to clear off bad thoughts.
'I should wash up'
That instant-
"Break!"
-multiple figures broke in, and attacked.
'An ambush!' his instincts rang out.
This had never happened before, so he didn't know what to make of the situation.
"Who dares?!"
They were the top dogs in Kingsmere, so how dare someone attack their base?!
"I do"
He looked to see Cabrera with his gauntlets and Saber's…saber?
Whatever.
Lemin advanced. There was no need for talking.
He unsheathed the daggers strapped to his side and struck.
*Clang*clang*
He was fast and nimble, easily avoiding Cabrera's blows and dealing multiple of his own.
"Since you dared, I'll have you die here!"
Cabrera felt the difference between them. His opponent was no small fry.
He put his back to the wall and threw away the saber. It was a hindrance.
'Hmph-'
Lemin snorted inwardly.
'-as if that'll help you'
Lemin's footsteps were silent as he jumped all over the place, the cuts on Cabrera increasing by the second.
Cabrera stood still with hands in front of his face, trying to capture Lemin's movement.
Three minutes elapsed and his cuts were numerous.
But his eyes were calm, watching and waiting.
And then the chance came!
Lemin struck again, but Cabrera caught his arm.
Lemin used the dagger on the other hand to stab the arm, but Cabrera didn't budge and instead, grabbed the second one.
"Hmph"
With a heavy breath, he jumped backwards, using his and Lemin's body to break the wall as both men fell to the ground.
They landed heavily on their backs, the back of their heads kissing concrete soon after.
Cabrera's eyes widened in pain.
"MMM!"
His back stiffened and his head throbbed as he forced himself upright.
He saw Lemin puking blood as he laid unmoving, yet he was staring with a gaze filled with hatred till the light in his eyes faded.
Lemin had masterful speed and precision, but his physique was lacking, and Cabrera took advantage of that.
The impact broke multiple ribs, which then punctured vital organs and led to his death.
Cabrera brushed off the hateful gaze. When Lemin tried to kill him, he should've been prepared to die.
With a grunt, Cabrera got to his feet.
A shiver ran down his spine as his gaze instinctively looked to the end of the street, but there was no one.
He sighed in relief, when something glowing yellow rolled his way.
'A healing potion!'
Just what he needed.
He checked it for any ill content and, finding none, drank it.
'Ah!'
His wounds healed rapidly.
With a couple of stretches to straighten his bones, Cabrera was good to go.
Before he could get far, he heard footsteps and three figures appeared, all men and tall.
They stared at Lemin's body, before affirming their gaze on Cabrera.
"What happened here?"
"Tch" Cabrera clicked his tongue.
With the resounding of weapons clashing, their question answered itself.
Cabrera wondered why only two Advanced-ranks were present, and now he had his answer.
He ground his teeth. Maybe he overestimated himself a bit?
He estimated there would be four Advanced-ranks at maximum.
Thinking about it now…
'I can't take on three of these guys'
He thought them to be on the same level as Heiner or Saber, but if even one had Lemin's level of prowess, then his death was guaranteed.
Lemin's prowess surpassed his. He was just able to use a weakness to his advantage.
If those used to guard were like this, then what of the elites sent to war?
He hadn't thought things through as much as he should have, and that mistake was about to cost him his life.
But he calmed himself. Panicking wasn't the answer.
'Do I flee Kingsmere?'
Even then, they would send people after him.
So, he chose to take a pre-emptive strike.
"Get him!"
The three rushed forth with eyes of fury.
Well, they tried to.
Suddenly, all three had the upper part of their bodies - from the abdomen up - fall to the floor.
It was so fast that the three didn't immediately die.
"Huh?"
"Hmm?"
"Eh?"
Rather, they wondered why they suddenly fell.
That was until they realized they couldn't feel their legs. When one turned to see his legs slumping to the ground…
*SHRIEK*
Blood submerged the floor in red.
Cabrera froze, before rapidly blinking.
'What just happened?'
He hadn't seen a thing. He hadn't even moved.
But the loud shrieks broke his stupor.
Be as it may, Cabrera approached the three with Lemin's dagger in hand.
*Chuk*
He stabbed the throat of the one shrieking, instantly killing him, and moved to finish the others.
One of them held a calm expression.
When he saw Cabrera approaching, he closed his eyes, dying with a peaceful expression.
The third was wiping his tears, before giving a sigh of resignation.
Cabrera bent to stab him, when he noticed the light in his eye had faded. He was already dead.
Cabrera closed the eyes of the third man, before moving to help his boys.
He had seen death multiple times, and he had killed a lot too. It was nothing surprising that humans looked pitiful at the brink of death.
Half an hour later, the battle was over.
Cabrera was thankful Red Hook had come to help, else many of his boys would've died.
By ambushing them with superior numbers, only ten members from Red Hook died.
Those remaining of Fire Scar surrendered, of which Cabrera killed two-thirds, leaving the bare minimum imprisoned.
To finish off, he went after Green Snake, killing the rest of their strongest combatants and imprisoning the rest, except those who had fled.
With his new space ring, he sucked in all the corpses and buried them in the same grave a distance away from the capital with the help of others.
The blood sprayed about was cleaned up, leaving damaged buildings as the only evidence of battle.
By dawn, Kingsmere went into a frenzy as news of the event spread.
Eventually, it reached the ears of Orlando.
'I can use this!'
