But the air screamed.
Korir felt it.
The weight of two monsters clashing.
Zero stood on the battered fire escape, blade spinning lazily between his fingers.
Leo—Troop 8's leader—stood below, hands in his coat pockets, his expression unreadable.
But the pressure radiating from him was suffocating.
"You're good," Leo admitted, rolling his shoulders. "Better than most."
Zero grinned. "Most? You mean those eight guys I just put in the dirt?"
Leo didn't react.
But Korir saw it.
A flicker. A tiny shift.
Leo had taken offense.
"That's not good."
The wind howled.
Then—
Leo vanished.
Not like Zero. Not like a blur.
Just—gone.
Zero barely had time to twist his body before—
BOOM!
A fist crashed into his ribs, sending him flying through the fire escape.
The metal screamed as Zero's body bent it like paper, twisting the frame.
Korir's breath hitched.
Leo was already moving again.
Zero flipped mid-air, landing on the edge of a rooftop.
He let out a sharp breath, wiping blood from his lip.
"Okay," Zero muttered. "That actually hurt."
Leo lifted a hand.
Korir's stomach dropped.
"Wait, what is that—?"
A pulse of crimson energy flickered around Leo's knuckles.
Not just raw power.
It was something else.
Zero tilted his head, watching the red glow.
Then, with zero hesitation—
He laughed.
Korir's eyes widened. "What the hell is he laughing for?!"
Leo narrowed his gaze.
"You find something funny?"
Zero wiped the blood from his mouth, his smirk only growing.
"Yeah," he said, twirling his knife.
"You're acting like you've already won."
Leo didn't reply.
Zero's smile vanished.
"But let me ask you something," he continued. "Do you know why people call me Zero?"
Leo remained still.
Zero rolled his neck, cracking the joints.
"Because when I fight for real… I leave nothing behind."
Then—
The world shifted.
Korir's vision blurred.
Zero vanished.
No—
He erased himself.
The air around him shattered as he slipped into something deeper, something wrong.
For the first time, Leo reacted.
His pupils shrunk.
Korir barely saw it—but Zero was already behind Leo.
His blade whispered through the air.
And then—
SHHK!
Blood.
Leo staggered.
A deep gash tore across his back.
Leo's face remained calm—but his breathing changed.
"He felt that," Korir realized. "He actually felt that."
But Zero wasn't done
Leo whirled.
His fist ignited, glowing red-hot, and he swung.
But Zero was already gone.
Not dodging.
Not retreating.
Something else.
Korir's pulse pounded.
"It's like he's cutting through reality itself."
Leo clenched his teeth.
"Where are you—"
SHHK!
Another cut.
This time—his arm.
Leo gasped—stumbling.
Korir's stomach twisted.
Zero… wasn't playing anymore.
"Run," Leo murmured.
But it was already too late.
Zero reappeared.
Behind him.
Knife in hand.
One final whisper.
"You should've killed me first."
SHHK!
The blade plunged into Leo's throat.
His eyes widened.
Korir's breath hitched.
Leo staggered. Blood pooled from his lips.
Zero twisted the knife—cold. Precise. Ruthless.
And just like that—
Leo, leader of Troop 8…
Was dead.