Chapter 51: Sharper

I took a backstep through the hole in the wall before taking cover to the side.

BANG! BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!

The sound of gunfire was deafening. Bullets rained down on my former position kicking up dust as they drilled into and shattered the ground. Shotguns cracked, rifles clattered and Glocks spat.

The dust that was kicked up soon filled up the room making it difficult to see very clearly.

"Hold you fire!" One of the men signaled for the gunfire to stop.

Little by little the sounds of gunfire seemed to die down and the sound of men breathing heavily sounded in the room. Even Jace who was the furthest from the action looked on with narrowed eyes.

His instincts were still screaming at him.

Without wasting time he rushed away. His destination the back to the building where the twenty cars of scrap metal were stacked.

…

"You check it out" The man who ordered the cease fire before spoke once more. He was a large man who looked no different from a heavy weight on steroids. This time directing his order to a timid man who was visibly sweating and trembling in the knees. "Hurry!"

At the heavy weight's orders the timid man had no choice but to step forward.

His heart beating so loudly it felt as though everyone could hear it. As the man drew closer to the center of the mini dust cloud his vision cleared slightly to the point that he could partially see.

However, he saw nothing. Having expected to see a body lying on the ground heavily drilled by bullets all he saw was the cracked floor and the empty space.

"There's nothing here!" the timid man said and he turned around to his companions.

It was at that moment however that he presence appeared behind him. No different from the grim reaper. A heavy arm squeezed around his throat from behind cutting off his air supply.

The man choked and gagged. His vision spinning and his consciousness fading into nothing. The last thing he heard was:

"Your not an original gang member. Lucky you"

…

The heavy weight was on high alert. How could there be nothing. Even a normal evolver wouldn't have been able to react in time to avoid that. Too bad he didn't know he was dealing with what could only be called an anomaly with enhanced mental faculties.

"What do you mean there's no one there?" he asked in distress. However he got no reply which caused him to instantly err on the side of caution. "Be attentive we don't know how strong the enemy is!"

Like an experienced fighter he immediately ordered his men.

…

"Candice your turn" I said to the black haired woman who now stood behind me while I let the man in my choke hold drop to the floor passed out.

"En" Candice nodded before telling me to close my eyes which I did.

"" she chanted.

In an instant it was like a stun grenade had gone off in the room except that this one was ten times brighter and its effects lasted for much longer.

"Argh! What is that?"

"Fuck! I can't see!"

"Damn my eyes!"

The sounds of people crying out and groaning drifted into my ears.

"You can open them now" she said softly

Opening my eyes with my advanced eyesight it wasn't an issue to see even with the accumulated dust in the room. All the men seemed to have been disoriented as the staggered left and right. Some even trying to rub their eyes in hopes of getting their vision back.

"Good job with this it should be easier to tell apart Tiger gang members from the lot" I said as I sprung into action.

Swoosh! Shoosh!

My movements kicked up winds in the room as I moved from one man to the next inspecting them not only thoroughly but also quickly.

If I found those with the Tiger gang symbol I would cut the down with my sword with no remorse. If I found those without then I'd only knock them out, nothing more nothing less. After a minute of screams, groans and thuds the noise in the room finally died down.

The dust clearing with it.

Soon it became clear that all seventeen men were now lying on the ground. The only difference between them being that some of them lied in their own pools of blood either with stab wounds on their chests or without heads or even without their lower body halves while others were merely unconscious with no harm done to them physically.

In the midst of all this I stood. Clothes dyed red while blood dripped from my sword. If this was before the apocalypse then no doubt I would have looked like a deranged psychopathic killer.

Candice was in shook.

"Y-you…how?" she could barely make out any words.

Ignoring her my senses picked up movement to the right and true enough the elevator was moving. With her passive skill Candice picked up on this as well.

DING!

"Crap" I said and reached for the small of my back with my left hand. I was reached for a Glock 17, confiscated from one of Damien's men.

Moments later the elevators opened to reveal about seven other men standing inside, five of which were armed with fire arms and were standing behind two men who each had a sword at their waist. One look at them with and it was clear that these two were Evolvers.

My gun was already aligned. Primed and ready.

The two Evolvers, though not as strong as the first one who had gone off, were able to tell the danger that was before them. Such that by the time I pulled the trigger and fired my first shot, the two Evolvers Level's 5 and 6 respectively dodged to the side of the elevator doors. One on the left behind the panel of elevator buttons and the other on the right where it was just a plain wall.

The same couldn't be said for the armed men who were just normal humans.

A bullet struck one of them right in the center of the chest just narrowly missing his heart. The man's eyes were wide in bewilderment as he stared at the hole in his chest that was soaking his shirt in red for a moment before he slumped to the floor of the elevator blood pooling around him.

The four other men stood froze.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

I immediately followed up with four shots before the hammer of the gun kicked back.

I was out of bullets

It doesn't matter, I thought

The two Evolvers, though visibly shook, stepped out of the elevator brandishing their swords.

Black Salamander vibrated in my hands. Clearly excited for its first battle against what could be considered other swordsmen. Its meaning clear.

It was the sharper sword and it wanted to prove it.