Chapter 786

Chapter 786: Generosity

‘I shot, I pull the trigger,’ the moment froze, ‘-the bullet’s trajectory, I can visualize it, I didn’t mean to shoot, it’s going straight for his head, I’m scared,’ *thud.*

*Clap,* “-barely,* said Igna with closed palms at his face, “-good shot, I’ll say much,” he winked and stormed to Jong, “-thing is, bullets are projectiles, a ball, a rock, even a human, if they’re thrown, they can be stopped, and bullets are no different,” he held the tip, “-here, I say refund it.”

Horns and engine growls stormed the park, a motor circle gang pulled, the count increased by the second, the shock and fear of having shot at someone brought Jong to his knees. Actions and words were very different, even if one carries a gun or any weapon, the adrenaline is sure to fade, and when it fades, the seriousness of the actions veers a little smirk.

The insignia bore a smiley face – a circle, not perfect, a cross and line for the eyes, and the tongue, a curve under which held a U, basically pulling out its tongue. The outfits matched, leather jackets, dark boots, and silvery sharp jewelry. An air of menace was about them; the leader dawned a vest with ‘-Emperor,’ written in a symbolic language, he leaped to Yune’s side and smiled, “-who’s the one?” a collective glance forth showed Igna, white buttoned shirt of which the top three were undone. He threw nonchalant regards at the bikers.

“Brother...”

“Celina... who is he?”

“My brother,” she replied with a syncopative tone, “...”

.....

“MONSTER!” cried Jong desperately retreating, the thighs met against a ribcage-height wall of bushes, “-GET AWAY FROM ME!”

“Am I so threatening?” he approached uncaring to the gathered group, “-you have the gun and I’m the unarmed fellow. Who has the power in this situation?” he dipped and lunged forward into an upper-cut. A crack echoed, knuckles made contact and the boy dropped.

“Jong,” Yune hurried to his side, “-what have you done?”

“I knocked him out,” he replied uncaringly to the bellowing trouble ahead, he turned on his heel and promenaded to Celina, he pinched his shirt away from the chest, “-hot,” he said

“Brother?”

“Don’t look confused, I stopped the bullet and gave your friend a little welcoming present.”

“I’m not referring to that,” her eyes signaled behind, a shadow grew on his back, a metal bat swung, he sidestepped, turned, grabbed the bat when it finished its course, pulled and struck with his left fist, the attacker blasted instantly against an old vending machine shyly kept behind the bench. The bikers glared, “-Celina,” he shook his hands, “-call an ambulance.”

“He’s not getting away,” said the leader, “-GET HIM, BOYS!”

‘No way he’ll win against this many people,’ figured Yune who held Jong on his legs. The vision randomly locked onto the black-pistol upon him looking at the ongoing fight.

‘What happened?’ the sound of heavy pants, insults, and screams forced a heightened sense of self, ‘-I was knocked out,’ the head tilted towards the concentration of the cacophony. A crimson-white haired man dodged and fought, the long limbs and refined body were a thing of beauty, the sheer skill gap was insultingly obvious. He didn’t break a sweat and fought, they came in waves, forced used their numbers and yet, he kept a close guard and hopped.

“Awake?”

“Yune?”

“Yeah,” he replied solemnly, “-it’s bad, we went against a monster.”

“The humiliation,” the glance fell onto the gun, “-I can’t go home after this. Father said I would have to kill one day or the other,’ he reached and grabbed, “-sorry Yune, this is where the world of gangs and mafia families differ. I have a duty to honor my family’s name, I can’t afford humiliation.’

“Don’t do anything stupid, think again man, wasting your life isn’t worth it.”

“You’re a good friend, Yune, we conquered the University, couldn’t have asked for a better partner, what he showed me today was a difference in determination and experience. I have to take the first step,” clenched the pistol and dashed onto the battlefield.

‘Little fellow’s awake,’ figured Igna, ‘-he’s carrying a gun, the feet are pointed to Celina,’ he dropped his head and avoided two horizontal swings of bats, ‘-using hand-to-hand combat is exhaustingly fun. Holding back against them is far harder than I imagined, it would have been faster to kill,’ a strange aura craved across the hardened ground, *Mud-Spikes,* sharp arrows tore from below the floor, one managed to chip his finger on the retreat, “-magic-user?” he dodged, the summoned trap vanished.

“Not really,” said the man marked ‘Emperor,’ “-an adventuring skill I learned from my days at the academy,” he smiled, “-you’ve handled my boys very efficiently, they’re knocked out and not too badly injured, thank you for the courteousness.”

“Right,” sweat gleamed upon his forehead, ‘-what’s little fellow doing?’

“STOP!” he cried from a distance, the remainder halted midway their strikes.

“BROTHER!” exclaimed Celina, her nose turned a bloodied red, fear ran through her arms and legs.

“JONG, STOP,” cried Ewi, “-are you serious?” a mild tinge of pity carried within her voice.

“I don’t care,” he pressed the pistol against her temple and wrapped himself against her in a very avant-garde hold, the arms blatantly went across her chest whilst he’d dug his knees in-between her legs, “-one wrong move and I blow her brains out.”

“The classic hostage situation. Emperor, are you affiliated with this boy?”

“No, we came here to help the dude over there, I can’t help but come to my little brother’s rescue.”

“Right, as an adventurer, might I request for our scuffle to halt?”

“You may not,” he laughed, “-did you think I’d allow such a chance to pass me by. We have no trouble using underhanded tricks to beat our opponent into submission,” the fallen fighters rose to their feet whilst Igna locked onto Celina. Jong’s advances grew hard to watch, ‘-the Silver Guardians,’ said a déjà Vu, ‘-I remember the first time we met,’ he chuckled, ‘-it was a similar situation, being fondled by a noble. Times have changed but the personages remain the same, history repeats itself, what a joke,’ *Blood-Arts: Crimson Threads,* “-HAVE AT HIM BOYS!”

A flash of red twirled, “-Humans are foolish creatures,” echoed his deep voice, the gathered crowd froze, “-how many times will it take to learn, when a stronger foe has the patience and generosity to allow for thy sorry self to retreat, don’t shit on the given courtesy,” he strolled away from the bikers and stood sideways with one hand in the pocket and the other pointed at Celina, “-take the shot.”

“STOP MOCKING ME.”

“Take the shot, I dare you.”

“DON’T PLAY WITH ME,” he cried, Celina, closed off her surrounding, her eyelids strained shut.

‘Boy,’ he took notice of the snail-paced pull of a trigger, ‘-may this fear forever be etched in thy soul,’ *snap,* a crystal-red dart tore into the grip, blasting open the palm and destroying the gun in the process, “-AHHHHHH,” he dropped, similar to those behind, mild droplets fluttered onto her cheeks.

“Rain during a clear blue sky?” they didn’t realize what happened, Yune touched his cheeks to smear of red across his fingers, “-blood?” they who had stopped moving fell, their blood exploded upward in a manner similar to a fountain, Igna prominently waited, the white shirt gradually held the crimson color, the bodies fell.

‘The grip’s eased,’ she reopened her eyes to a man in complete agony, her stare landed on a demon, the blood, the corpse, and most terrifying, a nonchalant expression in face of death, “-those ready to take a life must be also be readied to give theirs.”

“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!” the leader hurried into the fallen pile of bodies, “-MY TEAM, YOU’VE MASSACRED THEM.”

“What did I say,” he inquired deeply, “-I made the offer to stop our fight. What was the response, tell me?”

“There’s no getting away from the law!” he cried.

“Oh please,” *Blood-Arts: Bloody Mary,* the bodies churned into a single medium-sized dark-red orb, “-will a gang ask law enforcement for help?” he laughed maniacally, the entire park bellowed, “-hilarious, so much for anarchy,” the laughter halted as if snapping the neck to a dying beast, *crunch,* he teleported behind the leader and squatted, placing a hand upon his shoulder, “-who would do such a thing, I applaud at how they treat human life so casually. Don’t worry,” the sharped nails dug into his neck, “-I wonder for what purpose he’d allow thee to live?” the man dropped, tipping his head onto the ground, ‘-I’m terrified.’

“Yune, Jong,” he dusted his shirt and closed the bench where Celina desperately tried to wrap her head around the slaughter, Ewi fell into a haunting mien of despair, no words could describe their emotions, Yune laughed menacingly, sad in a way, Jong curled in desperation of the injury, “-what about the party?” he sat and opened the coffee can, “-should we really make them wait?”

“How can you say that...”

“Say what?”

“YOU KILLED FIFTY MEN IN COLD BLOOD,” cried Ewi, “-HOW CAN SOMEONE BE SO BRAZEN?”

“Is there remorse when thee squash an ant or squat a mosquito? No, there isn’t. Tis the same for humans, they’re worthless beings who but sing their own praises and are quick to look away when the situation doesn’t concern them. Tell me, if I had killed demi-humans instead, there wouldn’t be a place for trouble, the only reason thou art worried is a sense of familiarity, admirable and pointless at the same time.”

“Brother...”

“Celina.”

“Are you stupid?”

“Pardon?”

“DID YOU HAVE TO KILL THEM?”

“Not really.”

“THEN WHY?”

“Because they rejected my offer.”

“What offer?”

“When Jong here,” he turned over and placed his heels onto his face, “-decided to manhandle you under the guise of a hostage situation, I asked them to drop the battle, they refused. Right,” he exhaled, “-why do I bother explaining,” he casually grabbed the suit jacket and stood, “-suppose I ought to leave. Have fun, Celina.” Sirens reached the scene, ambulances and law-enforcement hurried, Jong, Yune, and the leader were taken to the hospital, Ewi and Celina were left alone before a scruffy looking detective, “-can you tell me what happened?” Ewi was first, the traumatized expression knew not to say, truth or lie, *dring, dring,* “-Pardon me, I have to take the call,” the beige overcoat skipped to a somewhat isolated spot under a bleak tree, “-right, I understand.”

‘A phone call...’

“Sorry to bother you, ladies,” said the man, “-the incident has been concluded. Head on home, it’s not wise to stay these parts for long, especially when reports like these come to us,” he tipped a cordially good-day and left.

“Celina, what the hell is your family?”

Silence settled, leaves fell and the gentle breeze lifted dust and swayed the foliage, “-they’re scary,” she said, “-if he was in a mood to cause true damage, we’d have been in greater trouble.”

“What is he?”

“A nightwalker, the Devil of Glenda...”

“The man who took on an army on his own...” she gulped; “-we were stupid to go against him.”

“I know,” she sighed, “-and I’m sure the phone call the detective got was from a member of his team.”

“No use dwelling on the matter,” she rose and held a hand to Celina, “-I’m sorry for what my sister said, I hope we can return to being friends again.”

“Yeah,” she smiled, they walked through the strange atmosphere. The images flashed constantly, Ewi reached her limit and said to party.

“I have to get a drink,” she said, the scenery swapped for a line of restaurants and bars overlooking a pond, “-sorry about this.”

“I need a drink too,” returned Celina, “-after what we saw...”

A brown door guarded the entrance to a stone-brick restaurant, it bore the best view onto the pond, including outside sitting, “-Maie’s Eatery,” wrote on the glass, they pushed into familiar faces, “-welcome,” cheered the students.

“Elm, finally,” said Ewi, “-I’ve missed you.”

“We were apart for an hour, I see she’s here too. Hey, whatever,” she glanced sideways, “-brother is here,” she said.

“Hello girls,” he winked, “-sure took your time.”