40: Incheon [15]
•••
Samuel stood frozen, his eyes wide and mouth half open. The air was heavy with smoke and dust; every breath felt sharp. "What is going on?" he muttered, voice trembling under disbelief. His gaze darted across the field of ruin.
Jake was kneeling beside Lineman's broken body, one hand gently placed on his friend's unmoving chest. The faint shimmer of blood caught the light. "Lineman… you didn't need to go this far…" Jake whispered. His voice cracked, raw with guilt, but Lineman lay there—unconscious, pale, body riddled with wounds that refused to close.
Then a thunderous BOOM split the silence. The ground shook under their feet.
Ahead of them—bathed in the dim, flickering glow of ruined streetlights—raged a battle beyond comprehension.
Pacheon Jo vs. OG Daniel.
A clash that distorted the air itself.
"Haha! Entertain me more, young soul of lesser nation!" Pacheon Jo roared, his laughter echoing like thunder. Blood streaked his cheek and hand, a deep cut ran across his chest—but he stood tall, unaffected, his grin feral and godlike. His arms were open, wide, taunting Daniel to strike again.
Across from him, Daniel Park crouched low, chest heaving, sweat and blood dripping from his jawline. His body trembled, but his spirit didn't. His pupils locked on Pacheon Jo with razor precision.
Why can't I tap into that state again… the one I reached when I fought that maniac doctor? he thought, teeth grinding. Why now?
The next instant, Daniel lunged forward—speed blurring his outline. His body twisted midair into a sharp, spiraling Tornado Kick, the wind pressure slicing through the debris.
Pacheon Jo didn't flinch. His elbow rose to meet the strike head-on.
DAAM!
A shockwave exploded outward. Dust and shattered concrete burst from beneath them, spiraling like smoke.
Daniel's eyes narrowed, his jaw tightening as his foot recoiled off the impact. He blocked it… with one arm.
His mind raced. Should I go into Ultra Instinct?
He barely finished the thought before noticing the grin widening across Pacheon Jo's face.
The older man's eyes gleamed, the white one glowing faintly under the haze. "IT HAS BEEN AGES SINCE ANYONE FOUGHT WITH ME LIKE THIS! WHO ARE YOU? STATE YOUR NAME!"
Daniel straightened slightly, blood sliding down his cheek. "It's Daniel Park."
The air between them trembled. In a blur, Daniel dropped his leg and dashed in close. His muscles tightened like coiled steel. He slid under Pacheon's guard and thrust forward—his hand flattened like a blade.
"Now it's time to copy Jichang Kwak, I suppose," he muttered, slicing toward Pacheon's midsection.
But before the strike landed—
BAAM!
Daniel's body flew backward, a blur of motion. He twisted midair. His forearms throbbed violently—he'd blocked at the last second.
It was Pacheon Jo's knee.
The monstrous man stood there, calm amid the chaos. His stance was relaxed, yet his presence dominated the space.
"Daniel Park, was it?" His voice grew lower, colder. He tilted his head slightly, one eye glowing white, void of a pupil. "So you can…"
A faint smile crept across his lips. "…copy?"
Daniel didn't reply. He slid one leg forward, his heel grinding into the dirt, knees bent low. His wrists crossed in front of him, palms open, keeping exactly one handspan of distance—Taekkyeon stance. His breathing slowed, steady.
Pacheon's grin widened. "Well… I suppose you can only copy it."
He took slow, deliberate steps forward. Each one echoed with a deep rumble across the broken ground. His shadow swallowed the light as he approached. His fists clenched, veins bulging across his arms.
"You can't improvise it, can you, little Daniel Park?"
Daniel's gaze sharpened. Sweat slid down the side of his face, the cut across his cheek reopening. His stance sank lower, ready to spring. He exhaled through his nose, eyes locked on Pacheon's chest.
"You're going down today."
For a moment, silence—just two heartbeats in a storm.
Then Pacheon's smile turned almost human, his tone half amused, half nostalgic. "When was the last time I was this happy? When I fought that old man Zu Penguyan… or when I fought… Yamazaki Shintaro?"
Daniel didn't moved his eyes were sharp, situated on Pacheon Jo, he didn't bothered to answer.
He was past words now.
Both men shifted their weight forward at once. The dirt cracked beneath their feet. Their killing intent collided before their bodies even did.
Then—
A voice cut through the chaos.It was Calm and Measured.
"Isn't this quite too much, Absolute Master?"
The tension shattered.
Both Pacheon Jo and Daniel froze mid-motion. Even Jake and Samuel turned their heads.
From the veil of smoke walked a man—hands clasped calmly behind his back. His smile was soft, almost gentle, though his body was a mess of blood and bruises. His half-torn clothes clung to his skin, soaked red. Each step left faint drops of crimson behind him.
Yujae Seon.
And beside him, another man appeared. His white shirt was ruined—stained scarlet and torn. Blond hair fell over his eyes as he walked, his posture loose, but serious. Both his hands hung freely at his sides.
Jaegyeon Na.
Pacheon Jo's head tilted, his authority rolling through the air like thunder. "What are you saying, Yujae Seon?" His deep voice silenced even the trembling wind.
Yujae's smile didn't fade. His tone stayed composed, deliberate. "What I am saying… I am saying that isn't it quite much, Absolute Master?"
The echo of his words lingered.
For a moment, no one spoke. Daniel's breath rasped. The debris swirled in the wind. The faint glow of distant fires illuminated their faces—each one bearing the exhaustion of war.
The scene hung still in time.
Then the sound faded—
And the world turned elsewhere.
•••
[A/N: This not from flashback Samuel is saying, you can interpret it as filler, the chapter has ended already]
The scene shifted—quiet now.
Inside a dimly lit room, a man sat alone at a wooden table. A glass clinked gently as he poured himself another drink, the liquid catching the golden light.
He wore a cream-colored suit, crisp even under the faint glow. His long hair was tied neatly behind his head, his expression calm yet unreadable. His eyes were sharp, weary—like someone who had seen too many storms and survived them all.
He was a Pre-Generation. The Boss of the White Tiger Job Center.
Tom Lee.
"So," came a voice from the corner—neither gruff nor soft, somewhere in between. "You mean the current acting head of the Dark Crocodile Society, Yujae Seon… will lose?"
Manager Kim stepped into the light, his usual calm expression shaded with curiosity.
Tom Lee didn't look up. He swirled his drink, watching the ripples settle before replying.
"No," he said quietly, voice smooth yet heavy with certainty. "I said the Dark Crocodile Society will lose. Yujae Seon…"
He paused, taking a slow sip. The sound of the liquid echoed faintly in the still room.
"I never said anything about him."
The silence that followed felt deeper than any explosion.
•••
Changed the writing style because I had to write a fight. So, whenever I would write a chapter which has fight, it would look like this.