Amidst the blood and dead corpses of Hitmen and executioners alike, three silhouettes stood face to face. A huge tiger head and countless swords floated in the air adding another layer of quirkiness to an albeit terrifying situation.
No one moved immediately for a few seconds. Then, out of nowhere, Eva's swords flew toward Grey, piercing the air as they closed the distance between them.
The latter instantly moved as he dodged the rain of swords skilfully before he dashed forward at top speed. Kaya used that time and left her tiger head summons to wreak havoc.
Opening its wide mouth, the creature moved toward Grey. The latter channeled Origin throughout his body and punched it powerfully, sending the head flying away.
At the same time, Eva had already closed the distance between them as she sliced at him with a sword. Grey bent back, barely dodging the blade as it cut a little strand of his hair. Kaya moved again and fired multiple bullets at him.
'Curse it all, these two are too coordinated. They're using every single move I do to attack me.' Cursing inwardly Grey shifted his balance and finally activated his main talent. Lifting his hand, A small ringing sound echoed in the room before the bullets magically stopped the bullets mid-air.
'What? How did he…' Before Kaya could even react, the bullets had already turned around and flew back at her. Quickly, she tried to dodge the bullets but she was a split second too late.
Bullets pierced her left arm and left leg making her groan from pain. At the same time, Eva had already closed the distance again and rained down on Grey with sword attacks. She slashed, pierced, lashed. Her technique was as elegant and beautiful as it was deadly.
Grey found himself getting overwhelmed. Small cuts and injuries started appearing on his body.
"Don't overestimate yourself, Eva Lavine! You're just a mere hindrance between me and the true power of your abilities."
Eva ignored his words as she focused on her attacks. Her speed only kept on increasing as her attacks grew more and more intense. Reaching a new mastery over Origin had allowed for her swordsmanship to evolve to the next level. Coating the blade with Origin had always been an exhausting task. However, now, she can easily use the exact amount of Origin needed while maintaining the Origin augmentation she applied to her body.
Seconds passed when Grey realized something, feeling the cold wall behind his back. Eva had cornered him.
"Now, old hag!!" She yelled at Kaya who was already on the move. Reaching Grey, she sent a punch to his face. Simultaneously, Eva thrusted her sword, aiming for his chest. The two attacks were so coordinated that Grey couldn't see a way to dodge the attack. As Kaya and Eva were already thinking the fight was over, Grey suddenly did something that shocked them to a halt.
Extending his arm, he grabbed Eva's blade, letting it pierce his hand. The sword cut three of his fingers in the process but still halted. In the next split second, a punch connected with his face, almost knocking him unconscious.
'Fuck! That hurts!!' He cursed.
At the same time, his other hand grabbed Kaya's fist. Then, through his gritted, bloody teeth, he yelled.
"Rippling devotion!!"
Kaya's eyes widened as she felt intense pain ripple through her body. Her mouth instinctively coughed a huge amount of blood as she flew back, smashing against the wall violently.
"Kaya!!" Eva's face frowned hard as she gritted her teeth and pushed her sword forward, trying to pierce Grey. However, the latter had already used his finger to strike Kaya in the neck.
"Finger strike!!"
The moment his finger connected with her neck, Eva felt as if her throat ruptured for a second. Blood gushed out of her mouth as she started coughing violently. Then, Grey kicked her powerfully. Eva smashed against the wall and she fell down unconscious.
All of this happened in a mere 30 seconds or even less.
"Hah… Hah… Hah… Don't… underestimate me, bitches!!" He yelled as he grabbed his pained body. Calling his condition horrifying was an understatement. Grey had multiple ribs broken, heavy internal damage, all of his teeth were broken and he even lost three fingers from his left hand.
However, by some miracle, he won. He had actually defeated these two alone.
The feeling of winning was truly blissful. He didn't think that defeating anyone apart from the black Phantom would actually make him feel good but somehow, it wasn't the case. Perhaps it was because he had yearned for winning for so long.
The past few years were pure hell for Grey. He had lost his prestige, his power, his freedom, and everything he was aiming for. So, all he had left was training to ease his anger. His mind was occupied with the Black Phantom. That monster was his goal, his enemy, and also -in a sense- his idol.
Grey hated Kai and even loathed him at some point, but also respected him immensely. It was a contradicting feeling that he himself didn't understand.
"I… deserve it…" Murmuring to himself, Grey dragged his tired body toward Eva. Then, he picked her up over his shoulder and walked out of the conference room.
'I'm… close… Just one more step and everything will be over…' He thought to himself. Then, through his gritted teeth, he dashed into the horizon at his fastest speed.
***
A minute or so later, Kai reached the conference room. Because of the shadow walls, he lost a minute or so.
Looking around him, Kai ignored the immense number of corpses riddling the place and the strong smell of death that filled the room. Instead, his eyes landed instantly on a familiar silhouette lying on the other side of the room.
Kai's face frowned when he saw her. Then, he vanished instantly and appeared beside Kaya. Gently pulling her up, Kai analyzed her body and his frown grew even more pronounced. Blood was gushing from Kaya's mouth endlessly.
'Internal damage… She's in a lethal condition..' He thought to himself as he quickly healed her. A few seconds later, Kaya's complexion started returning to normal as her eyes opened up slowly.
"K-Kai…"
"Don't speak, your injuries are heavy so only nod, ok?" He asked with a gentler tone than usual. "Did Grey catch Eva?" He asked to which Kaya nodded.
"K-Kai… He… strong… I'm sorry… I couldn't kill… him…" She tried to speak with a weak voice. However, Kai put his finger on her lips.
"I let him escape… It's my mistake." He replied coldly.
Kai's pressure increased. At this point, he wasn't annoyed anymore, he was outright pissed. Grey was like a small cockroach that kept running away from him whenever he was close to ending his life. This was the same situation that happened 5 years ago.
"Stay here and recover… I will leave for a moment…" He said as he laid Kaya back. The latter grabbed his arm.
"Be… careful…"
Kai didn't reply to her words as he stood up and vanished. Be careful? No, he wasn't going to be careful. He was going to make that man regret the day he came in contact with him. This wasn't merely ending a matter he should've ended years ago anymore, Grey had done unforgivable things and he was going to pay for them… Heavily.