The clock was about to hit midnight. Toss sat patiently waiting with his eyes closed in the butcher shop. He looked like he was sleeping without any problems. He had dinner a while ago and cleaned the knives to use as instruments for his future guest. He felt in perfect condition for any attempt to fight.
As a Red executioner Toss had faced many enemies and missions alone. That was the requirement to become one of the bosses of the Red Dragon. This was just another step toward that goal. No matter how many thugs or even magic users they send to him, his flowing fist style will deal with everything in his path. Even a surprise attack was useless since his senses were sharp as a sword.
The sound of the main door opening made his eyes open. A lone young man entered the shop. He wasn't carrying a weapon, but that's because his hands were the only tools he needed. "Sorry for making you wait." Eric cracked his fists. "I came to repay the favor."
"I'm a bit surprised. You actually showed up alone? Have you come to beg for your life? Have you decided to betray your syndicate in exchange for letting you escape? Mmm I can see that is a reasonable plan, but it depends on how much useful information you can tell me." Toss grabbed a small chair and put it in front of Eric.
"Please take a seat. The sooner I'm done with this, the bigger your chances of making it out alive are."
"Can I ask you something?" Eric asked him without fear or doubt in his voice. "Why did you join the Red Dragon?"
"Why does that matter?"
"Just answer, it is only curiosity."
"… I have a brother. We were born into a poor family. Our parents were abusive; an alcoholic father and a drug addicted mother. I'm not surprised they didn't care about us and we had to go days without eating. Sometimes we had to sleep outside in the rain because they began to fight about how the other spent the money. If they saw us in the house, they beat us and quickly threw us out." Toss grabbed a knife from the counter and saw his own reflection.
"My brother always tried to protect me. He said that syndicates were the way to go. Even us without education or money can live a conformable life if we join a syndicate. So, after we got old enough, we ran away and joined a local syndicate. We did all kinds of jobs, murder, blackmail, kidnapping, drug trafficking, etc. until one day we got noticed by the Red Dragon. They gave us an ultimatum: join us or die. The boss of the syndicate was young and inexperienced. He tried to fight the Red Dragon. We were just as naive, so obviously we supported him."
Toss stuck the knife into the wood. "After more than half our members were killed, including our leader, the rest of us surrendered. My brother and I began to work for them like nothing ever happened. That was a long time ago. My brother died at some point by an attack from the Black Rose, and I just kept climbing the ranks."
"You're saying you miss your brother. Is that why you are working for them?"
"No, not at all. I do miss him, but I still want to find that comfortable life he was talking about. Maybe if I climb high enough…"
After that, Toss remained quiet for what felt like minutes. Eric broke the silence. "Thanks for answering me. Now I can fight you without regrets."
"I know... That dumb attitude is just like my brother; you protect those close to you, even when you have no chance. How does it feel? Throwing your life away for someone else?"
"I don't know, I'm not throwing my life away, because the only thing that's dying tonight is you!" Eric jumped at Toss with his fist raised. He was fighting at full strength. Holding back would only end in his defeat.
The barrage of punches was deflected by the mastery of Toss's flowing style. Dozens of attacks all turn null before the impenetrable defense. "AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" Eric yelled at the top of his lungs. His fists became faster and stronger. He wasn't giving up.
Toss's defense was like a stone wall, impenetrable from all sides. Eric threw kicks and jabs from all sides, trying to find an opening in his opponent. Unfortunately, Toss was too strong for him. As he used all his energy, sweat began to fall on the floor. The hands deflected everything away, and even if some attack managed to get through the defense, he could dodge it with plenty of time to spare.
"Is really worth it? Waste your life defending someone else?"
"OF COURSE!!!" Eric's kick ended up in the wall, breaking the wood and stone. He was bleeding from the impact, but he continued the rush of strikes.
"I wanted to know why, my brother didn't answer when I asked, no matter how many times. Even while I was holding his head, he still refused to answer. Tell me the truth, WHY ARE YOU OKAY WITH DYING FOR SOMEONE ELSE!" One hit was all it took from Toss.
Eric was focused on the offensive, so when Toss attacked for the first time in the fight, the punch to his jaw made his brain bounce. He felt the blood coming out of his mouth along with a couple of teeth. Eric backed away to recover himself, but now Toss took the initiative.
Barely seeing in the corner of his eye, Eric put his arms up to defend himself from another knife-hand strike. The impact almost shattered his arms. The adrenaline was the only thing keeping him conscious. Eric managed to jump toward the center of the shop. Struggling for air, he spoke.
"AH... You really don't get it? If losing your brother didn't make you understand, then you are a lost cause. I have no way of making you understand, but I already tried, so I'm satisfied."
"What are you talking about?" Toss didn't understand what Eric meant till a moment later.
"Is easier to show, than explain it to you. [3 Points], One!" Eric's muscles grew and, with a destructive punch, he broke down the wooden floor of the store.
Toss was even more confused. Why did he waste a special ability to hit the floor?! The doubts disappeared when he saw the hole in the earth. Eric jumped right in it. When did he make it? I can't let him escape. It was probably a trap, but Toss didn't care. No matter what was below, he could deal with it. No one here was strong enough to force him to fight seriously.
Toss followed Eric into the dark hole. The fall was several meters. A normal person would break their legs when they reached the floor. Toss only had to stop his fall by grabbing on to the wall. His fingers stuck like stakes into the wall, slowing his momentum. With an easy jump, he reached the bottom.
At the bottom of the dark pit, his eyes were still adapting to the darkness, but he saw the Eric figure standing in front.
"Two!" Eric used the second strike to reinforce his legs for the fall. He was hurting from the impact; his bones were still shaking. Yet he felt fine because the plan was a success. Toss followed him into the pit. "You can't escape anymore."
After hearing those words, Toss realized that he was surrounded by small points of light in the darkness, over a dozen of them watching him. His gaze shifted to a different pair of eyes. They were yellow. After a moment, he could make out the face and the body of the person. It was a young man around the same age as Eric.
"Welcome to the Underworld." Thanatos smiled as he sent the order to the numerous zombies to kill Toss.
The undead threw themselves at Toss with open hands and hungry mouths. Toss treated them like any other opponent and destroyed heads and bodies with his flowing fist. It took him a moment to notice that these were the same members of Underworld he killed. From the vendors on the first day to the group yesterday, they were all present to try to kill him.
"HAHAHA, you guys were so rude ignoring me, and now you are trying to kill me again." With a weird smile, Toss destroyed the zombies.
The zombies weren't particularly weak. In fact, they are probably stronger now as undead than when they were humans. Thanatos magic was strong, reviving them as simples' zombies had already increased their physical abilities. Still, against an opponent like Toss, that little boost of power was useless.
Just like regular humans, Toss was eliminating the undead without trouble. Suddenly, he felt a presence, a punch coming from the right. He raised his fist and managed to send him away from him. His hand was shaking. After merely touching it for a moment and changing the trajectory, he could sense the power of that punch. He counterattacked in an instant. This man was the most dangerous threat right now.
Thanatos didn't back down and block the strikes of Toss. Finally, someone managed to defend against his flowing style. In just a few mere moments, Toss and Thanatos traded blows. Attacking, blocking, dodging, no one was backing down.
This guy! How strong is he? He's blocking all my attacks, and the strength of his punches could break me if I'm not careful. Toss got distracted. Thanatos's attacks took his attention away from the rest of the enemies. He didn't notice when a zombie managed to grab him. That let the others have an easier time attacking him.
His strength was taken away by scratches and bites from the undead filled with necrotic energy, and the zombies pinned him down. A slash by Thanatos's claws almost severed his arm. He put his hand down and deflected the other hand toward a zombie. Thanatos slashed the undead neck without a problem, but having Toss immobilized was enough.
"NOW!" Thanatos screamed at Eric, who was jumping in the air. With his fist raised aiming at Toss, the third and final strike, "Three!"
"DDIIIIIIIIIEEEEE!!!" The death sentence fell on Toss. This attack would destroy his body. Pinned by zombies, he couldn't move in time. This was the end…
A blast of fire engulfed the area. Eric didn't hesitate and kept his attack right where Toss was. Cutting the flames at great speed, Eric's punch broke the earth and moved the ground almost like a tremor.
After the flame disappeared, only the remains of the undead were under Eric's fist. They began to look everywhere until they found Toss in the corner of the pit.
"[Salamander hands] You're a very interesting person. The ability to control the dead, your fighting skills. There is no doubt about it; you are Hades, the leader of Underworld. Hahahaha finally, after this, the leader is definitely going to promote me. Maybe we can start living a comfortable life, right brother? hahaha." Toss was laughing as his hands were pure fire. Toss's fighting style combined with the power to burn his opponent; this was Toss's fighting seriously. He acknowledged Thanatos' power.
I see you can't hold onto fire. He slipped his hands past the undead and then burned his way through the bodies. Thanatos took a battle stance and cast a spell on himself. "[Strengthening]" The real battle was about to begin.