Chapter 3: Cold Steel, Cold Stare

Both men stood frozen in their fighting stances.

The room fell silent. Hanabi watched the two men facing each other, her mind completely blank as she looked at the criminal and then turned her gaze to the passenger, a small spark of reliance finally appearing in her eyes.

Then, without warning, they moved.

Both fighters lunged forward at the same time.

The lead guard threw a powerful right punch toward the unknown passenger's face. The passenger raised his right arm and blocked the strike, immediately countering by driving his knee toward the guard's stomach.

But the guard reacted instantly.

Instead of retreating, he shifted his body sideways, falling toward his left while catching the passenger's incoming leg with his hand. Using the passenger’s momentum, he pulled upward and launched himself into the air, twisting his body horizontally.

BAM!

His kick crashed into the passenger's chest, forcing him backward.

Hanabi's eyes widened.

But the passenger didn't fall.

His feet slid across the concrete for only a moment before he regained his balance.

The lead guard landed smoothly and immediately advanced.

One step.

Two steps.

Three.

Then he stopped.

With his right foot forward and his left leg slightly behind, he raised his hands and slowly brushed them together, almost like he was casually dusting something off.

The unknown passenger simply watched him. With a small smirk on his lips, he raised his left hand slightly, signaling the lead guard to come at him.

The lead guard charged toward him and jumped, spinning to deliver a back left kick. But the passenger weaved beneath the kick to the right.

The lead guard landed on both feet and made a slight left turn, blocking his head with his right elbow, fully expecting a punch or kick to the head. But the passenger grabbed his shoulders, pulled himself up and toward the lead guard, and drove a very hard knee strike into his back—breaking a rib on his back.

"Arggh!" the lead guard exclaimed.

The force pushed him several steps forward. He barely gained his balance, bent over and holding his back in pain. It was as if his spine had been hit with a heavy steel baseball bat, almost bringing tears to his eyes.

He turned his head backward to his right. He was furious, his eyes turning blood-red with rage.

The unknown passenger stood and glanced at the lead guard nonchalantly, looking down on him and gazing at his broken back. But it looked like the man could still fight.

"You bastard," the lead guard said angrily as he cracked and straightened his back, forcing himself to continue fighting while enduring the agony. He turned toward the passenger and stood firmly. "I'm gonna kill you."

"And how're you gonna do that?" the unknown passenger said. He took a steady breath, placing his right leg slightly forward and his left leg backward, raising both hands to signal for him to come. "Let's end this."

"Today you die," the lead guard said calmly, his voice dripping with pure rage. With an angry face, he pulled a dagger into his left hand in a menacing way.

The unknown passenger stared at the dagger and blinked his eyes at the lead guard.

Suddenly, the lead guard pulled out another dagger with his right arm.

The unknown passenger's eyes immediately widened a fraction, locking into a serious, lethal mode as he gazed at the twin daggers. The lead guard was breathing heavily with anger, but otherwise, the room was dead silent.

The space remained calm and quiet for a tense moment as Hanabi watched, her head turned fully toward her left side.

The passenger raised both hands, his voice carrying a serious, dangerous calm.

"Come on then."

They both charged. The lead guard rushed forward, screaming, and it seemed the passenger became a bit annoyed by the noise. The guard lunged, driving his left hand downward to stab straight into the passenger's chest from above, while lifting his right hand to gut him from below.

But the unknown passenger had already seen through the attack.

He swiftly weaved out of the way, but the tip of the left dagger caught him, slicing a small cut across his right cheek. Capitalizing on the dodge, the passenger slid downward, diving straight between the lead guard's legs. He clamped his hands around both of the guard's ankles and pulled with immense, forceful strength.

With a violent yanking motion, the passenger swept the legs completely.

The lead guard slammed face-first onto the concrete floor with incredible force, his weapons clattering away as he lost his grip on both daggers. The impact shattered his nose, and a small stream of blood began spilling from his mouth and nose onto the cold tile. He tried to lift his face, forcing his trembling body up to keep fighting, but he had become too weak. His vision was turning blurry, and his limbs felt completely numb.

In that exact split second, the unknown passenger scrambled up onto the back of the dazed guard, flipped him over onto his back, and wrapped his forearms securely around his neck.

He locked in a tight rear-naked chokehold, attempting to snap his neck.

The lead guard tried desperately to resist with both hands, but his strength was completely spent. He could only claw weakly at the passenger's iron forearms, hitting them in a slow, tired rhythm while making choked, desperate gasping noises.

"You know, you're a pretty good fighter," the unknown passenger muttered coldly as the criminal struggled for his life beneath him. "But I can't waste any more time with you since there are more of you outside. I have to end you quickly."

The passenger tightened his grip, applying maximum pressure to finish the execution, until his head turned slightly forward.

And then his eyes suddenly widens when it locked with Hanabi's eyes.

The moment they made eye contact, Hanabi quickly snapped her head back to face forward as she was frozen her eyes on the ground which she spots one of the dagger that the criminal losed ahead of her.

The passenger paused, glancing down at the choking guard’s face. A serious expression washed over him, his eyes reflecting a sudden decision.

He abruptly released his locked arms from the guard's throat. Reaching up, he drove both of his thumbs forcefully into the sides of the lead guard's skull, piercing a high-pressure nerve point.

The lead guard's eyes widened, his mouth flying open in a silent shock. His raised hands went completely limp, hitting the ground with a dull thud as he passed out cold.

The passenger pushed the unconscious body aside and stood up, rolling his shoulders. Beside him, Hanabi remained sitting rigid in her chair, facing straight ahead, her eyes filled with a racing, desperate question: What is going to happen to me next? But then her eyes suddenly got serious with a desperate thought she had to survive and locked in while gazing at the dagger. All she could hear now was steps of the unknown passenger approaching from behind her. The unknown passenger walked towards her slowly while glancing at the chains tied against her hands behind the chair.

STEP STEP STEP which followed with a clattering sounds of chains behind her. She tilted her head backward a very bit immediately she heard this it was the unknown passenger setting her free.

Immediately the chain loosened a glint of white sparkle lit on Hanabi's left eye end when she faced ahead as she locked in and quickly charged towards the dagger on the ground picking it and quickly turned and pointed out the dagger with her left hand with her left leg on the chair.

While the unknown passenger who hadn't realized that was happening yet was raising his body up and then his eyes gazed at Hanabi's waist then towards up her face which had a serious look, her left arm was stretched out but he could only see half of it, Immediately he gazed downward he discovered her hand with a dagger was pointed towards his chin then he glanced back at her.

"what are yo-" before he could finish his sentence as he raised both arms Hanabi immediately cut in.

"Do not say a damn word, I'm in charge now", said Hanabi said with a serious confident face. But the unknown passenger knew she was trying to act calm and composed like she isn't frightened.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***