Chapter 518 (2/2)

“Ethan! You can’t just kill him-”

“Of course,” the blonde man, Ethan, said with a smile. “But I knew the man who could resist my attack wouldn’t die from a petty ambush such as that. You sir, please step aside. I have business with this man.”

Ethan was talking to Baloo. Shrugging, Baloo just patted the military man on the back, and then took several steps back. But when he touched the man’s back, Tatiana would have sworn that she saw a flash of green, like a small snake, slither out and down the man’s collar.

Tatiana would have likely caught more of it, had she not noticed that Baloo was barefoot. Was he always barefoot? Her eyes widened. Did he smelt metal barefoot? That would be… incredibly dumb!

“Uh… um… unfortunately… I have another appointment… so I must bid-” The military man began, but Ethan cut him off.

“Not so fast! Let me see if you aren’t just all talk then, eh?” Ethan started forward, quickly speeding up to a dead sprint. As he arrived in front of the military man, his right fist flashed forward to smash into his jaw.

The military man took a step back, arms flailing. But as she watched, one of those arms abruptly contorted and came down tight to the man’s face. It flicked out, knocking the punch aside, and then shot forward in a jab. The jab smashed into Ethan’s face.

Blood sprayed out of Ethan’s broken nose, likely done in by Ethan’s own forward momentum as much as everything else. As the military man straightened, looking down at his hand in confusion, the cloaked man rushed forward.

“Brother Ethan! You scoundrel, how dare you strike a man of God!”

Finally, the military man seemed to decide that the emotion he should feel is arrogance. He put his hands on his hips and snorted. Tatiana almost wanted to roll her eyes. It was obvious that this wasn’t a character that could so expertly execute an attack like that. Tatiana would be surprised if he had a single Skill above Lvl 50. She glanced at Baloo, curiously.

Did that mean that Baloo was assisting somehow…? But why?

“Did you not see him run into my fist? I was only stretching. Or did you want to fight? Let it never be said that Derek Lundain, Commissary Officer, refused a challenge of an honest duel.”

Tatiana’s eyebrow twitched. Commissary Officer…? Was this man a cook?

“We are from the United Church of God,” the masked individual said, glaring over at Derek. Ethan was on the ground, rolling back and forth and holding his nose. “Do you know the hornet's nest you just kicked? If you think we don’t have connections to the Federal Police, you’ve got another thing coming. I assume you are in Fretarch’s District? We can make a call within an hour that will have you out of a job.”

The arrogance was truly short-lived and disappeared like a popped bubble. “I… I… grrrrk!”

Derek grunted as his body contorted again, making him lean abruptly backward. A plasma slug from a pistol shot up, missing his head by inches. Slowly, he turned his head and looked down at Ethan, who was looking up at him with a face that was glee rapidly turning to shock and horror.

Derek and Ethan’s gazes locked. Derek seemed mostly puzzled, but Tatiana didn’t really have the angle to see the full expression on his face. But Ethan’s quickly became flooded with dread.

Finally, with surprising abruptness, Derek turned and power walked quickly away, not glancing back. The robed figure stepped forward to Ethan, checked on him, then seemed to be intending to follow Derek when Baloo stepped forward.

“Probably enough violence for today, right?” Baloo said, his voice soft. But instantly, the posture of the robed figures stopped in their tracks. Perhaps, whoever that was, they heard it too. That below that innocuous question was a threat.

And especially after so recently being foiled by the random cook, the robed man hesitated.

Then Baloo turned to Adrea. “For someone who doesn’t want to kill, your friend sure fires a lot of guns.”

And then he turned and walked away. After a brief hesitation, as she watched Adrea going to Ethan’s side to dab at his bloody nose, Tatiana followed after Baloo.