"You fucking bastard, you think you’re so smart. Why would the bosses send me to die? I’m one of their most loyal underlings!" Kain wasn’t going to entertain stupid ideas.

"How can you be so stupid! They hate you, Kain. You’re a wild dog. They can stand you. The only reason they kept you this long is that you were strong enough to pull your weight. I guess you did something so dumb that they finally gave up on you!"

"Shut your fucking mouth, traitor! You don’t know them as I do. You only care for yourself. I always had the Dragon’s future in mind. That’s why I looked for your little base in the Capital and it burned to the ground!"

"You did that on your own, right? Burning a building of a syndicate that killed one of their Executioners. It is almost like a war declaration, it is so simple. They sent you to weaken our forces before the real battle."

Everything Adel said was correct. Kain’s dumb and impulsive plan last week made the bosses angry. They gave him so many chances, but after Toss failed to destroy the syndicate, they knew to prepare for a real fight.

A tradition unknown to those in lower positions, but known to the bosses and oldest members through the leader. ‘Cull the weak so the strong can rise’. Thanks to a tip from a solider in the city, they knew about the raid. If Underworld was destroyed by the army, better for them. If the army failed, along with the weaklings, the bosses would take the city the next day.

"Enough! I don’t want to listen to your stupid theories. After killing you, your pathetic leader will be next. I’ll bring his head to the bosses and finally be promoted." Kain unsheathed his swords, ready to fight.

"I’m stronger than before. I’m not going to lose to anyone anymore. I know what I need to do to gain real strength!"

"Always a blabbering weakling till the end!" Kain jumped toward Adel.

The twin swords fell down on his blade and echoed as the metal clashed against each other. Above, below, right and left, Kain attacked from all sides. A hurricane of strikes could turn a normal person into minced meat, but Adel blocked them all.

They fought a few months ago in the Capital. Since then, Adel has improved by training and putting his life on the line in multiple fights. The most recent one was against an assassin from the Hand. Compared to that man, Kain's moves were slower and weaker.

"Is this all Kain?" He cut his leg and flames came from inside the wound. "[Flame]"

"AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHUUUUGGG!" The pain of having his flesh burned from the inside made him recoil. The wound was now black, the blood dry and the flesh charred.

"Bastard! Don’t get cocky!"

The rush of attacks resumed faster than before. Kain was fighting with everything he had. Adel's flaming sword moved in a perfect defense. He blocked the attacks, but he could only keep up for a moment.

The rage of Kain passed through his burning defense and cut his arm, then his leg, and another to the side of his chest. It was almost as if the swords were possessed or alive.

The pattern of attacks was changing every couple of seconds. It was hard to adjust and defend oneself. The only thing keeping Adel in the fight was the experience of the past fights and his flaming sword. An attack from below sent his sword above and then...

"[Double strike]" Kain used his special ability and made the same attack at inhuman speed. His swords slashed Adel’s body from the chest to the thighs. The blood splattered everywhere.

Before Kain could deliver another attack, the flames from the sword grew and covered the hallway. He jumped back and saw Adel's face half burned by his own technique.

"You understand now, little rat? You will never be strong. The realm of the powerful is only for people like me. You can’t ever surpass me, Adel. It is that simple. HAHAHA!" He laughed like a madman at the sight of Adel breathing heavily and wounded like a rat caught in a trap.

"Uf… Uf… hehe Yeah, it is pretty funny. You think you’re strong? Did you already forget how you peed your pants in the Capital when your attack was stopped by my master hand?"

"…"

"I bet you haven’t forgotten, right, Kain? You probably had nightmares for weeks. I mean, I saw your pathetic face. It looked like you were going to cry and beg for your life. hahahah hilarious hahahaha…" The mood changed. It was the wounded Adel who laughed at his opponent.

"I’m not strong, that’s obvious, but neither are you. That’s why I don’t feel trapped. I only need to be strong enough to defeat you, Kain!" He had a sincere smile on his face.

Adel learned from Thanatos what real strength was. The world was full of people like him and even stronger. He laughed at himself. How small was his view of the world before? Destroying the Kingdom? To make his dream come true, he needed to deal with hundreds of Kains in his path. This was nothing. If he died here, then that was the end of it. He could never achieve his vengeance.

"[Flame]!" He raised the fire hotter than before; it began to burn his hands from holding the sword. The pain was unbearable. He could feel his skin burning as the metal fused with his flesh.

Adel attacked like a demon, launching dozens of strikes that were deflected or dodged. The flames extended all around and began to burn the wood of the building. He didn’t care about the damage. He had only one thing on his mind. Kill Kain and go help Thanatos.

The flame pillar and the twin swords crashed hundreds of times as the room burned with fire. No one was giving a single inch. Kain was still in the lead. He was getting burned by being so close to the flames, but he wasn’t getting hit. On the other hand, Adel was also burning, and his wounds were taking his stamina. It was only a matter of time.

In the middle of the battle, Kain saw an opportunity. Adel's movements slowed down for a second, and he struck the sword at the side, sending it away.

"[Double strike]" another cut to the gut. This was the final blow. "DIE!"

STAB... Kain's arms were pinned down on the floor, turning to ash in the fire.

"What?" His mind couldn’t comprehend what was happening. He felt the pain as his arms were becoming a crispy piece of charcoal, but how did Adel do it? He didn’t get an answer as Adel burned him with a massive slash from head to toes.

"Stupid, I can always count on that."

Adel faked the opening to invite an attack. The biggest danger was Kain [Double Strike]. He didn’t have the speed to deal with it. But the strikes were exactly in the same place as before. He only needed to attack before he used his ability.

If you only showed restraint, you would have noticed me attacking the floor before you used your ability. Thanks for being so dumb, Kain. That difference gave him the victory.

"Master..." He didn’t have time to lose, so he drank a healing potion and went back inside to help Thanatos.

***

A silhouette was running across the forest with impatience. It was Neo. She saw the smoke on her way back with the ingredients. She went ahead to scout, and the closer she got, the clearer the sounds of battle became.

Of all the days they had to attack when I was collecting! Dammit, I don’t who they’re, but I’m going to make them pay if anyone is hurt…

Using her feline blood, she jumped from tree to tree until she reached the border of the city. She leaped from the trees and landed close to the back of the building. A bunch of people were standing around.

"Who the hell are you?" she demanded immediately from the closest one.

"UH… a woman… sigh, what a drag. Get out of here or you’re going to end up dead under a tree. Your family won’t know what happened to you. Isn’t that sad?"

"Answer me, I don’t have time to lose!" She attacked the man with a weird expression.

She aimed her claws at his chest, but the man blocked with a needle sword. He moved the tip toward Neo and…

"[Pierce]" the sword pierced her shoulder and pinned her several meters away in a tree.

"I warned you, didn’t I? Didn’t I tell you to go away? Why didn't you listen? That's why I’m always stuck dealing with losers and runaways. I wanted to fight the big guys inside... but Kain told me to hunt the stragglers... With such a measly job, how are the bosses going to promote me if I can show my strength? I should go inside and kill that Thanatos guy... if Kain complains, I kill him too."

"You can do that later, Agi. Focus on the mission!" Another man talked him out of his fantasies.

"What are you talking about? Who are you? Why are you attacking us?" Neo tried to move, but the man kept her stuck against the tree.

"AH... Are you a stupid woman? We are the Red Dragon. We have come to exterminate Underworld. You assholes have bothered us for too long. This was just punishment... what was that? Did you say you were with them? Then I must kill you too, half mutt woman."

"The Red Dragon?" Neo wasn’t familiar with the syndicate, but Adel told her the details after Thanatos and Eric killed the Red Executioner. It was a long and boring story, but the gist of it was that they were a shady syndicate in the Republic, enemies of Underworld, in other words, enemies of her friends.

"Red Dragon… then I don’t need to hold back."

"Hold back... Is your fuckin' head missing a brain? UH…" Agi was getting angrier by the second, so he decided to kill her. He reached for his second sword, but...

"Hey, you know what a long-neck turtle is?"

"UH?"

"They are usually small because they get eaten by predators. But if they reach old age, they become big and their necks can do this… AAAAAGGGGGHHHH…"

CHOMP... neo face turned green and scaly like a turtle. Her neck stretched far away, and she bit Agi’s face with her spirit jaws.

"What?" The other guy took his javelin in a panic. He had never seen anything like that. Was it magic?

"They hunt by sticking their necks out of holes and caves. If you’re unprepared or distracted, you can have a limb bitten like I just did."

She took out the tip of the sword from her shoulder and assumed another form similar to a bear.

"I have been collecting a lot of spirits in the past few weeks. They're easy to talk to too; they only request to show a bit of their strength or kill some prey. You guys are going to be their passage to the other world."

"Kill her!"

The men took their weapons, but Neo unleashed a pandemonium of beasts on them. From bears to Hydras. It was a menagerie of animals.

Heads were crushed, arms bitten, pierced legs, and poisoned hearts. Neo continued her path toward the building, killing all the Red Dragon minions that tried to block her.