Pulse pausing, blood dripping, crowds screaming.

In a matter of a second, no…

In a blink of an eye, the blade swung straight to his neck without any hesitation.

Both eyes peeled, Zack stumbled on his own feet when he barely even swerve it out of reflex. Hardly believe what he was facing a second ago.

“What a reflex that you have. Had it been a tenth of a second slower, your head will surely go flying.”

This guy is no joke…!

Zack straightened his footing, staring back at Rukevic with his pale face. Despite the cut itself wasn’t fatal, it was enough deep enough to make blood find its way out of his severed vein. Every breath he takes only amplifies the subtle pain, engraving it into an excruciating one.

“Come on now, everyone put their high expectations on you. Is it perhaps only a single cut to make you growl and obediently be punished then?”

“Like hell, I would…” Zack reorganizes his breath while keep covering his bloody neck. His whole hand is already reddened by then.

“I see… persistence aren’t we?”

Taking Zack by surprise, Rukevic suddenly closes in with a single leap, bearing his knife towards him. The blade is already floating an inch away from his eyes. Zack was forced to take steps back and reconsider the counter for him.

Seeing him cornered, Rukevic adds more frequency of his knife swinging back and forth, switching between both hands as Zack relentlessly dodges all the attacks. Quickly tiring him in a short time.

As he observes Rukevic’s movement, Zack keeps his body composure altogether until he reached a certain point to take him down with a single hit. Although there’s not much stamina left, he gambles his life on this idea.

“Taking your chance behind my back? What a sneaky move!”

Yet Rukevic moves quicker and ducks his attack. Wildly swings the knife around his back while Zack is trying to maintain some distance from him. But no matter how hard he tried, Rukevic always minimizes their gap while keep chasing after his neck.

That’s why Zack is forced to be on the defensive while staying away from his reach. There’s nothing he can do except to go as far as possible from his reach. For the time being, he keeps on racking his brain to pull himself out of this precarious state. Moving accordingly as his stamina gets drained.

BANG!

“Shit!”

A bullet flies freely straight toward him, pushing Zack’s body to duck out of reflex.

Fresh blood dripped from his left ear as he swerves at the right time, leaving a deep cut from it. Both eyes widened in shock as he figured out things that hit him.

“My apology. Did I just startle you?”

“You start blank shooting for real?!”

“No, It was accurate. That is… if you ever hold a gun before.”

...Accurate?

At that time, something crossed his mind 

He turned his head behind abruptly and realized something. Sure, Zack managed to dodge it in the nick of the time. But after that, where did the bullet go by then?

The crowds behind? No one is injured or hit by the stray bullet when Zack took a quick look.

A fake bullet? He can still feel how warm yet cold the metal projectile is, cutting through his ears.

Squeezing through the gap between the crowds? It sounds comical for anyone to believe it.

...Nor it is not impossible in the first place.

Is he doing it on purpose?

What’s he aiming for?

“I can’t bear how confused the look on your face is. Well, for an old handgun, the Desert Eagle is quite effective at this range.” Rukevic moves closer, showing the gun in his hand. “The firing power is enough to blow one’s head into pieces. As it’s one of the largest caliber handguns known for mass production with a .50 magnum. And no, it was no luck that you’re alive now.”

“When did you-”

“I know what you’re thinking. Even with all these personnel armed with guns, why don’t they just shoot through your frail body of yours? Why do they have to bother doing close combat with you instead? And after going through that, why is it now you have to deal with a sharpshooter out of all times? Am I correct?”

For a moment, Zack is at the loss of words upon hearing it straight from his opponent.  “Can’t say you’re wrong. Why ain’t shootin’ if they just want me dead?”

 “It’s simple, I don’t need sloppy underlings to blatantly strafe a rat like you. Because all it takes is one shot to end one’s life.” Scoffed Rukevic shaking his head.

“Is that so…?”

“Yes, It’s all about efficiency. Cost-wise, it’s quite troublesome to produce dozens of bullets for a life that is not even worthy enough to be kept alive for a day." 

"Ain't you too full of yourself spouting those bullshit, huh?"

"That's right, the harsh life that we're facing is no more than bullshit for the ignorant one, after all. If so, it is best to behave wisely in these kinds of circumstances, don’t you think?”

A cold gaze falls upon Zack as he grits his teeth, not letting his sight off for a single second from the person standing in front with the gun pointed at his head.

BANG!

Another shot released straight to Zack’s head.

Even though he instinctively dodges, the bullet still scrapes his right arm. Rukevic relentlessly shoots for his vital point, while Zack keeps running around trying to ruin his accuracy.

The main principle against an enemy armed with guns is to disarm them first. Even if his opponent has such quick reflexes, at least Zack has one less problem of his life being taken away in one hit later. With that, even a fraction of a second of the opening could change the flow of their fight.

That’s what Zack has been looking for for a while.

“Tch, empty already?”

At the moment he runs out of bullets, Zack dashes forward, going for the gun’s blank point while extending his arm to snatch it in a single swift move.

“No touching, you filthy rats!”

However, Rukevic is always on guard. With a quick reflex, Rukevic swung the knife in the left hand and chased after his head. Zack falls onto his knee as he loses the foothold. He doesn’t have enough time to recover on his ground when Rukevic lands another cut.

A freshly open wound appeared on his face. Zack immediately takes some distance away from him, reorganizing his breath.

“Your movement is getting duller. Are you finished playing the game of cat and rats?”

“Are you playin’ around with me?”

“I wonder about that…”

“Ain’t you being a p*ssy tryna kill me from afar with that toy of yours?”

Rukevic nods, “If that’s what you wish... Ye asked… Ye shall receive!”

BANG!

Three continuous shots were released. Rukevic keeps his pacing at approaching him.

Zack has a hard time avoiding it, making his effort seems futile as those shots successfully leave deep scratches on his body. Without any weapon in his hand, Zack only gets closer to his doom the longer it takes to finish the fight.

But, what choice does he has? Other than taking the death itself head-on.