Chapter 6: A Decisive Strike!

“When life gives you a Glock, shoot it!”

—Meisatsu Kanezuka

With his Glock fully loaded—albeit mysteriously—Meisatsu was back in action.

Pointing it squarely at Umare, he tightened his hold on the grip, while his finger rested softly on the trigger.

With a cool tone he asked, “So, you ready for round two, huh, Umare?!” His gaze emanated a menacingly intense, ominous aura.

“Haa kid, ya finally decided to take this seriously!” Umare responded and for the first time looked genuinely invested in the fight. “Well, might as well respond in kind!”

Umare took a battle-ready stance—the same one he used to speed blitz Meisatsu earlier. His knees bent, leaning forward and ready to dash toward him at supersonic speeds, but...

That’s the move he used before, it ain’t gonna work on me twice! Meisatsu sprung into action—

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Three shots fired at Umare, a moment before he had begun his attack. Just as before, he parried and deflected the bullets with impeccable precision, only this time—

“Gotcha!” Meisatsu yelled, having used that brief delay to close distance between them. He aimed for Umare’s neck and fired, causing him to block high with his sword, but alas, that was also part of... Meisatsu’s... "Master Plan".

With a swift right hook—

CRACK!

Meisatsu buried the muzzle of his gun into Umare’s left ribs and pulled the trigger.

BANG!

Escaping by the skin of his teeth, Umare just barely managed to dodge the bullet in time—grazing him as it flew by, striking a barrel filled with wine in the corner, the owner throwing a fit at the sight.

“You boys better pay for that!” the old owner cried from his shop, shaking a raised fist. Then he cooled down, as if nothing had happened, observing the fight closely.

“That’s payback” Meisatsu smirked. “You know, for that mean gut punch you gave me earlier?" He pointed his Glock at the center of his stomach.

“Aww, holding a grudge now, are we?!” Umare responded sarcastically, rubbing the spot where the bullet had grazed him. That's one heck of a weapon...

“Ya sure do pack a mean punch. Keep ‘em comin’!” He sprinted towards Meisatsu with his sword being set up for a big, powerful, swing.

With a swift motion, Umare swung the sword, the blade aiming at Meisatsu’s side.

SHWAA!

In a perfectly timed duck, Meisatsu had dodged the blade and unleashed his own counterattack—a frontal kick to the gut, which...

Did absolutely no damage, barely moving Umare from the spot he stood.

Crap... I had a feeling that would happen... Come to think of it... I noticed a lot of my strength's in my arms. Wait! Could it be to counter the recoil from each shot? So that’s how I knocked out that Swipe Fox earlier. Alright, for now I’ll focus on using my arms more—and I mean, a lot more...

Meisatsu prepared himself for the next incoming attack.

“Gaaargh!!!” Umare yelled as his sword came down with a thundering crash cracking the ground beneath it.

Stepping quickly to the side, Meisatsu narrowly avoided the strike that was inches away from connecting. It swished past his hair, rustling it.

“It seems like you’ve got guts—I’ll give ya that.” Umare lifted up his sword and rested it across his shoulder. “But, do ya have the strength to back it up?”

Meisatsu thought deeply, more so on the last thing Umare had said.

I’ve been so focused on the fact that, even though I had no form of a social life—heck, I barely even existed in my former life—all these crazy things are happening around me. People look up to me...

CLANK! 

They see me as some sort of... Hero... Meisatsu then smirked subtly. I’ll use this chance I’ve been given to make myself relevant for a change...

✦✦✦

The two rushed toward each other, one swinging his sword—the other swinging his... Gun?!

CLANK!

The clash of their weapons set off a couple of sparks that flew in all directions—sort of like a mini firework display—causing the crowd to ooh and aah in awe.

One of the sparks landed on the same old shop owner's barrel of high-quality spirit—causing it to burst into flames.

Due to the brave efforts of some nearby spectators, the flame was successfully put out though the shop owner was almost at his limit due to all the property damage.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

The two combatants zipped around with great agility, the sight of them was almost blurry to follow.

This kid...Umare mused as he grinned. His eyes followed Meisatsu's as they clashed. He’s getting faster!

Meisatsu, for the first time in his life, had decided on going out of his way to do something for someone other than himself...

The people.

Meisatsu while dodging and counter attacking with—gun?—swings of his own, he had finally thought of a way to land—

A DECISIVE STRIKE.

Alright, I think I can pull this off. All I need is to time this perfectly and I could possibly wrap this up. Any slip-ups would probably end up with me having my butt kicked... Again...

The two went at each other with such intensity that the strikes began producing mini shock waves that created a gust of wind, turning some spectator’s hair into a hot mess.

I’ll wait for his overhead swing, then make my move....

Then, the overhead swing he had been waiting for had at last happened.

Meisatsu repeated the sidestep he had used to dodge the former. But this time...

CLANK!

Umare’s sword was stuck in the ground. His head faced the heavens. And his body was arched back...

✦✦✦

The instant the sword came slicing down, Meisatsu had also lifted up his Glock for a similar downward strike. The objective—create an opening by burying Umare's sword deep in the ground.

As Meisatsu brought down his Glock with a mighty swing, the very moment the gun touched the edge of the sword...he pulled the trigger.

His outstanding arm strength, coupled with the recoil energy from the Glock, created a tremendous force that sent Umare’s sword digging into the dirt, buried at an angle.

Then, with his gun still on the blade of the sword...

He began sliding it along the incline...

As though it were a ramp.

With a swift motion, he kept going till just before the hilt.

He broke off, heading toward Umare’s lower jaw.

Upon impact he pulled the trigger to add the force from the recoil as well as to disorient him with the sound of gunfire at that distance and—

BANG!