Vengeance Upon Fate - Chapter 23

….?!!!

Mitsuo was still in the process of standing up. Looking forward in absolute joy, he was completely unaware of what was about to happen to him.

It was as if this very moment was occurring in slow motion, all for Kurogane alone to painfully witness.

The person placed his arms over his shoulders, tightening his grasp before pulling Mitsuo backwards.

{Huh?}

He fell back onto the floor, his surprised face immediately becoming horrified after coming to a realization of what was happening.

“Mitsuo!” cried out Kurogane, who was now just as terrified.

“You should’ve a little more careful, child.” said the unknown individual, wickedly grinning at Kurogane.

Another hand came from behind, grabbing and tugging Kurogane, who had not noticed that someone else was after him.

{Arghh}

It was another man, slightly shorter than the first one but no different in expression.

“Rise and shine.”

After tugging Kurogane, he landed a frontal kick, detrimentally impacting his chest. This made his eyes swell in pain. The force was enough to cause saliva to fly out of his mouth as he soared several feet away, tumbling until his body laid flat with his face on the ground.

Mitsuo began to shout upon seeing Kurogane suffer from the brutality.

“What’s your problem..!? What do you want?!!”

The man beside him slammed his boot on his face, gradually intensifying the pressure. Mitsuo cried in misery, attempting to use his hands to remove the boot off his face. To his unfortunate luck, the force was far too strong.

“There there, you might wanna shut up for a bit.”

Kurogane tried to get up, but the man had knocked too much air out of him, making it difficult to merely breathe, let alone move.

“..M-Mitsuo…..”

The man who had kicked Kurogane was fairly muscular – tan in skin tone. He wore a dark green tank top, loose khaki pants that ended above his ankles and agile, dark blue combat slippers.

The darkened ear piercings along with his spiked chain necklace combined with the black tattoos on both arms gave him no less of a vibe than a serial killer.

His dark brown leather belt occupied what looked to be a long, curved dagger. Altogether, he looked ready to do the absolute worst.

He began to walk towards Kurogane, eventually kicking him a second time. This caused him to tumble a few feet further.

{Argghhh}

He now had bruises on his chest and ribs as a result from both blows – his face, arms and clothes dirty and scratched from making contact with the floor repeatedly.

But this didn’t stop him from giving up, though he was very much aware of how unfair the odds were to their advantage.

(I have.. to stop them…)

With whatever will and strength he had within him, he struggled but managed to raise himself with both arms, his eyes sharply fixated at the evil beings before him.

“You.. both of you… were you the ones from earlier?”

“Ah, so you figured it out. You got some brains, I’ll say that much. You’re dealing with I, Kousuke – one of the most fearsome underground traffickers in this area. You should feel honored.”

said the man who was stepping on Mitsuo’s face.

Kousuke appeared to be taller than his partner – around six feet in height. His skin was cream colored and physique wise, was nearly if not greater in muscularity. Wuxiaworld for visiting.

He wore all black which included a trench coat that reached his knees, a red striped top hat and saggy pants that was supported with a golden buckled black belt.

His boots were thick and had dark grey studs beneath them – its height reaching above his ankles. The trench coat he wore seemed to be unbuttoned, revealing his chest that had a few distorted scars.

Judging from his overall appearance, he seemed to be some type of gang leader.

“Wait.. you know these people?” asked Mitsuo, trembling in his voice.

“Hey, I thought I told you to shut the hell up.”

Kousuke tightened the pressure of his boot, twisting in different directions slowly to severely intensify the pain on the poor boy’s face.

{Hraaghhghh..hrrghh}

Mitsuo didn’t scream this time. He was shrieking the loudest he ever could.

His nose fractured in the process, resulting in a mix of blood and tears lowering from the sides of his head.

The men chuckled in amusement, grinning from the sickening enjoyment they were having.

“Yea, he definitely knows us. He led us right to you!” said the man who had kicked Kurogane.

“It’s a good thing we waited before trying anything. We got ourselves a richer find as a result. That’s all thanks to you!” added Kousuke.

Mitsuo’s expression trembled, unsure of what was happening anymore due to his severe pain.

Kurogane shook his head slowly, shocked in denial at what they were saying.

“No.. that’s not…. I didn’t…”

“What should we do with this one? I’m pretty sure his family is that rich kind that came by the other day. I bet he’ll sell high in the market,” snarked Kousuke.

“Yeah, we can even get top dollar if we find one of those cannibals. They’d enjoy feasting on this!”

“Heh, your mentality never fails to impress me, Reiji.”

Mistuo laid there, tears rolling down his dreaded eyes. The young soul did not want to die and abandon his beloved family – especially through such an awful end.

Kousuke drawled out a large, sharpened scimitar from a sheath on his back.

Kurogane’s face watched in horror, fully aware of what was going to happen next.

“Please.. don’t do it..” cried Kurogane helplessly.

He hardly had the voice to speak loud enough for anyone to hear at this point.

“Let’s stab his arms and legs so he doesn’t try anything. We can heal him after we find someone to take him in.”

“I like the idea, Reiji. Go for it.” said Kousuke, chuckling to himself as he continued to step on the boy.

Mitsuo’s eyes widened, his muffled screams of terror only getting louder and hysterical. He was not ready to face what was coming.

Deep down, Kurogane knew he couldn’t do anything. He was weak, fragile and shaking, almost entirely lacking courage to make any move.

Everything around him began to slowly lose its volume – the screams of Mitsuo, the snickered laughs of Kousuke and Reiji alike.

All he could hear was his heart pounding uncontrollably as he gazed downwards, almost vacant of any will to carry on. Drops of tears and sweat dragged down his face onto the floor, one by one.

(What.. have I done..? Is this it? Is this how it ends for us?)

In the midst of his regret and despair, the face of the coachman flashed before him.

…

(Is this… the fate that awaited me all along?)