Under the Veil of Night

BANG!

Shiro looked towards the mess around him as he put his gun aside. He would never think that in this part of the city, a gang as big and powerful as this one existed.

"You're not bad, Shin," Joshua nodded his head with an approving look. The speed in which Shiro handled the men around him was spectacular. Although all of them were finished using the gun, it was still quite a feat to be able to do it so cleanly.

"I can say the same to you, Josh."

"It's nothing much," Joshua sat down on the crate near him. "This territory didn't have a true leader lately, so we're quite divided. Unlike the Ryukalin Clan that adopts those strong in their area into their forces, we prefer to build our own gang or group."

Shiro nodded his head. "You should introduce me to some of your pals. My leader will be happy to have a spar with them."

"I'll do that when the situation goes back to normal," Joshua agreed immediately. "Just a little warning, some of them are stronger than me and they only want to follow after the strongest."

"There's no need to worry. Rei will be qualified as the strongest soon enough," Shiro answered calmly.

"That's good. Now that the fight is over, do you want to have some drinks? It's my treat."

"There's no need for that."

"You don't have to feel shy. It's the tradition in my place."

"I truly can't. I need to report to the other members," Shiro rejected again. "If you want to get more famous, I'm sure you know what to do."

"Spread the news about this battle and your group, right? It's easy."

"Good."

"Now, let's drink."

"…" how many times did he have to reject this man?

…

Mike and Neo were busy with their work. They didn't dare to return because the fight in the Souhon Clan's Residence was not over yet. The two of them sensed danger and immediately reacted. They saw a young man walking towards them with a dark face.

"The Ryukalin Clan also participates in this battle? Which side do you support?" Tommy asked.

Mike frowned. "Why are you here, Tom?"

"Captain tells me to clean up the pest roaming in the Souhon Clan. Move back, Mike. I'm not in a good mood right now," Tommy answered, his dark face clearly supporting his words.

"Unfortunately, we can't just move back because we were ordered by our Boss to claim the Souhon Clan's territory."

Tommy cracked his knuckles. "Then I won't be polite."

With his sword ready, he moved straight to Mike. Mike was stunned, but he took out his knife and blocked the attack immediately. Using his superior strength, he pushed Tommy back and the boy flipped once in the air before returning back to a standing position.

Mike's eyes widened in surprise. "You have grown stronger since the last time, Tom."

He was Tommy's trainer at school, so he knew the boy's ability very well. Just now, the skill and power Tommy exerted were beyond what he usually showed in the training. He knew that Tommy was still evolving, but wasn't this too fast?

Tommy snorted. If not because of the harsh training under the second demon, he would not be this strong. Still, recalling those days was clearly not something he enjoyed. It was complete hell!

This smiling devil never went easy on him. Tommy eyed Mike with a grin. "I guess this is a little payback."

"I accept your challenge," Mike smiled.

On the side, Neo chose to ignore these two as he kept on giving instructions for their men to move faster. With Fiore Group's involvement, he believed that the battle was going to finish far earlier.

The sound of metal clashing reverberated on the street. Some of the Ryukalin Clan members were looking towards these two with bewilderment. They already knew the training maniac Mike, but they didn't think that they would see someone who could nearly match him in their own territory.

"What are you looking at? If you don't work, I'll deduct your salary," Neo yelled.

They immediately went back to their work. If watching the fight lowered their pay, who would want it? It was better if they just worked as usual and not do anything unnecessary.

Tommy could feel that Mike hadn't given his all yet. This made him rather annoyed. He charged forward with his barbaric technique of relentless attacks, but Mike handled it rather well. The two exchanged dozens of attacks, and Mike steadily pressured Tommy.

"Tom, you're not at my level yet."

"What?"

Mike made his move as he cut Tommy's advance with his knife. He made another step forward and used his other hand to punch Tommy's stomach. Tommy didn't manage to react in time and rolled backwards several times on the ground to alleviate the force of the punch.

*Cough* *Cough*

He glared at Mike. That power behind the punch made him recall his teammates. It was painfully similar to Jason and Kanae's punch. In terms of power, Jason's was slightly greater, but in terms of speed, Kanae's was faster, which resulted in their punches having a similar effect.

"You did grow during the time you disappeared. Let me guess, were you busy training somewhere?" Mike asked.

Tommy was startled, but it was quite obvious, so he stood up and shrugged. "I'm sure you can see for yourself how I've improved."

Mike nodded his head. "The stronger you are, the harder it is to hone your abilities. Anyway, with your skills, Jay is already far below you."

"He was always below me!"

"He's growing too and you don't know when he might catch up, so you can't be left behind," Mike reminded. Even though he knew Jay would never be able to reach Tommy's level that quickly, he wanted to give pressure to Tommy.

Hearing that, Tommy recalled his own teammates. They too have been growing more quickly than before. He couldn't be left behind. Their group's scale was going to be far greater than before.

"A lot of people disappeared during that time," Neo remarked. "Did you train with your teammates, or did you just go towards the deepest part of the Black Street to beat up those troublemakers?"

"I can't go there yet. They're going to kill me if I dare to step into their territory."

"So you're not that foolish," Neo smirked. With the skills that Tommy had, it would be a miracle if this boy went into the deepest part of Black Street and survived. Only a handful of people could live in the deepest part of Black Street.

Unlike the usual Black Street where some ordinary people would live, such as Tommy, the deepest part of Black Street was avoided like the plague. Normally, Black Street still got some light during the day, but the deeper one went, the lesser the light would be. The buildings would block the light completely, making the place completely desolate.

At the same time, only the very strongest in Black Street would dare to roam in those places.

"Are you taking me as a fool?"

"Who knows?"

Tommy readied his short sword again. "Anyway, don't block my way. I'm going to fight in their territory."

"Don't attack the Ryukalin Clan's members," Neo warned.

"I'm not interested in them. You don't have to worry so much," Tommy answered lightly.

Seeing the boy disappear into the night, Neo rubbed his chin. Before Tommy started training for the competition, the brat had disappeared and only came back occasionally. It was possible that he was training with his teammates.

"If we trace the people who disappeared during this time, maybe we can find out the other members from Fiore Group," Neo smirked as he thought of this conjecture.. If that were true, it would be very interesting.