"Arghhh!!!"
Boom!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Anton shot a man in a gray suit several times in the head as he emerged ahead of armored men.
There was no particular thought going through Anton's mind; all he could think of was killing and keeping as many enemies as stood in his way.
Facing armed men and not wanting to use up his remaining bullets, he reached for the throat of one of the armored soldiers and threw him against the wall. Before the man could recover, a blade swiftly sliced through his throat.
At this point, it was too late for those who were cut to know what had happened, as the blood they lost from such cuts silenced them within seconds.
Anton, drenched in enemy blood, watched as the body fell to the ground and stood up, but then noticed a man who had appeared in the hallway and shot him numerous times.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
To avoid the bullets, Anton had to maneuver along the ground, so as soon as he spotted a rifle on the floor, he picked it up and returned fire, shooting at the man in the distance.
After a few minutes, the gunfire seemed to stop. Anton, realizing he was out of ammunition, tossed the weapon aside and shouted, "How about a knife fight? It would be more interesting; want to try?"
A slim man with glasses smiled faintly; he wasn't foolish but also had no bullets left, so he said, "I should trust you, but I can't."
Anton noticed that the man who responded seemed to be Caine, a friend of Koji, so he said, "You can trust me; I'm a man of my word."
"Then come; we must do this without weapons."
Anton never removed the mask covering his face, so as soon as he stood up in the hallway, he noticed Caine, who seemed to have a sword in his hand.
"Where is Koji?" Caine asked as he approached Anton.
"My father-in-law escaped, but what you should be asking yourself is whether I should kill you or not." Anton drew his two swords and pondered this matter seriously.
He knew Caine was a highly experienced killer, and if there was a disadvantage, it would be the man's blindness. But Anton knew that wasn't a significant disadvantage for him, so he had to be cautious.
Caine fell silent when he heard Anton pondering whether to kill him or not.
It was a good joke, but he couldn't laugh because they were too arrogant.
"I'm just doing my job; you should know that no one can go against the order." Caine said as he raised his sword.
Anton did the same and said, "Now that you've shown up here, there is a way—a way to leave it all behind without you dying."
"What way is that?"
"With the protection of the Holy Association of Light, those affected by the order can challenge it with one of these vows to a fair battle where each representative will engage in a duel to the death; whoever lives or dies will fulfill the requests imposed."
Saying this, Anton prepared to attack and added, "But right now, there's nothing like that, so as it's my duty, I will take care of eliminating those who are my adversaries."
"I'm just doing my job as well."
After finishing his sentence, Caine waited for Anton to move to gauge his position.
As a result, when Anton's sword moved forcefully, Caine did the same, and in an instant, both swords clashed with force.
Clang!
The metal against metal created a unique sound. Anton wasn't sure if he really wanted to kill this man, who was Koji's friend, so, thinking more deeply, he decided to just wait.
"Ahhhh!"
Crack!
Anton's continuous attacks made Caine's sword tremble in his hands, and after receiving two more hard hits, his sword broke in half.
In the process, Anton watched as Caine drew his pistol, so without hesitation, he lunged straight toward him and aimed a strike at the gun's mouth.
Bang!
Clang!
Caine wanted to step back, but at that moment, Anton's sword edge was at his throat. Impressed by this, he decided to drop his weapon.
"You're very good, maybe even better than in my younger days when I still had both my eyes." Caine believed Anton would kill him, so he smiled faintly.
"If you had killed someone like Akira or Koji, maybe I would have killed you; at best, your lovely daughter would have been killed too. When the order told you that you were putting your family at risk, it's because we let ourselves be seen; we wanted to send them a message, but apparently they didn't understand it by attacking this hotel so aggressively knowing that someone of my status is here."
Caine raised his eyebrows and asked, "Who are you?"
"Anton ShadowBane, they believe I've been fair with all my enemies and didn't use any of my spatial abilities," Anton said as he sheathed his sword.
Caine, understanding that, asked, "Are you not going to take my life?"
"I need you alive; soon there will be a duel where everyone may come out alive, and we'll finish off that Marquis, as old customs dictate," Anton said as he waved his hand.