I could not stop my eyebrows from twitching.

My hands were tightly wrapped in chains, with a man forcefully dragging me forward like I was some sort of animal.

“Hurry up and walk faster,” the man said.

I didn’t understand why he had to pull me so hard. It’s not like we were lagging behind, considering we were in the middle of the pack. In fact, the soldiers behind us strolled at a gentle pace.

Gunshots continued to echo from different directions. Buildings around us were filled with cracks, devoid of any life besides the Glowgrass. The sounds of blood-curdling screams left everyone unbothered, yet it made my whole stomach churn.

However, the most bothersome thing of all…..

“Heheh, I didn’t think a cute girl could end up falling for me!”

“Me neither! It was like love at first sight! When I saw your cute face, I felt soooo nervous!”

At the front of the pack was Scarlet, who was buttering up to Chihua, the leader of the group. Unlike me, her hands were completely free, wrapping her arms around his shoulder and hugging it with her breasts.

“Ah-Ah-oh, hohoho!” Chihua’s eyes were completely locked in towards her chest, not even bothering trying to hide it. “I guess you threw that smoke bomb out of shock, am I right?”

“Right! You’re soooo smart, Chihua! We women tend to do stupid things when we see someone we like, so I hope you can forgive me for it, pwease?”

“Of course, my cute princess!”

I don’t think that’s a real fact about women….

I could feel the bile rising up from under my throat, but I resisted and took a big gulp. This was too painful to watch.

“Yep, she’s absolutely dog water at flirting, I know,” Hephy said on the comms. “But it's somehow working on this idiot.

“At least we get a free ticket to the Cer Gang’s leader without having to fight,” I said with a low voice.

Somehow, Scarlet was able to get the Cer Gang to spare us after prostrating on the floor. I didn’t mind doing so myself, but I could never get myself to speak like that to anyone.

You would rather kill than speak like Scarlet?

Please don’t ask me those pointless questions, Gray.

You never know, Lars. You may have to choose between killing and acting obnoxiously cute someday!

I hope such a thing never happens.

After enduring all the cheesy dialogue, we had finally arrived at our destination. A rather large warehouse, covered in walls of dried red bricks. Chihua guided Scarlet through the doors like a fine gentleman, while the rest of the men shoved me inside without a second thought.

The place was quite dark, illuminated only by a single Purple Magium light hanging on the roof. Wooden pillars stretched all the way to three stories, with a couple of thugs watching by the rails from above. At the very center was an open space filled with wooden boxes of many different sizes, all scattered around the place. The sheer amount of them gave off a hint of cedar that teased my nostrils.

“I see you’ve brought a real baddie, Chihua!” a gruff voice echoed throughout the walls.

In the middle of it all was a man sitting on one of the boxes with his leg crossed on top of his opposite knee. Dark purple dreadlocks flowed all the way down to his brown leather fur jacket, with strands twisted together like ropes. His violet eyes displayed a ferocious leer as he inspected our appearance with an arrogant smile. He moved his fingers around playfully, with sparks of lightning shooting out from his tips. The way everyone looked at him with a sense of modesty made it obvious that he was their leader.

Chihua and his gang bowed down to the man in an instant, so Scarlet and I decided to do the same as well. If there was a way we could settle this without having to fight, then we should try giving him our courtesy. As much as possible, at least.

“D-Dober! We found these tourists wandering around our Sector!” Chihua said, with his body trembling in fear.

“Tourists….ah you mean these two,” Dober locked eyes with us. “Stand up.”

We both stood up as he requested.

“Tell me, what brings you two here?” Dober placed his hand on his chin. “There’s no reason for both of you to come this way. Sector 23 is a warzone, everybody knows that.”

Scarlet looked at me silently, tilting her head with an undecided look on her face. I didn’t know what to say either, so I simply shrugged. We couldn’t ask Hephy on the comms, especially not when this man had his eyes deadlocked towards us.

I’ll give you a hint, Lars. Truth or Lie?

I should have already known the answer. There’s no point in screwing around. We should just get straight to the point and do what we came here to do. I’ll prove to Hephy that we can pull it off without killing.

Taking a deep breath, I gave out my answer.

“We came here to settle the war.”

“What are you saying, Lars?!” Hephy screamed.

Sorry, Hephy. Maybe it was never about defeating the Zodiac Circle. At the end of the day, our true goal should have been to bring peace to the Under Sectors.

Scarlet looked a little shocked, but her lips quickly lined up to a smug grin. That was probably a sign of approval from her.

However, the man in front of me seemed to have other thoughts. Dober’s former smile had now turned into a slight frown. He gave me a long silent stare, a chilling purple glare that radiated restrained rancor. I knew I had to say what I had to say, but some part of me felt like it was something I was going to regret. I wanted to stay strong with my ideals, but my body couldn’t help but shiver from the possible consequences.

Dober bursted out an intoxicating laugh and slapped the boxes underneath him with his hand.

“You…what is your name, catboy?” he said.

“Lars.”

“Well, Lars. I really want to know,” Dober rolled his eyes. “How do you plan on ‘settling’ the war? Actually, screw that!”

Dober hopped out of the boxes and raised his arms. His lips opened to reveal a toothy sneer.

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“This war will only be over when I become king of Cerberus!”

Ah yes, the classic quest for power. Greed never ends. These dogs won’t stop until they become the one who rules over all. What are you going to do about it, Lars?

There has to be some way around it.

“And is there any way to convince you otherwise?” I said.

“Nothing will change my mind.”

“Then there’s only one other way.”

“What are you proposing?” Dober said.

“I challenge you to a duel.”

The echoes of gasps and whispers circulated around the room.

“Lars, are you insane?! You’re taking on that dude alone?!” Hephy said. “Do you have a death wish or something?! Dober is no joke! There’s a reason why he’s one of the three leaders of Cerberus! Hey! Are you still listening to me?!”

It’s better this way, Hephy. I know you can’t hear my thoughts, but I hope you can understand.

“Heh, a duel?” the man scoffed. “What purpose would that serve?”

“You say you want to be the king, right? That means you’d have to be the most powerful man of Sector 23. If you can beat me in a fair duel, then I will give my life to you and fight against the other gangs. But if you lose, then you must forfeit your leadership and disband the Cer Gang for good.”

Dober looked into his hand in silence. He played with the lightning around his fingers, then closed it into his fist.

“That won’t be enough for me, you need to give me more incentives for winning.”

“Ah!” Scarlet raised her hand up in the air. “You can have me as well! I’ll do whatever you want if you win!”

“H-Hey Scarlet, you don’t have to,” I crossed my arms.

“Don’t worry, I believe in you! I’m willing to gamble my life on it,” she smiled. “I’ll even add Hephy and the Wagon House to the bet!”

“YOU CRAZY BASTARDS! DON’T LUMP ME IN WITH YOUR STUPID SHENANIGANS!” Hephy complained.

“You can have me and Scarlet on your side,” I said, ignoring Scarlet’s previous statement.

“Heh, that’s quite the tempting offer you have there,” Dober licked his lips.

“H-Hey, Scarlet! I thought you wanted to be with me!” Chihua tried to extend his arms towards her.

“Sorry, that was a lie!” Scarlet let out her tongue.

“HUH?!” Chihua was left shocked.

“Shut up.”

Dober struck a bolt of lighting in front of the broken-hearted man. This created a black mark on the ground, causing Chihua to drop to the floor in fear and tears.

“I’m still not convinced. How would the two of you help me fight against Kangal and Spitz? What sort of value can you provide for me?”

Kangal and Spitz….they’re probably the other two leaders of Cerberus.

“Well,” Scarlet placed her finger on her cheek. “We just so happened to defeat the Midas Hogs all by ourselves!”

“You said what?” Dober’s eyes widened. “You mean to tell me…that you defeated Hector? Just the two of you? What a load of bull.”

Scarlet scoffed. “Heh. Did you really think we’d be insane enough to propose this duel if we weren’t this confident?”

“It could simply just be false confiden-.”

A gunshot interrupted his words. Streaks of lightning cut through the bullet and fragments of metal trickled on the floor. In the blink of an eye, Scarlet already had her revolver pointed towards Dober. By the time everything was over, the soldiers in the background realized and pointed their guns towards Scarlet. Dober waved his hand to stop them.

“Fast hands, you cheeky fox,” Dober glared at her. “If you aimed that bullet towards me, you would have been dead meat.”

“But I didn’t!” Scarlet spun her revolver and holstered it back in its place. “Now do you understand what we’re capable of?”

Dober let out another intoxicating laugh. He leaned his face towards me and gave me a smile.

“Fine! We will have our duel!” He clapped his hands.

It’s better this way. Nobody else will get hurt in the process. Just me and Dober. One duel to settle it all. If I win, then that’s one leader down.

“Then it is settled. When will we have our duel?”

“Now!”

Before I knew it, Dober was rushing towards me with electric current flowing all over his body. The thugs nearby screamed in fear and started running away, but Scarlet calmly stepped back and gave me a thumbs-up.

“H-Hey! My chains!”

I completely forgot my hands were still wrapped around these metal constraints.

“That’s too bad, Lars!” Dober let out his tongue.

Dober generated a bolt of lighting from his arm and drove it straight towards my chains, shattering it into pieces. The shockwave of his attack sent me flying to the ground. I could feel parts of my body aching from the fall, but they were nothing compared to how much I suffered. I got back up on my feet and locked eyes with Dober.

“Underhanded tactics aren’t my thing. It’s not very dominant.” Dober slammed his fists together.

Dominance….?

“White!”

I summoned the blade and pointed it towards Dober.

“Hmm? A swordsman? Been a long time since I fought one!”

Be careful with that lightning, Lars. That man has an unordinary amount of it. One wrong move and you’re in for a good shock.

The man in dreadlocks charged towards me once more, shooting out bolts of lightning from his fingertips. Flashes of electricity struck the ground around me as I weaved right through them. Dober boosted himself upward with a surging leap and charged his arms with crackling purple energy. I jumped out of the way and watched him crash down like a turbulent storm, demolishing the floor beneath him. The sheer force of the landing caused me to stagger back.

However, I couldn’t allow myself to fall. Dober didn’t waste a single second and swiftly shot a streak of energy through his hands.

“Protect!”

I summoned the blue shield to protect myself from the incoming strike. The current continued to flow through his fingertips, forcing its way through the shield with piercing intensity. A tinge of fear tickled my nerves as I tried to resist the force.

Lars, get out of there! Your shield can’t take it!

In a matter of seconds, my shield shattered into pieces and a fist made its way to my stomach.

Droplets of saliva left my mouth as the stinging pain registered itself in my body. Dober let out a laugh and threw a series of punches towards my chest. I clenched my teeth to hold my groans and tried to keep myself together.

“I-Illuminate!”

I flashed the sword right towards his face, blinding his eyes completely.

“That hurts!” Dober placed his hand on his eyes.

In spite of his blindness, he was still able to grab my cloak. A shock of electricity blasted through my nerves, making every fiber of my being shake to the core. My muscles rebelled against my very will, tightening themselves to the point of absolute pressure.

“How does it taste?! Hahahahaha!” Dober’s maniacal laugh echoed in my ears.

My mind started to feel numb. I could feel my eyeballs moving their way upwards and my vision beginning to fade out. But I wasn’t allowed to lose here. I let out a scream and slammed my head against his forehead, forcing him to stagger back in pain.

“Agh! You’re a real tough one, aren’t ya, hahahaha!”

My vision grew hazy, but I could make out an image of Dober weaving his body around uncontrollably. His nose seemed to be bleeding profusely, but it was something I barely paid attention to. A throbbing pain had made its way through my skull and all I could think about was keeping my body up.

Tsk, I was too careless. If only I was more careful about this whole fight.

You were too overconfident with your abilities, Lars. White is clearly undermatched in this fight. It would be best if you used Black-

N-No way! I don’t need that cursed blade. White and I can do it ourselves!

“This fight is over, Lars!”

Just when I was about to plan my next move, Hephy had spoken on the comms.

The doors of the warehouse slammed open and the sound of multiple footsteps had entered the building.

“I-It’s the Be Gang!” Chihua screamed.

“Well, well, well! What do we have here?! The great and mighty Dober’s nose has been smashed to a pulp! What a sight to see!” an unfamiliar voice called out.

“You picked the wrong time to come here, Kangal.”