Kael sprinted forward, eyes locked onto Jax's crumpled form embedded in the far wall. The pirate was just starting to stir, his hook twitching under the shattered stone.

Kael's fist tightened, crimson aura started coiling up his arm like a beast about to strike.

Putting more strength to his legs, just as he lunged in.

WHIIISH—!

CLANG—!

BOOOOOOM!

A burst of force interrupted his charge—sword slashes and aura punches crashed into the space around him. He barely twisted mid-air, arms raised in defense as shockwaves thundered against him.

"Damnnn"

He cursed as the torrential rain of shockwaves shook him to the core giving him a jolt. He poured mana into his arms and slammed creating a strong shockwave that counter-attacked.

The resulting blast erupted like a chained explosion—walls buckled, the ceiling cracked apart. Entire support beams were ripped from their sockets. Kael was flung backward like a missile, slamming through several pillars before crashing through the central support column.

The building couldn't hold and with a catastrophic sound, it started to tear apart and slide down.

SKRRRRREEEEEE—KRRRRSHHHHHHH!

The entire top floor groaned—then collapsed, a roaring storm of stone, steel, dust, and flame. Windows shattered outward like glass rain, walls folded inward, and the entire headquarters of the gang imploded in a storm of chaos. Black smoke and red fire swallowed the night.

"SHIT!"

"RUN!"

Gorro, Marn, and Verno who didn't expect the buildings to fall all of a sudden jumped out alas Jax and Kael weren't that lucky.

"FUCKKKK!"

"WWhoseside are you on you dumb fuckers?"Jax's angry roars erupted amidst destruction as debris slammed over him.

Dust and smoke rest giving a lingering tail.

Moments later…

From within the smoldering debris, Jax slowly pushed up with his hook arm, coughing up blood.

The other three, seeing him, rushed towards him.

Marn reached him first, kicking a beam aside. "You still breathing, pirate?"

Jax smirked through a bloodied grin. "Heh. Got me good... Bastard moves like a shadow with TNT in his fist."

Garro helped pull rubble off his legs, muttering, "That guy did he die…I won't be surprised if he was annihilated under our combined attack."

Verno stood, blade still drawn, eyes scanning the wreckage. "No, he's not dead, not yet the recoil was too clean."

"Also he pushed away the shockwaves with some weird move of his."

CRACK...

A faint crunch echoed.

From beneath a collapsed stairwell, stone and flame were shoved aside—a figure rose.

Covered in dirt and blood, breathing heavily—but standing.

Kael.

"Haaa…"

He exhaled.

Steam rolled off his body. His tattered coat fluttered behind him. His mask had a long crack over one side now, revealing a sliver of his smirking mouth.

"Taking down four of you might be troublesome…"

He raised a hand, and with a soft hum, debris shifted at his side. A glint of black steel caught the light.

Kael ripped his blade from the rubble.

The moment his fingers wrapped around the hilt

CRACK!

A pillar of crimson aura surged into the air like a volcanic eruption. Dark tendrils snaked across the blade, hissing and lashing at the air like serpents. The pressure warped the smoke around him. A storm began to swirl at his feet.

A crazed smile twisted underneath the broken half of his mask.

"But…"

His boots crunched forward, each step cracking stone.

"…it's gonna be a fun fight."

SHHHINK—!

He pointed the sword directly at the four of them.

The atmosphere snapped tight.

Jax watched this spat and then wiped blood off his chin and stood beside the others.

"You bastards ready?" he muttered.

Verno narrowed his eyes. "We will hit him from all sides.Don't underestimate him at all. Despite our combined attack, he survived."

Marn cracked his knuckles. "Let's break his bones first and then he can talk."

"What?"Vernon shouted and looked at the group.

"Didn't you hear what I said?"He asked but everyone turned a deaf ear at him.

Garro didn't speak. But his hands gleamed with thin wires now drawn from his sleeves.

Then all at once,they charged.

Kael dashed forward to meet them.

BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!

A shockwave blasted from the collision point. Fists met steel, hooks slashed against blades, wires snapped and danced through the air like razors.

Kael ducked beneath Marn's hammer fist who was first to strike him.

SLAM!

The ground cratered—then parried Verno's rapier with a flick of his wrist, only for Jax's hook to tear through the smoke, scratching across Kael's side.

Blood sprayed around as jolt tore off a wound his chest.He grinned wider.

Crimson's aura exploded again.

Kael spun, blade carving arcs of darkness through the space. Garro grabbed steel wires from somewhere wrapped around his sword arm but Kael yanked him forward, slammed a knee into Garro's chest with a loud banging sound, and tossed him into a stone wall.

CRACK!

"Too slow!" Kael roared.

Verno stabbed in but Kael managed to twist his body to dodge.

However, Jax was there.

CLANG!

The hook drove into Kael's shoulder. A sickening crunch followed. He growled, grabbed Jax by the face, and slammed his forehead onto Jax sending him onto the floor, sending cracks webbing across the debris.

But Marn was already mid-leap—BAM! He shoulder-slammed Kael.

BANGGGG!

Kael was struck with a crushing force that send pain throughout his body as if a beast ox had rammed onto him.

The brute force sent him flying through a wall in the nearby building.

BOOOOM!

The wall blasted into tatters by force Kael clashed and even after his body jumped off against the ground striking other things and rolled around until he broke through the wall on the other side.

Kael spat blood, skidding back on the ground yet didn't fall. Stopping he took a moment to rest, and got up supporting his legs with aura, and pushed forward.

He was panting now a bit but his eyes were glowing.

Despite the dangerous situation, he wasn't worried.

"Not bad," he muttered, flicking blood from his blade. "But you'll have to do better."

All four regrouped, breathing heavy.

They were also bruised and bleeding. But still standing.

Verno stepped forward.

"Then let's end it."

Kael twirled the sword once in his hand.

"Come."