Brothers' Conflict

"No. Don't think that this world isn't all fair and good. The Underworld was a mess when the Five Kings made their names known. Minwoo had a younger brother who hated the limelight of nobles. That boy's name was Ashley, the First Seat Marksman who died in battle," said Verna, abruptly.

"The two of them were of royal and noble descent. But their parents favored Minwoo more because of his age, being older meant that he was next in line as head of the Dalles house. Meanwhile, Ashley was left alone in the dark. He grew angry and jealous to the point of running away."

"He joined the mafia and continued to rebel against his family while hating Mages at the same time. And for some time, Ashley hated the Mages while Minwoo worked with them in unison. Most likely it was a bad run-in with an angry Mage," continued Verna, shrugging his shoulders.

I had a fuzzy recollection of this part of the book. The way Ashley had died was not properly told in the book. Sure, it was implied that he was dead. The characters mentioned that he died while fighting against the main villain but the author never wrote down the whole scene.

Their battle and exactly how he was killed. But within the other characters' backstories, he does make an appearance from time to time. And he played a prominent part within Yan's backstory since Ashley drafted the young boy into a life of the streets and fights.

Ashley was known to be more hard-headed and brash compared to his elder brother. He would think of the fastest way of completing a mission, disregarding anything else. At times, he can be deadly because of his skills as a marksman. And he had an ace up his sleeves.

The Clairvoyance Element, he could things happening before it occurs, though for a split second before. That was so overpowered for a sniper.

"With the two brothers constantly at each others' throats, the entire Underworld was shaken when the two of them finally met up after a few years. And by the time, I was working under Minwoo and was tasked to watch out for his back in the event of a duel."

"Ashley was known to have tricks up his sleeves. Either backup or someone lurking at the sidelines. But somehow, I was let down since he had no one with him that night. The only surprise from him was his tongue-lashing to his elder brother."

"So you saw how they fought?" I asked, suddenly interested in the retelling.

The book didn't tell of anything of the two fighting in a duel. They had multiple arguments but never an altercation of weapons. I was intrigued, how would a trained swordsman go up against a master Marksman. The age-old tale of knives versus guns. Traditional versus modern.

"Yes and I could say that I would've died if I stepped in to help them. First off, Minwoo is a man capable enough to deflect bullets using his blades. Second, Ashley's eyes can detect things faster than the average eyes. Small movements cannot escape his sight, even if it's subtle."

"The two of them were at stalemate. In the end, to ensure that both do not end up killing each other, a Mage stepped in."

"A Mage? I thought affairs amongst humans were not to be tampered with by the Mages?" I asked.

"Correct. But instead of stepping in to stop them physically, like blocking their attacks, that Mage was just there. And you can guess which poor Mage was that..."

Verna looked at me as if I knew the answer. I shook my head in response.

"It was the Valkyrie. She happened to pass by because the Domain was being handled by her during that time. She was just patrolling the streets when she realized the whole area was dead silent. And then she came across the two of them fighting."

"Can you imagine the shock I had when she casually sat on the ground, a few meters away from the fight, and pulled out a bag of sweets to eat?!" said the Slayer as he recounted the moment.

That Valkyrie reminded me about those silly shows I used to watch when I was with my brother. It would be this epic battle scene, throwing punches and kicks and there will be this moment that an enemy stronger than both of them appears.

And all that fella does is just watch the whole battle unfold. My brother used to laugh so much at that scene because it's what we constantly do. Whenever our parents fought, we both would be eating something from the sidelines and watching how loud they can shout.

I was wondering if the windows would give way to their screams.