"How dare you walk away from me!" the first demon screamed, his hand clamping down on Ethan's shoulder with a force that belied his fury.
Ethan, feeling the grip on his shoulder, had the instinct to push it away, to continue ignoring their presence and move forward. But their next words ignited a firestorm of rage within him.
"We are doing you a favor, and this is how you repay our favor, walking away from us... Do you think we can't touch you for that? How about I pay a visit tonight and take your lovely sister from you?" the first demon threatened.
"I am certain that when we hand her over to the district master, we'll receive some kind of reward. I'm sure the district master would be generous enough to spare us a prize for her," the second demon added, greed lacing his voice.
"And perhaps, after the district master tires of her, he might pass her down to us. Imagine the possibilities then; we'll make sure every single male we find has his turn with her," the first demon said with a cruel smirk.
With those words, they both erupted into sinister laughter.
Unbeknownst to them, their taunts were sealing their fate. Ethan's anger was now a living thing, his intent to kill palpable and intense.
Ethan's body trembled with rage as the duo's laughter echoed around him.
The first demon, his palm still pressing into Ethan's shoulder, mistook the shivering for fear and cackled even louder.
"What? Scared now, are you? Bet you're ready to beg for forgiveness... Well, it's too late for that," he sneered.
But before he could finish his taunt, Ethan's hand shot up, covering the one on his shoulder.
The sudden contact startled the demon, cutting off his words mid-laugh.
Ethan's grip tightened suddenly, ferociously, like a vice.
"Ahhhh!" The first demon yelped in agony, Ethan's smaller hand betraying a bone-crushing strength.
The moment Ethan's grip fastened, the demon felt his bones starting to crunch and break, each pop sending waves of excruciating pain through his body.
The second demon, still lost in his malicious amusement, was jolted to reality by his brother's scream of pain.
He turned just in time to see Ethan, still holding fast, twisting sharply around, the motion wrenching the first demon's shoulder with such force that it was sure to be dislocated, if not fractured, at the joint.
The first demon howled again, the sound a sharp contrast to his previous laughter.
The second demon, his mirth replaced by alarm, scrambled to draw the gun from his waistband.
Ethan, perceiving the imminent threat, instinctively knew he couldn't allow the second demon to arm himself.
Ethan was acutely aware that if the second demon succeeded in drawing his gun, the outcome would be dire. A single bullet could end his life, or at the very least, inflict a grievous wound. Neither option was acceptable.
With this knowledge fueling his actions, Ethan executed a swift maneuver. His left arm coiled around the first demon's neck, and with a deft pivot, he kicked furiously at the ground, sending a thick cloud of sand arcing toward the second demon.
The sandy barrage hurtled toward the second demon with startling velocity.
The demon, caught off guard, instinctively threw up his hands to shield his eyes from the stinging grains, his attempt to draw his weapon momentarily thwarted.
Ethan understood this diversion would only grant him a brief respite, but a moment was all he needed to turn the tide.
Not wasting a second, Ethan delivered a punishing knee to the first demon's stomach, doubling him over. Following through with lethal precision, Ethan's right elbow crashed down on the back of the demon's neck, sending him crumpling to the ground.
With the first demon incapacitated, Ethan shifted his full attention to his second adversary.
By now, the second demon had managed to fend off the sand and was reaching for his gun once more.
Ethan charged without a moment's pause, closing the distance between them swiftly.
Before the demon's fingers could close around the grip of his gun, Ethan leaped, his body airborne as he struck with a devastating flying kick to the second demon's throat. The impact sent the second demon sprawling to the ground, a pained groan escaping his lips as he began to cough violently, spewing blood with each convulsion.
Ethan advanced without delay toward the fallen man.
In a desperate escape bid, the second demon scrabbled backward, his eyes wide with fear as he attempted to form words. But Ethan's kick had inflicted severe damage to his throat; no sound emerged but the wrenching coughs and the splatter of blood.
Though the second demon's pleas were inaudible, Ethan surmised he was begging for mercy. But mercy was a stranger to Ethan at that moment; with a merciless stomp, he crushed the second demon's throat, silencing him forever.
A system notification screen flickered into existence, announcing the demon's demise, but Ethan dismissed it with a swipe of his hand as he turned to confront the first demon's fate.
The first demon's pleas for life were as futile as his brother's. Ethan paid no heed to the desperate cries as he brought his foot down with a fatal force on the first demon's head, shattering his skull.
"You shouldn't have mentioned my sister," Ethan muttered, a tinge of regret in his voice as he surveyed the lifeless forms of the twins.
With the duo slain, Ethan was now on a collision course with the district master, an encounter he would have preferred to avoid.
He scanned the surroundings with vigilant eyes, searching for any witnesses to the confrontation.
After a thorough check, relief washed over him as he found no one in sight.
With no witnesses to the deed, it would take time for the district master to connect the dots to him. By then, Ethan planned to be ready for whatever confrontation might come.
Determined to leave no trace, he collected the guns from the bodies and swiftly vacated the alley, disappearing into the maze of the city.