The sound of explosions echoed across the quiet town, jolting the residents who had been preparing to retire into their houses. Startled, they stopped in their tracks and turned toward the commotion, their eyes widening in alarm as they finally caught sight of it.
The body of a young man— the same one who had recently stood up to the gang that extorted them daily came crashing down the street. His form bounced violently across the ground before skidding to a painful halt, leaving cracks and dust trailing in his wake.
"Ah, shit! What the hell just happened?" Max groaned, clutching his head. His vision swam, his body heavy as he struggled to push himself up from the rubble.
As his gaze adjusted, he caught sight of a figure stepping out from the gaping hole that had been blasted through his house.
The man who emerged was short but broad, standing around five feet five inches tall with a body packed with muscle. His frame was so bulky that his shirt strained tightly against him, seams threatening to give way.
A cigarette dangled lazily from his lips, smoke curling upward, and around his forehead was a gray band etched with the symbol of a bull.
His sharp brown eyes scanned the street until they locked on Damian, and then he began walking forward. His steps were calm and steady, unhurried, as if the chaos around him mattered little.
The man exhaled a thick plume of smoke while narrowing his eyes at Damian.
"You beat up my men. Not only today, but even last week in some alleyway. Thought I wouldn’t find out?" His words dripped with venom as his glare bore into Max.
Max’s own confusion deepened. His thoughts raced.
’Something is wrong here. I shouldn’t have been thrown like that from the punch of a mere human. My strength has long since surpassed that of humans. So how did he...’
Without hesitation, Max activated his dragon eyes. His vision sharpened, and the man’s aura blazed into focus— a wild, fiery yellow, burning brighter than anyone else he had encountered so far.
’Crap... he’s strong. Wait... that’s it. He’s not normal, just strong.’
The bulky man pulled the cigarette from his lips and let out another slow exhale of smoke, curling it through the night air like a predator savoring the moment.
"Now then," he said coolly, pointing the glowing tip of the cigarette toward Damian. "You’re going to publicly apologize to me and my men. Do that, and maybe, just maybe I’ll let you crawl out of here alive."
Max smirked, despite the ache still pounding through his body. "Apologizing isn’t in my dictionary... wait a second. You do know what a dictionary is, right?"
The man froze for the briefest moment, then burst into a grin that stretched across his scarred face.
"You know what? I like you," he said with a chuckle, dragging another puff from his cigarette. "Come join the Gray Bulls. My men have gotten sloppy lately. With your strength, you’d make a fine addition. Hell, you could even be my second in command."
"What?!" his gang members shouted in unison, disbelief flashing across their faces.
"So," the man asked again, blowing another puff of smoke into the night air, "what do you say?"
Damian’s hand brushed against his pocket, fingers curling tightly around the object hidden inside. His expression hardened, though he kept his voice steady.
’I need to get this to the hospital as soon as possible. These guys aren’t going to just let me walk away. And I can’t afford to join some gang. I don’t even know what kind of chains that would put on me. But one thing I’m sure of— gangs are always bad news.’
They might initiate me to do something I don’t want to. I really can’t kill a human. That’s why I refrained from killing Carl and these guys. If I join them, I’m sure they would want me to kill a human, and I can’t.
"You know, I don’t have much time to spare. My men are eager for me to kill you, so hurry up and give me a good reply so I don’t need to ha..."
"I’m sorry. I can’t join you," Max replied firmly, then turned to leave.
"What did you say?" The man asked as he stopped smoking for a second.
"I said, I’m not interested," Max answered, halting his steps but not bothering to turn around.
"You do know that refusing me would mean I would have to kill you right here, right now, for beating the shit out of my men, right?" The man asked, and Max slowly tilted his head around.
"Is that a threat?" Max asked, his iris glowing a faint yellow.
"You can say so." The man grinned widely as his left hand crept into his pocket while his right hand still held onto his cigarette stick.
"Then I want to see you try stopping me," Max replied, continuing to walk away from the town.
"Ah." The man let go of his cigarette, letting it fall to the ground before crushing it under his shoe. "I hate cockiness," he muttered, and in the blink of an eye, he was directly behind Max, even though Max had been at least five metres away.
’Shit!’ Max thought as he felt the overwhelming aura behind him. He quickly spun around, his hands crossing in an X shape just in time for...
The leader’s fist crashed into Max’s arms, an immense surge of pain ripping through his body. His arms throbbed violently, and he was sent skidding across the ground, groaning through clenched teeth.
’Too strong! That is definitely not the strength of a human,’ Max thought bitterly as he finally came to a halt, his arms trembling.
"That’s me for you... I always give my foe a chance, but when they refuse, they die!" The man smirked as he blitzed forward again, appearing right in front of Max.
He swung his fist at full speed and strength, the impact alone producing a thunderous bang that echoed across the empty space.
But Max reacted faster. He ducked under the strike and pivoted to the side, narrowly avoiding the swipe of the man’s palm aimed at his face.
’The hell?! He’s fast. Not only is he strong, but he’s fast too. What’s going on?!’ Max thought, panic beginning to rise as his heartbeat pounded harder with every second.
"I won’t kill you easily. I’ll torture you. I’ll torment you, injure and skin you alive until you understand true pain. I want you to feel it, endure it, and then beg for death.
Only then will death come knocking at your door." The man grinned from ear to ear as he blitzed forward once more, his eyes glimmering with cruelty.