The air pulsed—thick, grim, electrified with tension. Kael's aura had shaken them, yes, but this room wasn't full of ordinary thugs. These were battle-hardened criminals who had clawed their way to power.
Verno's eyes narrowed. His smirk faded into a cold slit of calculation.
Marn cracked his knuckles, the sound like grinding stones. Garro's pupils shrunk, fingers twitching beneath the table.
But Jax was the first to move.
With a lazy stretch, he stood, the hook at his side scraping slightly against the wood. He stepped forward, slow and deliberate, and looked Kael over with a half-sneer.
"You lad... where did you come from?" His gravel voice was rough, like storm-battered sails. "You're good but can you take the four of us?"
Kael's stare didn't flinch. Instead, he tilted his head slightly, cloak brushing the cracked floor. "I see… it seems you have a problem."
Their fists collided midair.
A sharp metallic shriek tore through the silence, followed by a ripple of force that burst outward—chairs flew back, a chandelier above cracked, and dust rained down from the ceiling. The shockwave swept across the room like a mini-quake.
Verno instinctively leapt back, already analyzing Kael's center of gravity.
Garro flinched, grabbing a nearby support beam for balance.
Marn grunted, eyes flaring in a challenge. "Hah….Not bad."
The real fight had begun as Kael and Jax collided.
Kael pushed in first—fast. He twisted low and aimed a brutal uppercut toward Jax's ribs, trying to exploit his one-arm blind spot.
But Jax blocked with his knee and countered immediately. His thick left fist came crashing down—Kael ducked—but that wasn't the attack.
Jax's hook-arm lashed from the side like a steel whip, its edge whistling. Kael twisted at the last moment, the blade grazing his cloak and tearing through the wall behind him with a shriek of splintering brick.
Another shockwave followed as Kael backstepped and spun, delivering a roundhouse that hit Jax's gut. The pirate staggered—grunted—but grabbed Kael's leg mid-spin.
Kael's eyes narrowed. "Smart."
Kael's body tore through the air and crashed into a support column—BOOM!—stone and dust erupted outward. But Kael didn't stay down.
He launched back at Jax, his blackened blade appearing in his grip, slashing downward.
Jax raised his hook—CLANG!—the two weapons screamed against each other, sending sparks in every direction.
"You carry that thing like it's made of hate," Jax growled, eyes wild.
Kael answered with a brutal jab to Jax's jaw—SNAP!—followed by a spinning knee to the ribs.
Jax wheezed, but retaliated—SLASH!
The hook carved a shallow wound across Kael's side. Blood sprayed, sizzling against the dark aura pouring from his body.
Both men staggered slightly, breathing heavily.
While the two fought, the other three instead of engaging paused to take a look.
Verno's lips curled. "He's fast… but not clean."
Garro's voice was low. "He's reading Jax now. It won't be long."
Marn just watched, fists clenched. "He's not running away.It seems that guy us serious and still holding back."
The building groaned. Cracks spiderwebbed across the ceiling from each impact. Light fixtures swung like pendulums. Dust poured down like gray rain.
Back on his feet, Kael wiped the blood from his mouth, the cut already starting to close from sheer will.
"You're stronger than I thought," he admitted.
Jax spat blood. "And you're not dead yet. That's something."
They launched again—this time, both at full speed.
Kael struck low. Jax blocked with his stump, then tried to gut him with the hook. Kael ducked, stabbed upward with a dagger—but Jax twisted, using his brute strength to throw Kael against the far wall again.
The wall cracked open, nearly giving way.
But Kael didn't fall.
With a burst of red-black aura, he blurred forward, jumped off the wall, and slammed both feet into Jax's chest, sending the pirate flying through a wooden table.
Wood exploded into splinters. Jax rolled, coughed, but grinned through broken teeth.
"…Now we're talkin', kid."
"Verno, what should we do?"
Garro's voice was low but edged with urgency. His sharp eyes flicked between Kael and the crumbling wall Jax had just smashed through.
Verno didn't answer at once. His smile had long vanished. He was staring intently at Kael, gaze calculating, jaw locked. The playful mischief that usually curled his lips was replaced by something colder—strategic fear.
"Is he that kid in the poster?" Marn grunted, cracking his knuckles again. His broad frame shifted slightly, inching toward the fight. "The one with the bounty from followers of Peru?"
"We can't be sure," Verno muttered, his eyes narrowing. "He had a mask… black hair… could be anyone."
He stepped toward the cracked window, and what he saw made his blood still.
Blood-stained stone. Severed limbs. Twisted corpses strewn across the alley like discarded trash. Their men—ruthless, trained, cruel—slaughtered.
He gritted his teeth.
"But..." Verno turned back, voice sharp now, carrying weight. "That bastard's already killed many of our own. Too many. If we just sit here, the fear we've built—the very spine of our rule—will rot."
His hand clenched the edge of the window frame, nails digging into old wood. "If word spreads that we let him walk out after that, we're done. We'll be nothing but a damn joke in the underworld."
The others looked at him with a silent grave look.
Garro's expression shifted into something colder. He stopped fidgeting. His hand slid inside his coat where a thin dagger glinted.
Marn's breathing grew heavier, his muscles flexing with anticipation. "Then let's do it. He bleeds like the rest."
Even Jax, groaning as he pulled himself up from the wreckage, growled, "He's strong. But not invincible."
Verno's eyes met each of their Jax, Marn, Garro and found unspoken agreement.
"Good," he said, drawing his own blade at last,a thin, silver-edged rapier with a faint glow. "We strike together. No more testing."
He turned, eyes locking on Kael who now stood in the settling dust, blood-streaked but steady.
"Let's remind him whose city this really is."