They had been fighting through the fiery road for a long time. The Blue Sharks members kept on appearing, but the citizens were holding them off, defending Shouya and co. as they made their way to their destination.

The people of Vincilos sacrificed their freedom, sacrificed their chance to escape from the destruction of the Inquisitor. But they didn’t run away. Instead, they’re fighting for their city, fighting for their homes, fighting for their people.

Despite the odds of surviving, they will gain their city back, or die trying.

After pushing through a mob of criminals, Shouya, Gin, and Gunther have finally reached the docks, the core base of where the Blue Sharks formed.

“Alright, he said they’re inside of the ware— haak!”

Out of nowhere, Shouya got lariated by a giant arm and dragged into the wall. The lizardman that he was attacked by has a large metallic appendage that was attached on the shoulder. The pressure of being pushed by a metal arm is like the weight of a piano.

He tries to cut it out with his sword, but it doesn’t seem to be effective.

“Don’t think yer can get out of this one, boy. My arm is stronger than steel. There ain't nothing ya can do about it.”

As the lizardman pushes him harder against the wall, Shouya begins to slowly lose consciousness. His lungs were getting crushed by the metal arm that he could barely breathe. If he has enough strength, he could immediately get out of his clutches. If only he could believe that.

“Huuaa!”

With a bit of hope left, Gunther swung downward with his warhammer at the metal-armed lizardman, but he quickly evaded before it could hit him. Shouya was on his knees, gasping for air, as he was saved by the hammer-wielding beast human.

“Hot damn, that was too close! Who knew that not only that we lured the Beast of the Silver Moon, but the Warlord as well? This must be my lucky day!”

“Are you alright?”

“Y-Yeah!”

“You’re not gonna be alright when what we're gonna do to you!”

The voice came from another member of the Blue Sharks; an elf, who is slightly shorter than Shouya, walks up right next to the lizardman with two large curvy daggers in his hands.

“Shouya, Gin, you two go on ahead and find the child. We’ll deal with these two.”

“Are you sure? I mean, we can take care of them if we work together—”

“Hey, you don’t have to worry about us! We fought guys that were far worse than them, these guys shouldn’t be a problem.”

They entrust Shouya to find Jakki while Gunther and the two beast-men fight the two thugs. They are confident that they can take them. They were soldiers of war, they have a history of fighting people in a bloodthirsty combat in their entire life, so they could take them on with no sweat—at least, that’s what Shouya hopes.

The two beast-men gave their support as they ran into the chaos to help citizens to fight while the three of them searched for the Blue Shark’s leader and Jakki.

“Now, go help him to find the kid and this so-called ‘leader’ and kick his ass.”

“Okay! But come back alive, alright?”

He said it as he left the scene to look for Jakki, leaving the battle to the brute beast-human and the other two beast-men. They looked back at them with their weapons in hand.

“Hey! He’s gettin’ away!”

“Leave him be, Pugar. Someone that weak won’t be able to beat the boss.”

“Hmm, yer right. Besides, the Warlord should be more entertainin’. I’ve been wantin’ to fight him for a long time. Hope you don’t go on disappointin’ me, Mr. Warlord.”

“Pah! I can say the same to you! Also, I have a name.”

Before giving the name to the two men in front of him, he slammed the hard concrete ground with the head of his giant warhammer, making a large crack, a size that is bigger than his foot, right next to him. Then, he began to announce his name.

“My name is Gunther B’ku Tharok! General of the Balkilo Army and defender of Vincilos! I have sworn duty to Aluema to protect my people and give judgement for those who wish to create chaos. In the name of Balkio, I, Gunther B’ku Tharok, the Warlord of Balkio, shall defeat you.”

These words are bold and loud. These are the words of a former soldier who fought through his life in the war. Not only him, but others, Shouya, Gin, the two beast-men besides him, and citizens and former soldiers alike, are also fighting to protect Vincilos as well.

He lifts his warhammer back into his hands and he firmly grips the handle.

“Ready men?”

“Sir! Yes, sir!”

Then, both the three beast-men and the two Blue Sharks members charged into each other, commencing a fight for their lives.

 

※           ※          ※        ※        ※      ※       ※

 

“On three. One, two, three!”

On Gin’s command, both he and Shouya pulled the large heavy metal door in front of them at the same time and entered the warehouse. They see nothing but an iron cage in the center of the warehouse and crates stacked on top of each other.

“So, are you two the ones who defeated Darmac? I welcome you.”

On the top was a large white-furred tiger-man sitting on the crates. He wears a long black coat that seems to be a parka with silver fur around the collar and on the tail of the coat that is long enough to hover over the ankles.

So that’s the leader of the Blue Sharks? I didn’t think that it’ll be someone this big.

Someone who has an intimidating look on his face is no doubt that he is the one who is leading the Blue Sharks. However, he didn’t expect to see someone to be the size of a truck. Compared to the people that Shouya had met, he’s the biggest person that he had encountered.

“So you must be the head honcho that’s leading the organization and weaving havoc in the city. Vikov, was it? But nevermind that. One of your men took someone that is important to me. Now where’s my son?”

“Oh, do you mean him?”

Vikov reached out something that was behind him and showed in front of them the unconscious Jakki, tied down from the neck down with chains around him.

“Jakki!”

“Don’t fret. I haven’t harned the boy. I do not intend to harm children. At least, not in that state at the moment.”

As he said that, he stood up and placed the unconscious Jakki on top of the crate where both Shouya and Gin could still see him. But what does he intend to do with him? Kill him after he defeats them, or make Jakki join the Blue Sharks? These are probable ideas that Shouya could think of, but that isn’t the case here.

Shouya steps forward and voices out to Vikov.

“Why are you doing this? Why are you sending your men to attack the city and destroying everyone’s freedom?”

“You got it wrong, boy. I’m not destroying everyone’s freedom, I’m saving it.”

“Wha…?”

When he said that, he didn’t get what Vikov was saying. Saving everyone’s freedom? What does he mean by that? This is something that Shouya has to question.

“What do you mean?”

“For years we’ve been holding back ourselves because of Theacala. Our rights, our paradise, our freedom! Now it’s the time for rebellion. The time that we shall reclaim our rights and our freedom!”

This guy is insane. He doesn’t know what he is doing. Also—

“Hate to break it to you, bub, but you ain’t gonna reach that goal anytime soon ‘cause the Inquisitor himself is coming here and gonna destroy your raid.”

Insane as Vikov’s plan may be, the only thing that stops him from reaching that goal was the Inquisitor himself. Not only that Vincilos will be destroyed, but the Blue Sharks along with him. So even if he goes along with the plan, the Inquisitor will stop it either way.

“The Inquisitor? Arriving in this city?”

“That’s right! But there is a chance of living if you surrender yourself.”

“The Inquisitor…”

Vikov quietly uttered the name of his enemy, realizing that he is swiftly arriving in this apocalyptic city. If he knows that the Inquisitor is coming, then surely by this point he should call off the attack of the city and his life would be spared.

“I see…”

However, that isn’t the case for Vikov.

“Hehehehe…”

“Huh?”

“Muahahahahaha!!”

Shouya and Gin were confused as the sound of his loud laughter echoed in the halls of the warehouse. Usually—from Shouya standpoint—when a villain hears someone that is stronger than them approaching the scene, they would grovel and beg for forgiveness so that they’ll live another day. That usually works in some anime. 

However, this is one thing that he needs to remind himself: this isn’t an anime nor it is a show with actors in front of them in costumes. These are real people, and the events that are happening now are real.

“What’s so funny?”

“This is perfect! Our boss, the Blue Sharks’s founder, once dominated the land with an iron fist! He led to true success that is what we have become. But when he went to Theacala, their forces came in and destroyed our peace. This is a perfect opportunity to exact revenge on those Theacalan scum!”

Vikov lept from the stacks of crates and landed inside the cage, where both Shouya and Gin were, with a thunderous crash as he landed, creating a huge shock wave that shook the ground where they stood, even as much as it almost made Shouya trip and fall.

He stands a little over nine-feet-tall, bigger than anyone that Shouya has ever encountered in his life. This is no easy feat as they are dealing with someone who is bigger than them, as if he is the someone who has the strength that can take a hundred men on a battlefield.

“—And the one who will liberate the world will be me!”

Vikov lifts his arm up and punches the ground beneath him. As he did that, the floor started to shake and spikes came out from the ground and charged towards them. But they quickly dodged them before they could hit them.

“That’s what you think! Haaa!”

After that attack, Gin charges in head first towards Vikov with his greatsword and uses it to slash him. But Vikov uses his gigantic arm to defend himself and the sword impacts onto his arm.

“—What?!”

H-How is that…

As Shouya witnessed Gin’s blow to Vikov’s arm, somehow, his arm remained intact. It didn’t sever his arm or even leave a single dent on him. His arm was so strong that not even something sharp as a sword can hurt him.

Vikov deflects Gin’s sword and punches him on his side, sending him flying through the cage, causing the iron of the cage to break apart, and slammed into the wall of the warehouse and fell to his knees.

His strength was unnatural. This was something that Shouya hasn’t seen before. He was able to down Gin, who was the strongest person that Shouya has in his disposal, with just one punch.

W-What is he?

“Was that it? How disappointing.”

Unable to fathom what happened, Shouya looks at Vikov, who has a disappointed look on his face. He thought that he was hoping for a real fight. But instead, that didn’t happen.

“What about you?”

“Eek!”

He then set his eyes at the frightened Shouya, who was armed with only a sword in hand. Seeing Vikov’s strength first hand made his body shiver in fear. He wasn’t sure if he’s going to be able to survive after witnessing his unbelievable strength.

W-What am I gonna do? He’s gonna kill me! I’m not as strong as him, Gin, or anyone! I-I don’t think I can beat him, not me! What am I gonna do? What am I gonna do?

As Shouya thinks for his life on how he is going to defeat him, thinking of a way to survive, Vikov slowly approaches him, with the intimidating strength that he has within him.

I guess I have no choice…

“Haaah!”

With a little bit of courage that he has left, gripped the hilt of his sword tightly and ran towards Vikov. Then, with all his might, strikes him with his sword. But…

“W-Wha…?”

The moment it touched his body, upon impact, the tip of the sword flew in the air and it broke into two. It should’ve pierced his body as he was wide open. No one should be able to live from a sword attack. Just what is his body made out of?

“Pathetic.”

“Guh!”

Distracted, Vikov back punched Shouya, slamming him to the wires of the cage and falling on the floor. Shouya was taken aback for a moment that he lost a sense of focus of who he was fighting, leaving him wide open for Vikov to attack him.

“Guah!”

As Shouya layed on the floor, Vikov stomped on his body with his gigantic foot. His foot is almost as big as Shouya’s body, only covering the upper part of his body.

He tries to break free of his hold, but Vikov is far too strong and continues to press Shouya down with his foot hard. Shouya can feel his bones crushing on top of him, as if he was being squished by a heavy boulder.

“How pitiful. Is this the strength that you can muster? Pathetic. But I guess this is what people are nowadays.”

He slowly raised his foot above Shouya and saw him weak and gasping for air.

“This world has no need for the week. Die.”

 He then prepares to stomp him a second time, but only this time, he’s about to go in for the kill.

“—!”

But before he could stomp Shouya a second time, a sudden chain with a blade attached wraps around Vikov’s ankle and his leg was pulled, only for him to trip and crash on the floor, saving Shouya’s life.

“Don’t think you can take me down that easily!”

From the other end of the warehouse, Gin manges to save Shouya and he retracts his chain back to his greatsword.

“So, you continue to stand.”

“I’ve taken worse hits. With only one mesially punch, that’s nothing.”

He says it as Gin snorts and spits out blood from his mouth. Vikov muttered “I see” before standing back up on his feet. This insane aura fills the air in the warehouse as the both of them look at each other eye-to-eye with flames burning with passion.

Knowing this, neither Gin or Vikov do not intend to hold back.

“Now…fight!”