The Hwa Brothers - Part 2
CRASH!
The moment the Hwa brothers kicked the table aside.
Rohan flipped his chair backward and rolled to his feet, weapons gripped in both hands.
He kicked away the obstructing chair in front of him first.
SMASH!
The chair they dodged shattered the window. The Hwa brothers' faces crumpled like they'd bitten into raw liver.
Drawing unnecessary attention with the noise wasn't part of their plan.
"So-pyeong. Kill him as fast as possible."
"Leave it to me!"
At Hwa Cheon-gang's words, Hwa So-pyeong drew his wide butcher knife.
Rohan's blade wrapped in searing heat.
A brutal aura poured out, like a slaughterer felling an ox in one stroke. Rohan channeled heat into the blade of Radiance.
"…."
Mana surged as their brief staring contest stretched taut.
No special signal heralded the fight's start.
BOOM!
Hwa So-pyeong leaped forward with speed belying his massive frame.
"Raaagh!!!"
His breath exploded in a single exhale as the butcher knife swung down.
Rohan blocked the waist-severing slash with his blade's flat.
Heavy.
His palms tingled around Radiance's hilt.
The instant he raised the seal in his left hand to aim, Hwa Cheon-gang emerged from the office corner, spear in hand, joining the fray.
A sharp thrust flew from behind Hwa So-pyeong, who gripped the knife.
Whoosh!
The spear tip sliced the air like a serpent's head.
Rohan twisted his head to dodge, then widened the gap.
The Hwa brothers wiped the smirks from their faces. Their expressions turned deadly serious.
"…Dodged that?"
"Brother, this guy's no ordinary punk."
Hwa Cheon-gang: tall, lanky with long limbs. Hwa So-pyeong: short, stocky with thick arms and a sturdy build.
The brothers complemented each other's opposite styles perfectly.
Their teamwork was exquisite, honed by years together.
Flames surged along Rohan's sword path.
Instead of retreating, Rohan closed in and swung.
The brothers sensed the danger and evaded. CRACK! The office wall split cleanly, marked by a pristine sword scar.
"Tch!"
Stunned by the power, Hwa Cheon-gang and Hwa So-pyeong wrapped their weapons in wind.
BANG! The brothers reformed their formation, deflecting the mana-infused bullet.
"Hup!"
Hwa So-pyeong charged again. The wind-mana butcher knife held too much force to block standing still.
CLANG—!
Rohan parried the blade while lightly leaping, spinning in place.
He deflected the straight slash and pulled the trigger mid-air.
BANG!
Hwa So-pyeong desperately dodged the headshot.
But sacrificed his ear to the bullet.
"So-pyeong!"
"I'm fine. Fuck, what the hell is this against a damn kid."
Even with an ear gone, Hwa So-pyeong's momentum didn't falter.
Blood streaming, his gleaming eyes showed he'd forgotten the pain in excitement.
Hwa So-pyeong swung the butcher knife wide and charged again.
Hwa Cheon-gang's spear slipped through the opening.
Rohan blocked the thrust with Radiance's flat, but the concentrated wind shoved hard.
"Hngh!"
CRASH! Rohan rolled across the office floor and sprang up.
Blocking the follow-up barrage while dodging forced the furniture to splinter, turning the room to wreckage in moments.
The lights shattered, plunging the space into darkness.
Inside the office, they relied on city lights filtering through the night.
CLANG! KANG! THUD! BANG! BANG!
Metal clashed with gunfire, sparks flashing.
Dark blood sprayed thin, painting the walls, unseen in the gloom.
Neither landed solid hits—just grazing flesh.
Flame waves rose along Rohan's sword path.
The Hwa brothers wordlessly gathered wind to one point, scattering the flames without a word.
BANG! Rattle-bang!
Rohan poured bullets through the gap.
Knife and spear cleaved the pesky projectiles.
"This little shit…!"
"So-pyeong, calm down. Stay composed."
Rohan kicked debris across the floor.
Then backed off to swap magazines.
"Brother, might as well call the guys now…."
Hwa So-pyeong trailed off, staring at Rohan.
Hwa Cheon-gang realized it too.
Why's it so quiet?
A chill of doubt crept in.
This much noise should've drawn the underlings outside. Even if they didn't bust in, they'd knock to check.
Not everyone was at the warehouse. The building always had guards.
So the brothers sensed it.
Something happened outside.
Unlikely to be the guards.
Flashy arrivals were their style.
Rohan smirked as the brothers caught the oddity.
Thanks to his crew, he could focus purely on the fight.
Hwa this or Hwa that. These bastards can actually fight.
Were they worthy foes even in Abyss City with a proper party? Rohan admired the Hwa brothers' skill.
Seamless point-and-line combos. Worlds apart from the Yard Pound brothers' brute force.
Each brother outclassed that crossbow-and-illusion prick from the day they rescued Sion. Better than the Doberman too.
And yet, it's manageable.
Rohan felt his rapid growth.
He had breathing room to adjust, plan his next move calmly.
Proof: their patterns were becoming readable.
At some point, he was just wounding them. But no room for carelessness.
"Hoo…."
Rohan exhaled, resetting his stance.
The brothers honed their killing intent, regripping their weapons.
The tide could turn anytime. The space favored them.
Alone, Rohan should've escaped via the window.
Their tag-team style was easier in open areas.
They knew it too, refusing to let him break free.
But Rohan had his advantages.
Minimize civilian involvement.
Prevent them splitting to escape when cornered.
And finally.
I'm not alone either.
From the opposite building where Sion was positioned, the view was clear.
Outside building.
Sion, holding her breath, checked her scope. The brothers' focus was entirely on Rohan.
Perfect timing.
Heart Sniping
The girl pulled the trigger, her pupils transformed into hearts.
BANG! A small spark flashed under the night sky with the gunshot.
Sion's bullet flew toward Hwa So-pyeong's heart, who was aiming to kill Rohan.
"!"
Hwa Cheon-gang spun his spear desperately.
The bullet glanced off the shaft, veering from the heart path, but the unforeseen shot allowed no perfect block.
The skill-curved round embedded in Hwa So-pyeong's thigh.
"Grrraaah—!!!"
Hwa So-pyeong shuddered from Sion's strike. Muscles twitched beyond his control.
Follow-up snipes poured in to finish him.
Hwa Cheon-gang swung his spear to deflect the bullets, shielding Hwa So-pyeong.
Chance.
Rohan relaxed his muscles, eyes on Hwa So-pyeong amid the electric aftershocks.
Instant elastic thrust.
SPLURCH!
Radiance plunged cleanly into Hwa So-pyeong's chest.
"Guhk—!!!"
Heart pierced. The rotation of Light Wing Piercer shredded it utterly.
Hwa So-pyeong's eyes quivered, life fading. His thread of fate consumed by flames.
"So-pyeong!!!"
Hwa Cheon-gang's eyes bulged. Ignoring the sniper, he charged Rohan.
Rohan kicked Hwa So-pyeong's gut, yanking his sword free.
Hwa So-pyeong tumbled lifelessly to the floor.
"You fucking bastard!!!"
"Sold out your own family to live fat, yet you pretend to be so brotherly?"
"I'll rip you apart!"
As Hwa Cheon-gang's bloodshot eyes whipped up fierce winds.
VRRRR—!!!
Sirens of arriving guards echoed from outside.
Vehicles pulled into the lot, lights blazing.
"Gonna avenge him? Thought you'd run."
"…Killing you will be enough."
"Big talk from a moron."
Rohan taunted Hwa Cheon-gang, raising the seal.
Weakness Infliction loaded into the rounds.
…
…
Samhwa Nation guards arrived at Cheongnim on report.
What they faced was an unimaginable slaughter.
Bodies with neat head holes littered the ground.
One corpse dangled from the ceiling, head embedded by a fist.
A tiger girl greeted the guards with an innocent smile amid the carnage.
Beside cleanly bisected bodies lay a girl they couldn't ignore, eyes closed.
"I'll explain, so come inside first. We'll head to headquarters together after checking."
"…."
The guards nodded at Ichinose Yui's words and pushed inward.
They checked the room with the shattered door.
Inside: Cheongnim's boss, the Hwa brothers' corpses, and Rohan's group.
Bzzz! Bzz!
In an Academy City cafe, Juyeon quietly reading felt her phone vibrate and checked it swiftly.
"…!"
She bolted from her seat at the message.