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ARC: Back Attack Land
Kaito's blade descended with lethal speed toward Reino's heart. Reino closed his eyes, bracing for the end.
But suddenly—THWACK! A lightning-fast kick slammed into Kaito's wrist, parrying the sword away. Before Kaito could even process what had happened, a powerful fist buried itself into his face, sending him reeling back several meters.
Everyone in the alley froze in disbelief. Standing in front of Reino was Keal, the Second-in-Command of the ALPHA gang.
"Keal?" Reino whispered, his voice trembling with shock. "What are you doing here?"
Keal turned, his eyes sparking with pure fury. "Shut up!" he roared. "Don't you see what a mess you're in? Do you want to die and leave me alone?"
"Have you forgotten the laws of our family? We live through the good and the bad together, until the very end!"
Yuma began to laugh hysterically. "How touching... I guess you'll both die together then!"
Suddenly, Yurezo let out a terrified scream: "Watch your backs, you idiots!"
Out of nowhere, Jin and Luno tore into the crowd of 125 enemies. Like a whirlwind, they began dropping everyone in their path with a barrage of punches and kicks, carving a path through the combined lines of the BRAVO and BANIZ alliance.
"Reino, rest!" Keal commanded.
"But... I can't..." Reino tried to protest.
"Will you finally shut your mouth?" Keal snapped at him. "Look at your wounds!"
Keal turned back to the enemies, his gaze filled with utter contempt. "All of you combined aren't worth the value of a single one of us!" he bellowed.
Yuma lunged at him, but Keal evaded the strike with a graceful movement. Yuma threw a second punch, but Keal tilted his head to the left, caught Yuma's arm, pulled him in with brute force, and—CRACK!—delivered a devastating punch to his face.
Yuma began to cough up blood uncontrollably.
Yurezo, now panicking, started barking orders: "Eito, take the one in white! Kōji, grab the one with the long hair! Osuke, get to Yuma—he's severely injured!"
Osuke rushed to Yuma, who was collapsed on the ground. "Sir, are you okay? You need to leave this place; your whole body is covered in blood!"
Yuma slapped his hand away and forced himself up with manic energy. "How dare you say I'm tired? Get out of my way!" he screamed, his face contorted with rage.
Keal stood firmly in front of Yurezo. The battle between the "Second-in-Commands" was about to begin.
"I'm going to make you one with the pavement," Keal said coldly. "I'll make you remember the very first time you ever cried."
"You talk too much," Yurezo replied, dropping into a fighting stance.
But suddenly, the entire area fell silent.
Despite their horrific injuries, Reino and Yuma charged at each other once again. The battle of the leaders was not over yet.
"Reino, what are you doing?" Keal shouted. "Yuma, are you insane?" Yurezo roared.
Reino threw a heavy punch, but Yuma dodged and drove his knee deep into Reino's stomach. Simultaneously, Reino grabbed Yuma's head and delivered a violent headbutt.
In a daze of pain, Yuma grabbed Reino by the throat, trying to strangle him, but Reino slammed a second headbutt into Yuma's skull—even harder this time.
Blood sprayed everywhere, painting both of their faces crimson. Everyone on the battlefield watched with bated breath.
Yuma coughed blood directly onto Reino's face while tightening his grip on his neck. Reino, his hands locked onto Yuma's head, refused to let go.
Shira Zeus prepared to lunge at Reino, but suddenly, an unknown figure emerged from the shadows and buried a fist into Shira's face, sending him reeling backward.
Shira wiped the blood from his mouth and screamed, "Sukizei! The third leader of ALPHA and the one in charge of ALPHA's 3rd Order!"
"Don't talk so much, Shira," Sukizei said coldly. "I've been waiting for this. This is where it ends for you. The other half of the BANIZ gang has already been taken down."
"Those idiots in Tokyo aren't ours!" Shira roared in a frenzy.
"They are," Sukizei replied. "You are all just filthy insects."
Furious, Shira attacked with his bat. But Sukizei, with a lightning-fast movement, evaded the strike and kicked the bat right out of his hands.
Before Shira could react, Sukizei landed a punch so powerful that the force of the blow cracked Shira's jawbone. The leader of BANIZ collapsed to the pavement, motionless.
Sukizei shouted to Keal, "Shira is finished!"
He then looked to his right at the remaining BANIZ members, who were trembling with fear. "Are you going to come at me, or just stand there?"
One tried to attack but slipped on Shira's blood and fell face-first. Sukizei began to laugh loudly: "Hahaha! He fell just like a piece of cheese hitting the floor!"
Sukizei then looked to his left and saw the fight between Reino and Yuma. Their punches were now weak and desperate; they were so exhausted they were practically hugging each other just to stay upright.
Yuma grabbed Reino's arm and snapped it with a violent twist. Reino didn't make a sound. Instead, he countered with a kick to the stomach with all his remaining strength, sending Yuma back.
Reino stood tall, his face so covered in blood that his eyes were no longer visible through the crimson mask.
Suddenly, the image shifted.
FLASHBACK: TWO YEARS AGO
The rain was falling heavily. Blood was everywhere.
Reino, covered in wounds, stood with Vane, Taro, Keal, and Sukizei behind him. In front of him was Yuma, defeated and bloodied, surrounded by his injured men.
"You were the one who wanted us to split, Yuma!" Reino roared. "Look at what happened! We were one gang, and now we've turned into dozens of gangs!"
A heavy silence followed. Reino, out of respect, extended his hand. "Yuma, let's fix this. Let's make it right again."
But Yuma looked at the hand and took several steps back. He turned toward Yurezo and Eito and said coldly:
"From today, there is no ALPHA for me. Only BRAVO. As far as I'm concerned, you're all dead."
Reino watched with deep sadness as Yuma walked away.
PRESENT DAY
Reino snapped out of his thoughts and saw Yuma still standing. "Yuma..." he whispered.
Yuma slowly lifted his head. His gaze was terrifying—empty of hope, yet refusing to accept defeat. He clenched his fists.
"Only one of us is leaving here alive," Yuma said.
Jin stood across from Eito, staring him straight in the eyes.
"So, you're the Jin everyone keeps talking about?" Eito asked scornfully.
Jin smiled. "I don't know... I didn't realize I was that famous! Haha!"
"Famous? You're just a piece of trash," Eito replied and lunged.
Eito's first punch missed as Jin tilted his head to the right with ease. A kick toward his head followed, but Jin ducked and evaded that too.
"Is that all you've got?" Jin taunted. "Don't be so boring. I want energy, something hotter! A baby could do what you're doing. You're not for me, go find someone else..."
Jin pointed toward Luno, who was facing off against Osuke.
"Shut up!" Eito screamed and attacked again, but Jin dodged the move and delivered a sharp slap that sent Eito reeling back.
On the other front, Osuke attacked Luno with such fury that he left no room for error, but Luno remained perfectly calm, dodging every strike.
"Haha! What's wrong? Can't do anything?" Osuke shouted and threw a punch.
Luno stopped it mid-air. Osuke continued his assault, but Luno landed a slap followed by a precision strike to the throat. This was Luno's style: he wanted to end fights as quickly as possible.
Osuke retreated, clutching his throat.
Luno looked at him with disgust and shouted to Cairo, who was fighting Kōji: "Cairo! Why isn't this guy moving?"
He was pointing at Akos, who stood as still as a statue amidst the chaos.
"You're asking me?" Cairo replied, taking a punch from Kōji. "Hey, you're hitting me while I'm talking? Come here and I'll show you!"
Cairo delivered a kick, which Kōji blocked with his arms to dampen the damage.
Akos watched the chaos around him. He saw Oz, Riko, and Bliss tearing through the BRAVO and YAKUZA gangs. His gaze was empty, cold, almost terrifying.
Suddenly, Kaito rushed him with his katana.
Keal, who was locked in battle with Yurezo, saw this and was filled with confusion. Why did Kaito attack Akos and not Jin, Luno, or Sukizei, who are veteran members?
"Stay in the fight!" Yurezo shouted at him. "When I beat you, everyone will know I defeated you at your full strength!"
"Yurezo, you'll never change with your dirty tricks," Keal replied.
Yurezo attacked; Keal dodged the punch, but Yurezo grabbed his hand and snapped his finger. Without flinching, Keal landed a right hook to his face, followed immediately by a second, even more powerful blow.
"That was strong..." Yurezo said, wiping away the blood.
"I've got stronger ones coming!" Keal answered and attacked with a kick.
Yurezo caught him by the legs, lifted him into the air, and slammed him hard onto the pavement. He tried to stomp on his head, but Keal rolled away and stood up.
However, Yurezo caught him with a punch, grabbed him by the shirt, and slammed his head into the ground. Blood splattered onto the concrete.
"You were always weak," Yurezo said. "You only give freedom to those with power; you give no chance to the rest!"
Keal grabbed his hand and twisted it. "You're wrong..."
"What am I wrong about? When we told the truth, you didn't want to listen! It's your fault ALPHA split up!" Yurezo screamed.
"Stop talking!" Keal landed a punch, Yurezo blocked, and both took their distance.
"If it's our fault," Keal said, "then why didn't you agree to fix things and become one again?"
"Because to us, you are dead!"
"Dead? Tell that to your leader. He has fallen into darkness. No true leader puts his members in such chaos and danger. A leader should lead them away from the blood, just like we do!"
Keal turned his head toward Akos, who still seemed lost.
"Akos! Akos!" he roared.
Akos turned his head slowly, as if he didn't even feel he was in a fight. Just as Kaito made his final move, Akos—with an incredible, almost otherworldly motion—evaded the blade and stood face-to-face with Kaito.
Kaito lunged at Akos, his katana slicing through the air, but Akos evaded the blade with unnatural grace.
How is he dodging my sword so easily? Kaito thought. This boy is not normal.
Kaito attacked again, but Akos remained perfectly calm. With a sudden, swift movement, Akos delivered a crushing kick to Kaito's midsection, forcing him to drop his katana.
Akos stood his ground, silent and cold. Kaito stared at him, bewildered.
He had a perfect opening to break me... why didn't he attack?
"Hey!" Kaito roared. "What the hell is wrong with you?"
"I just see a few children fighting with fists and feet," Akos replied tonelessly.
"What?" Kaito's eyes widened. "Wake up! Your people are in a life-and-death struggle! Why didn't you finish me when you had the chance?"
"There was no reason to," Akos said.
"What do you mean 'no reason'? This is a war!"
"And yet, it is chess," Akos countered. "You simply can't see two moves ahead."
"Are you insane? Your friends are in danger!"
"They aren't in danger," Akos said softly. "Not yet."
"Not yet? Are you going to let them die for your 'plan'?"
"If I intervene now, they will surely die," Akos explained, his gaze distant. "If I wait, they survive."
"How could you possibly know that?" Kaito growled, reaching for his katana.
"Because I've already seen it."
Kaito gripped his katana, feeling a chill run down his spine.
"You're finished," Akos said. "You are all weak. I don't know why my people are even letting you stay alive. In the fight between Reino and the others... Reino doesn't even want to hit him hard. Neither does Keal. This battle is meaningless."
Infuriated, Kaito charged blindly. Akos ducked under the swing and delivered a precise, devastating punch to Kaito's jaw, silencing him instantly.
Akos turned his head, but what he saw next left even him in shock.
A member of the YAKUZA was sprinting toward Bliss with a glinting knife.
STAB! The blade sank deep into Bliss's leg. With explosive speed, Akos blurred across the alley toward them. The attacker tried to pull the knife out, but Akos delivered a brutal kick that sent the man flying.
Bliss collapsed to the ground, gritting his teeth in pain.
"Stay down!" Akos commanded. "Take off your jacket and wrap it tightly around the knife. Do NOT pull it out. Just stabilize it with the cloth. Move!"
Akos looked at the YAKUZA members with a gaze of pure, icy hatred.
"How pathetic you all are. You truly have no sense of the value of life."
Akos slowly unzipped his own jacket, tossing it aside. For the first time, he was preparing to truly enter the fray.
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