Shingeaki and Hiroaki narrowed their eyes, sensing the change around the kid in front of them.
This shift was a clear warning. They couldn't afford to be careless anymore. Hiroaki understood that much and adjusted immediately.
"Shingeaki." Hiroaki said slowly, making the man beside him glance over. A silent nod followed, as if Shingeaki had already reconsidered his approach.
"Are you going to make your move or what?" Ryu spoke up, noticing neither had attacked yet. "Just come at me already."
That was all it took.
Both men dashed forward at once, closing the empty space between them and the kid in an instant. Shingeaki took the lead, Hiroaki following right behind.
With a swift leap, Shingeaki launched a flying kick straight at Ryu's face. At the same time, Hiroaki lowered his body, his speed accelerating as he shot forward, aiming for the torso to tackle him down.
A heavy thud echoed, but it wasn't the sound of impact.
It was the sound of a dead stop.
Shingeaki and Hiroaki's expressions shifted from focus to pure shock.
'Just what?!' Shingeaki stared at his halted kick. It wasn't blocked. It wasn't parried. His foot hung inches from Ryu's face, stopped unnaturally, his ankle trapped in the kid's grip.
A hand wrapped around his ankle. This wasn't something Shingeaki had ever seen before. But what truly shocked him was what made it possible.
'This strength....' An irresistible force clamped around his ankle, so overwhelming it felt like that hand could crush his bones at any moment. The pressure immobilized his entire body mid-air, like a living blade in another's grasp.
And he wasn't the only one with such a reaction.
'Stopped?!' Hiroaki remained in his low, shooting stance, but he couldn't move forward.
A foot pressed against his right shoulder, pinning him in place.
It was like a foot planted on the hilt of a sword, preventing it from being drawn no matter how hard one tried.
'What am I even trying to move?' If his legs were visible, veins would be seen bulging through contracted muscle as he exerted everything he had, but no matter how much force he applied, he couldn't advance.
It was like pushing against a mountain.
An immovable object, one that couldn't be overcome.
Then a voice reached them, snapping them out of their stupor.
"Slow." Ryu said lazily. "I could've taken a nap before you reached me."
His tone was relaxed, but his eyes weren't.
"A grappler and a striker, moving in coordination, hoping to cover each other's counters against one person." As he spoke, his grip tightened around Shingeaki's ankle, veins coiling along his arm. At the same time, the foot pinning Hiroaki's shoulder relaxed, just slightly.
"Worthless." Ryu twisted his body.
Shingeaki was slammed down onto Hiroaki's back, crushing them both into the floor.
The impact was violent.
A pit formed beneath them as massive chunks of debris blasted outward, a shockwave tearing through the air and forcing those on the sidelines to shield their eyes from the pressure alone.
"Ugh!!"
Both men groaned, eyes wide as pain surged through their bodies. Shingeaki felt agony explode across his back, the air ripped from his lungs as he suffocated for brief moments. Hiroaki had it worse, which the bone-crushing weight bore down on him as his back collided with the solid floor, the ground caving beneath him.
"N-No way!"
"The Ghost Brothers!"
"Lost?!"
Murmurs of disbelief spread as the members reopened their eyes, only to be met with a sight that stunned them.
The Ghost Brothers. Among the strongest of the Yamazaki clan, were on the ground, overwhelmed, with no room to resist.
"At least you're getting back up." Ryu commented as he watched them struggle to rise. "That's what matters to me, anyway."
Blood trailed from their mouths as they wiped it away, their expressions grave.
Taking a deep breath, they moved in coordination. Shingeaki took a striking kudo stance, while Hiroaki shifted into a grappling one. The air around them seemed to condense, their presence intertwining as one.
Ryu watched all this apathetically.
The next second, they moved, but this time, it was different.
They were synchronized. Like one person. Like one ghost.
Hiroaki appeared instantly in front of Ryu, Shingeaki seemingly overlapping him, as if phasing through his body.
Hiroaki's stance was low, very low, aimed at the torso again.
'I see it!' This time, Hiroaki saw the leg move.
He pivoted instantly, changing direction mid-motion, appearing behind Ryu to take his legs. To everyone else, it looked as if he had passed straight through Ryu like a ghost.
At the same time, Shingeaki appeared in front of him, feet firmly planted in the same kudo stance.
The ground cracked beneath his feet.
Energy surged upward through his compressed frame, the stance channeling it perfectly into a single fist. He aimed directly for the center of Ryu's chest where the heart pulsed.
'This time!' They thought together.
'It's our win!' Their eyes burned with certainty.
Shingeaki's destructive fist and Hiroaki's takedown from behind. Two forces converging, doubling the impact.
An attack meant to end everything.
BUT!
That reality shattered the very next second.
Their strikes never connected.
"Both of you are trying to kill me." Ryu said calmly.
He leaned back at a perfect ninety-degree angle, Shingeaki's fist slicing past where his heart had been. Simultaneously, he placed his left hand on Hiroaki's back, lifting his legs upward and evading the tackle entirely.
Their eyes widened as they hadn't imagined the kid could move like that.
"Yet." Ryu continued. His left arm, braced against Hiroaki's back, coiled like a spring.
"You still pose no danger." He pivoted. The stored force released in which Ryu's right leg shot upward, cutting through the air as it smashed under Shingeaki's chin.
The impact snapped Shingeaki's head back, his body lifting off the ground before being flung away, crashing and rolling across the floor.
Ryu didn't stop.
Still balanced on one hand, he transitioned seamlessly into a handstand atop Hiroaki's back.
The next instant, his right foot drove down. The strike smashed Hiroakii into the ground. The floor cracked violently as debris erupted outward, his body driven inches into the earth.
Silence followed.
The spectators couldn't even react or express their emotions with words.
Only the sound of nervous gulps broke the stillness.
"You're still conscious." Ryu said after a few moments.
He looked down at the two men on the ground, noticing their steady, regulated breathing. They hadn't lost consciousness yet.
"Impressive resilience." He acknowledged, mainly praising their refusal to faint. "But it's better for you to stay down. Any more effort won't give you an advantage, only the opposite."
Ryu turned his head toward the spectators, their faces pale with shock and nervousness.
"So the main force still hasn't arrived."
There was still no one here worth taking seriously. Ryu didn't believe this place lacked capable fighters before reaching the leader, there should've been those just beneath him in strength. Yet none had shown themselves.
"Then you'll be the ones to help pass the time until they do." He began walking toward the armed men. They instinctively stepped back as he approached, fear etched clearly on their faces, yet each was forced to take a stance, weapons raised.
No matter how strong their fear was, their pride wouldn't allow retreat. For them, it could only end in a fight against death.
"It isn't over yet."
A rough voice cut through the air before the clash could begin.
Ryu stopped and glanced behind him, frowning as he saw Hiroaki and Shingeaki standing once more. Their hands rested on their legs for support, breathing ragged, blood trailing from their mouths and dripping down their chins.
Yet their eyes were bloodshot, burning with rage.
"I told you to stay down." Ryu said as he turned fully to face them. "Do you really think a last-ditch effort will change the outcome?" He gestured dismissively.
"The outcome doesn't concern us." Hiroaki spat through gritted teeth.
He wiped the blood from his lips, glaring at the kid in front of him. That expressionless face, calm, almost breezy after putting him and his brother into this state.
His ribs were broken. One of his lungs was damaged, he could tell from the sharp pain that stabbed him with every labored breath. And yet, his pride wouldn't let him fall.
He couldn't accept it.
A kid, fourteen, maybe fifteen, playing with them like toys.
In strength, they were overwhelmed. In speed, completely outpaced.
Worse still, the kid wasn't even using martial arts.
He moved as if choosing the most optimal approach each time. His strength and speed making it effortless. Maybe Hiroaki could've accepted defeat if it were the monsters of the past they'd faced before.
But this was a fledgling.
Shingeaki remained silent, his cold eyes locked onto Ryu. His vision was hazy, his skull still ringing. The previous blow had carried enough force to nearly tear his head from his body.
If it had landed cleanly, he would've been out instantly. He'd barely managed to tilt his head back in time, yet even that left his brain rattled enough to knock him unconscious.
Only pride kept him standing.
"Is that so." Ryu said calmly. "Then let's start already."
Both brothers drew in deep breaths, steadying themselves.
They exchanged a glance and nodded.
Then they dashed forward together, pouring everything they had into one final push.
The distance closed rapidly, only two steps left.
But they never reached them.
Ryu moved before they can act.
"You really think I wouldn't act first?" He said. His hand blurred as his upper body dipped.
"Huh?"
Both Shingeaki and Hiroaki froze as something grazed past their faces.
Their eyes widened.
They instinctively covered the right side of their faces that transmitted the visual of nothingness.
'My vision!' Each thought as it was clear that their vision was cut in half, no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't see their right hand unless they turned their heads to rely on their left eyes.
A warm sensation dripped onto their palms.
Drip. Drip.
'Blood.'
They stared with their remaining vision as crimson droplets fell from their hands to the floor.
There was no need to question it. They'd lost sight in their right eyes.
"This should be just a scratch for you hard-blooded Yakuza, right?"
The words barely registered.
Before Hiroaki could react, before he could even think. His body folded forward violently. His eyes bulged, blood spurted from his mouth that was agape as the air was ripped from his lungs.
A fist was buried into his midsection.
The force launched him like an arrow, sending him crashing into a stone staircase. It deformed on impact as a shockwave tore outward.
"Damn it!" Shingeaki roared, snapping out of his shock.
His right leg whipped upward, aiming straight for Ryu's liver.
Ryu stepped forward.
A left elbow slammed into the incoming knee.
Crack!
The sound of breaking bone echoed.
Shingeaki's knee collapsed, his lower leg dangling uselessly.
"Argh!" He screamed as searing pain tore through his lower part.
Almost instantly, Ryu's hand clamped around Shingeaki's thigh, driving him violently to the ground. The impact forced blood from Shingeaki's mouth as the floor caved into a shallow pit beneath him.
"Can't handle this much pain?" Ryu said, unimpressed. "So much for being Yakuza."
His right leg rose, then came straight down. Slamming into Shingeaki's face, sinking it in and driving the back of his head deeper into the ground.
Shingeaki went limp.
Out cold.
"You bastard!" Hiroaki charged again, wrapping his arms around Ryu's torso.
His face was a mess—blood streaming from the gash over his ruined right eye, his mouth stained red from the blood due to the strain of the fist.
Yet he held on. Rage kept him awake. Rage at the fact that he had been blinded.
"I told you, didn't I?" Ryu said as his feet lifted off the ground, Hiroaki trying to slam him down.
It failed.
Ryu's left hand planted firmly on the back of Hiroaki's head.
"Stay down." Without even bracing his feet, Ryu twisted his body, breaking free with ease, and slammed Hiroaki face-first into the ground.
The once-tense body went slack, ragdolling on impact.
"Now then-" Ryu straightened, turning back toward his previous targets, the minions.
But his words were cut short.
His brows furrowed as his eyes instinctively dropped to a long blade, poised diagonally across his upper body.
"This is really unsightly to witness." The newcomer's voice rang out.
In the same instant, his figure blurred. The blade in his hand sliced through the space where Ryu had been as the man appeared behind him, stopping a short distance away.
"Such an embarrassment." He was a middle-aged man dressed in an elegant, traditional white robe. Glasses rested on his face, his black hair slicked neatly back.
"To think the Ghost Brothers would have such a day." He said.
He turned, about to sheath the blade, but froze.
The calm expression on his face shattered into disbelief at the scene before him.
His opponent, the one he was certain he had cut, was bent at a perfect ninety-degree angle. His back ran parallel to the floor, supported only by his bent legs.
Silvery-white hair drifted downward. An expressionless, upside-down face stared back at him, crimson eyes locked onto his own.
It was eerie.
'He dodged that?' Shintaro was stunned. 'That reaction speed!'
He was certain the blade had already touched flesh, dodging should've been impossible.
Yet that impossibility had just unfolded before his eyes.
"Strange." Ryu muttered, straightening himself under Shintaro's gaze.
He raised his fingers, trailing them over the spot where the blade had passed.
"So this is my blood." He said quietly, though it reached Shintaro's ears.
Ryu examined his fingers, faintly stained red. A diagonal cut ran through the fabric of his hoodie and into his skin. The wound was shallow, but thin trickles of blood seeped from it.
To him, it was likely the first time he'd seen his own blood since coming to this world.
"Interesting blade you've got there." Ryu said as he turned.
He looked directly at Shintaro, the source of danger or rather, the blade itself.
That moment had been dangerous. His instincts had screamed when the edge sank even a hair into his skin. To move, or the consequences would be irreversible.
"Are you the clan head?" Ryu asked.
"The vice-president." Shintaro replied calmly. His tone was composed, but his eyes were cold.
"Though, what business do you have with the President?" he asked, genuine curiosity slipping through. A kid, especially one like this, had no reason to be seeking the clan head, or even be here.
'But his methods.' Shintaro's gaze drifted past Ryu. To the fallen Ghost Brothers, and then further, to the corpses scattered in the distance. The brutality of it all was unmistakable.
A kid possessing this level of strength and cruelty was unexpected.
Defeating the Ghost Brothers alone was no small feat. Yet he'd done it effortlessly.
And his methods mirrored the clan's own.
"I want his head." Ryu said plainly.
"What?" Shintaro's eyes widened. His face contorting into rage. "You brat, do you even understand what you're saying?"
Each word dripped with venom as he glared at the kid. The words that flowed out were absurd.
"Instead of being angry at me." Ryu said, unfazed, "why don't you direct that anger toward the ones who put a bounty on your leader's head?"
"Bounty?" Shintaro frowned. Since when-
"You didn't know?" Ryu looked at him like an idiot. "That bounty's been up for years. Placed by someone from here too."
'It seems that there is a bounty still active.' Shintaro calmed down as the thought surfaced. In the past, several bounties had been placed on their clan's head, each issued by different forces across Japan, and each had been dealt with swiftly by them.
It had been years since anyone had attacked, which usually led to the assumption that no new bounties had been placed, a fact they had thoroughly checked across all statuses. But it seemed that one had somehow slipped under their radar. Apparently, someone was still praying for the downfall of the Yamazaki.
"But do you think that is an excuse for your words?" He questioned. His hand tightened around the hilt of the katana, the blade glinting under the natural light.
"Not at all. Because I'll say it again. Tell your president to come out so I can take his head." Ryu responded with contempt.
"It seems you don't understand how this will end. So I'll make sure to demonstrate it directly for you." Shintaro tilted his head upward, his eyes filled with arrogance and viciousness. He approached step by step, the distance between the two closing slowly but surely.
"You can't handle me, Six Eyes." Ryu took the same approach, stepping forward as well. His crimson eyes locked onto his opponent's figure, the air around both seem to solidify and grow heavier with each step they took.
"Six Eyes?" Shintaro muttered. His expression didn't change, but surprise laced his heart as he clearly understood what those words meant.
"It seems you can see more than what others can't." he commented, staring into those crimson eyes that now seemed to perceive things invisible to the naked eye.
Both closed in until only three steps of distance remained between them. The onlookers held their breath, watching carefully to see what would happen next.
As the third step turned into two, Ryu was the first to act.
SWISH!
A right-hand punch was thrown, cutting through the air with a sharp whistle that tore through the ears. It closed in on Shintaro's stoic face in less than a second.
"Your eyes can see what's beyond the norm." Shintaro's words flowed calmly from his lips.
Ryu's brows furrowed as he suddenly found himself upside down before his punch could make contact from the target's face. He felt his right wrist held tightly, the force he had unleashed turned against him, rendering his body uncontrollable mid-air.
"But it seems they can't help you see your own death." Shintaro continued, performing his technique with his left hand. Aikido, using the opponent's force against themselves, amplified to produce even greater output.
In the moment of his opponent's loss of control, he moved. His right hand rose, blurring in motion as he slashed with the katana, aiming to cut the body in half, the blade drawing just inches from flesh.
The conflict ended here, or so it would have seemed to Shintaro.
"Cool words, but…" Ryu's faint voice sounded in Shintaro's ears, whose eyes widened slightly at the sheer unpredictability unfolding.
Ryu, still mid-air but now in a different position from being upside down, placed his left foot squarely on Shintaro's wrist, halting the blade's movement.
"They would only work on someone other than Kengan Ryu." He continued. Twisting his body to the left, he launched a right-leg kick at the side of Shintaro's head. The strike landed with a loud impact, sending Shintaro sliding across the surface, his feet scraping against it as he was propelled to the side.
"You managed to block that. How unpleasant." Ryu was standing back on his feet, looking at Shintaro, who had his left hand raised next to his head, steam rising from one point on his forearm.
'This kid has that kind of strength?' Shintaro's eyes were serious as he glared at Ryu. The forearm that blocked that kick was numb. Though he knew the opponent was strong, he didn't expect it to be to the extent that it could affect him like this.
'Not to mention that abnormal center of gravity he has control over.' His mind drifted back to the moment when Ryu was able to regain control of his body mid-air, and on top of that, maneuver with a counterattack of his own. That would require a body with an extremely high level of control over its center of gravity to be able to perform such a thing.
"Aren't you being too disdainful?" Shintaro spoke as he slowly lowered his hand. The kid seemed to think that after just one successful counter, he could act unruly.
"Because I can."
Ryu suddenly dashed forward without any warning, leaving two foot pits behind. The speed at which he took off made Shintaro widen his eyes in surprise as the distance between them closed in a blink of an eye.
'Hmm.' Shintaro frowned, his eyes trailing slightly downward toward Ryu, who had taken on an unusual low stance. His torso was arched far back, his legs spread wide apart, with his right foot planted on the ground and his left still in the air, seemingly mimicking a baseball pitcher's posture.
From that stance, he launched forward, using the same form of attack as before, a right-handed punch.
'Fool.' Shintaro commented internally on the approach. He was taken aback by the speed the kid displayed, but he was still able to act in time because of that unusual stance that lingered for just a moment longer. Still, to think that the kid would rely on such a reckless approach was ridiculous.
He held the hilt with both hands and positioned the katana in front of him, the blade running vertically across his body, intending to intercept the attack upon contact by splitting the kid's arm in half.
'This is confirmed to be the end.' Shintaro looked at the flesh of the incoming fist, paper-thin distance away from making inevitable contact with the blade, contact that would result in a severe injury and confirm his victory.
Yet in that moment of inevitability, reality turned illusory.
"Huh?" Shintaro froze as the force he was about to release failed. His blade was pushed back instead, forcing his legs to strain against the ground as he tried to resist, only to be slid backward.
But that wasn't all.
Ryu's punch continued forward at an air-breaking pace, smashing directly into Shintaro's face.
Boom!
The impact was deafening. The force was destructively irresistible, sending Shintaro flying like a bullet through the air. He crashed into a massive wall, forming a huge pit as spiderweb-like cracks spread outward before chunks of debris fell apart, a violent shockwave rippling through the air.
"All hopes should have been shattered, am I right?" Ryu spoke as he approached the place where Shintaro had crashed.
The blade, which should have caused a grave injury, was instead sunken into the flesh between Ryu's knuckles, stuck in place.
"You would have succeeded with your intention if the one you were facing wasn't me. But you guys do have good instincts, I'll give you that." He continued, stopping a short distance away.
Shintaro was on one knee. His nose was crooked, blood dripping down, his mouth bloodied.
'What a miscalculation.' He breathed heavily as the blur in his vision slowly regained focus. If he hadn't moved with the force of the punch, he would have been knocked out completely. He hadn't expected such explosive strength from that stance.
It was now clear what the kid had done with that posture.
He had built momentum for a full-force arm swing, similar to a pitcher winding up to throw a fastball. That allowed him to combine his full body weight and speed to unleash a devastating haymaker.
Even so, Shintaro hadn't expected it to be this rough, nearly putting him out cold.
'More importantly, just what is his flesh made of?' He raised his head slightly, one hand placed on his crooked nose as he snapped the bone back into its proper position. His gaze shifted to the katana's blade, which was sunk right into the middle of the kid's knuckles.
This wasn't ordinary flesh that could be cut through without technique.
It was more like iron flesh.
"This blade is really sharp." Ryu said.
Under Shintaro's eyes, Ryu grabbed the hilt of the sword with his left hand and pulled it out from where it was stuck.
"Extraordinarily sharp." Ryu commented as he inspected its edge.
"It's light and lethal. Should I become a swordsman?" Ryu asked aloud as he took the katana in his right hand and swung it sideways, testing his compatibility with the blade.
"Vice-President!"
"Damn it!"
"Stop him!"
Several shouts rang out from behind as ten people from the crowd dashed toward Ryu, with the rest following after. They couldn't sit still anymore, not when the vice-president was in danger.
"You know." Ryu began as he slowly turned to face the ten charging men. "I read this somewhere in a manga."
"It was about a swordsman who does things like no other who wields a sword."
"It goes something like this."
"The body goes slack." With that, Ryu's body demonstrated a ragdoll-like weightlessness.
"And begins to fall forward." His body succumbed to gravity, crashing toward the ground.
"He pushes off his heel to increase his speed." Ryu's foot suddenly leveraged off the surface.
"The ground between the two opposing forces is covered in an instant." He appeared like thunder directly in front of the group, who couldn't react, or even process where he had gone.
"He utilizes the full length of the sword." With a basic sideways motion, the blade in Ryu's hand flowed smoothly through several arcs without error.
"To cut down his opponent." The sharpness carried through the air itself, passing through the heads of all ten men within reach as if through butter.
"Thus, in the blink of an eye, it's all over." Ryu appeared directly behind them.
Thud.
Ten heads hit the ground simultaneously, followed by the collapse of their headless bodies.
"The entire process took one-tenth of a second." He finished, flicking the blade to shake the blood free.
All movement halted.
The people following behind froze in place. Every face was filled with confusion and fear confusion over what had just happened, and fear of it happening.
One second they were charging forward.
The next, the men in front of them were dead.
Decapitated.
The kid stood before them.
It was an eerie spectacle to witness.
"Pretty cool, don't you think?" Ryu said, ignoring the stares from the minions in front of him.
He turned his head toward Shintaro, who wore a stunned expression, clearly not expecting the kid to be proficient with a sword, nor to execute such speed that it was difficult even for him to track.
"So, after all this." Ryu said calmly as he walked toward Shintaro, who still hadn't recovered. "Will you get your president to show up, or do I need to force my hand?"
His steps avoided the fallen bodies, but they still splashed through the pooling blood.
"By the way, you can have this back. You need it." He tossed the blade into the air, catching it by the blade itself, before extending the hilt toward Shintaro, who wore a cold look on his face.
"Or on second thought, you could-" Ryu suddenly thought of something, but the words flowing out of his mouth stopped. His eyes widened slightly as he sensed something.
He turned his head to the side. From the far distance, where the large traditional building stood, right outside its entrance. Ryu could make out the figure of a man standing there. His face was expressionless. His eyes were unusual, the sclera pitch-black while the pupils and irises were white, staring directly at him. Long black hair, and a black kimono.
'That person is.... strong.' Ryu thought. His attention was completely drawn to that man, who exuded an overwhelmingly oppressive physical presence.
Shintaro looked at the kid, who had suddenly directed his attention elsewhere. He followed his gaze, only to see that person as well, someone he was familiar with.
'Shingen?' He didn't expect his older brother to actually come out himself. Normally, in the state he was in, he would practically be uncaring toward any situation. But it seemed that, this time, something had changed.
"You must be him." Ryu said loudly as he started walking toward the person he had set his eyes on. He crossed the staircase section until he stopped just a few steps away from another staircase leading to where Shingen was standing.
"You finally decided to show up after all this, mister Yakuza president." Ryu continued, his head tilting upward to meet those strange eyes, which glared back without emotion.
Ryu was sure this guy in front of him was the leader of this clan. Yet something about him left a bitter taste in Ryu's mouth, even though he should have been satisfied that the live bounty was right in front of him.
"You know, I should feel at least happy. But now that I'm taking a good look at you, I'm pissed." Ryu said in a cold tone as he noticed something about the man.
Shingen didn't say a thing. He simply stared blankly at the kid responsible for the devastation behind him. Inside, he was slightly surprised that a kid could be this capable, but that was all there was to it.
Swish!
Something cut through the air, too fast to be seen, but to Shingen, it was traceable. The object passed next to his head and struck the wooden door behind him.
A thin graze appeared on his cheek, a small trail of blood following it, yet his expression remained indifferent.
"I thought I would be fighting someone extraordinary, but I would've never expected this." Ryu's voice sounded. His stance was still in a throwing position. The katana that had been in his right hand was no longer there, but was impaled straight through the wooden door behind Shingen.
"You fucker! Why the hell are you depressed?" He questioned as he straightened up. His face twisted in annoyance, his eyes laced with anger.
Ryu never thought the enemy he needed to kill would just be a depressed person. It crushed all his expectations outright. It was clear as day that this guy was in a lethargic state, and Ryu knew how negatively that state could affect a fighter.
"Tch!" Ryu clicked his tongue when he got no response.
"Come here, and let's get this over with. Survivor takes all." With no other choice left, he issued the challenge. Better than nothing, that was how he saw it.
"Fights are held in the courtyard sector." Shintaro's voice sounded beside him, making Ryu give him a side glance.
"It would be best to settle things there." He continued. The blood on his face had dried and smeared, and his expression remained unreadable.
"Hm. Then lead the way," Ryu answered after a moment of thought. He didn't outright reject it, since it wouldn't affect the end result. He could tell these guys seem to have some honor to offer something like that.
And maybe it would be more respectful to end him in his own domain, rather than plainly in front of his residence.