The Be Gang burst in through the warehouse doors, pointing their weapons towards Dober and I. 

Members of the Cer Gang, including Chihua, immediately moved in front of Dober and aimed their guns back at the opposing force. Dober’s eyes furrowed towards the enemy’s leader, a young man with straight silver bangs brushed towards one side. His deep dark blue eyes surveyed the area, before meeting with Dober’s glare with a roguish grin.

“Well, well, well! What do we have here?! The great and mighty Dober’s nose has been smashed to a pulp! What a sight to see!”

“You picked the wrong time to come here, Kangal,” Dober said as he wiped the blood off his face.

“I always come at the wrong time,” Kangal chuckled.

Dober grunted. “How did you know I was here?” 

“A group of drones captured my attention. They seemed to be leading us somewhere, so I followed them all the way to this warehouse.”

“Drones?” Dober raised his eyebrow. “Since when were there drones in Sector 23? Is this Spitz’s doing?”

“I don’t think so. The Rus Gang doesn’t have any connections with the other Sectors, so it’s highly unlikely,” Kangal shrugged.

The silver-haired man took a glance towards me, then he let out another smile.

“It might have something to do with that cat-boy over there,” he pointed at me.

I think I’m going off this mask.

Noooo, please don’t. It looks cute on you.

This whole cat-boy thing is embarrassing me.

“Lars…..is this your doing?” Dober glared towards me. “Was this your plan all along?!” 

Sparks of lightning emanated from his body, and his eyes started to glow a radiant purple.

“No,” I shook my head. “I was-”

Before I could mutter another word, my body dropped to the floor. I had fallen on my knees. All the energy I had left was used to keep my mind conscious and intact.

“Lars!” Scarlet ran towards me and held my back. “You can’t go down now! There’s still a fight you have to win!”

“S-Sorry, Scarlet. I didn’t mean to fall over like that. Sorry if I disappointed you,” I hung my head down on the floor.

“It’s fine,” she whispered. “I was planning on running away with you if you lost anyway!” 

What a shameless girl…..

“Get out of here, Kangal,” Dober said. “I have unfinished business to attend to.”

“You know I can’t do that. The great Dober is right in front of me. Why shouldn’t I take the chance to kill you now?!”

I leaned my head to watch Dober’s reaction to his response. However, when I blinked my eyes and opened them again, Kangal was already behind Dober with a blade of rushing water. He tried to stab him in the back, but Dober was quick to realize this and gave the man an electric shock. To my surprise, Kangal turned into a body of water that splashed across the floor. But that wasn’t all.

Another version of Kangal appeared in the shadows and tried to shoot Dober with a gun, but Dober deflected the bullet with his lightning. He threw a lightning bolt towards the young man, turning him into a splash of water like before. A third Kangal emerged from the ground and tried to stab Dober’s foot, but Dober stomped him without hesitation. Again, creating another splash of water.

What is going on?

“I’ve had enough of your stupid games, Kangal. It’s not very dominant. Fight me like a real man.”

I looked back into the group of Be soldiers and realized Kangal was still there, unmoved from his spot.

“That’s not how the game of power works, Dober. I wish to rule over the Sector, not fight like wild animals.”

“The king of Cerberus should be a strong man, not some coward who fights with petty tricks,” Dober crossed his arms.

“You don’t get to decide who the king should be,” Kangal spat on the floor. “Kill them all. This ends now!”

Kangal’s men launched their attack, blasting their guns towards Dober. Dober’s men shot back, causing a full-on crossfire between the two groups.

I forced my body to move in front of Scarlet and raise my sword. 

“P-Protect….” 

The shield manifested itself around me, deflecting any bullets that came our way. I slowly lifted myself back up to stand and turned towards Scarlet.

“Hey, are you sure you should be standing right now?” Scarlet asked. “You shouldn’t push yourself, you know?”

“If I wasn’t, I would have already lost to Dober then and there.”

Dober dove head first towards the enemy side, shocking anyone who stood in his way with a storm of lightning bolts. Kangal stepped away from the heat of the battle, making his men fight against the thunderous warrior. Despite having the advantage of having a gun, none of them were able to take on the mighty powerhouse. They were crushed in almost an instant, falling down to the floor one by one with convulsing reactions.

“Yikes, honestly surprised how you survived against that guy,” Scarlet took a deep sigh. “Maybe I should have been the one to take him on.”

Kangal summoned more of his water clones and sent them out to stop Dober’s rampage. They put up a good fight against Dober, seeing how troubled he seemed to look. Some of them used guns, while others wielded water blades to attack the man. Surprisingly enough, they were able to cut through his skin due to the overwhelming pressure. Dober roared and slammed his foot to the floor, making a massive shockwave that turned all the clones into liquid.

“Tsk, what a tough guy,” Kangal, unfazed by what had happened, simply clicked his tongue.

“I’ll kill you, Kangal!”

It seemed that he had completely forgotten about our existence and focused on the man before him. Now seemed like a good time to escape. There’s too much chaos going on around here. Everyone was busy trying to kill each other, all trying to gain the upper hand for their respective gangs.

“Got any more smoke bombs?” I said.

“Only got two more,” Scarlet scratched her head.

“That’s all we need. Throw your smoke bombs and I’ll do the rest.”

“Got it!”

Scarlet threw her last two remaining smoke bombs towards the soldiers, and we both rushed for the exit.

“Aghk! What is this smoke!” one of the thugs screamed.

“It’s those tourists!” Chihua yelled.

The smoke may have muddied everyone’s vision, but unfortunately it didn’t affect him. I caught Chihua trying to aim his gun towards Scarlet, so I used my [Protect] skill to shield her from the incoming barrage of bullets.

“Thanks, Lars!” Scarlet put out a heart-shaped sign with her fingers.

“Come back here you sly vixen! I won’t forgive you for breaking my heart!”

“Illuminate!”

To finish the job, I flashed everyone in close proximity and successfully left the building.

That’s seven times now, Lars. You’re reaching your limit. Watch yourself.

Yeah.

Once we made our way outside, we rushed through a couple of streets before taking a rest in an abandoned shop.

“This should be far enough,” I took a deep sigh.

“Phew, that was tough!” Scarlet sat down on one of the seats.

From the looks of the place, it probably used to sell farming tools back before the war happened. Hoes, spades, sickles, pitchforks, shovels, rakes, all of them were either hanging on the walls of the place or plastered on the tables in a messy display. It made me wonder, what was life like in Sector 23 before all hell broke loose?

Contrary to popular belief in the Over Sectors, the Under Sectors isn’t simply just a place of chaos and destruction. They seem to forget that people still have lives here, doing their best to survive against the cruel nature of this place.

“This was where I used to work back in my childhood days.”

A foreign voice sounded in the room. I jumped in place and looked around frantically. Scarlet stood up from her seat and lifted her revolvers.

“Who’s there?” Scarlet asked.

“Over here.”

Water formed behind Scarlet, revealing the same silver-haired man we saw fighting against Dober earlier. Before Scarlet could react, he knocked her out, leaving her unconscious in the man’s arms.

“White!”

I summoned the blade and readied my stance.

“L-Lars! What’s going on there?!” Hephy called out to me with a wavering voice.

“H-How did you get here?! Aren’t you still supposed to be fighting with Dober?!”

“Oh, that?” Kangal scoffed. “I had already left the building a while back. He’s probably still busy fighting my remaining clones, so it’ll take a while for him to realize that I tricked him again.”

This guy….now I’m starting to get why Dober hated underhanded tricks.

“Catboy, I believe you and I are pretty similar,” Kangal said. 

“In what way? I’m not the one who’s wreaking havoc throughout the city.”

"That's not what I mean," Kangal brushed his hair. “We’re both not strong, yet we find ways around our abilities to overcome any situation and do whatever it takes to win.”

“How would you even know that?” I pointed my sword towards the man. 

Kangal counted his fingers. "The fact that you were able to sneak out of there alive, or how you managed to smash Dober's nose or how you even convinced him to challenge you to a duel….is that enough for you?"

“What does it matter?” 

“That means I can rely on your abilities."

"What are you trying to accomplish here?"

Kangal looked up for a moment. Then he started to stroke Scarlet's cheek with his finger, slowly making his way down to her neck. He took a glance towards me and sneered. 

"She's quite the beauty, don't you think? Would be a shame if she died so suddenly….." 

Water coursed through his hand like a rushing stream, forming a blade aimed directly towards her neck. I took a step forward, but he waved his finger and made some clicking noises.

“Nuh-uh. Don’t move, Lars. I’m the one in control here.”

“What do you want?!” I snapped at him. My heart beat began to speed up, echoing against the ribs of my chest.

“It’s quite simple. A life for a life,” he made a small cut on her neck, letting out little droplets of blood. “Kill Dober and I’ll let her go.”

K-Kill….?

“W-Why can’t you do it yourself?!” I shook in place. “You have a whole gang on your side to support you!”

“You’ve seen how powerful the guy is. None of my men are capable of killing him.”

“Then just do it yourself! Don’t you have any more tricks you can use?”

Kangal sighed. “Obviously, I don’t want to risk my life. That’s why I’m making you do it for me. Besides, I find it more fun watching from the sidelines.”

I clenched the hilt of my sword. “I can’t do it. I don’t want to kill…..not anymore.”

“Not my problem,” Kangal shrugged. “It’s his life or hers.”

“That sneaky bastard!” Hephy grumbled. “If he lays his hands on Scarlet, I’m killing him for sure!”

No, I won’t let it come to this. I still have one more skill I can use! 

“Protect!”

A shield wrapped itself around Scarlet, pushing Kangal away and forcing him to let go. 

“I won’t let you have her!” 

“Too slow,” Kangal whispered in my ear. 

My eyes bulged. Something sharp, yet fluid-like poked my back. I slowly turned my head behind me and my heart dropped. One of his clones had already rendered me immobile.

“Hahahaha! Sorry, Catboy, but I’m already one step ahead of you.”

I dropped to the floor on my knees. There was nothing I could do at that point. All I could do was stare at them in shock. My body was frozen in place, refusing to move even a single muscle. I watched in despair as the shield around Scarlet slowly disintegrated into nothing. 

I never really thought about it ever since I defeated Hector, but I was afraid. Afraid of dying. My breathing grew unsteadily and my lips started to mumble on its own. I thought I was capable of sacrificing my life for others, but deep down, I was too scared to even do so. What a shame.

“I’ll be going now, Lars,” Kangal walked past me with Scarlet’s body. 

Despite being so close to the man, I couldn’t get myself to attack him. There was a knife pointed against my back. I thought I had become brave……why is this happening now? 

I heard the sound of the door open behind me.

“You have five days to kill Dober. Happy hunting!”

The door closed, and I was left all alone inside the shop.

“Lars! What are you doing?! He’s getting away!” Hephy screamed. “Don’t just let him take her, you idiot!”

Hephy…..I still can’t move. Sorry, I didn’t mean to let him get away like that. I’m sorry, truly. I…..actually don’t want to die. It hurts……..

A natural reaction to death, if you ask me. Although, you’re going to have to redeem yourself after this.

Why did I let her go? Am I still a coward, after all this time?