CHAPTER 89: STAND UP, MIGHTY LIEUTENANT!

"I should have known the night you came to this city," Gray said, took two steps forward and stretched the kitana sword in his right arm at Wang.

"Your questioning, your actions, and your words..." Gray added, kicked the chair at his front and screamed, "...traitor!"

Wang laughed, stood up, picked up the sword, then grinned. "If that’s how you’ll term it, so be it..."

He dashed forward, not giving his statement space to settle, and threw his sword, letting its blade cut through the air.

When the sword moved toward Gray, he moved his kitana sword and deflected Wang’s strike, yet he stumbled back with trembling arms.

Wang shuffled his right foot under the chair, moved it up, and threw it at Gray.

Seeing the table rolling in the air and thrusting toward him, Gray sideskipped, dodging the chair and letting it slam at the walls.

A loud crashing sound echoed as the table touched the walls and splatted to separate parts.

Before Gray could blink, he saw the blade of Wang’s sword dashing toward him, blocked it, and deflected Wang’s strike.

For ten minutes, Gray remained in the loop of deflecting and dodging Wang’s strikes, and in those same minutes not a single strand tore from his hair or his green outfit.

At the last minute of deflecting a strike meant for his head, Gray ducked under Wang’s arm, kicked him on the side, and pushed him back.

Wang, who stumbled back and struck his back at the ring of the white table, grinned, closing his eyes and cracking them open with strange power.

"Do you want to know when I knew I can use Bion City, this rotten city, as the beginning of my journey?" Wang said, spitting on the ground as he tightened his grip on the sword he held.

Gray didn’t say a word or give him the face as he saw Wang moving in an arc. And when he saw Wang’s eyes tilting sideways, Gray knew any little mistake he would make would leave him dead.

"The day you accepted the fake letter about the Babel operation and sent your so-called strong soldiers there..." Wang added, lowering his voice.

Noticing Gray’s reaction, he paused and cracked into laughter and brushed his left palm over his face, but never let his gaze fall off Gray.

At the mention of the word "Babel," memories of Mike danced through Gray’s eyes, letting him lose focus for just a second.

And in that second, Wang dashed forward, kicking Gray in the stomach and sending him flying through the open door.

Gray, who rolled through the door, slammed his back at the wall of the hallway and gritted his teeth as he felt a sharp metal striking him in the back and into his spine. Yet, Gray straightened himself, panting.

"You’re old, Gray... just die!" Wang said, dashed forward and threw his sword at Gray.

On the fiftieth time, Gray blocked the sword strike and deflected it, but lost sight again as heavy blood dripped from where he felt the sharp pain.

Noticing Gray losing focus again, Wang raised his right leg and threw a heavy kick at Gray’s chest, sending him flying and crashing just an inch from the exit of the building.

"Is this the so-called last member of the Chin family?" Wang said, spreading his arms and shouting, his voice echoing with pride.

"Na... no, I’m not sure you’re the one who helped a village and trained them to challenge even the gods...!" Wang said, bent down and picked up the chained dagger at the waist side of the corpse of the soldier lying in a pool of blood.

He looked at his reflection in the dagger then tore his gaze at Gray and smiled, as he saw him struggling to stand up.

"Stand up, Mighty LIEUTENANT!" Wang said, moved toward Gray and kicked him, letting him roll and bash out of the exit and lie flat in the dirt outside the building.

Gray, who lay flat on the ground, his kitanas still held tightly in his arms, coughed blood as his vision began to turn blurry.

And in the blurry vision, he saw one of his men struggling to keep in range with Marcus and Kang, and when Gray noticed it was Mike, he screamed and stretched his hand toward him.

"MIKE, RUN!!!" Gray said, using all his strength left and forced his spine to work, then dashed toward Marcus and Kang, slamming his kitana swords at their back.

Mike, who now got the chance to breathe, stumbled back, panting.

He tried moving toward the two men now changing their direction to Gray, but stopped when he saw Gray move a finger and shook his head.

Mike’s heart heaved as he finally decided to follow his lieutenant’s order but kept on turning back until he vanished and became one with the darkness ahead.

"Gray... Gray... Gray..." Wang said, stepping out of the building, holding the bleeding head of the soldier he took the daggers from.

"Here..." he said, throwing the daggers at Gray.

As the daggers slammed beneath Gray’s feet, memories of him and Kai’s training flashed in his mind. And in that moment, Gray gritted his teeth, smiling.

He pierced the kitana sword in his right arm in the dirt and used it as a pillar to help himself up. And when he straightened himself, he tilted a sharp blazing gaze at Wang.

Seeing the deadly gaze of Gray, Wang swallowed hard and kept a safe distance away from Gray, then ordered Kang and Marcus to finally attack Gray.

Even with shattered spine and bones, Kang and Marcus couldn’t keep up with the manner at which Gray threw his twin kitanas, letting them slam on their weapon and sending them back.

For thirty minutes, Marcus and Kang stopped every minute panting, but Gray stood still like a titanium pillar planted in an iron mountain.

No matter how they threw their strikes in the same order, Gray blocked it, ducked, and deflected their own strikes on themselves, letting their blades cut themselves.

At that time, Wang leaned at the side of the building’s door, watching and calculating the time Gray would be weakened, so he could act and kill him completely.

Meanwhile, Mike dashed toward the barracks’ direction, slamming all the zombified humans mercilessly as if he was a senseless monster, and when he moved past them and reached the gate, he slammed at the gate’s front screaming.

Mike and a few other soldiers standing there, ready for any action, dashed forward, circled Mike, and helped him up.

When Mike managed to stand on his knees, Max pulled out a bottle of water and handed it to Mike, who emptied the bottle in seconds.

There, Max stood up, paved his way through the crowd of soldiers, and fixed his gaze at the mouth of the alley, wildly.

After five minutes of seeing no shadow or soul coming toward the alley, Max turned toward Mike, who was now standing. "Where is Gray?"

Immediately Mike heard the name Gray, tears dripped down from his eyes, beading his chest and finally falling on the ground.

And at that same time Gray’s name got mentioned by Max, Kai jolted up from the bed, fully healed by the light that snaked around the wounds on his body.

Kai’s knuckles screamed as he tightened his grip on the dagger in his right arm and turned toward Clara who stood there, holding an obsidian dagger.

Seeing the look on Kai’s face, Clara stretched the dagger, handed it to Kai, and walked, following him as he dashed out of the room.

When they reached the parking lot of the remote section of the barracks, Clara hopped into the driver’s side of the Black BMW, stepped on the accelerator, and sparked the engine.

And in that moment, the sky rumbled with thunderous sounds and lightning as they drove toward the entrance of the barracks.