The street exploded into chaos.
Kade smiled.
The gangsters charged them countless hyenas, all frothing at the mouth to be the first one to break blood onto their victims, yet like the pack hounds that once thrived in the savanna, each one of them was scared, the subtle fear between their steps, expressions, and yells was obvious to Kade.
If this had happened while he was still a mundane human, the cause was to be a concern, just for the sheer number of fools who charged at him, yet as a sleeper, and a powerful one at that. He was just miles above them.
Like the crazed arch-back leader, rushing to him like a rabid dog. Knife aiming directly for his throat.
Although he had the same short blade that the commander had stumped him with, he had none of the power skill, or intelligence to make a single second of it count.
In the moments before the knife made its target, Kade took a deep breath, the scent of cracked concrete and lingering alcohol from the gangsters filled his scent, a simple smell that reminded him he was at the one place he knew best.
In the heart of chaos, the title had bestowed upon him.
It couldn't be more right.
Kade snatched the attacker's wrist before the knife made base, feeling the feeble muscles and bones under the mercy of his palm. He grasped, a jarring snapping sound combating the gang's war cry.
Arch back roared in pain, his grip on the knife faltering, the weapon falling to the floor uselessly. Arch back in desperation looking to Kade, but he felt the sheer power over him that the young brawler had.
But the energized look of the young man as he stared into his pained eyes shook his core. His emotions went away, as his brain made the smart decision.
To beg for pity.
"You don—" Before he could finish, Kade sent a devastating front kick to his chest. The world that ran slowly for that short instance speeded up in a flash as he was flung forward into the crowd of gangsters, taking some to the ground with him.
Dawn watched as the mobsters tumbled like bowling pins, the shimmering light of a memory forming ready at her hands, A dark blue crystallized pike.
Wielding the memory in hand she stepped forward with Kade, ready to intercept anyone who dared. Her blond locks flowed in the quickly picking breeze. Kade met her eyes just for a second. Kade understood that she could handle herself, while Dawn understood that they would stay here to fight.
Still, her focus seemed drawn to the cloaked figure in the back.
They didn't have the time to talk; the battle had sparked and with no stopping until the flame that burned the war was doused.
The violence left now to its brutalizing performance.
No teeth to Kade's right swung to his head with a metal bat, the silver chrome short moments before cracking his skull. Kade raised his index finger towards the attack, the [Ring of the Ravaged] spurting out a jet stream of dark blood, slicing the bat in half before it could make its home run.
No Teeth stared in shock as the rest of his bat missed just short, the other half flying beside Kade, who grinned menacingly as he prepared a right hook, His muscles bulged, working together like machine gears to push as much power as possible.
It was too fast for him to react.
Kade's fist landed with a bang, No teeth crumpled backward with a crumpled face, Kade advanced counter now exposing him from Swollen eye, they tried to come in with a manchette, but were swiftly stopped by Dawn's pike, slamming the shaft into his stomach before he had the chance.
'There's a lot of them, I wonder what Kade did to get them all so mad?' Dawn mused, her quiet confidence continuing as she spun the crystal pike threateningly at the mobsters who dashed at her, the clear awe of the memories slowing their assault.
Kade now finished with no teeth looked to the horde, quickly observing their weaponry before dashing in, [Vigilance] only sparing some strength to him, as if it also knew that the gangsters were a trifle. Even without the bonus, Kade was far stronger and more agile than any of them.
And in the short moment before the gangsters piled onto him, Kade wished for energy.
Deep inside his soul, His aspect ability [Never ending fury] responded to its call. Like breaking the valve of a reservoir, the energy burst. Surging through his veins, Kade clenched his teeth as the sensation flowed over his body, his brain quickly adapting to the flow.
His thoughts sped as everything slowed down in comparison, his brain had always had to share focus and mental energy with various body parts, thoughts, details, and ideas. Yet in this moment of [Never ending Fury], it did not need to share.
Kade felt overcharged, his brain now dedicating the burst of new stimulus to a task at hand.
Demolition of the gang.
With only a heartbeat, Kade felt the world blur, his steps now more agile and fuelled than ever before, fatigue now something in the past as Kade's stimuli refreshed the energy like Ouroboros.
"Now this is something else!" He exclaimed
His first step lighted quick, reaching a stunned mobster before he could comprehend it, Kade ducked into a clean uppercut, allowing the man to fall, switching to next beside him, leaning into a quick left that struck the man's jaw.
His body was already following up, his senses now acting to their best analyzing the area around him as he fought, the hurried footsteps behind him of a counterattack ringing in his ears. Kade snatched his most recent victim and turned on his heel with all of his might.
Tossing the man like a log that barrelled into the three. From each side, more and more attacks from desperate gangsters were launched to stop his madness.
But already aware of their interception, Kade escaped. Not away but deeper into the rapidly depleting 30-man crowd. He tore through the ranks in sheer power, pushing them aside as he weaved and bobbed passing swings, while he returned with lashing attacks that not once slowed him down.
Like a perpetual motion machine, he didn't stop once, using his entire body and skillset as a weapon for any unfortunate enough to be close enough to the maelstrom of brutality he dished. The once rabid crowd now switched roles, as Kade far overtook any wildness they had.
They were once the wild dogs, but now Kade was the rampaging panther.
Kade leaped up and past those to attempted to grab him, flying up and landing directly on the shoulders of the biggest guy there, the brief moment where he stood above the crowd instead of tearing through it.
Although he watched the mobsters, he vigilantly kept some of his attention on the cloaked figure in the distance, who watched as the mobsters tried their best to slow Kade down, he couldn't see much under the veil he wore, but only the figures mouth that seemed to be quietly cackling to himself.
Kade's world tilted as the man under him began to fall, the weightless bringing alarm, but his eyes not move off the cloaked figure.
'I'll deal with him later'
Falling back into the mob, the moment of reprieve was done as he caught his landing, instantly continuing the chaos, embodying the [Unyielding Asura] Aspect he had acquired.
Dawn still back at the front of the mob watched Kades complete and utter rampage into the crowd, their screams of confusion and barking of orders dashed her focus to the incoming enemies dashed a bit by his over-the-top display of violence. But with the crystalized Pike in hand, she battered away the gangsters who tried her.
The familiar weight of a spear in her hand calmed her nerves, she was wielding it well, just as her father taught her, being able to defend herself with excellence against multiple enemies at once was no small feat yet looking at the bat shit fighting of Kade. She felt a little bit underwhelmed.
If she could put it into comparison, she was like an elegant warrior who slowly gained the upper hand on her opponents, dashing their hopes and dreams as she broke them with patience and skill.
While Kade was a Beast who had been dopped up bucketloads of drugs, tied to a tree, and forced to stay there until being released unto the poor unsuspecting passerby.
She of course recognised the immense skill had was performing at, yet her style still displayed that, while his continued the look of him mauling someone, or more like breaking them until they stopped moving.
'Guess that's what combat aspects can do for you' Her aspect couldn't do something like Kade was doing, nor was it the most useful thing for combat on paper. But could be used effectively in some circumstances.
Like the Metal pipe that was being swung down on her, she could deflect it away with the pike, but the curiosity of her aspect took over, as she reached her left to intercept the bludgeoning swing.
The gangster grinned as he prepared to break the girl's hand, yet as soon as the pipe touched her fingers, it suddenly phased through in a shimmering light, The attacker watched as his once weapon slowly disassembled itself into sparkles of essence.
Before the gangster could recover from shock, Dawn pivoted the Pike back into her hands and struck the guy against the head, the familiar voice of the spell whispering into her ears.
[You have received a Memory: Half-Pipe]
'Alright, that worked better than expected'
Her aspect ability allowed her to [Memorize] Mundane objects into memories of her ranks with no enchantments, it certainly intrigued her when she received it from the spell, but she hadn't quite tested if it was worth the supreme rank the spell assigned it to.
It was nice since when she first got it, it felt like she got ripped off.
The crowd of mobsters that were once gathered, started to part away from Kade, dragging their downed companions as they barked orders. Kade watched with subtle amusement as they backed away from him, his hands full with pummelling one of the bulkier gangsters.
"Are you running away? The smart thing really, although it's no fun" Kade announced his bloody hands and bastard grin shining through. Although he enjoyed a good fight, this to himself seemed a little too much battle crazy.
'[Never Ending Fury] and [Battle Lust] acting in tangent I guess, it's almost scary how well it works.' Multiple times he had to prevent himself from taking a killing blow, as his body despite his overcharged brain, his body started acting on its own, as if responding to his flaw more.
Subconsciously trying to kill the gangsters to prevent the build-up of [Battle Lust] Kade tried not to kill people, it was what crossed the line between gang brawler and cold murderer, one that Kade tried to distinguish himself from.
The poor man held his arms bloodied and crippled, his swollen face hiding the pure terror he felt, as his life was under his mercy, Kade had already lost ground with his flaw, the subtle feeling of his fist urging him to send it crashing into the man's skull shook Kade.
'Focus, calm down' He commanded. The urge subsided, Kade dropped the gangster by his feet. The mobsters all now backed away looked in terror, they had expected to fight a talented fighter, and to all together beat the life out of him.
But he was beyond whatever a mundane human could be as if the ferocity that all nightmare beasts had at their disposal was shared for his rampage. And no truly mortal man stood a chance against such vigour.
No man dared to move under his gaze. Silence now submerging all present.
All but one.
An applause from the cloaked man who watched the entire fight go down, now taking brisk steps closer while quietly laughing to himself. Kade's attention locking back to the mysterious figure.
"Wonderful, the new generation has got some gems I tell you "He chuckled. The gangsters fear quickly switching targets as they stumbled, falling over each other, abandoning their wounded.
The hanging shadows on the street grew darker as he approached, the approaching night overhead dimmed as the lights overhead flickered with every step.
Kade felt as [Vigilance] remerged as power gifted back into his muscles as if it was aware of the danger he faced. He quickly glanced back at his alley, supposedly the one that the cloaked figure had business with.
Dawn had finally cleared her side of the mob, the battered gangsters either fleeing or writhing on the floor, leaving her panting amidst the debris and discarded weapons. She steadied herself with the pike, watching Kade's rampage come to an eerie halt.
But something… shifted.
The air seemingly grew thick with tension.
She saw the gangsters retreating, but their wide, terrified eyes weren't locked on Kade anymore.
They were looking past him.
Her gaze followed theirs.
The cloaked man stepped forward, with no regard for Kade's threatening presence among the fallen. Everyone anticipated his words that carried in the frigid breeze.
"It's a shame, really," the man said, voice smooth, almost polite. "I'd normally share a drink with a crazy bastard like you... but orders are orders."
He shrugged like it was nothing.
"No witnesses."
Kade watched grimly as the Gansters finally made a break for it, it just registering to him that maybe the gangsters were unable to perceive him until he decided to emerge. With that in mind, Kade had a sense of what kind of fighter they were.
"What about everyone running away?" he questioned.
The figure scoffed.
"There just mundane cattle, they will run back to their little streets stashing themselves away in fear like it would actually save their sorry asses."
Kade took in the response, forcing his breathing to steady, locking eyes with the man as his instincts screamed louder than ever.
"So then, what are your orders" He answered, spreading into a stance ready for combat.
"Nothing much just....Her"
Kade's stance faltered for the briefest second.
Kurt sighed as if bored of the conversation, without warning, his hand flicked forward.
A glimmer of shot toward Dawn.
It moved faster than sound, no roar, no warning. Just death, painted in shadows.
Kade barely had time to shout.
But by then, the blade was already upon her.