Adopted Soldier

Leon who stood in front of Dan remembered Richter's past assessment of the man. Richter said Dan's combat skills were better than his own, but only in close-quarters combat. The only reason Richter was able to defeat Dan so easily last time, was because for some reason Dan was already injured, and he was able to catch Dan by surprise. Now that the man claims to be stronger than before, Leon couldn't follow Richter's rules, he needed to fight without any more restrictions. 

Leon sped up and got near Kei and Evangeline. Dan who saw this reacted fast enough and blocked Leon's way, unfortunately for him Leon wasn't really aiming for the kids, but their weapons. Leon took Kei's rifle and Evangeline's pistols. 

When Dan saw Leon holding those guns he felt a chill down his spine, it would seem Leon was even more dangerous when he uses such weapons. 

"All of you guys back away!" Dan suddenly shouted before he dodged an incoming bullet. Leon then proceeded to fire three more shots, trying to get a feel of how fast each bullet travels using each gun. Once he was done with his practice shots, Leon proceeded to shoot at the wall using the pistol. The bullet he shot ricochet off the wall, Dan was first dumbfounded, as he barely dodged the ricocheted bullet that came flying towards him. Once he dodged Dan saw Leon point the rifle at him, he was prepared to once again evade, but then Leon shot at the first bullet making it ricochet back to Dan. Of course, Dan was able to dodge that as well, but then the rifle bullet had grazed the side of his chest. He didn't notice that bullet coming at him at all. 

He then saw Leon shoot a few more rounds, none of them aimed at Dan. It was difficult to dodge these bullets, usually, people at Dan's level could easily dodge bullets, by predicting the trajectory of the incoming bullet by looking at where the muzzle of the gun was aimed at. Now he was unable to do that since the beginning Leon wasn't aiming at him, he was shooting in different places, forcing the bullets to bounce towards him. Dan could only rely on his instincts as he dodged bullet after bullet. 

Oliver and the others wanted to help, but to interject themselves in such a fight could possibly make it harder for Dan to fight properly. Rachel hated this feeling of helplessness, that she couldn't even help her father. She was simply watching him get cornered. The members of the mercenary club knew that the best thing they could do at the moment was to retreat farther away and escape. If they weren't there they wouldn't become such liabilities, yet at the same time, they wanted to stay and wait for an opportunity to help Dan fight. 

It was at that moment Rachel thought of something. She didn't want to do it, but she had no other choice in the matter. Rachel gritted her teeth and the shouted at Dan. "What are you doing daddy! I thought you've become stronger? Is this what you call stronger?! You can't even win against some half-naked guy. I'm totally disappointed in you daddy!" 

The moment Rachel shouted those words, she really couldn't help herself from blushing intensely from embarrassment. On the other hand, Dan who heard what Rachel said suddenly shouted at Leon in anger.

"You sh*tting mother f*cking b*stard! Not only did you try and harm my sweet cute, little daughter! Now you're even making me look bad in front of her and her friends! You f*cking c*nt this time you really made me mad!" 

Dan charged forward without caring about the onslaught of bullets. He hardened his muscles to the extreme and decided to take the hits from the ricocheting bullets. Since the bullets have ricocheted their speed and force lessened, and Dan's body was as hard as steel. The bullets pierced his skin but they didn't go in deep making Dan look like he only had a few cuts. 

Leon seeing Dan's change in tactics changed tactics as well and started shooting Dan directly. Dan who saw that Leon changed the way he was shooting, could no longer simply take the hit but instead needed to evade. Still seeing as it was now simple and direct shooting Dan could dodge properly, but after each shot and as Dan got nearer, Leon's shooting started to change as if he was now able to predict Dan's movements. 

Dan gritted his teeth and charged onward tanking some of the bullets allowing himself to get hit at none vital areas. Dan who was now bursting with energy finally got close to Leon. 

"I finally caught up you b*stard, now it's time for your beating!" Dan was about to strike Leon with his left fist, but then he saw Leon's mouth curve upward a little bit. Dan feeling something was wrong wanted to stop his attack, but he couldn't pull back his arm on time. 

Dan's left arm was sliced off. He finally noticed that throughout the fight Leon was slowly moving towards the area where Dan tossed Leon's scythe. As Dan's arm was cleanly cut off, blood started to spray all over. Dan pressed some of his pressure points stopping himself from bleeding to death. Leon then tossed the guns away and took a stance with the scythe. 

"Dan Regius, you have proven to be a great foe. I will allow you to say your final goodbye." For the first time since meeting him, Leon spoke. He had allowed Dan to say his last words to his daughter since he was now sure of victory. Without his left hand, Dan was in an extremely disadvantageous situation. 

The members looked at Dan with both worry and fear for him. They wanted to help, but they didn't know what they can do. It didn't matter if they won't be able to do anything, they needed to help Dan. As Oliver and the others once again strengthened their resolve to fight, Dan looked at the group with a smile on his face. He approached his daughter who was now looking at him full of worry. 

Rachel was confused by this action, was her boisterous father really about to say his final goodbye?