This is a passion work. So, I would really appreciate it if you leave behind a review when you're done reading.
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CH68: NO DEAL
"Since you sold me the video, I'm guessing you're the one behind this Gang War or, at least, it's related to you. Am I right, Ghost?" The Duke asked.
"I was wondering what this chat was for." Korede said.
He stared into Jonathan's eyes before continuing,
"Yes, I'm responsible for everything that has happened these last few days. The gang war, Chidozie's disappearance, Adeshina's abduction, I was even the one that egged your brother into attacking you. If it wasn't for me, it might have taken a few years before he had the spine to do what he did."
Korede saw a bit of rage flash through the Duke's eyes.
"That might be true, but the fact remains that he would have done it eventually anyway, even without your goading. That doesn't make any difference." The Duke retorted.
"Oh but it does, Duke. Maybe one piece doesn't but when you bring all the pieces together, it does." Korede reclined a bit on the chair as he interlocked his fingers. "The things that make you who you are. Reputation, Family, the Gang. Put everything together and you would see…"
Korede leaned forward in Duke's direction, he continued with a smile, "It took me less than five days to destroy all of it. The era of the Duke of NDz is no more. The empire you built, all these years, has been destroyed in just a matter of five days by one man."
Finally, the Duke could not hide his rage anymore. His face crumbled, anger evident. He slammed his fist on the table. Korede didn't react.
He didn't react because he knew the man was acting.
He could tell that though he was angry at him, couldn't wait to kill him even, the Duke wanted something from him. He could guess what, which is why he was trying to egg the man to see the limit of his tolerance.
'This guy is dangerous. People think he is a brute but he is a snake. He is looking for a way to get out of this. However, let see if I can get something from him first.' Korede mused.
Not the least bit interested in the anger the man was showing, Korede asked with a sharpened expression,
"Who in the military are you working with? And what for? What is their agenda? How do you fit in?"
The anger on the man's face 'lessened'. He reclined on his chair as he said,
"Why should I tell you? What's in it for me? Can you make a deal with me?"
'As expected, he wants a way out.' Korede thought.
He shook his head.
"I cannot. Even if I could, I wouldn't. To be honest, I don't expect you to answer. I was just probing." He replied. "However, if you do answer, I can promise not to kill you and you'll live past tonight."
Korede didn't entertain the man at all. He wasn't going to give him an escape route after everything he had done.
Jonathan finally put down his façade. He sighed.
"Sorry, not good enough. If we can't come to an arrangement, I guess I'll just have to take my chances." He said.
"Indeed. That's your only option." Korede said as he stood up from the chair.
"Alright, let's do this. I know you have two weapons underneath your table, your pistol and your infamous cutlass. Since you haven't drawn them, should I assume you want a fair duel? I also have a pistol and a sword. So you can pick the weapon you die to."
Jonathan laughed.
He brought out a cutlass from under the table. The two men stood at the centre of the study facing each other. The study was quite big, bigger than the Master bedroom at the NDI safehouse. It was scantly furnished so there was a lot of room for their fight.(1)
As Jonathan held the familiar cutlass that earned him infamy a long time ago as the Butcher Duke, he looked at Korede across him. An air of savagery and brutality surrounded him.
Korede, who still had the skull mask on his face, was slightly bleeding from his leg. During his last fight, the Merc leader had made sure to target it, thereby aggravating the wound. Korede also didn't take the time to tend to it leading to the current situation.
Seeing this, Jonathan saw an opportunity to take advantage of.
Emboldened by his opponent's weakened outlook, Duke charged at Korede. Korede felt out his opponent with his intuition.
'Another peak grade Specialist.'
Jonathan slashed at him with heavy strikes which Korede was forced to block in such a way that it put pressure on the injured leg, causing more blood to flow out. Jonathan even resorted to kicking the leg, all so to stretch the advantage.
Though Korede could predict and follow the attacks, he was a little slow on the response.
'That's what you get for being cocky, brat. You just had a fast-paced fight with more than fourteen men. I refuse to believe you aren't fatigue, especially with the continued blood loss. Let's see how long you can hold on before my cutlass cuts into your flesh.' The Duke thought excitedly.
The duo continued to exchange blows. Korede was mostly on the defensive trying to prevent Jonathan from attacking his injured leg while also trying to relieve some of the pressure on the leg. This reduced the number of opportunities Korede had to attack.
As the fight progressed, the frown on Korede's face was deepening. Jonathan saw it as a good sign.
Alas, he was wrong.
Aon's bored voice sounded in Korede's mind.
[Don't bother anymore. This won't work. After your Apotheosis, your mental fortitude has increased. It would take much more pressure to push you to the limits. Not to mention your training regimen has toughened your body to the limits. Your wound has already closed. Your opponent has lost the only advantage he has.]
[Unless he accidentally awakens to his Will or you fight a Master or stronger, hardly can anyone give you enough pressure in a fight now.]
Korede sighed.
Why did he allow Jonathan to dominate him in a fight, even though he was far stronger than him?
He was trying to figure out his limits after his Apotheosis.
Even though he doesn't recall much about it, Korede noticed that he was stronger. Or rather, he felt his limits had improved.
He was hoping to use this fight to find out his new limits.
This was why he used up his Will strength to such a dangerous level that it was now.
Why he didn't take the chance to tend to his wounds.
Why he was allowing Jonathan to do as he pleased even though he could defeat him at any time.
If someone else knew what he was thinking, they might think he is cocky. Perhaps he was. However, Korede saw this as the best chance to find out his limits before he is put in a situation where he would pay the price of not knowing how far he could push himself.
If he pushed himself too little, he wouldn't be able to exploit the full potential of his body.
If he pushed himself too far, his body would break down.
For someone like him who had always been in control of his body, this was unacceptable. This was why he used a 'sure' fight to try to gauge his limits.
Alas, he was too strong or his opponent was too weak to push him to said limits.
Feeling annoyed, Korede decided to end this quickly.
Unbeknownst to him, his opponent had never been serious with the fight. Jonathan believed he had a chance. High on morale and battle drunk, he once again slashed at his opponent with his cutlass.
Korede felt a little regret. Jonathan's technique was good. He knew how to exploit his opponent's weaknesses. Which was why he thought he could use him to train himself.
Alas, tricks like this were pointless in the eyes of the strong.
This time, Korede didn't block or parry the attack erratically like he had been doing since the start of the fight. Instead, he used minimal force to slightly alter the angle of the attack just enough that it missed him and unbalanced Jonathan.
Before his opponent could react, Korede lightly slashed behind his leg. A cut appeared just above his right knee.
Jonathan gritted his teeth in pain as he turned around for another powerful slash. This time, Korede side-stepped, dodging to the side. He lightly slashed his foe's biceps on his arm.
Jonathan instantly felt difficulty moving his arm.
He quickly switched the cutlass to the other arm and attacked again, this time with a side slash.
Korede blocked the attack backhandedly with the tip of his sword pointing to the ground. He lightly pushed the cutlass to the side before retaliating with his own backhanded side-slash. The sword, once again, cut through the biceps of his opponent's other arm.
Jonathan was forced to drop the cutlass.
Korede kicked the back of his left knee, the only limb he hadn't cut at the surrounding joint muscle. Jonathan was forced to his knees.
He tried to stand up but he had difficulty moving his limbs. After all, Korede had targeted the muscles and ligaments that took part in the movement of the limbs.
Korede stood behind him with his sword raised, like an executioner about to deliver the death penalty.
He swung down the sword with no hesitation. Just millimetres away from the sword beheading Jonathan Duke, Korede heard a familiar voice that made him stop.
"Operator, Stop!!"(2)
The sword stopped less than 5 millimetres from Jonathan's nape. He felt as if the sword had already cut through his nape. The feeling of death's scythe has never been so near for him.
Korede looked towards the door. He was surprised to see Special Agent Danjuma and his brother Colonel Kola Balogun.
"Commander, why are you here?" He asked.
"I'll explain later but we need him alive, kid. We need to know what he knows." Colonel Balogun said.
"I already tried. He won't give you anything." Korede said shaking his head.
"Don't worry about that. We have experts who specialise in getting information in this kind of matters." Special Agent Danjuma said.
He stabbed his sword into the ground. Both Special Agent Danjuma and Colonel Balogun secretly heaved a sigh of relief. At least, Korede didn't act on his impulse for retribution.
He, however, didn't move away from Jonathan, who now had a smile on his face. He looked at Special Agent Danjuma before saying dryly.
"He won't give you anything. The only way he'll talk is if you cut him a deal. Unfortunately, that's not something I can allow."
Before Jonathan, Special Agent Danjuma or Colonel Balogun could comprehend what he meant and react, Korede delivered a devastating punch to Jonathan's back, sending him slamming into the ground from his kneeling position. Korede moved to the body on the ground and placed his hand on the head.
Ignoring both the stunned Colonel Balogun and Special Agent Danjuma, he forcefully channelled the entirety of his remaining Will strength reserve into the {Mindhunter} script, blasting the Will tactics into Jonathan's head.
Done, he stood up holding his head. He felt a massive headache, almost every part of his brain was aching. He felt his soul tremble.
[Are you foolish? You actually over drafted your Will Strength. Do you have a death wish?] Aon shouted in his mind. Korede, however, ignored it.
"What have you done?" Special Agent Danjuma shouted as he rushed forward to check Jonathan's condition.
Colonel Balogun, on the otherhand, didn't show much of a reaction. He just asked, "Did you kill him?"
[A.N: Please, don't forget to leave a review of the work to encourage me. Your opinion matters to me.]
AUTHOR'S NOTE
1 Sorry, couldn't help myself. While it's unlikely something like this would happen in real life, but being a martial arts fan, I couldn't help but make their fight like this.
2 Wish I could've stopped here but word count... Sigh