The dim red light from some windows, which was actually the one that had guided them safely through the living room and into the dining room while they were still all in darkness, turned out to be even brighter, far at the exit. However, the reason for it was just because the rear wall of their house had also been burned by the same fire that likely spread from other houses nearby… And on top of that, the smoke is now thick enough to actually cover the ceiling of the kitchen and dining room, all made out of wood-based materials which inevitably will soon be caught by the fire.

Forcing the family of three to retreat as far as possible from the place they were standing, where each of them managed to take a few steps just to be cornered by their pursuer. Thus the only thing everyone can do now is to accept the fact that they are fully surrounded and there is no other way out of it, not anymore… Up to the point where the father had decided that it was finally the right time to inquire, "This doesn't make any sense! Why do you want to kill us?! What’s the use of it? We are no one to any of you!”

But the young robber didn't answer at all, he himself was not even sure what he was supposed to do with the family after he managed to corner them, apart from waiting for his older brother and the other robbers to catch up with him. Which simply makes the middle-aged man even more desperate to find a solution, or at least a middle ground in this problem.

For that's why he then again asked the young robber, “Haven't we given you all of our possessions? Tell me, just what else do you want?! Or… At least spare the lives of my wife and my son, will you? Please? You can take me, but let them go, I beg you!"

And not that his words were all in vain, the cowardly robber actually seemed to think that what the middle-aged man just said was actually a good idea for his own sanity, if only he were truly willing to accept it. Tragically, this is in direct proportion to his huge desire to be recognized by his other fellow delinquents, which is clearly visible in his expression.

Therefore, he chose to refuse the offer as he said, “I’m so sorry…”

Until finally the group of robbers, commanded by his own older sibling, eventually caught up with him and the family members he had been keeping in the corner of the room… Preceded by the sound of two robbers’ conversation slowly becoming clearer for everyone to hear.

~~~~~

“Yeah, whatever. As you can see, you're right, we haven't killed them yet. But we're just getting to grips with it, so why don’t you all just leave us with them for a bit, yeah?”

The man who had blood stains still on his face, seemed to be bargaining with his gang about something that was changing in their initial planning… Yet it doesn't look like the bunch is buying it, as one can be heard stating a point, “It’s true. But there are three people there, my dude. You see, the guy in the house next door, Agus, has yet to kill anyone.”

The man then replied, “Hey! Fuck you, we all know that's not our deal! One group, one house. That's it. And also, why did you all just start burning down those houses without any warning? Doesn't it make sense to you that the fire will quickly spread to other houses that our people haven't cleaned up yet? Like this one for example?!”

“Come on, man… You know it's not that easy. Some of us had multiple problems doing things and some also admitted that they just panicked, so they decided to go ahead of the others. But, alright, whatever dude. You’re the boss, after all... We'll wait under the bridge, as we have planned before. Are we good?”

After they received a nod from the man, the group then decided to give in, leaving the two brothers alone with Daniel and his parents, back to the way they were before. And only after that did the man let out a sigh of relief.

“Damn it… Can it get any worse than this?”

“Big bro? The smoke is getting thicker... I'm scared!”

“Shut the fuck up! I already know, I can see it!”

“Then what should we do now?!”

The robber looked at his partner in disbelief after hearing his question just earlier… But while pressing his head which probably still hurt from the previous impact, he actually managed to hold back his emotions and instead calmly gave an instruction to his little brother as he then said, “Well of course we have to get out of this place as quickly as possible. That’s why, lil bro, you kill the mother and the son and I’ll take my revenge on the old man. But we do it fast.”

Just a second after the order was conveyed, their two swords appeared to be poised enough to finish everything, all at once, until a scream was heard from a man in front of them…

“No! I said, spare them!”

Daniel's father pushed his son and wife to the back. Preventing the cowardly robber who was trying to get close to his family from passing him, the man brandished his machete forward in the hope of sacrificing himself for the sake of others. But his woman did not agree, she shouted for the man to just bargain for their forgiveness instead.

Unfortunately, the father and the two robbers who were pointing their weapons at each other refused to submit to anyone's wishes.

“Err… Big bro?”

Responding to the obstacle he received, surprisingly the robber still felt that he would definitely lose against an old man who was slowly going to die from blood loss in any way.

So his brother grabbed his shoulders to change positions, where for the second time he wasn't even angry or disappointed like how he usually was before, instead he remarked, "Calm yourself down… Let me kill him first, but after that you kill the woman and the son, okay?"

“S-Sure…”

The conversation between the two of the robbers then ended with completely ignoring the middle-aged man's pleas that had been left far behind, leaving an inescapable sword battle to finally commence...

~~~~~

Several light slashes were thrown at the middle-aged man. Though after two or three of them were fended off, the wounds on his shoulders and back in the end were not something that could be ignored. That even the robber, who was clearly showing restraint, still showed triumph over the stab to the stomach he had just managed to deliver.

Bringing down the man who had actually been powerless from the start of the conflict to the floor, while his wife was still contemplating whether to stay alongside her son or instead go to her husband in such a dismal situation.

Yet after realizing that the young robber was walking over the top of her own husband's motionless body to approach them, she decided to look completely at Daniel alone… Where she hugged the boy, the only one she had left, with tears that were no longer unbearable.

Then the mother apologized so many times, hoping nothing but for forgiveness from someone she believed had been the victim of her own greatest sin. Sadly it appears that Daniel just doesn't seem to understand anything the woman is saying… His gaze remained fixed on the robber's blue blade, which shook furiously as if uncertainty had consumed the guy entirely. Then he glanced to the left, where another robber had just yet delivered the finishing blow, right to his own father's chest to make sure that the man was indeed not pretending to be dead.

But the expression on this man's face seemed as if he was trying desperately to convince anyone to believe that his future was at stake by the way he took the life of such a poor middle-aged father in front of his son and wife, with nothing but a sword in his own hands.

“No… Brother I can't do this. As I thought, this just feels so wrong!”

The young robber coughed heavily as the smoke became even denser, stating to his big brother that if he had to keep doing this, then he would just go insane in no time.

To which his brother then responded, “For whatever sake, I don’t care… But just do it, man! Just fucking kill them! Even if I’m your brother, but I’m also our gang leader, god damn it! I can't continue to protect your ass if you remain weaker than any of them!”

The shouting didn't end there; instead the man then strangled his younger brother's neck with the intention of intimidating him. Only after that did he continue saying, “They will never have any respect for me, with you who always act like a baby that I spoil! They might as well just kill us both, don't you understand?!”

“Y-Yes, I understand…”

“Then just fucking do it now! Do it to survive!”

It was a kick to his own younger brother's buttocks that was actually the one that ended their quarrel… As the guy eventually decided to walk back towards Daniel and his mother with his hands were still clearly shaking violently, out of anxiousness that he was about to kill someone. But of course that was nothing compared to what the mother and son felt, especially having to force Daniel to stare at the trembling sword rising slowly upwards... Though the thing stopped again for the umpteenth time with the young man shaking his head as his eyes closed.

“What the fuck are you doing!?”

“No, no no no… I’m good… I don’t think I really need that power after all, big bro. Why don’t you take them both instead? It would be better if you were the one who got stronger and not me, don’t you think?”

Those remarks caused the robber beside the young man to grumble with clenched fists, as they went back to arguing and persuading each other to compromise, meanwhile in front of them, Daniel was instead distracted by a peculiar sound emanating from the dining room door to his right… Or more precisely, the sound was actually coming from another place, yet a little further away… Most likely from the kitchen near the back door of the house.

And even though he was already quite dubious of the wooden wall on his back, which seemed like it was becoming hotter and even hotter over time, now the sound of something like a burst of leaking gas actually made his paranoid feelings turn into reality.

~~~~~

It's worth reminding that the housing complex where Daniel's family and the others lived, had actually been around for twenty years at the very least. But the neighborhood itself was not luxurious enough to have its own gas pipe connection, thus occupants had to use small, cheap refillable liquefied petroleum gas cylinders for cooking purposes as one example.

And needless to say, some residences may have more than one of them for practical reasons… Including this house which these people are currently standing on.

So right before those two consecutive explosions destroyed both the wooden walls dividing the kitchen, the empty dining room and the living room where everyone was at the time, Daniel's right hand moved his mother's head to hide it on his chest… While his other hand protected the back of his own head, even though he was sure it would have no impact on the results. Recounts how they were all thrown away by the remaining wave of fire, which was still capable of temporarily filling the entire room with the heat and the red.

Though it most likely happened in only three seconds, yet the wave was enough to burn quite a lot of things in its path.

Luckily, there was a significant distance between the kitchen where the explosion came from and those in the living room. And of course, that's apart from the fact that the wooden walls dividing both sides of the house, though they were destroyed due to the impact, was also one of the big reasons why each person was able to survive with such minimal injuries… All, except for Daniel alone. Simply because at the time of the explosion, his back was at the forefront of the others. Causing many of the wood splinters from the wall to penetrate his skin, as his right arm appeared to have burns in several spots. And the boy also lost consciousness due to the bump to the back of his head.

~~~~~

As for the two robbers, they didn't actually receive any significant injuries from the explosions… But the youngest seemed to be at the peak of his panic, for his eyes darted here and there to see how the numerous little embers of fire around him were gradually growing larger and burning whatever that was near together.

So after feeling that he could get hurt if he stayed for long in that place, the young man then decided to run away, screaming in fear, leaving his big brother behind. To which the guy responded with surprise as he yelled, “Where are you going!? You still haven't killed them yet!”

But it's all for nothing, as his younger brother had disappeared, far away covered beyond the smoke. Leaving him alone, he gazed at Daniel who was gradually regaining consciousness as his mother remained by his side.

"Ah, fuck it!" he groaned.

The man then quickly swung his sword at Daniel while he was still unable to move, only to be protected by his mother who hugged him as if she deliberately intended to be a living shield for her own son, preventing him from receiving a single fatal blow to the neck and chest.

Instead causing the slash on the woman's back to open wide, yet she still had Daniel tightly inside of her arms. Thus, made the robber hesitate just a little. But he wasn't the same guy as his younger brother… So he decided to try to finish off the mother and the child at the same time as a show of his fake human compassion, by stabbing her right in the middle of the back, hoping that the tip of the sword would penetrate and also hit Daniel's chest in one go.

For that was how the attack went off without a hitch, an attack that instantly eliminated the mother's struggling movement… Perhaps due to death, or because the agony was too intense which made her lose consciousness instead.

And from behind the said flesh, Daniel who had not yet fully regained his own state of mind could only stare at the robber's silhouette inside the cloud of smoke, for his chest had also been penetrated by the same one sharp thing on the man’s hand. But his vision then dimmed, and flashes of red and blue filled his surroundings.

The robber seemed to realize that it was something that would trouble him more than the actual spread of fire around, for he had indeed spent too much time in that place since the first time the fire broke out after all… So he decided to run away from the strong burst of water and the footsteps of people who were approaching, leaving the boy whose consciousness was slowly fading away, owing too much pain to endure and blood was slowly pooling on the floor.

~~~~~