CHAPTER 46: A TAKEOVER (3)

Caw. Caw.

"Over here, Ash. Make it quick."

It was the third time the little birb told him to move quicker.

"I got no goddamn wings to fly, damnit!"

That was what he wished to shout out loud to the little bird.

But of course, he barely managed to hold himself back and just whispered the words under his breath.

He didn’t want to be found out before he could even get close to the thugs to catch them off guard.

Keen had been circling the base of the thugs for some time now, and Ash was doing his best trying to get there as fast as he could.

Unfortunately, his two human feet were just not as superior as the raven’s wings.

"I need to find a way to yell at the little bird without actually yelling at him..."

After painstakingly maneuvering through the narrow alleyways using his echolocation and Keen’s voice as a guide, Ash finally found the thugs’ hiding spot.

Caw. Caw.

"They’re over here. Inside this building. I also find even more...um...What did you call it? Protein source? Hidden inside the building."

Keen still circled above the two story building, which was higher than the other buildings around it, and a perfect spot for a bird to perch on.

Which he did a few seconds later.

Seeing his little friend was as nonchalant as a blade of grass, Ash’s eyebrows twitched a little.

As much as Ash wanted to complain to the birb for literally screaming at him for minutes, Keen did exactly what he was told to.

So Ash just gave his thumbs up to the birb.

Caw.

"Oh, and, don’t forget my protein."

Keen said as he leisurely sat on top of the roof of the building as if he owned it.

"Yeah, yeah. One bird-sized serving of protein is coming right away, esteemed sir."

With that, Ash summoned more titanroot, creating simple gauntlets that covered his hands.

He stood in front of the door, pricked himself with the berserker thorn.

And then, he just swung.

No fancy abilities. No unnecessary prep.

Just a little physical enhancement and bam.

The gauntlet hit the door squarely on the handle.

The steel handle was worth nothing more than a paper clip as it burst and liberated the door from its life calling.

The door split into several pieces. Starting from the contact point.

It flew, crashing into a guy who was unfortunate enough to stand behind the door as Ash hit it.

Both the door and the man crashed onto the ground, letting out a boom that echoed throughout the area.

Letting every single John and Jane know that something had happened to the hideout of a mid-sized gang.

The less unfortunate thugs inside the room hurriedly jumped towards Ash.

But Ash was done with his prior experiments.

He already knew their attacks were worth nothing.

He just let them hit him.

Fists swung. Weapons drawn. And magic cast.

And the result was...

After more literal wrist bones broken then hopes and dreams next, Ash quickly did his job.

Ash sent out a venom-laced thorn towards the 6 people who were still present in the room.

The physical type awakened were still mending their injuries, while the mage ones were too weak to even notice the thorns flying towards them.

As a result, the high dose of verdant wolf venom quickly incapacitated the 6 people as they began spasming on the ground.

Ash saw another door, this one looked more reinforced.

Inner and outer layers of steel covered the hinges and supported the whole structure of the door.

But still, it didn’t look quite convincing for Ash.

He didn’t want to kill unnecessary people since fewer people would mean fewer loyal followers, so Ash finally spoke loudly for the first time.

"Don’t stand behind the door if you don’t want to accidentally become bird feed! I have a young, healthy, slightly insecure, growing bird!"

Even through a steel reinforced wooden door, Ash didn’t need to change much.

Instead of using one hand to punch it, Ash used both of his hands. Punching both ends of the door.

He didn’t even know if it was a real fighting technique, but he saw it once on a show and decided to try it.

The two fists were cocked back and shot forward.

Just like the front door, the steel reinforced door broke into several pieces.

But due to its slightly heavier weight, it didn’t fly as far.

Two large pieces that used to be the bottom and top halves only flew a couple of meters away inside the room.

Ash took a look inside and found an even larger room than the one he was in.

There were 10 people inside.

3 of them were the familiar thugs he fought before, and the rest were unfamiliar faces.

But a man stood out from the other as he sat on an unnecessarily large wooden chair with an armrest that slightly resembled a throne.

It looked kind of pitiful.

’But hey, even a beggar can dream of being a king. I respect your wish.’ Ash nodded to the man who still sat on the throne despite everything that had been going on.

The people in the room froze.

Until the mage guy shouted, "That’s the guy we’re talking about! The mid tier 2 awakened sent by other gangs!"

All the people inside the room drew their weapons.

Even the man on the wooden throne fixed his posture and readied himself for a fight.

Ash scanned the people, then to the walls of the building, and raised his hand.

"Wait! I don’t want to lose my new home!"

With that, Ash activated his abilities.

"Since we’re trying to minimize destruction and fatalities... Then... Woody, Viney, You’re up."

Faster than anyone in the room had ever seen a mage cast their spells, Ash’s body glowed and dimmed in just a second.

Some of them thought of fighting, but the sheer amount of mana they felt coming out from Ash froze them in their tracks.

It was an amount only the boss was capable of emitting. Maybe even more than that.

Two humanoid figures grew from Ash.

One was greenish like the color of fresh grass, while the other was deep brown like the color of a hundred-year-old tree.

Ash looked to his two doppelgangers and spoke, "Don’t kill and don’t destroy."

With that single command, the doppelgangers and Ash himself moved.

Green and brown vines bloomed from the two humanoid creatures.

Ash and Viney jumped inside the room while Woody stayed right on the door frame.

Woody’s vine spread across the room, creating a cage that trapped anyone from leaving the room.

Viney spread his vines everywhere, catching everyone around their necks.

Holding them loose enough that they could still breathe, but strong enough to let them know that their lives were in his hands- or rather, vines.

Some of the men managed to either dodge or cut Viney’s vines.

But half of the men in the room were left helpless in Viney’s grasp.