The Himuras moved at lightning speed. Even faster than Brock expected. Still, catching up with them was no trouble for him. This was because rare blood types or superhumans in terms of speed, were almost on par with vampires in general. As the Himura family journeyed back to their mansion, both Thorian and Hans could sense his presence. Brock was stalking them like a predator preparing for attack. He took note of their body movements, their special traits and this allowed him to observe what skills they might possess. However, he couldn’t quite pinpoint the talents Hans may possess.

The Himura family skipped through the forests using the tree branches to surge ahead. They soon reached their home. Tek was the first to land. He quickly scanned the whole area for any danger, just in time before the others were at his side. Thanks to his edgy nature, he could sense something was amiss. Thorian could sense the offish atmosphere as well.

“Show yourself…” Thorian said, to nothing in particular.

They turned around towards the dark forests surrounding their household just in time to hear a gentle rustle of the bush.

“Himura, stay in position” Thorian whispered, his tone firm. Hans although shocked realised Thorian didn’t want him to maintain his usual defensive position as he expected his leader to have a rational reason for commanding them to refrain from employing it.

“What’s this…” asked Ukaid.

The family could see the shadow of a well-built man. Just then, emerging from the cover of the trees, Brock entered the Himura territory with a vicious look on his face. His left eye was blocked by the shadows of the trees.

The Himuras were furious. This was going to be a problem. One, this meant the Lovecrafts would know where the Himura family lived. Two, the Himuras believed, for good reason, the Lovecrafts were distrustful of them, hence the reason they sent Brock after them, perhaps to engage them again. The whole family got adjusted, ready to draw their weapon or engage in hand to hand combat. Only Vellesca hesitated. She was still traumatised from the previous encounter she had with death.

“I thought we came to an agreement, didn’t we?” Hemphia wondered. She expected Vellesca to back her but she wasn’t up for it. The two frontmen stepped forward to her rescue, knowing fully well she was mentally distraught by the previous fight and the attempt on her life.

Thorian clenched his fist right before he raised it. “Are you going to answer why you followed us or not?” he asked, his anger gathering momentum.

The wind howled for a second, unsettling them all. All Brock gave as a response was a cold stare. He didn’t give the Himuras much to go on: they couldn’t tell whether he planned to break the territorial rules but his arrogance and domineering stature unsettled them.

“Who the hell do you think you are? You enter our land alone and expect us to be afraid of you!” Thorian bellowed.

“Shut up! You are nothing but a piece of shit, a calamity, an inferior and cursed race!” Brock severely replied strongly mocking him.

For a moment, a flicker of pure fright streamed across Thorian’s face. It disappeared as soon as it came. He was taken aback by Brock’s sheer gusto. However, he had some plan up his sleeves. The rest of the family were a bit scared, thinking their leader was losing it. They were not scared for themselves though, they were for him; he was their leader and source of genuine inspiration, come what may. They weren’t going to stand idly by while a vagrant stranger disgraced him. Save Hans and Vellesca, the rest surrounded Brock, like predators edging their prey into an inescapable corner.

“Remember, you provoked us, you asked for this” said Thorian.

Like a pack of wolves, they attacked him. The frontmen lunged at him first. He was quick to disarm and toss them to a corner like a pack of wool. Hemphia attacked him next, hoping to sever his head from his neck with her blade, Vaporian. His sheer strength came into play. He repelled the attack with the side of his arm, a force which sent the sword cannoning off from Hemphia’s hand. The impact flung her backwards, barely leaving her on her feet.

Thorian, seeing an opening, went for his jugular. Brock was able to sidestep the strike, grabbing Thorian by the hand just before he was able to land another blow. He then picks him up from the throat and slams him onto the ground.

“A bold attempt, but you fail,” he grinned.

Ukaid quickly regrouped with the frontmen for the next assault. Tek lingered in the background, using the trees as cover just to attack him while he was distracted. Ukaid charged at Brock only for him to receive a low kick to his right leg. It caught him off guard and he received a heavy jump-kick right after, one that sent him hurtling backwards into the charging frontmen who were just a few paces behind him. Brock had just used the same battle strategy Marimbo had used earlier.

Thinking he had seen the opening he was hoping for, Tek came flying in, daggers at the ready. He was going to split Brock’s head into two, splattering his brains all over the grassy plains. Like a lightning bolt, Tek dashed toward him and threw a dagger at his head.

Somersaulting, he landed on his knees muttering bull’s eye to himself for he thought he had slain the over confident warrior.

Once he didn’t hear Brock slump to the ground, he turned around. He gasped, dazed to see Brock not just standing but he hadn’t been hurt by the dagger thrown.

“No way” Tek whispered, shocked.

It turns out that Brock had caught the weapon with his teeth while his head was tilted heavenwards. He dropped the dagger to his left hand and hurtled it back at Tek who was still confounded to move a muscle. It caught him in the waist and pinned him into the tree right next to him.

Tek howled in pain, his voice reverberating through the forests.

“Using the same method that you used before won’t work on me, I can anticipate all your moves” Brock boasted.

“What’s with this guy, there’s no way that he can beat all of us at once!” Tek wondered.

“I have studied your bodily movements and assessed your skills in battle. You are no match for me. That is my specialty, once I know how my opponents fight, I can’t be beaten,” Brock mockingly revealed, his eyes now glowing a deep, bright blue.

The Himuran leader was right about Brock. His overconfidence was assured and he was smart to fight more cautiously than normal. He scampered to his feet to attack again. But, Hemphia beat him to it.

“Vaporian!” she shouted picking up the sword she had dropped earlier. She aimed to cut him cleanly into two.

“You should never give up your position, your loud bickering gives you away,” advised Brock.

He jumped in the air, landing and crouching on the flat side of her protruding sword. Before she could regain her posture, he head-butted the ravaging female into the distance while he dispossessed her of the weapon in hand.

As his romantic partner had fallen, Thorian wanted to charge over to Hemphia’s side to help her. But, seeing the way Brock charged toward him unprotected, he deliberated leaving himself open for a sure attack.

Thinking he still had the advantage, Brock thrust his sword into Thorian, catching him to the left side of his abdomen. “I told you already. You can’t defeat me” Brock emphasised. The Lovecraft assessor had made a fool out of all of them, he was irate to exert some revenge. Blood splattered onto the grass and Thorian leaned on Brock, supposedly dying from the grave wound. The rest gasped, overtaken by sheer confoundment. They had never for once seen their leader wounded, let alone fatally.

“Thorian!” Hemphia shrieked.

“By Jove! He’s invincible!” acknowledged Ukaid.

“Any last words?” Brock asked, whispering into Thorian’s ears as he deepened the thrust of the blade.

“I wouldn’t get so cocky, if I were you,” Thorian said slowly, blood gurgling from his wound.

“I’m surprised you still question my power,” an overconfident Brock said arrogantly.

“There’s no one here who stands a chance against me. I can anticipate all your attacks with my omni-present eye,” he continued.

The Himuras had finally been informed, they had become aware of the ability he possessed and why he didn’t doubt himself.

“Well that’s where you are wrong” stuttered Thorian as he bled from the mouth.

“You see, there is actually one here who you shouldn’t have underestimated, you fool!” Thorian grabbed Brock tightly ensuring he had no escape.

“Himura, finish him off!” he roared.

“What?” a dazed Brock uttered. As he turned sideways to catch the glimpse of Hans pointing his right index finger directly at him. He was only a few feet away from his side and felt a surge of burning aura about to be released. A burning ray is fired right at Brock’s back. The force hits him and ignites him from behind at the centre of his upper body. This was one of Hans’s unknown but signature techniques which he called Phantom Raygun. Brock fell, his backside like a lump of charcoal burnt beyond recognition.

“Well would you look at that,” Tek painfully retorted as he yanked off the dagger that had entrapped him against the tree trunk.

Vellesca had never seen a technique like that before. She couldn’t help but feel jealous due to her lack of involvement in the battle. She never knew that Hans was capable of wielding such pure power. Apart from Thorian who knew what his personal guard was capable of, the whole family was mystified.

In one quick move, Thorian pulled out Hemphia’s Vaporian blade from his stomach and handed it back to her.

“Are you alright?” a recovered Hemphia asked him, worry lacing her eyebrows.

“I’ll be fine. He didn’t seem to have hit any vitals,” he replied, grinning at her.

“You planned this from the start didn’t you” a badly-burnt Brock commented as he writhed on the grass in sheer agony. He was clearly incapacitated now and could barely move.

Thorian turned toward him, staring at his body. “Yes. You shouldn’t underestimate me, you shouldn’t underestimate my family” Thorian replied.

The Himura family moved in towards the defeated titan crowding his shredded body.

“So, what now?” asked Tek.

“If we leave him to recover, he could escape and attack us again,” Malcolm opined.

“I don’t think he can ever recover from such a crippling injury,” Thorian observed.

“Let’s kill him now,” Hemphia suggested, ready to get her pound of flesh.

“I’ll do it” Ukaid offered, stepping forward with one of his large feet raised to crush Brock’s skull into the soil.

“Wait!” Thorian shouted.

“Wait, wait for what?” Artemus asked.

“It’s clear he came for a fight but what of the rest of his family? I’d like to know what their intentions are towards us first,” Thorian opined, crouching beside the dying Brock.

“I came…here. No I attacked out of my own accord. But…if my family does find out about this...they will have your heads, you bloodsucking animals” Brock stuttered.

A sagacious Thorian could surmise this event could lead to further bloodshed.

“If we kill him, we’re going to have to be on guard and ready for the Lovecrafts,” he made clear.

Vellesca was awfully quiet, compared to her usual vociferous self. She would usually say something unreasonable but felt too ashamed to contribute to the situation they were in. Thorian was expecting her to say something radical too which would have allowed him to give the order to finish off Brock for good. He decided to let someone else make the choice rather than take absolute control of the situation himself. He didn’t want them to see him as an unquestionable leader.

Thorian turned to Hans, since he was the one who landed the deathly blow in the first place. “Hans, what would you have us do?”

Hans closed his eyes deeply for a brief moment as he had a vivid reminiscence of the monstrous tyranny he thought of when Brock came to mind. The like that would unleash chaos on their world. To him, that alone had sealed Brock’s fate. Die, he must.

Hans wasn’t going to let him go scot-free. Not on his watch. “He broke the territorial rules and the punishment for that is death” he argued.

With this falling into play, Thorian gave Hans a go-ahead nod. A move which allowed Hans to take matters into his own hands. Hans crunched Brock’s neck with a vigorous downward kick from his heel to end the separated Lovecraft’s life. For a moment, there was deafening silence. The wind rustled past and the Himura family acknowledge the death of a fearless and mighty foe by bowing their heads. He had fought well. He had died well too.

“Ukaid, dump the body far from this place,” Thorian ordered, breaking the silence. “We are going to have to be prepared for what’s to come,” he added.

“Right” Ukaid quickly replied, dragging the remains of Brock away.

Hans knew this murder would surely lead to further conflict between the recently-introduced families. He could feel that such an action could only put a target on his back forever. Yet, he didn’t flinch for a second that he had ended Brock’s life. He made the decision. He was going to stand by it, come what might.