"Runt."
The moment the spiff heard Mangé's malice-filled declaration, It let out a low, rumbling sound. The same sound that was akin to a chuckle.
—"You are almost as crude as Valentino. But even as crude as Valentino was, and even though Cyclo and Orned clashed regularly, Valentino still knew his place. He knew that he was beneath us. That was why the Cyclo Gang survived this long, Hawk Eyes."—
Its synchronized voice rumbled as it spoke, echoing through the unnatural silence that engulfed the room we upper 'room' we occupied.
My brows furrowed as I heard Its words.
Mangé isn't going to like that.
Valentino?
That's the retired leader of the Cyclo Gang
A supposed legend in the backlands. Rumors say Valentino singlehandedly raised the Cyclo Gang from an ordinary run-of-the-mill street gang to one of the four major gangs of the backlands.
They say he was a good fighter. I wonder where he is now.
My grey gaze remained steady on Mangé and the spiff's figures.
Mangé offered no words in response to the spiff's words, casting an unholy veil of slithering, unsettling silence upon the room. But yet, he stood calmly, his neck raised upward in a position he had probably deemed comfortable enough for him to survey the spiff's own gaze.
And like that, they both dangerously stared at each other. Mangé's gaze remained fixated on the spiff's wide, quadruple eyeballs that menacingly stared down at Mangé.
The feeling their unmoving figures gave off held a promise of the definite cruelty to come.
Breaking the rapidly evolving silence, Mangé finally uttered with a low voice as he shot a menace-wrapped question toward the spiff. "And, what exactly are you trying to say?"
As the spiff's mouth widened to speak, Its right hand moved simultaneously. It raised the blade of Its right arm, which had been firmly dug into the ground.
—"All I am trying to say is that you should know your place,"— Its voice dropped low, mixing with the sound of Its growl. —"'Sir Mangé' "—
The tone of the spiff's voice was tinged with raw, unfiltered spite that crept and festered at every rasping corner of Its voice.
Mangé paused at that moment, letting the thick silence gather once more as he just continued staring up at the spiff.
"Pfft.."
A low sound escaped Mangé's lips.
Hm?
And almost immediately, he turned his neck toward me, and his teary green eyes found mine.
His mouth was covered with one hand; a dumb attempt to block out the bubbling laughter that almost escaped his lips.
And as his shoulders slightly quivered from the choked-up laughter, he pointed the thumb of his pistol-holding hand toward the spiff in mocking fashion.
Finally, he voiced out: "You hear him, Stel?"
I blinked. My gaze softened, and my lips slowly widened as I watched the movement of the spiff behind Mangé.
"He said I should know my place! When THEY stole my key!!" His voice came out spliced, as if both rage and amusement swam in it.
Slowly, he removed the hand covering his mouth, revealing his uncanny smile that stretched ear-to-ear.
"Isn't it funny, Stel?" He asked, tilting his head as he did.
He's here.
The spiff seized the opportunity that Mangé's crazed display presented. And immediately, It struck downward with Its right blade, aiming to cleave Mangé's head clean.
The Crazy Mangé.
I always advised never to make the 'rookie mistake' of taking one's eyes off their opponent during battle.
But of course, that advice became invalid when it came to Mangé.
His eyes were always watching.
Mangé's green gaze was still locked onto mine. But even so, as if he had predicted it, he immediately moved his neck left, and slightly shifted his right shoulder as he tilted, effectively evading the spiff's streaming blade with minimal movement.
Clat–!
Once again, sparks flew as the blade collided with the ground.
But just before the spiff could raise Its bladed limb, Mangé twisted his waist, gracefully leaping on top of the blunt area of the spiff's right arm.
My lips divided. I smirked.
That was what I did.
He began to run up the spiff's arm. His right hand firmly grasped his pistol, which he targeted here and there on the rest of the spiff's body.
It must have stung the spiff, because it let out small hisses as it raised Its left limb.
And immediately, a pristine, slivery hue coated the nets of Its left limb.
No you won't.
I let out a low, pain-painted grunt as I endured the rib-searing pain, forcing myself to stand upright.
I treated the pain like it was nothing, while truthfully, it pulsed through me, traveling through my spine to bang against the back of my head.
Keenly focusing my gaze on the glowing left net, I nodded, then slowly, I moved my gaze until it landed on Mangé's running figure, watching the sight of his pistol releasing blue-colored rays as he ran.
It looked like those compressed plasma rays weren't doing much damage to the spiff's hard skin, as every shot left faint trails of smoke that wavered in the air.
Then, once more, I traced the sight of the spiff's glowing net.
Bzzzz–!
That buzzing sound echoed once more.
Not on my watch.
I crouched immediately. And as I did, the pain in my ribs attacked me, shooting through my eyes and my lungs. It seemed like one of my lungs was punctured or something.
Pain was just pain. A thing of the mind. I had endured worse. This was nothing to me.
I leaped immediately. Soaring high into the skin-boiling air that made my heart scream as I once again clenched my slowly recovering right fist.
The destination of my endearing leap was the now-moving left limb of the spiff. The one with its net coated with Ta.
As I reached the hovering, glowing limb, I released my blow on the blunt edge.
The spiff's left limb trembled as the full force of my right fist had collided with it.
Immediately, a reaction to my action surfaced. Two reactions, actually.
A personal reaction, and an observable reaction.
But the observable reaction was, without a doubt, the most satisfying. Seeing the silvery glow completely wiped out of the spiff's net as it opened its mouth wide, and its four eyes widened in pure, unadulterated perplexity.