A Glaring Weakness

As the voice echoed into the room, its occupants turned towards the door only to see it cave inwards. At the same time, the guard who stood in front of the door flew inside and landed on his back, unconscious. Although still alive, the guard was battered and bruised, yet the man who stepped through the broken door after him was immaculate.

The man stepped before the boss, and the alarm rang throughout the compound. Sofia figured the loud sound of the door breaking must have alerted the guards. Their time was limited, yet Felix seemed unhurried. Both men stared each other down for a moment before Felix broke the silence.

"That's mine," he said.

The boss looked puzzled, unable to understand what he was referring to, until he noticed the black blade on the table. The boss smiled.

"I see. Here to take revenge, is that it?" the boss said as he reached for his weapon.

Two axes, a little more than half his size, were on the side of the bed, making for quite an intimidating sight. Felix was calm and unconcerned. He even gave the boss enough time to dress. As the prelude of the battle was brewing, Sofia reached Felix's side. Seeing this, the boss sneered.

"I knew you would betray me someday, you little bitch. I just didn't think one of your victims would be dumb enough to shield you," he said, keeping his eyes on Felix. "Let me tell you. Even before she came here, that bitch was scamming poor sods like you, using her body. You'd be surprised at the lows she and her brother had stooped to."

Sofia tensed up, thinking of all she had done in the name of survival. True, her brother and she had done some truly despicable things, but without resorting to this, they would already be corpses. Sofia looked towards Felix, awaiting his judgment with fear in her heart. To her surprise, Felix remained unmoved and simply shrugged.

"I'm hardly clean myself," he answered. "I'm not arrogant enough to judge right or wrong. I simply do as I please, and if people label me as evil, then so be it."

As Sofia heard his answer, the cold that had permeated her heart over her lengthy years in this gang started to melt a little. She had always thought herself undeserving. She had only confided in her brother, expressing her fears and doubts, but it had been over a year since she had last seen him. Since then, she had felt more and more alone. To find someone not to judge her actions after such a long time brought tears to her eyes.

The boss frowned at the scene. Something seemed odd about the man in front of him. He seemed utterly at ease despite being deep into an enemy stronghold, surrounded by foes on all sides. As he stared at him, a chill ran down his spine.

Moments later, over a dozen guards swarmed into the room. The boss felt relief at seeing his men surrounding the strange young man. However, seconds later, he felt shame at that train of thought. How could the "Raging Beasts" leader feel relief at outnumbering an unarmed opponent? Did that mean that he feared his foe?

IMPOSSIBLE! he thought as rage overwhelmed him. Fear is a sign of weakness, which is unacceptable to a being like myself.

He raised both axes and rushed towards Felix before letting them fall diagonally towards him, cutting off his escape route. Felix, however, swiftly rushed backwards. As the guards surrounding him were still surprised by their boss' sudden action, Felix quickly grabbed one and pulled him in front of him. The place where the guard now stood was exactly where Felix was a moment ago. The axes fell, and the guard didn't even realize he was dead.

The men were stunned by the death of their comrade. Felix took the opportunity to dispatch two more using the daggers hidden in his sleeves, throwing them with perfect accuracy right into their throats. As they clutched at their windpipe and blood flowed through their fingers, their bodies hit the floor with a thud.

Enraged, the boss pursued Felix around the room. Felix nimbly avoided his strikes by using the guards as human shields. Typically, it would be nigh impossible for one person to defeat more than a dozen opponents, but Felix had cleverly used their numbers against them.

Felix's opponents were mere bandits and thugs. They couldn't hope to hold any formations for long. As Felix led the boss around the room, their formation quickly crumbled as the guards tried desperately to avoid their boss' wild swings.

With their formation in disarray, Felix took the opportunity to reduce their numbers even more. He quickly disarmed one of the guards of his sword before cutting down another, simultaneously avoiding the boss' blows.

While Felix was fighting, Sofia stealthily approached the back of the room where Felix's blade was resting. As much as she tried not to point attention to her, she could not do so completely.

As she almost reached the blade, one of the guards noticed her and cut off her path. While she did train to fight somewhat with her brother, it wasn't her primary area of expertise, especially with an armed foe. Her only saving grace was that her opponent was merely trying to subdue her.

As the man reached out to grab her, she quickly ducked under his arms, pulling him forward. Then she turned her back towards him and used the momentum of his grab to send the man, who was easily 40 kg heavier than her, flying over her shoulder.

She had practiced this technique with her brother countless times, almost making it instinctual, and its delivery was virtually perfect. The man left the ground momentarily before crashing down, back first, unto a table, shattering it.

Sofia gasped for air. This technique had taken a lot from her. Although the motion seemed easy, to send a man of this size flying required such precise movements and intense concentration from her that it left her exhausted.

Unfortunately, such significant movements left her completely open afterwards, and another man circled around her and caught her in his grasp. Caught in the man's hold, Sofia was unable to move anymore. 

Once the boss saw that Sofia was caught, he started laughing. Once Felix noticed Sofia's predicament, he took hold of one of the guards. Holding his blade to the man's throat, Felix made his way towards one of the walls opposite Sofia's location, his back towards it.

As the room became silent, only the boss' laughter echoed. With a grin on his face, the boss said, "Hahaha! Despite how strong you are, your weakness is just as apparent. Are you willing to risk it all just for that woman?!"

Felix stared at him, a mask of stone on his face.

"To do dumb things despite knowing how dumb they are is only human."

At the mention of humans, the room grew noticeably colder. The boss frowned.

"Humans?!" the boss asked. "How are you related to the empire and these pathetic worms?!"

"What's with the name-calling? As I recall, you, too, are descended from them."

The boss's expression darkened, anger noticeable on his face.

"We may have been related at some point but have evolved way beyond them, becoming something much greater than they ever were. Do not insult me further by comparing me to something so weak."

"And yet, six years ago, the war ended without a victor," Felix said. "Can you still claim they are inferior?"

The boss lashed out.

"If it wasn't for that traitor, the kingdom would have won!"

Felix didn't respond, as any further words were useless. As the boss tried to regain his calm, the remaining guards surrounded Felix once again. Felix's mind raced to escape this predicament until the boss spoke again.

"We will find your relationship with the Empire sooner or later. Now, let go of your weapon unless you want something to happen to her."

Sofia was conflicted. She was the reason they were in this situation in the first place. However, if Felix was genuinely related to humans, then that would make him her enemy, as humans were responsible for her parents' deaths.

As she wavered between the two options, Felix sighed and lowered his blade. He looked around the room, weighing his options. No matter his choice, his chances of success were less than ideal.

After a moment of hesitation, the blade finally left his hand.