“Nothing is eternal, Romanoff. We must strive to stay within the board, to last longer.” Katherina said indifferently before adding.
”It’s time for some change.”
Romanoff’s expression darkened.
“I see; we were bound to lose since the beginning, huh!.” Romanoff looked up and took a deep breath. He could see that around him, most of his men were dead. Aileen had cornered Emma, and Lucien had brought a group of the men to kill the two remaining vice-leaders together with a red-haired girl he had never seen before. He knew it was just a matter of time before they were defeated.
Shaking his head, Romanoff held his sword firmly and took an offensive stance.
“… Come on, then. I want to see how much you’ve progressed since our last fight!”
Katherina nodded. “As you wish.”
She then took a step forward and shook her sword. At the same time, she signaled to others not to interfere. She was going to give Romanoff a fair fight as his burial gift.
Her sword cut through the air like a bullet and arrived in front of Romanoff, he blocked the sword with his weapon.
Clangs !
His right leg moved like a snake, trying to attack Katherina’s legs but dodged by stepping back. Using this opportunity, Romanoff attacked with his glaive covered in flame; he was a flame attribute user.
Katherina was forced back. Although, Romanoff was pushing Katherina back, he found no joy in this because none of his attacks connected. He felt like Katherina was toying with him. She was deliberately dodging while acting like she was having a hard time.
”Fuck you, did yer think I’m some pushover? I’ma smash yer head.” Furious Romanoff’s accent returned, and he rushed toward Katherina with his whole body covered in flame-like armor; the surrounding temperature increased, and the ground started to melt.
”Heavenly Fire Dom-”
Romanoff tried to use a domain, a power exclusive to few who stepped into level 4; however, Katherina could not let him do that. Not that she was afraid of losing if he let him activate his domain, but just because her subordinates could be swept in and end up severely injured or worse, they might die. Therefore she must stop playing and finish this fight.
Boom!
To cancel Romanoff’s domain, Katherina brutally stomped her feet on the ground generating a giant mushroom cloud, before rushing toward him, splitting the mushroom cloud into two.
Romanoff was shocked by the method used by the one nicknamed the flame witch. Just as he was about to attack, he heard Katherina’s voice.
“To be honest, if I want to overpower you and easily kill you, it would be difficult even for me,” Katherina acknowledged with a pleasant smile.
“?!”
The leader of the Vermillion’s gang didn’t know why, but Katherina’s acknowledgment made it feel as if this was some ominous premonition, and he was right.
Right after she said those words, Katherina flashed next to him and slashed downard, but Romanoff blocked the attack; however, his arms felt numb, and before he could understand what happened, he saw her lips curving upward as she mumbled.
”Purgatory Flame!”
Immediately Katherina’s face paled, and all the origin inside her body vanished to form a small black flame that appeared behind Romanoff.
He felt the grim reaper’s hands on his back. Immediately Romanoff tried to summon flame wings on his back but failed; he instantly switched to another plan, flame gathered under his feet, trying to propel him into the sky, but unfortunately, Katherina wouldn’t let him go; she gently pushed him on his back.
BOOM!
Romanoff felt like a hammer had struck his back before the black flame engulfed his body.
”Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!”
A soul-splitting cry escaped from the leader of the Vermillion’s gang when his body got engulfed in flame; he started rolling on the floor, destroying everything around him. It was quite a sorry sight; the smell of burning flesh wafted in the air forcing the two gangs to close their noses as they felt uncomfortable.
After a moment, the black flame disappeared, but Romanoff’s body was burnt beyond recognition; he had become bald with his skin turning black as charcoal, and the only thing that still showed he was alive was his chest rising and falling each time he breathed.
Katherina sighed, looking at Romanoff; the same fate, no, even worse, was awaiting her and her sisters if they were the losers. Now than ever, she saw the necessity to get stronger; sometimes, others wouldn’t leave you alone even when you have no desire to compete for more just because you were somewhere you could only ask for more. Trying to stay neutral, never wishing to swallow the other gangs in the underworld, was a mistake because if you leave them alone doesn’t mean they would do the same thing.
When living in the underworld, especially when you own a gang, you must be a wolf, never a sheep, because you will get devoured if you were.
For the sake of her family, she had already signed a deal with a devil whose identity was unknown; she could only go until the end, hoping it was the right choice.
Under everyone’s eyes, Katherina slowly walked toward Romanoff, who would die if he didn’t receive treatment soon. She raised her sword, and just as she was a few feet from Romanoff, Katherina froze. She felt an ominous feeling and her back became drenched in sweat.
”Sigh! It looks like I did not come late. I should have come out sooner, but he only said to intervene when things are unfavorable; I guess it is the case.”
A voice sounded.
And an old man appeared in front of Katherina; he was responsible for Katherina’s current state.
Instantly, everything changed.
The Ouroboros’s men were frozen. They felt their minds turning blank in the presence of the old man.
The oppressive atmosphere was so overwhelming that nobody could take even a breather. Even Katheria, Stella and Aiken, three level 4, could not move any muscle.
The old man looked at the black charcoal lying on the ground and sighed. “You are Romanoff, huh. How disappointing. To think you were beaten to this state. You are an embarrassment to the young master.”
Romanoff tried to open his burnt lips, but the pressure of the old man impeded it. The old man then looked at Katherina and others and smiled coldly.
“But no matter how disappointing you are, not even a dog of the young master can be scolded by some nobodies. Girls, you touched someone you could not touch.”
He then extended his hand a shook his head.
“Such a shame, with your talent, you would have become someone famous in a few years. In your next life, do not offend someone you can’t offend.”
Then, he clenched his hand as if he wished to crush them.
And nothing happened.
“Huh?” The old man clenched his hand again, but the mana in the surroundings seemed frozen, rejecting him. Instantly, the old man turned wary. With his strength, there was no way he would make a mistake; this could only mean one thing, there was someone powerful enough hiding that rendered his attack powerlessly.
Just thinking about this sent shiver down to the old man’s spine, but as a professional that undergone many battles, he could not let it show on his face, or else he would lose even before the fight had begun.
To maintain his mask and act as though he was not scared, the old man frowned and released his strength to scare the invisible enemy.
“Who are you!? Where are you hiding!?”
”Behind you.” Orpheus chuckled as he said from behind the old.
The old man’s face changed, but his reaction befitted a powerhouse. Instead of panicking, he exploded his origin outwards, blowing everything around him away. Few gang members were sent flying; fortunately, Amber and Stella acted faster and caught them before they crashed into the broken building behind them.
It just ruffled Orpheus’s clothes, though. He continued behind him with a mysterious smile.
Realizing that his attack was useless, the old man insta-casted a teleportation spell, teleporting ten feet away.
Orpheus did not bother to stop him. He was in a bad mood after Kratos’s prank; no, since a few days ago, his mood was not great.
When the old man reappeared, he looked at Orpheus with a grave expression.
“Who are you?”
Orpheus smirked. “Is it not obvious? I’m the one backing the Ouroboros.”
The old man wrinkled his brows. “So it’s you, huh… The young master was right, after all. He told us that the Black Snake gang, not the Ouroboros had someone powerful behind them, but he could not discover who. Your strength… Level 3?”
“Your young master is very observant.” Orpheus smiled and ignored his question about his level; he wanted to let the old man know he knew the identity of the one backing the Vermillion’s gang but finally decided against it.
He had something more important for this man; although he was barely peak rank level 4, he could barely satisfy his urge. Every time he used that weapon, an uncontrollable urge to drink blood would follow. He would use this man as an appetizer.
Noticing the evil grin on Orpheus’s face, the old man was no fool; he knew he was not this man’s match, and his decision to flee was immediate.
Unfortunately, he had no say before the ultimate predator.
”Stay still, where the food think he was going?” He asked before looking at Katherina with his crimson eyes; unconsciously, she took a step back, too frightening to look into Orpheus’s eyes.
”Take care of everything; I’ll be right back.” He ordered while licking his lips, only Amber and Lilith saw their master’s fangs, and they had one word to describe it. ‘Beautiful.’