Pride or shame?

Waking up on a smelly floor and the sound of leaking water that was dripping continuously becoming annoying, Akira's eyes began opening slowly. Kazuya was up sooner than Akira did. They remembered that they were trapped and fainted by an unknown smoke that went through their lungs. Eventually, they woke up at an unknown place with a smelly area that smelled like human waste.

Akira shortly after woke up in shock and uttered words with a strong smell that made him cover his nose.

"They set us up!" Kazuya was already awoken after Akira had awakened. Akira backed up to his feet and observed the area they were stuck in.

"Ugh, I can't stand the smell."

"Yeah, I get the feeling too, being here with you."

"Hey, listen! This is no time for hating speech, we need to find Horka and the others."

"Tch, why would I follow your order? Listen you dimwit, I'm here to assist my gang but you, so don't stand in my way!" Akira and Kazuya started fighting because they couldn't cope with each other.

Suddenly...

A strange noise came in front of them. It sounded like a growling of a wolf with its shadow, revealing the beast's figure. Akira and Kazuya stopped for a moment when it caught their attention.

As it approached closely, from the shadows, a puppy came out of nowhere and approached them slowly. A cute and small white puppy with black and brown spots on its body, going near them.

"Huh? Oh, it's just a puppy."

Kazuya approached the dog, trying to pet it. Meanwhile, Akira's danger sense was alerting him to avoid the area immediately. His senses wouldn't lie and reported to Kazuya before the same mistake happened.

"I don't think it's a puppy..."

"What do you mean? Are you blind? Look closer, it's a..." Kazuya looked at the puppy again whilst it was morphing into a monster. Later, he eventually backed away fast after seeing the cute puppy turn into a monstrous creature.

The puppy's eyes changed from blue to red, and as his fur grew longer, it became untidy. Its skin became black and silver a few seconds later, and as the transformation continued, its teeth grew bigger and stronger and its claws sharpened.

"No, wait! Don't harm the dog!" Kazuya unexpectedly halted Akira, prior to harming the dog.

"Why not? I'm just knocking it out, not killing it."

"I said no! You don't screw with animal abuse." Kazuya reasoned that they mustn't harm the dog because were afraid of animal abuse, which of most, was one of the silliest things in a death situation like this that Akira had heard.

"What? You're more concerned about animal abuse rather than your life?"

"It's not that. Karma is a real bitch for all I know. I once kicked a stray cat into the open sewer river, next thing I know, my favorite skateboard fell off the sewer river the cat just fell, the next, my favorite basketball, and the next one again, my favorite bike that I bought from the store for 27,000Gols." Kazuya gave his reasons for why he didn't want to harm the dog because of him being traumatized by his past.

"That's a load of crap! It's our lives at stake. That's just you who randomly kicked a cat for no reason, and now it's the time to do it."

"Screw you! I won't harm that dog, whatever the circumstances."

"Then how do we settle this?"

"I'll figure it out." Kazuya while his face was all sweaty, he figured it out in a matter of seconds. Dogs love chasing things like bones or a stick, with that, Kazuya summoned a raw bone from his body and made Akira shiver with disgust. The bone came out from his right shoulder and his right arm became limp, due to him removing the bone from his arm. Shortly after, his arm fully recovered and his bones came back regeneratively.

Kazuya swayed the bone left to right, distracting the dog's eyes. The puppy's eyes became fixated on the bone while they followed left and right. Not just its eyes were acting different, but its tail started to wiggle.

The dog bent down to the ground and began showing its tongue like a playful puppy.

"IT WORKED!?" Even Akira was surprised by how that worked, a lethal beast that could chase your souls, turned into a playful puppy.

"Fetch, boy!" Kazuya threw the bone far from its behind and it started chasing the bone after it was thrown.

The beast was distracted and now they both made an alternative way by making a large hole in the wall. Kazuya then applied earth magic to the wall to make a path hole for them to go to Horka and the group. Kazuya sensed them by using vibration to locate them, it was from Reien that he copied his skills. Meanwhile, Akira sensed them too with his hearing and discovered their location right after.

After navigating the area, Kazuya and Akira were sent to an arena. A crowd of people was gathered around a battle arena. The group had also woken up, and their magic had been confined inside a cage that they were trapped in with sealing magic.

Right before they noticed Horka and Angelo face to face on a stage, Akira and Kazuya were in a fight against Angelo's goons. Horka was standing motionless, looking directly at Angelo, without showing any emotion.

Before the reinforcements arrived, Akira and Kazuya defeated the entire army with ease. Horka and Angelo remained mute as Akira proceeded to free the prisoners from their cages with his blood slash. Once free, they drew their weapons and pointed them at Angelo who was about to start a fight with Horka.

"Slow it down. Order them to stand down, brother." Angelo started speaking with Horka who later called him "Brother", making everyone silent in shock after hearing it.

"I can tell you've changed, Yeru Horka. You are aware that you are not yet prepared to assume leadership. Too young, undisciplined, and naive. What gives you the idea that you would command in a weak state like those I mentioned. Because you are too ignorant and your gang is going to be killed, anyone else except you should be in charge."

"I won't! Never in my years have I given up on them and entrusted them with both my body and soul. I won't let that happen!"

"Very well, how about this? If you lose, you'll disband the group, but if you win, I won't do anything to trouble you."

"Either pride or shame will be yours. Would you humiliate them by backing down and letting them help you? Feigning fear, and running away like a cat? You shouldn't participate in their leadership going forward. Instead of being called a proud warrior, you will be called a humiliating one."

"Don't listen to him! Those words are utter nonsense! Come to your senses! He only wants you to disband the group!" Kazuya tried to stop the fight, to prevent Horka from being humiliated because of his knowledge of how strong Angelo was.

"Keep quiet, Kazuya. I'll accept your fight, brother if that's what you want to do."

"Very well. Even so, you shouldn't keep making the same mistakes and running into the same issues. When did you recall our most recent fight? You did indeed suffer three defeats. You failed to keep up with yourself while displaying that intense sorrow on your face. You have promised yourself that you will never lose, but if you lose, you will soon be unable to keep that vow."

"Will I fail to keep that vow? I had lots of defeats in my past life and I sure got many lessons from them, starting from you. It doesn't matter anymore, I'm their leader and I swore to them that I will become their most faithful leader! Screw with my past defeats, I AM THE LEADER OF THE RAISHOUN GANG, WILL STAND FORTH IN DEFEATING YOU, ANGELO HORKA!" Yeru Horka spoke such chilling remarks with unwavering resolve despite the fact that his efforts would be in vain.

After hearing what Yeru had to say, Angelo Horka found himself unable to speak. Yeru's eyes changed from being weak and powerless to having a frightening glare emanating from his willpower.

Everyone present on stage kept their mouths shut while watching the terrific brotherhood fight.

With the strong atmosphere making everyone uneasy, Angelo Horka began to smile and crack his neck. Horka, though, was anxious as well because of the strength of his doubts that he would lose, he chew them down and overcome them.

"I haven't shown you my magic, have I? Then, let's call this, a death battle!" Angelo's hands began to melt something that appeared to be molten metal and soil that had fallen from his hand shortly after.

Angelo's "Magma magic," which he hardly ever used in most of his battles, was revealed to be his magic.

"Now, LET IT BEGIN!" Thus, their battle began.

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About Volts.

Favorite foods: "Probably the squid. When I ate at the bbq party, was my very first eating a very good meal. My first taste of squid surprises me. The chewy texture and the flavor are extraordinary."

Disliked foods: "I hate roaches... The texture of the roaches is crunchy and the taste is the worst possible of anything I tasted, it sends me a shudder down my spine remembering that. To this day, I still don't know how I survived that..."

Hobby: "Enjoying the scenery is one of my favorite things to do. Its exquisite feelings bring me to peace when I'm troubled in thought."

Likes: "I don't know what I liked but, I suppose I liked being accompanied by my close ones."

Dislikes: "Being saved, being treated nicely, and being helped are the ones I hate most. However... Hmm... Nevermind..."