Hojun pressed her gun into the back of the man’s head. “Don’t move.”

The person remained silent, and slowly raised his hands. They only heard the occasional buggy whirring by, or the buzzing cicadas on the walls. The buildings shaded them out of sight, out of the burning sun.

She wasn’t sure of it, although there was the slightest hint. The shooting at Metro Liusung, and the lackeys from when she first encountered Jorge; The ones that shot Alejandro could’ve been Bakal. No, they had to be Bakal.

“We’re going to ask you a few questions, and we’ll be on our way.” Suruj crossed his arms, “What is a Bakalito doing in a car for the datus?”

“I'm afraid I can’t answer that, kahoy.”

“Don’t test us.” The gun quivered in Hojun’s grip.

“You won’t. A woman like you? I haven’t seen ya face lassy, yet I can tell ya don’t have the guts to put lead in me.”

“Even if she doesn’t, then I will.” Suruj grabbed the man’s head. His blood smeared across the clay wall, as Suruj pinned him to the wall. “Answer, and we’ll let you tell your Kapitan about us.”

“My Kapitan is already here.”

The minute he said that, Suruj let go and glanced around. Mere seconds later, he tackled Hojun to the ground.

“Mahou Lagare!”

Her head collided with the pavement as she fell. The jagged ground scraped her skin, and new blood dripped down her face. Hojun regained her senses and stood up to see slashing marks on the walls. Her mind went towards the balikbayan box.

“Dihu Xuanfu!” The box rocketed upwards and onto the roof. With her revolver in hand her eyes darted around for the perpetrator.

Then she took a punch to the face. Hojun’s face contorted, unable to process the pain. She crashed into the wall as the man wrestled for her gun. Her skin stung while the man slugged her. But still she held onto her weapon with an iron grip. They both groaned and attempted to tire each other out. Hojun felt her breathing quicken, and her body made haste. The man met the blunt of her revolver, and he tumbled backwards with blood trickling down his nose. She heard the chant again.

“Mahou Lagare!”

Large disks flew towards them. They whistled through the air and slashed through the escapade. The man ducked. Hojun pressed her feet against the wall and leapt to the other wall. She rested her feet on the projectile stuck in the clay. It was a saw.

More men appeared from the entrance. The first gunshots flew into the alley. Suruj toppled a stack of crates nearby. Suruj and Hojun dove under them.

“Suruj! You got something?!” She pushed the ejector rod of her gun, sending bullet casings flying to the floor.

“I do, but it would level the entire plaza.” He shouted over the gunfire. “We need that guy as soon as possible.”

Hojun peeked over the crates and fired a few rounds. Bullets pounced and hit some legs. “Their Kapitan has to be dealt with though… He keeps sending out those saws with sahar spells.”

“Leave him to me.” Suruj stretched his shoulders, “You’ll have the small lackeys.”

They both nodded, and Hojun provided suppressive fire. As projectiles whizzed past him, Suruj hopped over their blockade and charged. He ignored the abrasions around his arms and locked onto the one conjuring spells. Everyone’s aim seemed to falter as Suruj neared the Bakalitos. He tackled the Kapitan across the street ahead. The gangsters began to waver.

Hojun saw through her gunsights, her eyes glowing brown, “Dihu Guihang: Heatseaker.”

Saharic particles gathered around her revolver as she fired. The bullet brightened as it trailed in a white light. It came towards the Bakalitos, who ducked down. The projectile missed, and went off into the distance.

“Hah! You call that a spell modification? What a joke!” One of them laughed, pointing at her standing up. However her facial expression remained adamant.

The bullet looped around in the sky and struck one of them in the leg. It continued to travel. It arced in circles and pierced bone and flesh. Their arms, their legs, the divine bullet caused every one of them to collapse to the ground. Firearms chipped the pavement one by one. Hojun jumped over the crates and walked towards them.

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“Listen up. Back off, lest I take you all out with another spell-charged bullet.” She waved her revolver around, and aimed at the man Suruj and her pursued. “Except you.”

The man stood up and bolted. The rest of the Bakalitos stayed on the ground, petrified. Hojun ejected her last bullet casings and dug her hand into her coat pocket. She brought out a blue bullet and put it into the barrel. Locking the barrel in place, her thumb clicked the hammer down with one in the chamber.

Hojun closed one eye and aimed at the fleeing man. “This is an Al-Qarakh specialty.”

She squeezed the trigger. The azure projectile flew out, as time seemed to slow. The man ran in a linear direction. It would soon catch up to him. The projectile landed a direct hit on his back, the azure bullet attaching to the Bakalito. He fell to the ground twitching to a stuttering jolt. At the same time, Suruj stood in front of him, dragging the Kapitan’s loose body back behind.

“...” Suruj stared at the man afflicted by the Puleun Beongae. He dropped the Kapitan, who coughed on the ground. Suruj’s fists were clenched in crimson.

“We better make sure they won’t go chinwaggin’,” Hojun spoke the local dialect, as her gun faded away.

Suruj and Hojun turned them into the local Kapulisan, who were reluctant to take them into their jail. Suruj was right. Since the leader of Buhanggilog remained vacant, the Kapulisan remained idle since. Then logically, in order to restore lawfulness in the country, they needed a prime candidate as soon as possible.

Hojun brought the Bakalito she had captured into an empty building. He was tied up and blindfolded, while she gently sat him onto a chair. Slowly, the man brought himself awake. With a jarring screech. Only Suruj stood by the stairs ascending onto the roof.

“Where am I?!” The man struggled in his constrained position. “Alam-”

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” Hojun called out, “You make one spell and ya toast.”

“To think a Z̆ongren like you could speak in our dialect…” He muffled under his breath, squirming.

“I was just trying to get comfortable. Because I’m going to ask you some questions. Why were you with a datu?” Her voice seemingly circled around him.

The man’s voice quivered. “I- I ain’t giving you anything.”

“You were in a datu buggy. Bakal usually don’t have a relationship with the royals of Buhanggilog, correct?”

“...”

Hojun went into a thinking position. This was harder than she thought. She bore no intentions of torture, so she didn’t know what to do when this Bakalito was uncoöperative. Suruj wasn’t bothered to help, either.

“If you release me, then I will promise that Bakal won’t come after ya.”

Now the hostage was doing negotiations? If he had the nerve to threaten her with a statement, then it meant that Bakal was more intimidating then it seemed. At least in Lungsod ng Laguna Sagar, since in the Luzokapital, she thought of the Bakalitos as an… annoyance. Hojun had an idea.

“Releasing you is the worst option for you. You’ll be outcasted by them, as a traitor that allowed himself to be captured. If you go back to them, then how hard will it be for them to believe you didn’t give us information?” Her voice drew near, the clanks echoing throughout the complex.

“... They’ll believe me-”

She bent down to his ear. “Say it with confidence.”

“T- They’ll believe me!”

“If they believed you then they would be coming here right now.”

Silence hovered over them. Even when they shaded from the heat, they sweated. Hojun popped open a water bottle and let the man drink.

“So what do you say? Tell us what you were doing with a datu.”

“...”

“I’ll say this. When we release you back to Bakal, what do you think they’ll do to you? Your place is compromised, and they’ll probably find you just to beat you up. So here’s a deal.” She bent a knee, and took the blindfolds off him. “I’m Hojun al-Qarakh of the Al-Qarakh House. I will help you obtain a contract to file for asylum in Silla.”

He stared at her, his eyes opening at the name. “Hojun?... Silla?... That kingdom that fell centuries ago?”

“Yes, Old Silla. One thousand years ago, we were conquered by the Laoyuang House of As-Z̆onghu̐a. Even though we are a part of As-Z̆onghu̐a, I can guarantee you safe in Al-Qarakh ‘Aimag. I can even bring your family over.”

“You can?” His voice trembled, and Hojun noted the curling of his hands. She placed her hand on his shoulder.

“Yes. But I need answers from you. Everything about why you were with the datus.”

At Hojun’s beckoning, the man hesitated more than twice. In reality, she could vouch for the man’s asylum in Silla, but she was not the one to grant that power.

After the man became taken aback by the seemingly lucrative offer, Suruj banged his hand against the wall. “Hojun. I’m going outside.”

Hojun affirmed, and the Buhang walked out. Soon after, the Bakalito opened his mouth to speak. Then she got her answers.

“Hojun al-Qarakh!”

A voice echoed from above. The voice of Suruj. Hojun stopped listening to the Bakalito and walked towards the stairs. It seemed Suruj returned from his walk, but why did he shout? Was it urgent? Slowly took the steps up to the roof of the building. She couldn’t help but hold her breath in.

On the rooftop, Suruj stood at the edge. There he held someone in a chokehold, whom wrestled his iron grip. When Hojun got a closer look, she soon realized who it was.

“Jorge?! Suruj… What are you doing!”

“Don’t come near!” Suruj lashed out with a jar. “This boy’s pretty important to you, right? So stay there if you don’t want him hurt.”

From there, Hojun felt like all froze in that moment. She couldn’t think what was happening.