At least that was the plan, but even as Shun Yin and Glen raced toward the building, they were both forced to dodge when something was sent hurtling in their direction.

"!!!!"

"Whoa!?"

The two teenagers spun around and watched the object crash into a wall, demolis.h.i.+ng the solid concrete and vanis.h.i.+ng under debris. It took a moment before they realized that it was the charred body of an a.s.sa.s.sin.

"Mike is really going wild in there," Glen remarked with a shake of his head. He grinned. "I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't need our help."

"We should still go and a.s.sist him."

"Yeah, not saying otherwise. But I won't be surprised if he's done by the time we reach him."

The duo increased their pace and burst into the house, only to catch sight of Michael cutting down a Frenzor a.s.sa.s.sin and incinerating the berserk killer. The huge man howled, his voice inhuman and b.e.s.t.i.a.l, but even with the combat drugs pumping through his system and a complete lack of pain, he was unable to withstand Michael's spells.

Shun Yin noticed that there were more a.s.sa.s.sins around, but they were keeping their distance. No, they were actually trying to escape, but Michael had the hired killers trapped in a ring of raging fire.

However, upon witnessing the demise of the Frenzor a.s.sa.s.sin, the nerve of several of them failed and they risked diving through the flames. Even as they were immolated and set ablaze, they didn't emit a single sound of agony. Instead, they merely extinguished the flames with their own mana, and despite suffering grievous burns, they ran.

"Don't let them escape!" Michael shouted, breaking the two recently arrived reinforcements out of their stupor. He was about to pursue them, but the Frenzor a.s.sa.s.sin lunged at him. Miraculously, even though he had been burned into a crisp, his skin melting off his face and revealing singed bone underneath, which resembled the death mask he had on before it was incinerated. The material of his scorched synthetic skinsuit was clinging to burnt pieces of flesh, which was barely hanging onto to raw muscles and frayed nerves.

Honestly, it was incredible how the Frenzor a.s.sa.s.sin was still alive despite the fatal injuries and devastating damage he had suffered.

"Tch!"

Michael clicked his tongue and dodged the berserk a.s.sa.s.sin's grappling. Flipping over and doing a cartwheel, he kicked the bony jaw of the Frenzor a.s.sa.s.sin, but the huge man didn't look as if he felt it. Then again, it might be because his skin and nerves had been burned off and he was no longer capable of making facial expressions.

While Michael was still occupied by his half-dead but impressively tenacious opponent, Shun Yin and Glen took off to pursue the fleeing a.s.sa.s.sins. Unfortunately, they were forced to stop when confronted by the superheated flames of his ring of fire.

"Kuh…!"

"Hot!"

"d.a.m.n it! Sorry about that!"

Ducking under a vicious swipe from the Frenzor a.s.sa.s.sin's still bulky arm, which demolished a wall, Michael threw out a hand and extinguished those flames. He then parried the berserker's ma.s.sive fist with his sword, and found himself thrown back a few paces.

Shun Yin and Glen quickly chased after the a.s.sa.s.sins, but they were long gone, having melted away into the shadows and disappeared. Despite being unable to locate them, the duo continued to run in the direction they saw the a.s.sa.s.sins disappear in, the both of them splitting up in hopes of capturing at least one person for interrogation.

Back in the house, Michael continued to withstand the pummeling the Frenzor a.s.sa.s.sin delivered and countered his punches. Originally, the Frenzor a.s.sa.s.sin should possess a neuro-gauntlet and sword, but those had been scorched away by his flames.

Even when wounded, the Frenzor a.s.sa.s.sin was still a formidable foe. Each of his attacks, boosted by the c.o.c.ktail of volatile chemicals coursing through his system, formed from a potent soup of combat drugs, was powerful enough to punch through a tank. Michael was aware that being hit even once would spell the end for him.

He whirled away from another punch and leaped up, tucking his legs into his chest and spinning about to avoid the next punch. Straightening out, he landed on the Frenzor a.s.sa.s.sin's outstretched arm and raised his sword high up.

Snarling, the berserk killer tried to shake him off, but Michael had already launched himself off the former's arm. Twisting in midair, he slashed with his sword.

To his surprise, the Frenzor a.s.sa.s.sin merely spun around and caught his blade with burned fingers. Growling with his skull-like face, the berserker struck out with his other arm with the intention to punch a hole through his chest.

"!!!!"

Michael was forced to let go of his sword and whirl around in midair to avoid a direct hit. Blood sprayed out as his face and shoulder were grazed, but he ignored the stinging pain and regained the grip on his sword. With a yell, he completed the casting of his spell and bathed the berserk a.s.sa.s.sin in h.e.l.lish flames.

The Frenzor a.s.sa.s.sin staggered back, more of his body melting away from the intense inferno. He held up one hand in reflex to s.h.i.+eld his already damaged face, but the limb literally disintegrated into ash.

Even so, he somehow survived that h.e.l.lfire spell. Roaring, he stomped on the ground, causing cracks on the concrete, before lunging at the retreating Michael.

Michael arrested his momentum and stood his ground, refusing to yield. Holding his sword with both hands, he raised it high and faced the approaching a.s.sa.s.sin head-on. With a determined yell of his own, he swung it down just as the a.s.sa.s.sin punched him.

The berserk killer continued hurtling past him, his tremendous fist punching through empty s.p.a.ce and unleas.h.i.+ng a ma.s.sive shockwave that smashed another wall into rubble. Then he slowly came to a stop his skull-face frozen in that malevolent rictus grin.

"…"

Taking a deep breath, Michael straightened himself before sheathing his sword. Behind him, the Frenzor a.s.sa.s.sin staggered for a moment, and then fell apart, his body cleanly cleaved into two. No blood leaked out, for the wound on either side of the split halves had been cauterized by superheated flames.

"Mike! Sorry!"

Glen was the first to report back, followed by an apologetic Shun Yin.

"We tried to pursue them as far as we could, but…we can't find them at all. They covered their tracks too well. We don't know where they went."

"It's not your fault." Michael shook his head. "Those are trained a.s.sa.s.sins. They are experts in stealth, sabotage, killing and escaping. I would be too optimistic if I had thought you two could catch them."

"Then why send us after them?" Glen demanded, annoyed. Michael shrugged flippantly.

"It was worth a try. Besides, what were you going to do? Sit in one corner and watch me fight? I know Shun Yin definitely won't do that."

"…yeah." Shun Yin nodded. He swallowed and glanced around the room. Even as the two halves of the Frenzor a.s.sa.s.sin lay still in the center, the place was relatively bereft of corpses. Other than a couple of other a.s.sa.s.sins, slain by Michael's sword, there weren't any other dead.

That didn't mean anything. Given Michael's powerful magic, he could very likely have burned his enemies into ash. Then again, given the caliber of the a.s.sa.s.sins, they had the magical resistance to withstand even such potent spells.

…as could be seen from the Frenzor a.s.sa.s.sin.

"We should see if there's any other survivors," Shun Yin spoke up as he glanced around. However, Michael shook his head.

"…we are it. Everyone else is dead."

"We're too late." Glen's shoulders sagged visibly. Then his eyes widened as he raised his head to stare at Michael. "Then Uncle…your father…your parents…"

"All dead. Angie didn't spare any of them."

Michael's voice was cold.

"d.a.m.n it…so the Porter clan is…destroyed?" Glen fell to his knees, despair taking over his features as he stared blankly at the devastation. "We're doomed?"

"No. you're still alive. So am I. so are your parents." Michael frowned. "The a.s.sa.s.sins…they were taking care not to harm you or me. Well, we forced them into a life-and-death battle, but if they really wanted to kill us, they would have tried a lot harder instead of fleeing like that. Apparently Angie has no intention of killing me or you or your family." He glanced at Shun Yin. "And especially you. I'm under the impression that Angie would have ordered them to protect you instead."

"But why?!" Shun Yin could no longer contain his questions. "Why would she kill her own family? Her own parents? Why would she want to wipe out the entire Porter clan, all the elders and the leader, except you and Glen's family?"

"Are you sure you don't know the answer?" Michael's tone wasn't condescending or accusatory. It was gentle and…resigned. As if he was too weary after all the killing.

Shun Yin frowned, his chest tightening. Something was not right here, but he couldn't place his finger on what exactly.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Yeah! Why would Shun Yin know Angie's motives?" Glen chimed in. He shrugged. "I mean, Angie is in love with him, but I hardly think she told him what she has planned."

"That is true." Michael raised his head to study the scorched ceiling, his eyes wandering. "I don't know if I should be the one telling you this…but the reason why Angie wiped out the Porter clan was because of you, Shun Yin."

"…me?" Shun Yin blurted out in disbelief. "But why? What do I have to do with the Porter clan?"

"To be more specific, it's because they forbade her to have a relations.h.i.+p with you, and prevented her from marrying or courting you. So…she decided to take everything back…by eliminating the obstacle that stood in her way between you and her." Michael turned to look at Shun Yin.

"Huh? But…how? Why would she kill even her own family…?"

"That's the fault of my parents and the elders." Michael clenched his fists furiously. "They treated her as a tool…the ultimate weapon of the Porter Clan. They held all sorts of unrealistic expectations of her and forced her into a life that she never wanted. They never regarded her as a daughter or a human being, just…a tool that would one day lead the clan."

He then indicated the scorched surroundings.

"And this is the result. This is what happens when their own tool…their own ultimate weapon gains a will and rebels against them."

"…okay." Glen scratched his head. "I get that Angie got all mad when Uncle and Auntie and the geezers told her that she couldn't marry Shun Yin, the person she wanted. I get that she decided to kill them all because of that, and also because they basically abused her. But…what does that have to do with the end of the world?"