Raiding an Underground Casino

"GrrrRAAAGH!!"

Smash!

The Tank slammed his hammer into the ground, creating a mini crater. Akane had jumped up into the air and she spun around, ferociously kicking the side of his head.

He stumbled and fell on one knee. Akane appeared in front of him and punched him across the face, breaking a few of his teeth.

The Tank got up and wiped his mouth. He swung his hammer at Akane's horn which manages to hit. However, Akane began to phase, and she vanished. Then I noticed that she was running towards the Tank. But that's when things got confusing.

I saw another Akane behind the Tank who was in a position to perform an uppercut. It took me a while but I eventually figured it out.

Afterimage.

The Tank swung his hammer at the afterimage but it vanished as soon as he hit it.

"Huh? Wha-"

Flash!

Akane's fist flashed red and the Tank spun around. Akane then thrusted her fist straight towards the Tank's chin, uppercutting him.

GRAAAM!!!

The impact was so powerful that the Tank seemed to float in the air. In a few seconds, he fell to the ground, unconscious.

The fight was over and Akane had won.

However…

Akane's face became enraged, and she grabbed the Tank and slammed him into the ground. She did it repeatedly and wouldn't stop even when his face was all bloodied up.

I stood there and watched in amazement.

Yes… show no mercy…

I realized that I was sinking into my desires and decided I should stop her. I walked up to her and placed my hand on her arm.

"That's enough, he's not worth anymore."

She stared at me hesitantly before letting go of his head.

We quickly left the premises before we got into any further trouble.

I wanted to go to the scroll shop and get myself a new healing spell. Quick Regeneration is a good spell but when I was healing the girl from earlier, it took me an excessive amount of mana to fully heal her to her normal condition. It also takes me a while to mend up body parts such as when my arm was detached once when I was fighting that pig. Good thing I got him back by taking his life.

Anyway, I noticed along the way that Akane's hands were shaking as the blood dripped onto the ground from her hands.

I stopped.

"You know… I could've done it myself, right?"

She stopped and shifted her attention to me.

"Tell me, why did you want to do that yourself?"

We stared at each other for a brief moment. I noticed that her eyes were still glowing which seems to be the effect of one of her skills. I don't know which, but it must be a powerful one if it emits such an intense amount of energy.

"I couldn't stand the way that child was being treated."

Well, it's natural if you see a child being abused like that. Almost gave me flashbacks to my fa- old man doing the same.

My hands clenched on their own and trembled. I took deep breaths to calm myself down, knowing that it won't happen again.

"I see… guess you and I are a bit alike. However-"

I began walking again and she followed me.

"I would've killed him instead. I only stopped you because there were too many people watching," I said to her before entering the shop.

***

I bought a scroll housing the skill "Instant Heal." It consumes more mana but at the cost of healing one to their normal condition. It's best used when one is in a fatal condition and it also replaced Quick Regeneration.

I was going to use Instant Heal on Akane; she had a gash on her palm and some of her blood must've been mixed in with the Tank's blood from earlier. However, her wound had already closed up. She told me it was one of the factors of being able to manipulate blood.

Interesting…

As we were walking back to the inn, we encountered the same girl from the inn on the streets. She was once again in a beaten state.

I could sense the anger building up in Akane as she stared at the girl. Anger was also building up inside me. I walked up to her and cast Instant Heal.

"Did he do it again?" I asked her as she returned to her normal condition.

"Nn..." She nodded. I patted her head as I got her up on her feet.

"Do you know where he is?"

"Nn..." She nodded again.

She told us where he had headed and that he was followed by a gang.

I told her to return to her family and lent her some money before heading off.

On the way, I could see remnants of Akane's aura trying to manifest.

"Don't worry. Once we find him, you can let loose."

I was also ready to beat the crap out of him.

I also asked the girl what got her to be associated with that guy. The girl told us he was her family's debt collector and that they can't manage to pay that debt because they couldn't earn that much. She told us that he was located in some casino and that is where we are headed right now. We'll be raiding that place.

As we continued to the casino, I realized something. Why was I worried about that girl?

I stopped and sank into my thoughts.

What am I doing? Beating some thug for a little kid? What is even making me want to do this?

...

Maybe it's because I couldn't stand to see a kid get beaten up like that since I've experienced the same thing. I'm doing it... to save others... right? Or am I just doing it to appease myself from my past?

I shook my head and continued forward.

***

We arrived at a door in an alleyway and we could hear loud noises coming from within. They must have some kind of party inside. Or maybe that's just how loud casinos are. I never went to one before.

I knocked on it and waited. When they opened the door to see who was outside, I snatched the guy by the face and yanked him out. Akane then entered and the massacre began.

I continued to pound the guy I had just grabbed and for a minute I lost control of myself.

As I was pummeling him, I had a massive grin on my face as I smashed his face to pieces.

"Hehe... heheha... hahahaha..."

A baleful laugh leaked from my throat as I continued to pound this man. His face... he reminded me of my old man. This...

This is truly fun...

"Ahahaha... AHAHAHAHA!!!"

...

By the time I realized, I was now punching the ground covered in blood. I couldn't stop myself and I felt like I was having the time of my life.

I don't know how many minutes had gone by, but when I was about to use Fallen Descent, Akane caught my fist, stopping me.

I came back to my senses to see that he was completely obliterated.

I stopped as blood leaked from my hands.

Crap, my bloodlust got the best of me.

I wiped the blood off my hands. It was definitely a casino inside since there was so much money everywhere, though they were all covered in blood.

I used Wolf's Blood and located the guy through the walls. Seems he is surrounded by others. Two of them. Their outlines were yellow, so they must be around our level.

Using Soaring Dragon Fist, I opened a hole in the wall to the other room.

"Huh?" The Tank turned towards me and his companions did as well.

"What the!? It's you!" The Tank yelled as he picked his hammer up.

With a quick peek, the two besides him were at level 800. Looks like it's best to deal with them first.

Akane went for the large guy while I went to attack the other. Before I did that, though, I sealed the exit with my threads.

He swung his fist towards me, which I caught. Equipping Osiris, I returned a powerful blow to his face. He stumbled back as I kicked the side of his abdomen before piercing his stomach with Osiris' tail.

A feeling of satisfaction filled my heart before I was hit across the face with a Mithril hammer.

I flew to the side and stumbled as I saw small pieces of Osiris' mask fall onto the ground.

This is... curious. Is he not the same guy that was beaten up by Akane a few hours ago?

I turned and noticed that he was taking off a ring. I used Analysis and things completely changed.

He wasn't level 300 anymore, but instead 1000.

"Heh, this is a limiting ring. I may look like I'm at the same level as these weaklings, but I am actually much stronger. Now..."

He grabbed his hammer, and the veins on his muscles bulged.

"Time to die."

I got up and he swung his hammer once again. I Flash Stepped back, evading the hammer. I dashed forward and jabbed his stomach before dodging another one of his attacks. I would go for a quick uppercut, but he managed to avoid it.

Hmm, not only is he stronger than before, he's even faster. Well then, guess I should get a little serious.

After evading a few of his attacks, I jumped back and summoned my doppelganger. A figure emerged from the shadow and took my shape, even with its own version of Osiris equipped.

"Now then..."

I hopped around before taking a beckoning stance, my doppelganger following.

"Let's have some fun," I said before finishing with a crooked smile.

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