Chapter 55 Don’t Want To [1]

-BANG!

Miller smashed the person into the wall.

"Can't talk now, huh?"

He angrily spat at the blonde in front of him. Behind him were 4 more brothers of his gang.

"Bro, we only wanted compensation for the brother whose hand you broke. This is only happening because you didn't cooperate."

Pow-!

Grinning, Miller punched after pointing to the person the blonde had bumped into.

"Why aren't you speaking, bro?"

Pow-! Pow-! Pow-!

He repeatedly punched the blonde. Inside, Miller was feeling ecstatic. He finally caught a big fish!

The person in front of him had been roaming their turf for two days. From the expensive clothing to the way he was splurging his money, it was clear he was an heir to some rich family.

Miller had spent two days observing if this blonde had any hidden guards, and now he was sure there weren't any. Without any guards, even if he was an heir to a rich family, he was as good as a rat caught in a trap.

'Only idiots will come into this place without any security!'

Pow-! Pak-!

Suddenly Miller's fist was caught by the blonde.

"Isn't this enough? This should be more than what I did to your 'brother'."

The blonde spoke while staring at Miller with his red eyes.

"You are awakened, too? This makes it easier."

Miller was an awakener. Thus, it was obvious that the person who blocked his fist was also an awakener.

"Give us everything you have if you want to live."

Miller stared down at the blonde.

All the people whom Miller had bought were awakened. Besides, the blonde couldn't block his punch completely and was bleeding from the corner of his mouth. This meant he wasn't the strength or constitution-type awakener and most probably an agility type.

"Or do you think you can fight us all?"

The narrow alleyway was a weakness of any agility-type awakener who mostly did a hit-and-run tactic.

It was clear who was at a disadvantage. A sane person would back down and do as he was asked.

A sane person would.

"You speak too much."

A dim red hue shrouded the blonde's hand, and he tightened his grip around Miller's fist.

Crack-! Crack-!

Miller quickly backed away and winced in pain. He stared at the blonde in anger and confusion.

"What did you do?!"

He couldn't understand how an agility-type awakener break his, a constitution-type awakener's, bones so easily.

"Don't bother thinking. Your talent only amounts to that much."

"Talent, huh?"

Miller dangerously smiled.

"Brothers, let's show him that violence can even conquer talent."

***

Crack- Crack-

I stared at Miller's face, twisting in agony.

My strength stat was low, but it didn't mean I had no way to increase it.

Covering your body in Aura only provides a significant boost from mid-Iota rank.

But I wasn't using Aura.

Similar to Aura, Ether could boost the stats of the user but it could do so from Meta-rank.

"Brothers, let's show him that violence can even conquer talent."

On Miller's command, two of his followers rushed at me.

Swoosh-

At the same time, I crouched, and a red hue began covering my legs.

Swords appeared in their hand and both of them attacked from my sides.

-Bang!

The swords were about to cut through my flesh when I released the tension in my legs and bolted toward Miller.

Before Miller could react, I pulled my hand, covered in a dim red hue, back and punched.

Bang-!

I clicked my tongue as a shield blocked my punch.

Quickly twisting on my right heel, I rotated my body and kicked the shield with a 360 spin kick.

Bang-!

Swosh-! Swosh-!

My ears perked at the whistling of the air and I quickly backed away, barely dodging the daggers.

"It's harder than I thought it would be."

I smiled bitterly when the person inside my soul didn't retort. Eth had opened the connection, but he still wasn't talking to me.

"You ain't half bad. How bout you back away while we still allow you?"

I lowered my body and stared at the four awakeners encircling me.

The shield guy and the whistling of air were from the daggers thrown by the fourth guy. Both of them were in front of me, while the other two swordsmen were behind me.

"Okay, I'll back away if you give me your valuables."

"What are you spou-"

Swoosh-

Cutting his monologue in between, I dashed to the shield guy. I needed to take him down before attacking Miller.

Swish-! Swish-!

I was about to attack when I heard the sound of air being cut behind me.

VUPP-

Twisting my torso, I slashed behind me with the sword that appeared in my hand.

Clang-!

A metallic sound rang as I collided with another sword. But the second guy's attack continued.

Dropping the sword in my hand, I rolled to the ground to dodge the attack.

Swish-!

"Do you only know how to bluff?"

I stood while wiping the blood and stared at Miller. The last attack had grazed my right cheek.

"Is that so?"

WIIING-

A dim red hue shrouded my whole body. Feeling the energy pulsing through me, I grinned.

Fighting many awakeners near my Level was dangerous. But if I couldn't even defeat them, then there was no hope that I could survive in the future.

I channeled ether to my shoes, which were agility artifacts, and dashed toward the shield guy.

The shield guy wasn't able to react to my speed, which was double than before.

Bang-!

I punched at the shield before he had the time to take a stance. The shield flew from his hands, but before I could attack again; I heard the sound of the air being cut.

Swosh-! Swosh-!

Without moving my legs, I bent my body backward. At that exact moment, two daggers flew inches above me.

I was about to stand when a swordsman attacked me.

VUPP-

In the same position, a spear appeared in my hand. Timing my attack, I thrust the spear toward the swordsman.

"[Pierce]"

Puchi-!

The swordsman, about to counter my attack, was startled when my spear abruptly elongated.

My sudden attack pierced his abdomen!

Taking advantage of the enemy's shock, I quickly pulled myself up and punched the shield guy.

The time I took to dodge and attack the swordsman was barely 2 seconds. In such a short time, he wasn't able to correct his stance.

Bang-!

My fist dug into his face, and he flew straight into the wall!

Swish-!

I was about to pull my punch back when the second swordsman slashed at my back.

"Urgh.."

A stifled groan escaped my lips. I could feel something warm flowing down my back.

Wincing from pain I stared at the two down enemies.

This was my chance to attack before they could reposition themselves.

VUPP-

Another spear appeared in my hand.

Pulling my hand back, I tensed my muscles to their limit and hurled the spear at the swordsman.

Without waiting for the outcome, I ran to the dagger guy. Since he never attacked directly, he was probably an archer who was using daggers because the alley was too small for shooting arrows.

Lifting my leg, I kicked him in the stomach.

"Urg.."

My feet dug into his abdomen, and he groaned. Before he could do a counter, I again punched into his right temple.

-Thud!

"That's three do-"

Bang-!

I was speaking when something hard struck the back of my head.

"Did you forget about me?"

Fallin onto my knees, I heard Miller laughing from behind.

My ears started ringing, and my vision blurred.

Touching the back of my head, I was able to realize I was bleeding before my body fell onto the ground.

-Thud!

***

"Did you forget about me?"

Miller cackled while looking down at the blonde, whose hair was turning redder by the second.

Miller hadn't thought that the guy would be able to fight against four people at once. It seemed that he had trained a little.

"Did you think you can do anything because you are talented?"

An angry laugh left his mouth. From the fighting prowess the blonde displayed, it was clear that he was near peak Meta-rank.

This coupled with his young age, meant that he was high potential.

Bang-!

Miller kicked the blonde into the chest. The blonde winced and curled his body. It was clear that the attack on his head had made him unable to fight.

"Did you think you can catch us because you were a little strong?"

The central government and Aegis had issued many bounties due to the increasing collateral damage from gang wars.

The blonde wasn't the first person to come here in hopes of eradicating a gang. If anything, he was the first person to come alone.

No matter how Miller thought, it was a foolish move.

"Ane..ki"

Miller turned and looked at the swordsman Nathan had attacked. He was lying on the ground, pressing his wound while blood profusely fell from his body.

Seeing his brother in arms like that, Miller closed his eyes.

He thought he should have listened and brought more people to capture the blonde.

"Hold on, I'll call others brothers."

Miller sounded a little desperate. He was about to call someone when suddenly he heard a voice from behind.

"Don't relax so early."

The voice sent chills down his spine.

Before Miller could turn, he was grabbed by the back of his head and smashed into the ground.

Bang-!

"H..how?"

Miller looked at the assailant, the blonde who should have been lying on the ground. He couldn't understand how he was able to stand so quickly.

"I wonder how."

Nathan grinned while playing with his earrings. Their 10% damage reduction against people with Evil dispositions reduced enough damage for Nathan to maintain his consciousness.

These earrings were one reason why Nathan was using his daring plan.

"Interfere only if you want your 'aneki' to die."

Nathan spoke to everyone and climbed on top of Miller.

Pow-! Pow-!

He started punching Miller.

"Why aren't you speaking, bro?"

Nathan mimicked Miller as he punched. Slowly, the speed of his punches increased.

Suddenly, Nathan started laughing.

"This is the best! I should have done this as soon as possible."

"Man, this is soooo satisfying."

Minutes passed, but Nathan didn't stop.

Miller's face was now mangled. His nose had become crooked and his bulging cheeks had turned blue and black.

Blood kept flowing from Miller's mouth and nose, yet Nathan didn't stop. He only looked down at Miller with dull eyes.

"Do..on't kill msh. Plwese shtop"

Nathan didn't stop and only punched harder. Slowly, black smoke being released from his left arm became visible.

The smoke was almost invisible and was hovering around him.

"Pl..wes sht..op"

Everyone who was watching Nathan shuddered. They wanted to help Miller, but something about Nathan felt wrong. It was like he wasn't human.

Pow-! Pow-!

Nathan's eyes were dull and held no light in them. He only maniacally laughed and kept punching.

(Stop! You'll kill him!)

Nathan's fist, which was directly above Miller's face, stopped. Slowly, his dull eyes returned to normal, and he stopped punching.

***

I stared at my bleeding knuckles and then looked around. The gang members were slightly pale and staring at me vigilantly.

'What happened?'

Eth and I hadn't talked for a week. But he should understand that this wasn't the time for fighting with each other.

(During the fighting, you channeled Ether into your whole body to strengthen it, didn't you? Ether clashed with the Nether in your left arm and some of it escaped. The escaped Nether boosted your negative emotions.)

My eyes shook.

Unguided Nether can't heighten someone's negative emotions. This was only possible if someone was guiding it.

'Didn't you say that the demon couldn't do anything!?'

If the demon could control the Nether, then it was only a matter of time before he used his ability to control me.

My mind was plunged into chaos at the revelation.

(It wasn't the demon...)

(…It was you.)

'That isn't possible. Only Royal demons can control Nether.'

(I don't know why it was possible, but I'm sure that it was you. You unconsciously used Nether along with Ether and, as a result, lost control of your emotions.)

My breathing got heavy. Using Nether entailed a lot of things.

Throughout the entirety of 'Hero has returned' not even Leon was able to do it.

Only someone who was dead yet alive could use Nether.

"Dha..nhk Lw..ou."

I was brought out of my trance from Miller's croaking.

Looking down at Miller's mangled face, I realized that my hand was trembling.

'Is it dangerous?'

(I don't know but I think you are fine …at least for now. )

I could only bite my lips and try to calm my trembling. I didn't even know what was happening to me, and I still had to fight to continue living.

What was I even trying to achieve? I didn't know.

I only knew that I should keep living. Keep living as I had promised.

"How long are you planning to watch?"

Suppressing my quivering voice, I uttered while looking above.

This wasn't the time to worry about what was happening to me. I had to keep moving if I wanted to live.

"I was waiting for you to stop."

I had to keep moving.

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A/N :- This was the first proper fight of Nathan. Though I think it was okay but I think it could have been better. Tell me what you think can be improved. (〃′?｀)

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