The abandoned park near the bridge fell into a tense silence as the situation turned dangerous in an instant.
Tougou stood at the front of his group of over twenty men, a cruel grin splitting his face. Many of them were armed with nail-studded bats, metal pipes, knives, and heavy planks. Their eyes gleamed with ugly hunger as they stared at Yuu and Natsuki sitting frozen in the back of the car.
Adrian's expression turned ice cold.
"Tougou." He said, voice dangerously low. "You really want to do this here?"
Tougou laughed loudly. "Why not? You're letting your balls hang where it shouldn't be. It's time for adults to remind you who really runs these places."
He snapped his fingers.
"Boys, take the pretty ones. And make sure Adrian here watches every second."
The gang surged forward like a pack of wolves, over twenty men roaring, weapons raised, and eyes wild with bloodlust.
Adrian moved along.
In his mind, he instantly opened the inventory and took out a pair of reinforced tactical gloves. They materialized in his hands. He pulled them on with sharp, practiced motions, the thick material snug against his skin, knuckles reinforced with hardened plates.
The first thug swung a metal pipe at his head with a guttural yell.
*WHHHHSSSH–!*
Adrian stepped inside the swing, his guard high and tight. The pipe crashed against his raised forearm with a dull clang, sending a sharp jolt of pain through his arm.
He ignored the pain and before the thug could react, fired back with a short, explosive jab straight to the man's throat.
*Zzzt*
A tiny, controlled electric jolt surged through his fist at the moment of contact. The thug's eyes bulged, body convulsing violently as the shock fried his nervous system. A wet, choking gurgle escaped his lips before he collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut, twitching on the ground.
Two more rushed him from the sides.
Adrian kept his guard tight, elbows close to his body and chin tucked down. Experience had taught him the cost of carelessness. So this time, he made sure to learn how to fight.
The first attacker threw a wild haymaker. Adrian slipped past it, the punch cutting through empty air close enough for him to feel the wind brush against his ear.
The second man was faster.
A heavy punch slammed into Adrian's ribs with a dull thud, tearing at the skin and sending a sharp burst of pain through his side. Warm blood immediately began trickling beneath his shirt.
Gritting his teeth against the pain, Adrian forced his body to ignore it.
He then drove a vicious rising elbow into the second attacker's temple.
*CRACK!*
A surge of electricity discharged on impact. The man's body seized violently before he collapsed to the ground, unconscious before he even hit the dirt.
Blood continued to run down Adrian's side, warm and sticky beneath his shirt, but his breathing remained steady. His guard never wavered.
Tougou's grin faltered.
"The fuck…? Since when did you learn how to fight like that?!"
Adrian didn't answer, he simply moved forward.
A thug lunged at him with a knife.
Adrian caught the man's wrist before the blade could reach him and twisted sharply. The attacker cried out as his grip broke. Adrian immediately drove a knee into his stomach.
The impact knocked the air from the man's lungs.
At the same time, another electric surge coursed through his body, causing him to collapse and drop the knife. Adrian kicked the weapon away before it could become a threat again.
More men rushed at him coming from every direction.
Fists, pipes, and bats came at him from every direction. Cuts opened along his arms, his lip split under a heavy punch, and a strike tore a gash across his cheekbone. Blood trickled down his face and into his mouth, carrying the familiar metallic taste of iron.
Yet Adrian's guard never broke.
He stayed composed, weathering the assault while answering every opening with ruthless precision. Each strike he landed carried a subtle electric surge, causing his opponents to seize up and collapse far faster than they should have.
Cries of pain echoed through the park as the electric shocks tore through their bodies.
Some attackers dropped where they stood, their muscles locking up before they hit the ground. Others staggered backward in panic, only to collapse moments later.
Tougou's face twisted with pure rage.
"Fuck this! All of you! Swarm him! Tear him apart!"
The remaining men charged in a final desperate wave.
Adrian's breathing gradually grew heavier. Blood ran down his face and arms, dripping onto the grass below, while pain pulsed through every part of his body.
Still, he kept moving.
Until eventually, only Tougou remained.
The large man stood amid the fallen bodies of his men, his chest rising and falling with heavy breaths. Veins bulged across his thick neck and muscular shoulders as his gaze swept over the unconscious figures scattered across the grass before finally settling on Adrian.
Then, unexpectedly, he laughed. A low, ugly, rumbling sound that grew louder.
"Well, I'll be damned..." Tougou glanced down at the blood staining his jacket before looking back at Adrian. "You actually took down over twenty of my guys... and you're still standing."
Adrian said nothing.
Blood trickled down his face and fell onto the grass below. His body ached from the relentless fight, and his breathing had grown noticeably heavier, but his eyes remained locked on Tougou, cold and unyielding.
The big man grinned, cracking his neck slowly.
"What's wrong, kid? Out of breath already?"
Still no answer.
Tougou's grin widened, eyes flicking toward the car where Yuu and Natsuki sat frozen in fear.
"You look exhausted. Why don't you call that pretty little girlfriend of yours over here? Maybe she can give you a chance to catch your breath. Let her service me real nice… and I might let you walk out of here alive. Hell, I'll even let you keep your two little twinks over there."
Adrian remained silent.
He simply stared with cold eyes, using every precious second to steady his breathing and recover what little stamina he could.
Tougou's patience finally snapped.
"Fine. Stay quiet then."
He shrugged off his jacket and let it fall to the ground, exposing a broad, heavily muscled torso crisscrossed with scars and marked by tattoos. It was the body of a man forged through years of violence.
"Let's see how tough you really are."
Tougou exploded forward.
*BOOOOM!*
A monstrous straight punch slammed into Adrian's guard.
The impact blasted through his arms and into his chest, overwhelming his stance entirely. Before he could even react, his feet left the ground and he was sent flying backward.
Adrian crashed into the dirt several meters away, pain exploding through his arms as he skidded across the ground. His chest burned with every breath, and for the first time since the fight had begun, genuine surprise flashed across his face.
'What the hell...?'
That punch was on an entirely different level. It felt less like a punch and more like being struck by a speeding vehicle.
Seeing Adrian struggle to push himself off the ground, Tougou let out a mocking laugh. "Hah! Look at you. Not so tough now, are you?"
Tougou cracked his knuckles, the sound loud in the sudden quiet.
A grin spread across his face.
"Still..." he said, eyeing Adrian with open amusement. "I'm honestly surprised you're still trying, kid."
He rolled his shoulders.
"People don't get back up after taking a punch from me."
Adrian let out a long, exhausted breath as he eventually pushed himself to his feet.
Blood dripped from his chin and arms onto the dirt below. Every part of his body screamed in protest. His muscles burned from overexertion, and pain pulsed from every bruise and cut he had accumulated throughout the fight.
Adrian let out another long breath as he gritted his teeth and stared directly into Tougou's eyes.
Tougou smirked, opening his mouth to taunt him again.
But Adrian's next move caught him completely off guard.
In one smooth motion, Adrian raised his hands.
Cold black steel gleamed beneath the morning sunlight, a metallic extension fitted to the end. A gun sat unwavering in Adrian's bloodied hand.
Tougou's eyes widened in shock.
"The fuck–?"
*THUP!*
The first silenced shot slammed into Tougou's stomach.
The big man staggered, shock flashing across his face.
*THUP!* *THUP!* *THUP!*
Adrian kept firing.
Each shot was messy, his hands trembling, driven by pure desperation to put Tougou down.
Blood bloomed across Tougou's torso in dark, wet patches. The man gasped, clutching his stomach as his legs buckled. He dropped to one knee, eyes wide with disbelief and pain.
Adrian's hand shook violently. His teeth were clenched so hard his jaw ached. Nausea twisted in his gut, bile rising in his throat as the metallic smell of blood filled the air.
'I have to do this…'
He fired again.
*THUP!*
Tougou collapsed onto his back, blood pooling beneath him, chest rising and falling in shallow, ragged breaths.
Adrian stood over him, breathing hard, vision blurry from exhaustion and disgust. He forced the bile that threatened to get out, back down.
'If I don't… he'll come back, more prepared a-and I don't even know if he knows anyone from the police or any other higher ups. He'll- He'll never stop. I'm right to do this… I have to…'
His stomach heaved. He fought the urge to vomit, forcing himself to stay upright.
After a few seconds, knowing his gloves had prevented him from leaving any fingerprints on the gun, he pressed the weapon into the trembling hand of the nearest conscious thug lying on the ground. The man could only stare back at him in terror.
Adrian leaned down close, his voice drooped to usual as he activated his Suggestive Word skill.
"You saw your own boss get shot by someone from your own group. You have no idea who pulled the trigger. It was complete chaos. You'll never speak of me. You'll never remember my face. You'll be terrified of even thinking about me."
He stayed there for a full five minutes, repeating the suggestions slowly and firmly, layering them as deeply as possible.
His eyes twitched from exhaustion, while the excessive use of his electric ability left a dull, relentless ache throbbing behind them. On top of that, using his Suggestive Words skill only worsened the strain on his mind. Even so, he refused to stop until he was certain the commands had taken root.
The thug's eyes glazed over for a brief moment as the suggestion took hold.
Adrian retrieved a knife from one of the unconscious thugs and placed it firmly in Tougou's limp hand, wrapping the fingers around the handle to leave prints.
He stepped back and looked over the scene he had created.
To anyone without the full context, it would look like nothing more than a brutal gang fight that had spiraled out of control.
Adrian hoped it would be enough.
It had to be enough.
Adrian turned away without another word.
He got into the driver's seat, started the engine, and drove off.
Yuu and Natsuki sat frozen in the back seat, their faces pale beyond words. Neither of them made a sound.
Yuu's hands were clenched so tightly in his lap that his knuckles had gone completely white, while Natsuki sat rigidly upright, trembling all over. His open eyes wide and unblinking as he stared at Adrian with a mixture of disbelief, horror, and fear in his gaze.
The silence inside the car was suffocating, broken only by their shaky, uneven breathing.
The car soon disappeared down the road.
==========
AN: Ngl, my original had him becoming a shonen protagonist lol. I forgot he had a gun and went full on Overcoming my Limits! Raaaah!. Quite honestly this is better in my opinion, even though it lacked the feeling of a victory. Tougou's going to die anyways, It doesn't matter if it's by a knife while he's paralyzed from Unlimited Power!!!(Star war's reference, if you don't get it.) or by a gun.
Also yes, he has emotions when he kills. Shocker I know.
Anyway's have a nice week.