The lively atmosphere of the strange outskirt street seemed eerier than the silence they had encountered before getting here, the vibrant energy seemed to hide something far more sinister and dangerous beneath it.
It was nerving.
Uche was searching through his brain, trying to remember when and how he had been here before; the street felt strangely familiar.
Then it popped into his head; looking to his right, he saw a tiny alley of two buildings, and then he remembered.
'That day.'
He suddenly remembered the day he came here; it was the same day he had saved his boss from a group of three students who sliced his ear off in the process. He remembered that he wandered the outskirts on that day in an attempt to get stupid thoughts off his mind, and then he stumbled upon this street in the outskirts, unknowingly.
Right in the alley of these two buildings was where he saw a man singing his song while also criticizing him, but the man was not there right now.
That day, he had been enthralled by the lively atmosphere of the street and how happy the people lived, but right now, it's not the same. Their happiness seemed forced.
"I think something is wrong."
Uche said, stepping in front of Mira to stop her.
But before Mira could say a word, the people suddenly moved in a strange motion towards them, weapons drawn, all the people from the street stalls, everyone walking on the road, people emerging from the buildings. They all move towards them, with their weapons drawn, and in an instant, the two are surrounded.
"I guess he brought us into his gangs."
Mira commented.
"No."
Uche shook his head.
"I think they're forced, either being controlled or something else. I've seen these people before, happy and lively, but not this fake one."
He explained.
"Who cares? They are against us and are our enemies; don't hold back."
Mira shouted as she charged forward, and Uche followed.
The people had all kinds of weapons, and it was all rained on them in a frenzied manner.
Uche fights with his hand, his fist sending each of them flying back, while Mira summoned a sword, a bloody sword that weaved itself out of nowhere. The sword moves at an astonishing speed, reaping several lives in mere seconds.
'She's killing them.'
Uche thought, seeing how Mira moved with her crimson sword, leaving dead bodies in her wake; Uche himself had purposely been making them pass out from his punch by putting in enough strength. They are being controlled by someone, probably Snowflake, so Uche doesn't want to kill innocent people.
"They're innocent; why kill them."
Uche shouted, his voice barely audible, as it was swallowed by the people's scream of pain, but Mira with her enhanced ear, managed to hear him.
"What does that matter, they want us dead."
Mira replied, slicing another head down.
Uche knew what she said was true; even if they werere innocent, the only goal they hawaswas for the two of them to die, so they shouldn't spare t,hem, too.
"But still..."
Before he could finish, he felt something sharp coming from behind him, sharper and more dangerous than any weapon the people of the outskirts were using. He quickly rolled to the side, avoiding the attack by a mere breath of air, but before he could get back up, the person was upon him again. The sword moves flawlessly like the flight of an eagle.
Uche didn't even have enough time to react, and he only managed to avoid the sword from slicing his nose off, but it still managed to leave a stretch mark on his face, right below his eyes, blood dripping off from it.
"It's been a long time buddy."
The person wielding the sword said in a sinister tone, and as Uche looked up, he could see the person clearly; although he had known who it was without looking at him, still, he couldn't help.
"Snowflake."
Uche said as he slowly got up, rage boiling within him; the mark that Snowflake had just left on his face was not healing, which only meant the bastard was using that strange weapon again.
"What's with that look, didn't like the welcoming party?"
Snowflake said, still in his sinister tone.
Uche shook his head, looking at Snowflake with intense gaze. The madman has gone through incredible change since the last month. Not only has his swordsmanship skills improved a lot, but his physical appearance has also gone through a change.
His usual dull and calm face that always shadows his nonhuman demeanor has completely gone; now, from just looking at his face, someone could guess that this is not an ordinary person. His eyes were tinted with hatred; his spiky red hair had disappeared, now replaced with long, shiny red hair that flowed and danced freely behind him as he moved.
To top it all up, he wore a sleek black robe, making him look like a grim reaper, born with a hundred years of resentment towards humans.
"Ah."
Uche snarled; his enemy's appearance was somehow breathtaking and eerie at the same time.
"I'll kill you today."
He shouted as he charged forward, a faint crimson glow shining brightly around his fist, and his fist was somehow painted in red. He charged forward, his fist aimed at Snowflake's chest, but the serial killer simply deflected it with his sword, making a loud clang upon impact.
Snowflake seemed surprised at the sight of that, he had expected Uche's fist to slice into two, but it was as if his sword had made impact with a large boulder.
"I must admit."
Snowflake said, a sinister grin on his face as he prepared to launch another attack.
"You have prepared quite well for my return, but the same thing goes for me."