CHAPTER 88: I JOINED TO DESTROY IT FROM THE INSIDE

The voices died down as if placing his ears on the walls of the building triggered a mechanism to stop the sound from coming.

After ten minutes of hearing no sound, Gray stepped back, drew his sword, and turned a sharp gesture to Mike and two others to stand guard at the door while he and the remaining four young soldiers opened the door and stepped inside.

Heavy darkness welcomed Gray and the soldiers as they walked. With the motive of not alerting any to attack them, Gray signaled his men and made them decrease the rate at which their boots slammed the ground.

At every door they reached, Gray sneaked inside, scanned the room, and when he found no one, he dashed out.

But as they reached a brown door, Gray ordered two of the soldiers to stand at the gate, then entered with two. And when he entered first, bright light fell on him, causing him to cover his eyes and stumble back.

Gray blinked rapidly as the light stabbed into his eyes through the holes in his fingers.

The moment his vision adjusted, the two soldiers behind him instinctively dashed forward, stepping past him and standing guard directly in front of him, their blades raised.

But before he could warn them, the soldiers’ eyes widened as they saw three tall men appearing as if peeled from the air itself, standing around a white circular table, each of them smiling calmly as though they were already expecting guests.

Gray’s heartbeat faltered as his gaze snapped to the darkest corner of the room. There, he saw Wang standing with his hands folded neatly across his chest, leaning at the side and smiling back at Gray.

The moment Gray moved his arm down and drew his kitanas, he saw two figures appearing behind Wang.

In less than a second, Kang dashed forward, driving the sharp edge of a spoon through the first soldier at Gray’s right’s throat, killing him instantly.

At that same moment, Marcus also dashed forward, twisted behind the soldier at the left, and snapped his neck with a clean, chilling crack.

The two bodies dropped at Gray’s feet, their weapons slamming beside them and bouncing twice before resting calmly at their sides.

Gray thrashed toward the three people standing a few meters away from him, fury flooding his eyes.

When Wang saw the wild gaze in Gray’s blue eyes, he stepped forward, slowly drawing a single long sword from his back and stretching it toward Gray.

"Leave him," he said, his voice echoing in a commanding tone as he squeezed his eyes and looked back at Gray.

"Marcus... Kang... go after the soldiers we saw through the screen guarding the gates. I’ll handle him."

Hearing Wang’s voice, Marcus and Kang didn’t question him or act in any other way. They simply dashed toward Gray, attempting to push him aside to clear their path, but Gray didn’t.

He stood tall, the blades of the kitana sword crossed at his chest.

Marcus and Kang smiled, then crashed into Gray, Kang stretching the golden sword in his left arm at Gray’s left and Marcus his hammer at Gray’s right.

Gray, who stood tall, shifted just enough and sidestepped at the last second, dodging both weapons that came directly for his head. Marcus and Kang laughed as they finally burst past Gray and exited.

Wang walked back to the table, placed his sword on the surface, pulled out one of the chairs, and sat on it. He crossed one leg over the other, then gestured toward the empty seat opposite him.

"Gray, sit."

Gray didn’t move. He stood there like a statue, his eyes sharp like an eagle, his kitana clenched tightly in his arms.

Wang smirked and dropped his hand on the surface of the table as he saw Gray still standing there, his eyes blazing wildly.

The moment Marcus and Kang burst through the door and stepped outside, the hallway exploded with clashing sound as two of Gray’s soldiers, who had been guarding the entrance, dashed toward Marcus and Kang.

The clash hit like thunder.

Steel rang, sparks flashed as Kang swung downward, his golden blade carving a bright arc. One soldier parried, stumbling back, boots skidding across the floor.

Marcus flipped over him, landing behind the second guard, then drove his knee into the man’s back, sending him crashing into Kang’s waiting blade.

The first soldier roared, slashing desperately, but Marcus caught his wrist and twisted, breaking the bone with a brutal snap before plunging the sharp triangular edge of his hammer through the man’s heart.

The bodies hit the floor almost together, blood splashing out of them like water and stretching on the ground.

Marcus exhaled sharply, slammed the heavy side of his hammer on the head of the first corpse at his front, then stepped on the corpse like it was a carpet.

Kang wiped the blood off his blade and followed Marcus.

Then, without a word, they sprinted toward the main gate of the building they were in.

Inside the room they Marcus and Kang had left, Wang leaned back in his chair and folded his arms behind his head.

"Do you know why I despise the Westros Government?" Wang began, his voice low and eyes locked on Gray. "Why I despise their rules... their military... their entire rotten system?"

Gray said nothing, his blades raised in case Wang made even the slightest movement.

Wang’s smile faded as he grabbed one of the glass cups on the table and crashed it with his fist.

"I was born for the underworld," Wang said. "Born into the crime lords. That was my path until your military stole my life from me."

His jaw clenched, nostrils flaring, "They said my mother attacked one of their Lieutenants," Wang continued quietly. "Do you know how she died?"

Gray’s grip tightened.

"That same Lieutenant murdered her," Wang said, his voice now trembling with suppressed rage. "And then framed her for assaulting him."

A cold silence washed over the room.

Gray’s eyebrows pulled together in a hard frown, but he didn’t lower his swords.

Wang leaned forward, placing both elbows on the table.

"I didn’t join the military because I believed in justice or wanted peace," he whispered. "I joined to destroy it from the inside."

The two stared at each other, one burning in fury, the other simmering in pain.

And somewhere far beneath their feet, the building groaned, as though responding to the shifting storm brewing in the room.