Gun fu is just like any other martial art except for the fact that it involves the use of guns.
It was all about who landed a decisive shot first and lickily; the valerian Ms. had a master of it on their side,Park Ember.
He was able to take down all the snipers using a sniping technique of his own, showing just how much more capable he was than them.
It seemed completely unlikely for the soldiers of Valer to lose this battle.
They were on the verge of successfully taking back their first region in Valer.
At least they thought they were.
A man wearing rags with long black, dirty hair came towards them, unlike the rest of the invaders; he was not wearing a white robe.
The man called himself
"Bite"
He was not a member of the invaders; he was here on his own.
His teeth were so long and sharp,they could be considered fangs.
Bite was only here in Valer because he smelt cursed fruits blooming, indicating the existence of fear and despair, and he got turned on by that kind of thin.
He was an assassin but did not belong to any guild or pay allegiance to a throne; he was rogue.
"Keep on advancing, guys. Try to take down more invaders. I'll deal with this one," says Valverde in confidence.
The soldiers, in obedience to Valverde, left the area, leaving Valverde alone to face a bite..
With a sadistic smirk on his face, Bite says
"You really think that's wise, going against me alone."
"We're going to do this, Mano a Mano."
Valverde pulled out the gold sword he had on his back and unleashed an attack on Bite.
Bite with minimal effort pulls out a small dagger and blocks the attack.
Bite then pulls out his second dagger and throws it towards Valverde, forcing Valverde to have to move to dodge.
Unbeknownst to Valverde, this was just a distraction from the real attack.
Bite dashed towards Valverde before using his knee to smash Valverde's groin .
Though the armour protected Valverde, the pain was still terrible.
"What's the matter? Did it hurt?" asked the bite teasingly.
"Let me tell you something: I kill for fun, and though that makes me sound like a horrible person, I do have boundaries. I only kill those who have tapped into malice, not just because those ones actually fight back but also because it is so entertaining to find out what pain made them lose it and tap into malice. Now, little boy, let's see what pain you had to go through"
Bite then places his hands on Valverde's head.
"What are you doing?" asked Valverde.
"I'm about to use a killing technique to make you relive all your past memories. Now obviously, it is a killing technique, so you will die once I'm done."
Bite then proceeds to say the words.
"Mystery arc: Mental Overload"
At that point, Valverde starts reliving his entire past multiple times, including a very sensitive part of it.
The death of his older brother,
It all started 20 years ago when two boys, ages 3 and 11, were tossed into an orphanage.
The three-year-old was named Valverde, and the 11-year-old was named Malcolm.
They were abandoned by their parents for reasons no one knew.
Malcolm, having spent his entire life with them, was depressed after they left.
His depression increased so much that it led to him tapping into malice.
And he was a prodigy
Malcolm, by the age of 18, had fully mastered a killing technique and was scouted by the Thunder Guild.
He was on the verge of being the first known Valerian to become an official assassin.
Malcolm and Valverde were very close, so the departure of Malcolm was very hard for Valverde.
But as Malcolm left, he told Valverde, who was now ten years old, that
"Keep strong, Vally. I won't be gone for too long, but the next time you see me, I will be a member of the Thunder Guild."
Malcolm then left, with the entire city of Valer applauding him.
But the moment Malcolm left, Valverde was immediately the target of everyone in the city; those who were stronger and older would continuously smack and smash him to the floor, bully him, and treat him like garbage.
Malcolm, though he was loved by the majority of Valer, had people who were jealous of his success.
And that is just how life is: where there are friends, there are sure to be enemies.
But no one could do anything to Malcolm directly, and so they attacked his powerless little brother.
Over the next four years, Malcolm did not return, and Valverde's bullies never ceased.
Valverde had to train himself, build muscles, and perfect a range of fighting techniques in order to survive.
He went to the city library and borrowed manuscripts of numerous martial arts, including aikido, kung fu, karate, and even jujutsu.
He ensured that he could not be hurt physically, but not so much emotionally.
With his formal bullies realising that he could not be physically beaten by just anyone anymore, they decided to attack him emotionally.
And they hit him where it really hurts—his brother.
They would say things like
"Four years, no return; he is probably dead."
"Guess we should add your brother to the list of relatives that abandoned you."
"It seems like your family just keeps trying to run away from Valer; you should probably join them and scoot along."
Valverde finally lost it when he received a letter telling him that his brother was dead, and with the letter came his brother's sword, the golden sword he uses to this day.
The letter was sent from someone who claimed to be Malcolm's friend.
The letter stated that Malcolm had failed the test to join the Thunder Guild, and he was too ashamed to go back to Valer.
And so Malcolm began attempting tests from other assassin guilds, only to fail them all.
And in his fifth attempt to join the assassin guild, he did not fail; he died.
Valverde was devastated. He was now completely alone, and the pain he felt helped him tap into malice.
After feeling the increase in strength he had in his veins, he vowed to complete his brother's mission and join the thunder guild by rook or by crook.
**************
Ren was in the building, speaking to Rengoku.
Rengoku was a well-travelled and knowledgeable old man.
His beard was long and grey, and he had many wrinkles on his face.
His age did not allow him to have good posture as his back was always bent forward, and he held a staff to aid his walking.
He was also an extremely short man, but he was wise.
Rengoku had answers to a lot of Ren's questions.
Rengoku explained a lot of details about Valer to him, like how the king of Valer was almost killed by the invaders but was saved by Valverde.
"Where is the king now?" asked Ren.
"Luckily he escaped, but the invaders are probably going to burn the city down to punish them for their defiance," replied Rengoku.
Rengoku made Ren feel at ease, much like Earn did.
Ren had even told Rengoku all about his past, who he was, and much more.
The more Ren compared Earn and Rengoku, the more he started to feel the need to find Earn.
"You're thinking about saving your friend, aren't you?" said Rengoku towards Ren.
"How can you tell?"
"I can see it in your eyes; that's all you can think about."
"I know I have only known him for a day, but he took me in, and he only just started teaching me; he can't die; he is my only ticket to having my revenge."
"Well then, I guess there is not anything more I can say to convince you otherwise, so good luck. I'll cause a distraction, allowing you to leave unnoticed."
"Thank you, Rengoku."
Rengoku then drops his staff, causing him to fall on the floor, and then fakes cries of help to drag attention towards himself, allowing Ren to slide away without being noticed.
**************
Bite's hands were still firmly on the forehead of Valverde, and Bite was expecting Valverde to get knocked out cold at any moment now.
"Your memories are entertaining, but sadly, you still have to die," said Bite.
But to Bite's surprise, Valencia actually speaks
"You really think this is enough to kill me?"
"No one has ever been able to think once I have them trapped in this technique, much less speak."
"Making me relieve my memories over and over, did you really think that would overload my brain? I do this on my own every single moment of my life, and the only thing your technique does is remind me why I decided to become an assassin in the first place."
"Flame Arc: Inferno Veil"
screams Valverde.
Valverde's hair is set to fire, as are the rest of his body parts. It was like an armour made of fire.
"This technique of mine not only protects me from physical attacks but increases my attack range too."
Valverde then strikes the air with his fist. This sends a gush of flames directly towards Bite.
Bite just about dodges and smirks, saying
"Great, so there is still more in you."
The other soldiers of Valer were fighting against the invaders when they noticed and smelled a familiar smoke. They knew it was not being produced naturally, for they had seen this before.
Valverde had activated his killing technique; four years of intense training were used for him to develop it to the level of perfection he had taken it to.
It was a move. He once saw his brother use it and, through research, found its name, perfected it, and made it his own.
All of a sudden, the momentum seemed to be with Valverde, and he seemed to finally have the advantage.
And bite knew it.
But Valverde all of a sudden had something he had to worry about, or rather, someone.
Ren had followed the smoke trails and had arrived at the battle scene.
Any nearby house was either broken or set ablaze, and there were ashes everywhere.
Ren did not want to fight, though. All he
wanted was to find Earn.
He thought he could sneak past the two 'titans' battling each other, and well, he was wrong.
Bite noticed him from a mile away. He sensed the pain in Ren's heart.
He could sense the malice within him, but he could also tell that he was an amateur.
Bite threw a dagger in the direction of Ren, forcing Valverde to do something about it because, no matter how mean or rude he acted, he still felt the need to save people from danger.
And so, just in the nick of time, Valverde is able to catch the dagger, but of course that dagger was not the actual attack.
With Valverde distracted, Bite is able to strike Valverde's nerves and cause him to collapse to the ground.
"Ain't going to be walking any time soon, but just to be safe, I better ensure that he isn't going to be walking ever again."
Bite was about to land a killing blow when Ren punched him, and man did Ren connect.
Bite was shocked but smiled at yet another challenge.
"I thought you'd have run off by now." said Bite
"I will not let someone die just because they saved me from dying. I won't be able to live with that."
"I can tell you I only just tapped into malice. I'm not the kind of guy you should be battling right now."
"I don't care. If you want to get to Valverde, you'll have to kill me first."
"Fine by me."
Bites dashes towards Ren and sends him flying with just a slight push.
Bite expects Ren to give up, and so he turns to Valverde, who was still knocked out.
But turning away from Ren was a mistake.
Ren removes the cloth tied around his wrist, revealing a wound that, though it had healed up significantly, was still very visible and still hurt a lot.
Ren digs his two fingers into the wound, applying intense pressure to it.
He began to scream loudly, attracting the attention of Bite.
The cries of Ren were annoying to Bite, and so he walked up to him, about to attack him.
But just before Bite attacked, Ren's eyes began to glow, and a red aura emitted from his arm as he gave Bute a blow to his gut, sending him flying.
Bite, though, lands on his feet and says
"Lucky hit"
"You sure? Let's try that again."
Ren says as he continues to add pressure to his wound, causing blood to flow.
They both looked at each other menacingly; they both wanted to be victorious.
Bite smiled, then said
"I only have two daggers, and I've thrown them both, but no matter what, I don't need them against you."
"No more talk, let's get this over with."
"Alright, from now on, I'm going to attack you pitilessly, so get ready, little boy. GET READY TO FEEL THE WRATH OF A ROGUE ASSASSIN."