Chapter 2 Dancing with Fire The Snake and the Scorpion

Matheus had released the理力 of his gauntlet-type armor without opening his small shield, all to ensure this swift counterattack would succeed. With the momentum of his charge, he flexed his small sword, delivering a sharp thrust that traced a curved line like a living snake. Deciding he couldn't dodge it entirely, the leader closed the distance and deliberately offered his left shoulder. As expected, his shoulder was pierced, sending intense pain through him. But he gritted his teeth, twisted his body, and managed to entangle Matheus's small sword.

At the same time, the leader released the理力 of the small tube tucked under his right arm—a complete blind spot for Matheus. By deliberately losing his balance, he lured Matheus closer, creating this blind spot and setting up the perfect opportunity for a lethal strike. A fiery pillar erupted from the small tube, the kind that would burn the skin on contact and leave a lifelong scar, even if one survived the blast. The intense fire spread across Matheus's field of vision.

But as if he had anticipated this too, Matheus deflected the fire. From his left gauntlet-type armor, which he had already re-released its理力, he manifested a glowing barrier about the size of a small shield. He used this barrier to deflect the fiery pillar.

Having successfully deflected the fire, he twisted his body to the left from his defensive stance and launched a right kick aimed at the leader's left side. The kick was drawn to the leader's left shoulder, where the small sword still remained embedded.

The boss, shaken by the fact that his supposedly lethal blow had been dodged yet again, couldn't even stand his ground against the searing pain in his left shoulder that knocked him off balance, and he was slammed into the wall. Matheus followed up with a right palm strike to the staggering boss's face, slamming it into the wall once more.

With a sickening crack, as if his skull had caved in, cracks spread across the wall. The boss slid down, leaving a trail of blood behind him, his body limp.

"Ah, sorry. I might have gone a bit overboard," said Matheus, his voice as relaxed as if nothing serious had happened. The two kidnappers, who were holding the woman in the white dress, watched in shock and held their breath. Matheus calmly pulled out the small sword from the boss's left shoulder and turned to face them.

Finally, the two kidnappers, who had been watching Matheus's movements, began to move. One of them approached, wielding a small sword of the same size as Matheus's.

"Alright, enough, right? Is there something else you need?" Matheus asked hesitantly, still on guard. Although he had managed to take down the two of them, he knew it was just luck. Despite having the hostage (whether or not he had any obligation to save her was another matter), the power imbalance between them—both in terms of equipment and numbers—hadn't changed. He analyzed the situation this way.

Matheus glanced toward the exit, hoping for a way out, but felt a wave of despair wash over him. Two more men in the same outfit as the kidnappers blocking the exit had appeared, making it six of them in total. (How many are they going to use just to kidnap one woman?)

Internally, Matheus felt nauseous at the situation but tried to gather his thoughts and make sense of it. Why were they closing in? He had already noticed that the first two kidnappers were carrying rifle-type weapons on their backs. One of the two behind was already wielding the same weapon.

If he were to turn himself into a beehive from a distance, it would be a victory for the kidnappers. Yet, they were choosing to close in instead, sandwiching him between one from the front and two from behind, one of whom was armed with a rifle-type weapon. They were all inching closer.

If the kidnappers kept closing in, they risked hitting each other and even the kidnapped woman in the crossfire. Considering this, Matheus deduced that they were less likely to use their rifle-type weapons and were probably planning to engage in close combat with him.

(Are they afraid of gunfire? If so, why not just take the woman and go?)

Behind the man approaching, there's another guy holding a woman in a white dress, staring intently as if he's holding his breath. The woman, perhaps worn out from struggling, has gone quiet in his arms. I can feel her desperate, hopeful gaze, but even though Matthias is aware of it, he's too preoccupied with his own survival to do anything about it.

However, Matthias notices the kidnappers' gazes and realizes something on a whim. Figuring that doing something is better than doing nothing, he quietly lowers the small sword he had been holding at the ready.

One of the kidnappers, carrying a small sword-like weapon, creeps forward from in front of Matthias. This man was the second-in-command of the kidnappers. Normally, he should have taken the lead and focused on kidnapping their target, but he couldn't leave their still-breathing leader behind.

There's also the employer's order to take care of any witnesses. On top of that, he wanted to confront the target who had taken down two of his comrades head-on. This desire made him lose sight of his priorities. He was the kind of man who, despite his skills, always remained a second-in-command due to his misplaced desires. 

Unaware of these thoughts, Matthias quietly lowers his small sword.

(Is he pleading for his life at this point?)

Matheus's actions made all the kidnappers, and even the deputy, feel disappointed but also more composed. They thought, "If he's going to drop his weapon and beg for mercy, let him. Then we can just kill the unarmed target." However, as they paused, Matheus showed no sign of letting go of his small sword. Instead, he slowly brought the tip of the blade to rest on the leader's head, reigniting the deputy's temper.

"What are you up to?" the deputy asked.

"Finally talking, huh? I just wanted to chat a bit."

"Go on," the deputy said.

Matheus was using the small sword to poke the leader's head lightly, as if playing with a pebble on the roadside. It didn't look like he was about to start a serious conversation, but his cold, three-white eyes were now squinting in a somewhat friendly manner.

"I'm just a hired guard, you know. I have no connection to her. Honestly, I don't really care. We had some misunderstandings, but luckily no one has died... right? Yeah, there's still a pulse. So, how about we stop hurting each other? What do you think?"

The woman in the white dress, who had been quiet, started struggling again at Matheus's words. She seemed to be protesting fiercely, but it was just noise to everyone else. Ignoring this, the deputy began to think. The target was harmless, and the woman had no value as a hostage. If Matheus was still going to harm them, they had their own hostage—their leader—to hold over him... That's what he wanted to say.

He turned the tables on the kidnappers without changing a single unfavorable circumstance. When the deputy realized this, he gritted his teeth in frustration. Losing their leader was a huge blow—after all, he had handled all the negotiations with the client and many of the team trusted him deeply.

Still, it was just that... Showing any panic now would only benefit the target. For the deputy and the kidnappers, their priorities remained clear: complete the mission and eliminate any witnesses. While they were concerned about their leader, personal feelings couldn't override their objectives. The deputy had no intention of letting any witnesses walk away alive.

"Do what you want. We'll kill every witness. That's all there is to it."

"You're calm. Impressive. But, you know, not everyone can deliver a stellar performance when they come out of the theater," Matthew said, looking directly at the deputy. 

The deputy turned around. Behind him, one of his comrades was holding a woman, staring intently at their fallen leader. Even through their masks, their expressions were easy to read. As Matthew's companions approached from behind, they too stopped and stared every time the small sword flickered above their leader's head. Sensing their gaze, Matthew concluded that the fallen man still held value as a hostage.

The mere security guards were toying with them, exposing their pathetic and embarrassing state. The deputy struggled to contain his rage as he turned to look at his comrade carrying the woman in the white dress. 

"Everything's fine here. Go on ahead."

The comrade carrying the woman in the white dress seemed to want to say something in response to the deputy's words, but the deputy's irritated tone didn't allow it. He readjusted his hold on the woman and prepared to leave.

At this moment, Matthias was forced to decide whether to let them go or not. His ideal plan had been to take the man at his feet as a hostage, make the other two back off, and then escape himself. If there was an opportunity, he would have rescued the woman in the white dress. However, it seemed that wouldn't be so easy.

From the kidnappers' reactions, the man at his feet seemed to have some value, but from the deputy's words, Matthias realized he couldn't be used as a strong card. If their priority was eliminating witnesses, he knew he would be killed anyway.

So... Matthias made his decision, and his first step was swift. The man carrying the woman in the white dress hadn't noticed because he had already turned away, but the deputy reacted to Matthias' movement. Though slightly taken aback by the sudden action, the two men behind Matthias also closed the distance quickly, each driven by their own thoughts, rushing towards him.

Unintentionally or not, it seemed like the target had made a foolish decision. The adjutant prepared to fend off the attack by wielding his small sword, but then the target bent down to pick something up. Although the adjutant couldn't see what was being picked up, he would soon find out when Matheus raised his head. Matheus had shifted the small sword to his left hand, and in his right hand, he now held the throwing knife that the leader had hurled at him.

Thinking it might be a feint, the adjutant released the magical force from his left gauntlet, deploying a shimmering barrier. It was the same shield-like form Matheus had used to deflect the pillar of fire earlier.

Out of the corner of his eye, the adjutant saw two figures approaching from behind Matheus and securing the leader. With this, the target lost the advantage of having the leader as leverage and only gained the brief moment it took to pick up the throwing knife... a truly foolish move, the adjutant sneered inwardly.

For the adjutant, a distance of five strides was easily manageable. A small, shimmering barrier would be more than enough to deflect any thrown knife. He slightly hunched his body, ready for the moment.

However, the knife Matheus threw missed its mark by a wide margin. The adjutant couldn't understand why it would miss at such a close range, but he had more pressing matters to deal with, as Matheus charged forward like a heavy tank, closing the gap rapidly.

Each power interfering with the others means that, in principle, only one power can be released from the equipment at a time. Training ingrained in his body led him to choose to close the glowing barrier and redirect the power release to the small sword-shaped equipment, facing the target, rather than chasing after the knife's tip that had already veered off.

"Guah!"