The moment Ramie shouted, Neil turned to look in alarm. His initial thought was a creature attack. Thus, he raised his hand, preparing to cast Fire Blast.
However, the moment he done so, one of the three men that were standing near him, sucker punched him with a heavy strike, knocking him to the ground, unconscious.
As for Lance, the moment he heard the shout, He reacted almost immediately, as he had never let his guard down, not even when he walked into the safe store.
At first, when the man waved them to come in, Lance had thought that this guy might be alone or with his family. Hence, he wanted more people to join them, to maximize his chances of survival.
However, when Lance got into the store, and saw 6 men inside, he was indeed surprised, but he didn't think much of it. As the reason for this man to call the three of them inside was probably the same; to increase the chances of survival with a larger number, which was common sense.
On the same time, he didn't feel quite comfortable for the quick look that these people exchanged among them as he went in.
However, considering the abnormal situation outside, it might be that some of them didn't want others to join them in their safe place, or something similar. As such, this action of theirs didn't seem completely out of place.
But… the moment he heard Ramie's shout, the first action he did, was to raise his cautiousness toward these men, instead of a possible creature attack. Hence, he avoided the fate of being sucker punched, like Neil had.
Surging in motion, Lance rotated his life energy, sending large volumes of throbbing power toward every muscle fiber inside his body, which caused his muscles to bulge with strength.
In a moment, his physical abilities soared, and he prepared to block the kick that one of the two men that were nearest him had sent at his abdomen.
However, at that particular moment… The other man that was near him, the bald one, suddenly dashed with explosive speed, cutting the distance between them in no time. His speed was even faster than both of the creatures that Lance had faced thus far!
In a split second, the bald man was already next to him, and he sent out a powerful punch at Lance's head, wanting to put him down in one attack.
Lance was shocked by this startling development; he didn't consider the possibility that other people too might have gotten this life energy. As such, he was caught off guard by this attack.
Luckily, even though Lance was stunned, but the years of hellish training that he had gone through did not go to waste, even despite the passage of time. As such, and out of pure reflex, his muscle memory prompted him to raise his right hand to intercept the destructive punch that was heading toward his head.
Thud!
The power conveyed in the punch was enough to send Lance staggering, back at the wall behind him.
His hand was numb from the attack force, and the knife in his hand was thrown away. However, he did not allow panic to dominate his thinking, and regained his balance immediately, preparing to react for the follow up attack.
Luckily… the bald man was not smart enough to follow up with an instant finishing blow, and was actually staring at him with shocked expression…
Apparently… the bald man had fallen for the same trap that he fell for... which was not considered that other people too might have acquired life energy.
This particularity saved Lance from an instant defeat situation.
The bald man then recovered, and dashed at him with full momentum, wanting to finish the job. His crude manner of attack showed that he didn't receive any type of professional martial art training, which gave Lance a sort of comfort.
This time around, Lance was prepared for the assault, and displayed his ample experience.
He kicked off the wall behind him, and using the momentum, he dodged the bald man's charge.
He didn't use the chance to counteract, instead, he charged at the other man.
Seeing the bald man's speed and strength, he concluded that this man had life energy too, like himself. As such, he wanted to take out the other man first, to avoid distracting himself during the fight with the bald man. As this fellow's attack showed Lance that he was stronger than him and even a bit faster.
Also, Neil was unconscious on the ground, and there were 3 men next to him. So, Lance didn't want those three to use Neil to threaten him during the fight. As such, he wanted to take them out first. In addition, there were two large men on Ramie's side, and since Ramie wasn't some sort of a martial art champion, he would definitely lose to the two, which is why Lance intended to neutralize their threat as well.
Processing the entire situation in a moment, Lance determined his course of action, and then jumped to it.
Activating his life energy, Lance went after the closest man to him, wanting to neutralize him first, to prevent this man from pincer attacking him by colliding with the bald man.
Thus, Lance sent an open palm toward him, instead of a normal punch. As for the reason, it was because his current strength was beyond normal, so, he didn't want to kill this man before learning the reason behind this hostile action. Thus, he wanted to take him out of the equation for now, to focus his attention on the other men.
However, although this idea of his was on point… but unfortunately for that man, the execution was not.
The moment Lance's palm met that man's chest; an enormous amount of kinetic energy transmits to his body from that unstoppable palm, pushing him backward as if his weight meant nothing.
Thud!
With a look of disbelieve in his face, the man was sent flaying toward the other end of the store like a rag doll, smashing against the wooden shelves, and falling to the ground in a sorry state.
Lance's eye twitched at the sight, fearing that he might have ended that man's life with that strike of his…
Apparently, even though he acted reservedly, he had still underestimated his current strength…
It wasn't really his fault, as he had only ignited this life energy recently, and he was yet to get used to it.
Luckily, the moment the man fell to the ground, he started groaning in pain, while clutching his chest area where Lance's palm smashed.
Lance felt relief at the sight, taking comfort in the fact that the man was still alive, before turning to charge toward the other men, as he continued his attack.
With Lance's fighting experience and boosted physical abilities, the three men were not his match. And with three punches, the three were sent flaying and landed unconscious.
Just like that, their threat was nullified.
Then, as Lance was about to finish the two men that were surrounding Ramie, the bald man charged at him and resumed his assault, thus putting a premature end to his plan.
With that, Ramie was now left to face two brute men with larger physical build than himself.
So far, the idea of having to fight other humans only crossed his mind once or twice. But ultimately, he brushed it off, as with the creature's threat outside; he had assumed that no one was stupid enough to start a fight in such timing. Maybe later on, this thing would become a trend, probably in case of a scares resource, or prolonged absence of the law enforcement, but not now…
However, that theory was apparently incorrect…
Ramie had no idea as to why on earth would these men choose to attack them in such ferocity, and inside a creature's infested city, with dangers lurking everywhere? But it didn't mean that he wouldn't defend himself, and let them do as they please.
In response to the two men surrounding him, Ramie took step backward, putting his back against the wall, to place both of these men in his field of vision. He did so in order to avoid a surprise attack from a blind spot.
While doing so, he casted a quick glance around, to check on Lance and Neil…
What he saw… was a man, flying to the other end of the store, and mercilessly smashing against the wooden shelves!
At the sight, Ramie realized that with Lance's strength, these people plan was definitely going south, and there was a good chance that lance could defeat that bald man!
But there was a problem… he wasn't absolutely sure that lance could win this fight. Because that bald guy was the same as Lance, he had life energy! More ever, its percent seemed to be higher than Lance's value...! And even his aura was stronger than Lance's.
Although Ramie wasn't exactly sure on what did that particularity meant… he still speculated that it might mean that the man had more energy, or stronger energy than Lance had, or something…
And if any of that was true! Then this situation was tricky to resolve… And he didn't want to place his life in uncertainty.
Worse, Neil was now unconscious, denying them from two finishing blows that could have ended this confrontation a lot sooner.
Sensing the pressure from this predicament, Ramie gritted his teeth, and prepared to fight the two strong men. He was now pointing his knife at the two, threateningly, to maintain a safe distance.
So far, the shock of seeing Lance's strength kept the two men hesitating, and also the knife in Ramie's hand. But now, they seem to have made up their minds, as they started moving toward him provocatively, wanting to divide his attention and then attack.
Seeing that these two men intending to attack him, with one of them picking up a nearby chair, and the other one picking up a small table... Ramie knew… That with his zero experience in fights, his chances of winning was slim to none…
But it didn't mean that he'd give up… that he'd just surrender his life…
Besides, with one man standing between him and the door, and another within a close range, there was no way for him to run outside… Which meant… this battle was unavoidable…
'I have to find a way to pick Neil up and escape from this store! I don't believe they'd follow us out. If I succeed in that, Lance would definitely be able to escape from that baldy if he didn't have Neil to worry about.' Ramie made up his mind.
With his yellow irises shining intensely with a savage yellow glint under the sun classes! He held up his knife, and his fighting spirit rose, not intending to let his enemy's have their way easily!
The two men that were assigned on him exchanged a tacit look, and then attacked.
Both of them charged at Ramie and smashed the table and the chair at him.
Crush! Crush!
With the sound of breaking wood, the chair was smashed at Ramie's hand, making the knife flew away and slide on the floor, before disappearing beneath the service counter. As for the table, it smashed at his shoulder, which made him fall to the ground with a heavy thud.
'Damn!!'
The inevitable has happened…
Ramie's grounded his teeth, as he had just lost the only advantage he had in this fight. Then, and seeing the two men came at him with ruthless expressions, he knew that with his lack of fighting experience, his inferior strength, and his smaller build, there was no way for him to win this fight.
He realized it… the best chance for him now was not to attack, but to defend, and wait to find a chance to escape outside through the store's front glass.
The two men attacked him with utmost ferocity, throwing all kinds of kicks and punches at him; while he did everything he could to resist the attacks, and to protect his vital points.
And just like that, a chaotic, gang-style confrontation broke out inside the bakery store!
It wasn't between men and creatures… But between humans themselves!
...