Adopted Soldier

A few hours before Alex's confrontation with his grandfather, Matthew was walking down a mountain path. He was heading towards the border of a small country, where he heard rumors of some underground people spotted in this area. Alongside the information on the rumors regarding the Shadow Mercenaries, Matthew came to the conclusion that the Shadow Mercenaries were hiding in an underground base. 

Matthew and his cat Leo who was sleeping on top of Matthew's bag felt the ground trembling. When Matthew felt that tremor he smiled happily and started running towards the source. When he got nearer to the area with the greatest reaction, Matthew felt that someone was already behind him.

This immediately sent warning signals in Matthew's mind. Someone skilled enough to get so close to him without him noticing, meant the other party was a powerful individual, or it could be an extremely competent assassin. Either way, Matthew knew what to do, he charged forward to avoid the person behind him. The next thing he did was to get a hold of his weapon and aim it at the person who snuck behind him. 

Leo who was on top of Matthew's bag was clinging onto the dear life because of the erratic movements Matthew made. After it was able to stabilize its position it looked at the newcomer and hissed. 

The person who snuck behind Matthew looked surprised at the sudden movements of the boy. At first, he was amazed to see someone so young to be able to feel his presence even though he was sure that he masked it completely. Yet when he got a good look of the opposing side he finally understood the situation, when he was about to say something Matthew started shooting at him. 

All this time Matthew knew that attacking first and securing the initiative was key to winning, especially after the numerous encounters he had. 

...

Viktor who was about to talk to Matthew was now trying his best to survive. He wasn't really all that good in a gunfight. Usually, he would have rendered his opponent unconscious before anyone notices him, but since his surprise attack didn't work, he had little to no choice in the matter. 

Viktor wanted to tell Matthew he wasn't an enemy, but he had no chance to speak under Matthew's attacks. 

'This guy is like Dan, attack first asks questions later, if they die then whatever. I really hate this kind of people. I always thought the holy son was calm individual like his master, turns out his the total opposite. F*cking b*stard making things so difficult for me!' 

While Viktor was cursing Matthew in his head, he tried to once again hide from Matthew, but before he could mask his presence he saw a cat beside him. The cat who saw him suddenly hissed, which once again alerted Matthew to his presence. Every time Viktor tried to hide the cat would be able to spot him and alert Matthew. 

At one point Viktor wanted to kill the cat but then decided against it. If he did kill Matthew's pet cat, even if their misunderstanding goes away Matthew would still try to kill him. 

Viktor had no choice was about to make a move, but then he spotted Sora in the distance. Viktor signaled Sora to help him, but the other just smiled and winked at him. Viktor who was evading the hail of bullets was totally enraged by Sora's actions. 

Matthew who was attacking Viktor without pause noticed the shift in the other party's attention, that was when he spotted Sora. Without any hesitation, Matthew attacked Sora as well. 

...

Now that a majority of Matthew's attention was on Sora, Viktor had the chance to tell Matthew that they weren't his enemy. Yet looking at Sora being cornered, Viktor decided to delay his announcement. 

'You didn't help me, so I won't help you... Well, I'll just make Matthew stop... After a while.' 

...

Sora who noticed the situation has turned for the worse for him looked at Viktor who was smiling smugly at him. Sora knew that this was some sort of karma, because of his deeds earlier, but he decided to simply blame everything on Viktor. 

'I'll get back at you Viktor!'

...

Matthew who was attacking Sora with a passion felt it was weird. He waited for Viktor to attack him, he even showed an obvious opening but the person in question simply stood there smiling at the one he was shooting. 

'Are they not allies? Actually, are they even enemies?' Matthew knew that his attacks normally left no room for a counterattack, but base on the way the two people he tried attacking were able to dodge his attacks in a way that made it look like it was easy, made Matthew start to have doubts. Given their apparent skill level, why weren't they fighting back and simply dodging?

Matthew then took a gamble and stopped shooting. He waited for a few seconds but an attack never came. He then saw that the two people question were no arguing and fighting each other, instead of him who attacked them both. 

This scene before his eyes left Matthew utterly dumbfounded. 

"Why the hell didn't you help me you lazy bum!" Sora shouted at Viktor as he tried to overpower his self-proclaimed comrade. 

"Right back at you! Why should I help you, when you didn't help me!" Viktor shouted as he tried to push Sora down to the ground. 

"Well, I thought you were playing with one of Alex's friends. I didn't know you were really in danger." 

"The hell! Getting shot at doesn't look dangerous to you?! What the f*ck makes you think you were playing!" 

"Didn't Dan and Alex use to play a similar game?" 

"Don't you think it absurd to compare me to those fighting monsters!" 

Matthew who was listening in on the two's conversation heard something he could not ignore. He went near the two who were in some kind of tug of war and spoke with a bit of excitement in his tone.

"You two know Alex?"