Bodies piled around him, each one falling as he cut them down without remorse. None of them deserved mercy—they were worse than animals.
They heard he was a strong fighter, but they dismissed him, thinking it was all just exaggeration.
But what they were seeing now shattered every expectation and was far beyond anything they could have imagined.
The rumour they heard barely scratched the surface of his real combat ability.
Ken always held back in fight. He didn't want to hurt anyone more than necessary, so he kept himself in check.
But this time was different. With his sister's life at stake, something in him snapped.
Adrenaline flooded his veins, and for the first time, he let everything go. Every restraint, every hesitation.
When someone got close, his reflexes which were faster than a cat's—kicked in, allowing him to dodge easily.
His wide field of vision covered blind spots most fighters couldn't even sense.
And his dynamic focus—sharper than that of the world's best baseball players— let him track high-speed attacks as if they were moving in slow motion.
Combined with all of this, only a handful of humans in the world could even hope to contend with him. He was in a class of his own.
Thud!
He sent another thug crashing to the pavement with a strong kick to the ribs.
As the man crumpled, he followed up with a swift kick to the jaw.
Without missing a beat, he swung his machete up to block an incoming strike from another attacker—then sliced clean through the man in a single vertical slash.
Don's smugness vanished. He just sit on his SUV, staring in disbelief.
None of his men could hope to stand against a fighter like that.
They made a terrible mistake when they took his sister.
But it was too late for regret.
Ken fought his way through, blood and sweat scattering on the ground as he cut down anyone who dared to stand in his path.
"GIVE HER BACK TO ME!" he roared, the force of his shout stopping everyone in their tracks.
All the kindness in his heart was now overwhelmed by pure hatred and rage.
"GO, GO!" Don screamed at the driver.
Ken clenched his fists. He wanted to give chase.
Wanted to rip that car door off its hinges and drag the bastard out by the neck.
But too many stood in his way, and the car was already pulling away.
Worse, his lungs burned with every breath, and his legs were starting to give out.
The adrenaline that had fuelled his burst of power was gone, and in its place came exhaustion.
'Damn it.' he made a split-second decision to retreat.
As long as he was alive, it wasn't over. He could still recover, regroup… and save her.
(Ten minutes later)
Ken lay bleeding in a filthy alley, one hand pressed tightly against the wound in his side.
His thoughts drifted to his sister.
If he had known things would end like this, he would have taken her and run far away.
"There's no god in this world," A hollow laugh escaped his lips. "If there was, he wouldn't just sit back and watch this happen to an innocent girl."
(Are you sure about that?)
The voice came from nowhere and everywhere all at once.
It wasn't male or female, young or old—it didn't feel human at all.
"W–Who's there? Am I hallucinating?"
He remembered reading that the brain played tricks on people when they were about to die.
(Call me what you want—god, devil, parasite. Doesn't matter. What matters is what I'm offering. A deal)
"A deal?"
(I can give you power. Enough to rip every last person who touched your sister into pieces.)
Ken stared up at the dark sky, his mind flickering between rage and disbelief.
Part of him believed that this was just an illusion. Another hoped it was true, no matter how outrageous it sounded.
"I want to. More than anything. But why me ? I'm a coward..."
(That may be true… but you don't get to decide who I pick. Just be thankful I'm giving you a chance to save your sister.)
(Or are you really going to let them tear her apart and ruin her?)
"Of course not," he forced out, his teeth clenched so hard it hurt.
(Then decide. Take what I'm offering—no matter the price—or die like the failure you've always been.)
The voices thundered in his head, this time with a finality that crushed any thought of delay.
"I'll take it. I don't care what happens to me anymore… Give me the power!"
But before he got an answer, four men stepped into the alley, surrounding him.
Ken let out a bitter laughed.
So all that talks were just a hallucination.
Of course it was—there was no way such a convenient deal would be handed to him.
"You really did a number on us," one of them sneered.
"M… my sister…" he gasped, blood spilling from his lips. "Where… did you take her…"
Even in this broken, dying state—she was still the only thing on his mind.
Had he known it would end like this, he would've stayed in that bathroom longer—held her close, just a little tighter. Said the things that always caught in his throat.
Anything to let her know how much she meant to him.
But instead, he pushed her away. He acted like a bastard too afraid to face his own feelings.
"Look at him," one of the thugs sneered, crouching beside Ken.
"Still thinking about her? What a good brother. Don't worry —we'll take good care of her. Real good."
The others laughed. .
"Did you know what we do to girls like her?" the man sneered. "After the boss is done taking her innocence, he lets the whole gang have a turn. "
"By the time we're done with her, all she'll think of is how to please us,"
"I...I'll kill you..." Hearing it crushed his heart; he wanted to raise his hand and kill everyone on sight, but he already lost too much blood
"And how do you expect to do that, huh?" one gangster sneered, kicking his wound and making him cough up more blood.
"N... no matter what, I'll make you pay—every single one of you."
The gangster swallowed hard. They didn't know why they feared someone so close to death, but just looking into his eyes made them tremble.
One of them couldn't take it anymore and raised a machete to deliver the final blow.
'Nathalie… I'm sorry.'
The blade came down. Darkness quickly followed.