Chapter 55: Tai Long vs Drake (part 2)

Drake used the pain to fuel himself. The battle was now starting to get more and more exciting. He stood trying to exert as minimal pressure, on his wounded leg, as possible. Tai Long had long since sat behind another tree. His back leaning against it. More sweat covered his face and his palms were sweating to the point of his gun getting slightly slippery. It was clear that this battle was weighing heavily on him but the determination in his eyes shone brighter than ever.

Peaking over his shoulder he could see Drake getting on his feet. He stood tall and proud looking as though he hadn't just been shot. Tai Long's emotions swirled. Anger flickering in his gaze. Why was Drake standing tall when it was obvious that he had been shot? Why wasn't he groaning or screaming in pain like his brothers had when he attacked them? Why did it seem like he was taunting him?

His emotions finally boiled over his thought process only thinking of one thing. Drake's death.

Without waiting any longer he aimed his gun and pulled the trigger. His gun barked, the spring mechanism pushed the bullet through the barrel with a force of more than a thousand Newtons. Drake was paying attention to the dark surroundings his opponent was hidden somewhere between the trees and he didn't seem to see him. That is until…

Flash! A tiny white spark lit in the darkness for only 0.9 seconds yet that moment was all Drake had needed. It was the very reason why he had just stood, exposing himself even though it would guarantee certain death. Drake dove and twisted away from his position.

His heart slowed to a crawl. His gun held in a two handed grip as he pulled the trigger his very own bullet flying off into the direction where the muzzle flash had come from. The bullet fired at him sizzled past between his legs, a few 2 short centimeters away from his family jewels but his face still held a firm expression. Staring off into the distance while his body landed hard on the ground.

Tai Long's eyes constricted when he saw Drake's response to his shot. It was then that he realized that he had been played but it was already too late. Drake's bullet burrowed into his shoulder and exited out his back as though drilling a tunnel through him. Blood and part of his collar bone were exposed. A pain like no other shaking him to the very core. This was the very first time in his life that Tai Long had been shot and the pain was enough to make his entire arm numb to the point that he couldn't hold his gun any more, his free hand reflexively slapped onto his shoulder but it only seemed to make the pain worse.

Tears threatened to roll down his eyes. His eyes now bloodshot. Tai Long screamed his lungs out as if he were a kid. This was the worst experience of his life. And despite the fact that his screams had given away his position to a higher degree than his muzzle flash. He didn't care.

Drake stood from his position. The slide of his gun had popped back clearly showing that it was empty. He had long since thrown his blade to the ground somewhere but that was alright. He preferred to finish things with his own hands anyway. He walked forward obviously heading towards Tai Long's position.

"It hurts doesn't it" Drake smiled bitterly

Tai Long was in too much pain to notice that Drake was standing three meters right behind him. The pain disorienting him but he still managed to somehow listen to what Drake was saying. But he didn't take it to heart too much. His senses were on fire, his mind was forcing him to lose consciousness right then and their but he fought that impulse. Though he know it but for someone who had been shot for the first time in his life, he was actually handling it quite well.

"Tch. Your screaming too much. Just like the bitches you called your brothers back then" when Drake spoke he insulted the people that he had killed a few moments ago. These people had been Tai Long's friends, comrades as well as brothers. He simply couldn't let Drake sully them like this and Tai Long was even sure that they'd be rolling in their graves if he didn't do something about it. "And you expect yourself to avenge them when your nothing but a bitch too. Same as them!"

Suddenly all he saw was red. Anger boiling over. Anger and pain collided within him and anger had ended up overwhelming the pain ,like a tsunami swallowing up an entire city, making it seem as though it was never there to begin with. A sudden surge of adrenaline pumped through his blood together with another small amount of energy that Tyler was familiar with. Yes this energy was none other than force.

…

A few moments before Tai Long and Drake started fighting. In a dark room with multiple computers laid out on wooden tables, 6 people stood three teenagers and three middle aged men. These peop;e were precisely Wilfred, Nate, Rochelle, Tyler and lastly Duke and Buke, the two bodyguards who had entered after Mr. Bright left to ensure their safety.

"What is happening?" Nate asked clearly concerned.

"That's what we are checking out right now so please calm down" Duke said trying to calm down the situation. This whole time Tyler had been silent and expressionless. His gaze cold and calculating.

This was undoubtedly an attack. The question was who was attacking and why. It obviously had something to with Nate's family and from what Nate had told him, his father was away on a business trip.

Did this by any chance have anything to do with that? Or was the attack all a coincidence? Tyler didn't believe that this was a coincidence but he also couldn't just ignore the latter as well. This issue was far too sensitive for him to overlook anything but without further information, this was the most he could come up with.

'I need to move.' Tyler thought to himself. He couldn't just stay put like he was right now. Sitting while a battle was going on in his friend's home? Definitely not something he felt comfortable with and ever since his fight with Houston's faction Tyler had felt his strength grow by leaps and bounds but he never truly had the chance to fully exert it to the fullest potential. However now that the opportunity had presented itself…?

Wouldn't it be a waste to just let it go? And besides, even if he somehow managed to simply stay put wouldn't whoever had attacked the manor still engage with him anyway? Tyler's aura suddenly soared. His eyes flashing with a certain glim. Tyler's aura caught everyone off guard and it even made it hard to breath. Rochelle sensed this and she knew almost instinctively that this was coming from Tyler. It was similar to when his demeanor had changed back when he checked through the phone of the poor man who had been kicked right off his bike and knocked out. But this had a different feel to it, it wasn't as cold as the previous one and it wasn't as murderous as it was as well.

In a way Rochelle was right about that. Tyler's blood boiled with excitement at the prospect of fighting. It seems the traits of a berserker were already manifesting from him which was the most natural thing. Why did he seem apprehensive when he was deployed on his last mission to extract a squad of captured ACD soldiers? Why did his blood boil when he fought the bullies who had ganged up on him? Why did he always feel like pushing himself further in battle? Why did he always seem to improve rapidly?

It was because he was a berserker. Beings born for the battlefield. Beings whose instincts were top tier in combat. Beings who could easily manipulate wild mana and Qi (Tyler's Force). Battle was his purpose. Battle was his nature. Battle was his life. Unfortunately Tyler's battle talent could not bloom to its fullest potential unless…the seal that was placed on Earth was released and the world finally begun to evolve.

Suddenly Tyler looked towards the window. He could sense an insignificant yet significant rise of what appeared to be force energy off in the distance. This naturally piqued his interest. His blood boiling even more but he still retained his logical thinking. It was about time he finally moved.

"Hey Wilfred do you have the keys to this room?" Tyler asked. this seemed like a sudden question to everyone.

"Yes I do. May I ask why you want to know?" Wilfred asked

"Isn't it obvious. Lock the damn door man. Duke. Buke. You guys stay here and make sure everyone is safe" Tyler said to the two men and they immediately held displeased expressions. Taking orders from a kid who wasn't even their employer left a bad taste in their mouths.

"We don't take orders from you kid" Duke retorted.

"Yeah sure whatever. You'll still do it anyway" Tyler said unphased by Duke remark.

"Where are you going dude?" Nate asked

"Relax I'll be back soon." Tyler smiled at him before turning towards Rochelle.

"Be careful" she spoke in a soft voice as she looked Tyler in the eye. She could somehow get his intentions. And somehow she knew that this was something that he had to do.

"I will" Tyler proceeded to open the window that led out to the roof.

"Close the window behind me" With that Tyler was on the roof of the manor standing approximately 15 meters off the ground. He crouched inorder to balance his weight and not fall off prematurely-I say prematurely because he was bound to jump off soon.

…

Drake was still in the middle of talking when the temperature suddenly plummeted. His gaze narrowed. Something was wrong. The hairs on his skin suddenly stood on end. His blood running cold as he saw Tai Long stand from his position.

The moment he turned around Drake could finally see it. Blood red eyes that held the flames of anger. A large fog of murderous intent engulfed the area. Drake broke out in cold sweat.

What the hell was this! He mentally screamed. One second Tai Long was screaming in pain like a wounded puppy and the next he had turned into what could only be described as a blood thirsty beast. This was unprecedented even for Drake.

Tai Long stared at Drake, a chilling gaze that could make your soul jump out of your body. Tai Long only had one thought and one thought alone.

Blood

Tai Long lifted his leg. The moment it touched the ground a foot forward, the three meter distance had suddenly been cut off by half!

Drake's body involuntarily froze. Fear taking ahold of him. This was simply nonsense. If things continued like this who was to say that it wouldn't be Drake lying on the ground dead.

….

In the other plane of existence…

"Oh Ho Ho!" a dark figure laughed in amusement as it stared through a glowing orb. "Seems Earth's seal deteriorating has something to do with the forceful evolution of some of its inhabitants"

First the confrontation between the human forces and vampire ghouls in North Korea and now this? The figure could only shake its head.

It seems that Earth would be joining the other evolving worlds. With Earth's seal crumbling, it wouldn't be long before the world was expelled from its pocket of reality before joining the real 'UNIVERSE'. When exactly this would be remained unknown but it seemed that Merlin's restriction on the world was finally ending. After three thousand years.