The night air crackled with tension as Vex launched his attack.
His twin curved swords burst into flames, casting flickering orange light across the blood-slick pavement.
The heat washed over Kyle's face but he stood his ground, feet planted in a solid stance.
When the flaming blade came down, Kyle's tachi met it with a sharp clang. Sparks sprayed through the air like tiny fireworks.
Instead of pushing back Kyle let the force of Vex's strike carry the attack past him.
With a subtle twist of his wrist, he guided the curved sword harmlessly to the side.
Vex's eyes widened as his momentum carried him forward off-balance.
Kyle didn't hesitate.
He snapped his fingers, and a sudden gust of wind exploded upward beneath the Vex's feet.
Vex's boots left the ground for just a second, just long enough for Kyle to swing the flat of his tachi hard into his ribs.
The crack of bone echoed through the alley.
Vex crashed into a stack of wooden crates, splinters flying. He groaned, clutching his side, but Kyle was already turning away.
The other Red Fangs didn't wait for an invitation. Seven of them surged forward at once, weapons glinting in the firelight.
Kyle took a deep breath.
Then the wind answered.
The first attacker, a massive bald man with a spiked club, charged like a raging bull.
Kyle ducked under the wild swing feeling the whoosh of air as the club passed inches above his head.
Before the man could recover, Kyle's tachi flashed. Not a killing strike just a precise slash across the wrist.
The tendons parted with a wet sound, and the club tumbled from suddenly limp fingers. The man screamed, clutching his ruined hand.
From the left came a knife fighter, blade flickering like a serpent's tongue. Kyle didn't even turn his head.
He flicked two fingers, and a razor-thin blade of compressed air hissed through the night. It sliced clean through the man's thigh muscle.
Blood sprayed as the attacker collapsed, his leg no longer able to hold his weight.
Two more came at Kyle simultaneously, one with a rusted sword, the other whirling a spiked chain.
Kyle parried the sword strike, steel ringing against steel, then pivoted smoothly as the chain lashed toward his back.
Instead of dodging, Kyle raised his free hand.
A controlled burst of wind caught the chain mid-swing, yanking it off course.
The spiked links wrapped around the swordsman's arm instead, biting deep into flesh. The man howled as he tried to shake the chain loose, only making the wounds worse.
Kyle was already moving again.
A woman with twin hatchets came flying at him from behind, her battle cry shrill in the night.
Kyle didn't bother looking.
He simply raised his palm and unleashed a concentrated gust of wind.
It hit her square in the chest, sending her spinning through the air like a leaf in a storm.
She slammed into a brick wall with a thud and slid down, unconscious before she hit the ground.
The last two attacked together—a spearman thrusting low, while a wiry fighter with a jagged knife tried to flank him.
Kyle sidestepped the spear, letting it whistle past his ribs, then swept his tachi in a low arc.
The blade cut through the back of the spearman's knee, severing just enough muscle to drop him.
As the man fell, Kyle grabbed the back of his shirt and yanked hard, using the man's own weight as a weapon.
The spearman crashed into the knife fighter, sending them both tumbling to the ground in a heap of tangled limbs and curses.
Panting slightly, Kyle straightened up. Around him, the Red Fangs lay groaning and bleeding, but all still breathing.
His tachi remained clean—no killing strikes, just precise, disabling wounds.
While Kyle handled his opponents with precise wind-assisted strikes, the other Vipers made quick work of their eight targets.
Rat moved like a street brawler born and bred. When a burly Fang swung a chain at him, Rat ducked under it and drove his elbow into the man's solar plexus.
As the gangster doubled over, Rat grabbed his ears and brought a knee up into his face with a sickening crunch.
"That's for last month's shipment!" he crowed, kicking the groaning man in the ribs for good measure.
Jory fought with the brutal efficiency of a seasoned enforcer.
He caught a punch mid-swing, twisted the attacker's arm until something popped, then headbutted him so hard teeth went flying.
Blood streamed from the Fang's broken nose as he collapsed. "Weak," Jory muttered, spitting on the ground.
The crossbow Viper - a wiry woman named Lys - moved with eerie calm. She put three bolts into a charging Fang's legs before he'd taken two steps.
When another tried to flank her, she whipped the crossbow around and fired point-blank into his shoulder.
"Stay down," she advised as he screamed.
The axe-wielder, a silent brute called Hark, was the most terrifying of all.
He swung his massive weapon with terrifying precision, not to kill but to maim.
One Fang lost three fingers to a glancing blow. Another took the flat of the axe to his kneecap with a sound like a walnut cracking.
Hark didn't speak, just kept methodically breaking bones with that same dead-eyed expression.
Within minutes, the street was littered with groaning, bleeding Red Fangs.
Kyle stepped over a gangster clutching his broken arm, his boots crunching on shattered glass as he approached Vex.
The Red Fang leader was trying to push himself up from the splintered crates, his face smeared with blood and dirt.
"You—" Vex coughed, spitting out a broken tooth.
"You fight like no merc I have ever seen." His breath came in ragged gasps.
Kyle shifted his tachi to rest casually on his shoulder. The blade gleamed faintly in the firelight, completely clean.
"That's because I'm not just some hired mercenary." With a lazy kick, he sent Vex's weapon skittering across the pavement.
"Now" Kyle crouched down to eye level, his voice calm. "Let's talk about the spies you planted in the Vipers."
Vex's eyes flicked toward his fallen men. "Go to hell."
Kyle sighed, rubbing his temple like he was dealing with a stubborn child.
"Look, I don't kill people. Leaves a bad taste in my mouth." He jerked his thumb toward Rat and the others.
"But them? They don't have that problem."
Rat chose that moment to grin, showing off his crooked teeth as he tested the edge of his knife.
"Tell me the names," Kyle said, his voice dropping lower, "and I will let you walk away. Keep quiet..." He shrugged.
"Well, I will walk away, but you won't."
Vex's throat worked as he swallowed hard.
Sweat mixed with the blood on his face. "T-Tabs," he finally muttered.
"And Lirin. They have been feeding us information."
Kyle nodded and stood up. "Smart choice." He turned to Rat. "Risha's orders. Clean up this trash."
As Rat and the others moved in, Kyle walked away without looking back. The first scream cut through the night air just as he turned the corner.
He flexed his fingers, examining his clean hands in the dim light.
He wasn't ready for that step.
But in this world, mercy was a luxury he wouldn't always be able to afford.
The day would come when he had have to stare into the abyss and let it stare back.