Chapter 65
Dragon Claw and… the Red Cap
Rose hears him shout the immortal catchphrase. Her peachy cheeks tinge pink, and she smiles slightly at the familiar meaning of the words.
That joy is no longer unfamiliar to her, but fear knocks it away—like a punch that sends the guardian flying.
He now fights JK's number one guard, also known as Dragon Claw—the strongest monster among the Four Dogs, a group of four fierce elite warriors.
Dragon Claw doesn't want to mess around, but whoever angers the guardian loses the right to choose.
Dragon Claw must protect the image of JK Corporation. His identity and position are second only to the boss's family. He refuses to be inferior to that dog-blooded young buffalo guy. That legitimate reason compels Dragon Claw to strike back. He deflects the horizontal kick and rotates his right hand to punch the face.
The punch forces the guardian to block the pressure vortex, but he is immediately knocked away by his opponent. Sam also gets hit by debris, resulting in scratches all over his flesh.
With his arm still numb as if electrocuted, Dragon Claw rushes forward and uppercuts the guardian's face. The guardian turns to dodge and kicks at the enemy's feet. Dragon Claw jumps up and strikes down toward the ribs.
The guardian rolls to the side and narrowly avoids the hit. Dragon Claw's missed blow pierces through the brick floor.
Sweat beads on Rose's face. She fears the blow has dented the ground into a massive pit. If the guardian had taken that hit, his chest would break, his heart would explode, and he would die. She shouts:
- Don't fight anymore!
The ferocious god and the monster are drunk on the prey. They see nothing but the enemy, hear no sound around them. They focus their spirits and intellects to sense the other's breath. Whoever grasps the breath better gains the advantage.
The guardian glances at the person he cares about. That person looks around frantically, then runs through the crowd to find her brother. But before she reaches the door, Kai steps out from the crowd. Her brother pulls her to stand beside him.
Being absent-minded in actual combat is suicide. Just a few seconds are enough for the enemy to seize the chance and rush forward like a missile to attack.
The guardian pays no attention; the enemy's body movements and footwork resemble his in six or seven distinct ways.
There is a difference in speed. No one is faster than the world champion of triathlons—the one who breaks all records. This time is no exception. The guardian leans back to avoid the blow. He drops his stance and launches two hook kicks that hit the opponent's chest and chin.
Just moments ago, the bodyguards laughed at this young buffalo guy, saying he only bullies the weak and retreats when facing a strong enemy.
Mouths hang open, eyes roll back in stunned disbelief as they watch the strongest—the pride of JK Corporation—get kicked into the air.
The ferocious god takes advantage of the momentum and chases. His feet spin in a series of kicks toward Dragon Claw. The special move, "Tearing the Wind," makes a high-pitched hissing sound that leaves people dizzy.
Most of the audience is terrified. Many are excited, hoping the fight lasts long so they can enjoy the spectacle. All stare without blinking, admiring the eye-catching martial arts that everyone thought only existed in movies.
Rose still shivers in fear because of the person she misses and… loves. She pulls her brother's sleeve and urges him:
- You should stop them quickly. What's so good about watching people fight?
Her brother doesn't want trouble. He was warned last time for destroying the forest, and now his tiger-panther younger brother is smashing everything. Kai isn't afraid of his reputation being affected, but he fears getting into trouble with the police.
The elder brother also worries that his hot-tempered sibling will expose his flaws and get hit by the monster—risking crushed bones.
The trouble was, just as he came to check the situation and was about to intervene, his father activated the chip in his brain again:
"Calm down, son. Sam has always overwhelmed every opponent. He had never faced an overwhelmingly powerful enemy like that monster. I forbade you from ruining this rare opportunity for actual combat. I believed that even if Sam got injured, Death would still be no match for him. So why worry? You had to let Sam taste how bitter the fruit was, how hard it was to swallow—so that the dog-blooded young buffalo guy could grow up in mind, body, and spirit. That had been your responsibility as a brother, son!"
After the father finishes speaking, he immediately hangs up the phone. The strange father always acts abnormally, and the son never dares to question him. This time, he still obeys without hesitation. If he disobeys the order and angers his father, the consequences will be worse. Kai has to comfort his sister:
- If Sam encounters danger, I will intervene!
The brother speaks in a steely voice, preparing his fighting stance. The sister still cannot rest assured, her heart burning hotter than fire, even though Sam has the upper hand—kicking violently into the chest, then driving his foot upward into the face. Dragon Claw feels the stinging pain in the attacked area—something incredible that has never happened before.
For a long time, he has not known what pain is. Of all the opponents who have ever fought with him, The one who had lasted the longest could only endure three hits—then collapsed instantly.
He has never expected that one day he would be pressured to the point of suffocation, so the monster is no longer insensitive. He frowns, and his hands rotate continuously to block the blows. The deafening roar echoes with the cheers and encouragement of the bodyguards:
- The leader is invincible!
- The Invincible Instructor!
- Beat his mother dead, avenge Beak, leader!
- Wash away the hatred with the blood of that young buffalo guy!
Some outsiders, full of envy toward Sam, take advantage of the chaos and join the pack of dogs, biting viciously:
- Beat him! Cripple him forever!
- If family can't teach you, let life teach you, dead dog guy!
Sam continues to attack fiercely, but Dragon Claw suddenly fights back with force, gathering strength around the area being kicked to block the attack. Sam feels as if he is kicking a wall. He immediately feels uneasy and changes his moves in a panic.
Dragon Claw aims accurately every second, turning his fist into a claw to grab Sam's ankle. The bodyguard lets out a roar and slams him down onto the counter.
Rose's heartbeat quickens as she watches Sam support the back of his neck with his left hand, hold his head with his right hand to prevent impact, and curl up to reduce the force. Before he can fight back, Dragon Claw sends both legs flying at his face.
Sam crosses his hands to block. Dragon Claw's two legs flash with a blue light and stomp on his face. The counter shatters, everything is smashed to pieces, and the cap on his head falls onto the dirty pile. It's just a dirty stain on the baseball cap, but it makes Sam angry.
The troublemaker only knows how to beat people—a young buffalo guy who regards this block of life as more rotten than a pile of garbage. A proud guy who looks down on God as being no better than a pot lid. That image of the tiger and leopard is shattered beneath the body that collapses to the floor.
People are curious about the strange expression. Just a few minutes ago, he was fighting with someone stronger than himself, but now the ferocious god stands motionless. When Hoang Kim is in trouble, Sam still keeps his rationality. But what the hell is it that makes him lose his spirit again—because of a baseball cap?
Outsiders think the old, faded baseball cap is cheap and unworthy of a world star. The bodyguards sneer at the dog-blooded guy, mocking him for being more fragile than a woman. Kai also thinks the baseball cap is just for sun and rain protection, but he is still entangled with the feeling that Sam has just lost something.
The younger brother can't find something that seems to exist only in the memory destroyed by the stain. Kai believes he is not driven by emotion, yet confusion still lingers in his heart.
The brothers get along well. But it's a pity that the two have become a family not long ago, and the elder brother still fails to understand his younger brother.
The bond between brothers is strong enough to sacrifice one's life… but not deep enough to empathize yet.
Careless stranger. Ruthless enemy. The elder brother remains unclear about the unanswered questions. Rose feels that the "priceless" object is not meaningless or insensible.
The moment the seemingly "meaningless" object slips out of reach, Sam reaches out in panic to hold back hope.
He treats the baseball cap like family, and sees the reeking pile of garbage as a dark abyss. He will never let his "relatives" disappear again. His efforts are not rewarded, and the "relatives" still leave him forever.
Sadness reminds Rose of the image of her best friend lowering her head in tears, blaming herself for losing the souvenir.
The two relatives share the same concern. The elder brother tosses and turns, trying to understand his sister's thoughts, but he still doesn't grasp his younger brother's mood.
Strangely, the person who had felt familiar not long ago now seems absent-minded, hollow, and consumed by inexplicable sadness. That person is usually rosy and radiant, but now looks depressed—like a flower whose fragrance and color have faded.
The steel rose bites her lips until they bleed, trying to stop her sobbing hiccups. She fears that someone might discover her true feelings. The fragile Rose remains weak in front of the fool who stands against the whole world for her.
He doesn't cry like her confidant, but spicy tears still blur the depths of his gray eyes. Rose stands stunned, realizing there is nothing but emptiness in those vacant, dazed eyes.
The guardian protects the people he loves, but he cannot preserve the things he cherishes. He loses all cognition and fails to recognize the enemy rushing in. His mind drifts into unconsciousness, and he hears the choking screams of the person he cares about:
- Sam, he's attacking…
Rose's mind spirals into panic. The fear of a future no longer pink urges her to rush forward and parry the fatal blow.
The situation unfolds unexpectedly. But for a man who lives for his sister and dies for his family, he feels the joy, sorrow, and sulking of the dearest person. Even the beating and trembling of the heart, and the sobbing for those he worries about—he feels it all, just like his own inner thoughts.
The brother stops his sister from doing something reckless. While trying to restrain her, one of Kai's fingers accidentally hooks into a small tear on her sleeve.
The pulling force rips the sleeve, and he panics, chasing after her and wrapping his arms around her waist, hugging her tightly.
- Rose, calm down…
- Let me go, I have to save…
Rose stops struggling. Her brother looks toward Sam. Both siblings fall silent as blood oozes from the sharp knife.
The blood dyes Rose's eye sockets deep red. Kai is shocked to feel "Beak" and "Dragon Claw" being sucked into the wild white of her eyes. The bottomless depression crushes the two men into ashes and swallows them whole.
Just seconds ago, Rose's face was pale and bloodless. Now, it turns cold again. Kai shivers in the icy air until his whole body freezes, feeling as if he's touching something strange.
The creature swirls its cruel gaze toward Beak. The cowardly guy laughs nervously, squeezing and stabbing the knife. Sam clenches his fist to stop the weapon from piercing his heart, then pulls and jerks his opponent.
Beak panics at the terrifying strength. The sneak attacker has no time to react, only seeing Sam twist his body to dodge the knife and drive his knee into Beak's abdomen.
Sam throws the knife and spins both hands to strike repeatedly. The bodyguard reels in dizziness. Sam uppercuts Beak's jaw, launching him high into the air.
His torn, bloody hand slams into Beak's abdomen. The pointy-beaked guy spurts gastric juice and blood again. The force of the blow knocks Beak into Dragon Claw.
The leader of the bodyguards is rushing in and immediately pushes Beak away. The ferocious god and the monster continue to fight fiercely. A terrible bang suddenly echoes through the space.
Everyone panics. The bodyguards roll their eyes, and the entire audience falls silent, watching as someone smashes a wooden table straight into Beak's chest.
No one has been able to imagine that the mischievous, lively schoolgirl—who often played tricks on her classmates—has now been distorted by hatred. The fragile rose has ceased to be human in the eyes of the terrified crowd.
Everyone shudders as a bone-chilling cold seeps through their bodies, haunted by the emotionless expression that freezes all feelings. At this moment, killing the damn guy is the only thought in the mind of someone who has lost herself.
The bodyguards stare at Rose with wide eyes as she approaches the motionless body. Zero quickly pushes aside the men in front of him and runs to stop Rose, who is holding a broken bottle. One, two, three men… upon seeing Kai fly in to protect Rose, they immediately rush forward. Both sides push and shove in a messy attempt to stop it.
Nguy Hoang watches this lively drama calmly from beginning to end. He raises the corners of his mouth and smiles evilly at the crowd entertaining the world. The messy-haired guy standing next to him mutters:
- That domineering showbiz lowlife is so badass, yet he lets his sister escape? Damn, what a useless fool!
Nguy Hoang tacitly despises the superficial guy. He observes without missing a single detail. Just as Beak was about to be punched away by Sam, the crazy girl's brother had paused for a few seconds, hesitating in confusion. The angelic face had been crushed, as if someone had broken its wings.
Nguy Hoang hadn't understood why Kai had been frustrated and had reluctantly let go of his sister. But it doesn't matter—he doesn't have time to meddle in things that have nothing to do with him.
Nguy Hoang quietly clicks his tongue, inwardly annoyed as he watches the bodyguards separate Beak from Rose. The boy-crazy girl is also dragged away by her brother.
Rose struggles, refusing to stand still. Her brother is surprised that her strength is comparable to that of a healthy man. He squeezes harder to restrain his love-crazed sister.
Rose points her thorns at the enemy. Her wild white eye sockets swirl into Beak, her red pupils burning with rage, wanting to incinerate him.
Every roar from her mouth sounds like chewing and swallowing dry food, as if she would tear Beak's body apart and eat his flesh if her brother didn't stop her.
Beak's eyes are bloodshot, and he glares back with hostility. Kai warns him, his sword-shaped brows stabbing diagonally across his cold, expressionless face. Beak's throat immediately contracts, fearing it might be slit. The corners of his mouth tremble as he swallows the sweat dripping from his temple. The coward faints—he doesn't dare face the monster siblings.
The rumbling sound of breaking and collapsing draws Beak's attention. He slightly opens his eyes and watches the melodramatic guy fighting Dragon Claw. The evil beasts fight fiercely—both sides attack without defending.
His body is battered by a series of sky-falling kicks, swelling with wounds. He fights hard, trying his best to withstand a barrage of steel fists as powerful as sledgehammers.
Dragon Claw pays the same price—his whole body feels like it's cracking under the dangerous feet. Sam clenches his fists so tightly that blood oozes out. Each thundering punch is more powerful than a sledgehammer. The terrifying force squeezes muscle and bone, nearly breaking them.
The battle, beyond human limits, silences the entire place. No one dares to breathe heavily. The mob inciting violence has no guts to shout. Many people leave quickly, fearing sudden disaster.
After waiting a long time and still seeing no police arrive to quell the riot, an impatient female teacher steps out to make another Halo call, but receives bad news:
"We're stuck in traffic!"
The female teacher shouts into her phone:
- The school is about to be destroyed! If you guys don't get here in time, the two monsters will smash it into rubble!
A terrible noise erupts, and the teacher turns around in anger, cursing. Debris flies toward the students in her class, and she rushes to help a male and female student reach safety.
The monsters continue tearing each other apart. The caring one pays attention to every detail and every wound on Sam's body. The anger burns the rose's tears dry. Sharp streaks of blood floating in her purple pupils stab directly into Dragon Claw. He doesn't know that the thorny rose sees him as a mortal enemy.
The flower's brother shivers because of his sister, but still stops his sister from going out of control. He watches the battle carefully for his father to analyze—part of the reason why the chip in his head had been connected to his eyes and ears.
He hasn't known the real reason his father has wanted Sam to fight Dragon Claw. It's definitely not just to forge skills or deflate Sam's oversized ego.
He hasn't understood why, just as Sam is about to knock Beak out, his father has told him to let Rose go. The situation has been so unexpected, yet his father has been precise to the second, as if he has known everything in advance.
The question is: why does Father want Rose to beat Beak? After beating Beak, Rose becomes a completely different person. She turns violent and wants to kill the guy who dared to sneakily stab Sam.
"Hah, sneakily stab Sam!? Could it be…"
The crazy idea plants a mysterious question mark in his mind. Paranoia creeps in, making him sweat all over. His face turns gray and blue. Pain rises in his temples with every twitch of panic. Whenever there has been an ominous premonition, this symptom has recurred—always indicating a correct inference.
The pain is more severe than usual. He almost lets his crazy sister escape as he roars and charges into battle to devour Dragon Claw alive. He is also worried that his brother is fighting fiercely, so he temporarily ignores the question.
On the other side, Dragon Claw grabs Sam's shoulders and hits his face with his knee. Sam tilts his head to avoid breaking his nose. His face is stiff, no longer feeling pain. He still stands firmly in front of the enemy.
Dragon Claw sees Sam focusing all his senses on his enemy, staring with a dull, soulless gaze. Dragon Claw shivers at the white that blankets the space. Everything and everyone disappears in that emptiness. A person who is no longer aware sees only the enemy.
Dragon Claw is always a machine in human form. But somehow, he has a "feeling" toward the person he first meets. The strange sensation tells Dragon Claw that to Sam, he is no longer human. He isn't the beast Sam curses at whenever the guardian goes crazy. In cold, ashen eyes, he has become a mortal enemy. Sam considers him an enemy not because he saved Beak… but because he… soiled the baseball cap.
The more Dragon Claw fights, the more excited he becomes. Unaware, the bodyguard is swept into the battle. The excitement is not the joy of meeting a worthy opponent, but the joy of being an ordinary person like everyone else. But for a machine that only knows how to follow orders, that kind of joy has never existed.
Now, that joy sows the seeds of hope for restoring his innate nature. The thoughts of obeying orders, deeply embedded in his subconscious, immediately rush out, forcing him to bury the seeds of disobedience in the deepest darkness.
Dragon Claw violently dispels the "joy" disturbing his brain, roaring and kicking at the enemy's abdomen. Sam ignores the pain twisting his guts. He turns over on the opponent's legs at lightning speed, elbows Dragon Claw's chest, and swings his steel fist to strike the center of the forehead.
The bodyguards, once cheering loudly, go quiet and frown at the sight of Dragon Claw being struck—then their leader stiffens.
The blow is strong enough to be horrifying, but not so serious that his face goes blank and numb like a man who's lost his mind. Sam immediately climbs onto his shoulders and wraps his legs tightly around his neck.
Kai also notices something strange about Dragon Claw, puzzled by the bodyguard's sudden numbness. The burning eyes of the bodyguard suddenly become darker than the night. Everyone is sure something is wrong with Dragon Claw.
But no one expects that the bodyguard's mind is in chaos. With every sharp pain in his head, he covers his ears to block out the buzzing sound. But it can't stop the strange noise drilling into his brain like a drill bit.
Sam increases his strength, and his angry fist accidentally crushes the deafening drilling sound. The sound disappears after five seconds. A series of vague images floods into Dragon Claw's subconscious. Each shape, each image has belonged to a different space, with some vague shadows.
He strains his eyes to see who it is, where they are. The thought stretches until it tears at his pupils. The dark frame blurs into the crimson color of death. He has vaguely seen a hazy scene of smoke and fire, and a figure collapsed in a pool of blood.
The shadow has begun to take shape. The effort to concentrate his mind for identification is about to be rewarded. But the pain in his bones—every blow, every elbow—makes his brain ache… knocking everything into pieces.
Pain crushes his disordered spirit. Regret teases his bewildered mind, making Dragon Claw furious. He roars, squeezes Sam's leg and dents it, violently trying to throw off the mad dog that keeps biting and refuses to let go.
Sam doesn't need to know that his leg bones echo with a cracking sound. The pain of the souvenir destroyed by the enemy keeps squeezing his heart.
The idyllic family image—a family of three having fun, quarrels and curses, loud threats, teachings, and provocations from relatives—has constantly echoed in the frenzied mind:
"Damn you mother. You refused to study when you were little, so you became a robber when you grew up!"
"I was the first robber to rob you of wearing sunglasses! My eyes were so itchy I could've splattered bullets!"
"Well, did you see that? I told you—it was still messing around at eighty years old, treating the heavens and pot lids as equals. So why the hell were you wasting your saliva on it?"
"The old man got discouraged too early. It was only six years old. Why were you so nervous?"
"Oh, it said it would rob you of your glasses first!"
"Tsk, old father didn't know how to joke. Boredom splattered grenades everywhere!"
"Forget your mother and do whatever you all wanted. I was packing my bags so I could leave on time tomorrow!"
"Hey kid, a man holds up the sky with his head and crushes the earth beneath his feet. You crushed the ground but hated the sky, so you didn't want to wear that stinky, dirty woman-guy thing. Your brother had been looking everywhere to buy that super-good hat. You wore it instead of the sky—cool enough to splatter a grenade!"
"Bah, what an ugly hat! Super authentic—what kind of damn cage was that? You bought it for your brother and still felt sorry for the money. Brothers were like a cage. Get the hell out of here!"
"Your father's ancestor—you scoffed instead of thanking me. You wore the hat on your head. Watch out, take good care of it. If it got dirty or lost, I would come back, kick your ass, and burn your hair!"
"Well, get out of here! You were more talkative than old father—deaf! Get out!"
Neither the elder brother nor the younger brother has been able to keep their promise. The rogue God has separated them. He has lived like a shadow for six years. He hasn't remembered how many times he has stayed up all night. If he hasn't met Hoang Kim, his life has already rushed into a dead end.
Once again, the woman-guy has grown envious and has released the JK hound to bite the second brother—his family has been broken up. Now, the grave of the past is dug up because of his weakness. The insulter is the hunting dog of the sworn enemy.
The traces of anger spread blood, cut the purple face in diagonal and vertical patterns, and tear open the red eye sockets soaked with hot tears. No one can recognize the guy who only bleeds for his family and sheds tears for his dearest person.
He is no longer a guardian, no longer a ferocious god—he is not even a human being anymore, but the god of death.