Chapter 67 - 67 - Is It My Turn Now?

No matter how hard he tried to jerk or thug his arm, the boy's hold was like a firm vice; the bald bossman was just unable to pull free. Even worse, his grip was turning unbearable, his fingers dug further and further, testing the elasticity and sturdiness of his skin. Added with the metal covers that actually served the boy's grip better than his wielder's, the leader soon found himself growling and groveling.

"Aaaargh! Let go, you bastard!" Unable to hold back anymore, he cried, quickly lunging himself into the second wave of attack. His right leg kicked out, his stretched muscles carrying all of his remaining strength in a desperate attempt to free himself from this living incarnation of hell. 

His strong sheen barely took any time to reach the area above his right calves, the popliteal fossa, or in other words: Lucien's keep it. Being one of the weakest points in the human body, the bald man thought that the sudden strike would cause his legs to lose their stability, and the boy would fall to the ground. 

Then, the sudden change in his posture would finally force him to let go of his fist, and he would be free to counterattack, ultimately washing away some of the shame that had befallen him in this whole farce.

He then planned to brutally beat up the kid, break all of his limbs and even shatter his spine, causing him to be forever forced to be a cripple, living his pathetic life tied to a hospital bed.

He also planned to do the same to this annoying clerk teen, as all of his misery started with him and that soon-to-be-dead grunt of his.

In the end, he would grab that blondie, and escape, hiding in one of his secret hideouts for a few weeks, while the dust would settle, enjoying that fine piece of meat of hers.

'Yeah, everything will be fine, as soon as I beat up this brat!' He thought, soothing his nervous, agitated heart, still refusing to give up his dreams.

Unfortunately, reality just as it was proven to him several times by now, was unlike he had believed it in that twisted mind of his. His brazen, and desperate attempt didn't play out as he thought it would.

Yes, he did manage to reach his target and by pulling all his strength and gathered momentum he gave a powerful kick at that diamond shaped area behind Lucien's left knee joint. Still, he felt as if he hit the solid, brick wall. The boy's legs remained still, all of the forward force was swallowed with absolutely nothing to show for all his effort.

Even worse, he felt a numb, subtle ache coming from his sheen, as the area was bruised just like how it would as you would kick into a solid indomitable object, like the bark of an oak tree.

A new surge of pain suddenly came from his tormented right fist, Lucien slowly but gradually increasing the pressure he grinned viciously.

"You done? Is it my turn now?" He asked, his words causing the baldie to almost cry out. 

His eyes turning hazy, as the tears continued gathering, the leader gritted his teeth, pushing his voice back down. His mind, whilst wracked with the pervasive, chaotic pain, was working in overdrive trying to find a solution. Seconds seemed like hours as the bossman tried to come up with anything that could save his hide.

Suddenly, his eyes brightened, as he remembered the little assurance he usually carried at the back pocket of his jeans.

His pain-filled expression suddenly changed, a twisted, evil-looking grin once again dominated it, his left hand slowly sneaked behind his back and reached for the sharp object tucked away in there. As his fingers finally wrapped around its small black hilt, he looked down at the annoying little youngster that kept humiliating him.

"You asked for this, you brat! Be more respectful in your next life! DIE!" He cried with a mad, frantic look as his hidden left arm suddenly jabbed forward from behind, revealing a short stabbing blade, his hidden dirk.

Without care he thrust forward, aiming at the boy's waist, hoping to penetrate and plunge the weapon as deep and causing as much damage to his abdominal organs as he possibly could. If possible he hoped to cause some sort of bleeding and wanted him to survive just long enough so he could witness his victorious assault on the woman that he was sure by now was watching with a worried, concerned gaze. 

After all,  this fight was surely over, once his ultimate weapon would plunge into this brat, the victor would instantly be decided.

However, once again, he had to wake up. His delirious dreams and hazy visions would remain the creation of his overactive mind. 

Before his blade could reach its target, his body suddenly jerked. He felt like a short stab from his chest area, before suddenly a searing, electric sensation flashed through his body, quickly shutting down all other motions and throwing his body down on his knee. 

The pain was temporary, it swiftly subsided. In the next moment, he felt a cold sensation, a liquid slowly drip down from the original impact area on his upper torso.

Slowly, shakily, as his nervous system was gradually breaking down under the incomprehensible agony, he looked down only to turn wide-eyed for the last second of his life.

As his eyelids turned heavier by the second, he saw three strange, alien-like black tendrils penetrating his chest around the area of his heart. Instantly he understood what was going on.

With a bitter smile and with full of regrets, the bald bossman, the now ex-leader of the Hudson Reavers had breathed his last. His lifeless body fell down, the strings of life were forever cut for him.

Still, his body never reached the ground. As before it could give in to the pull of gravity, the boy uttered a single word with a cold look on his face.

"Absorb."

Instantly, the corpse began to violently shake, and twist in the air, swiftly denuding his physical form, it turned into a gelatinous dark, viscous goo before the three oil-covered tendrils sucked it up in a matter of seconds.

In moments, before the shocked eyes of the thin shopkeeper teen and the wry-looking Sera, Lucien didn't even bother as he mercilessly took his very first victim and freed the world one of its stains.

As their minds now finally merged, the two vastly different sides now turned into one. Slowly but surely Lucien's outlook on the world was twisting. Whilst his morality and soul remained, those that pushed on his nerves, or found his 'reverse scale', he would no longer show any mercy. 

Basking in the feeling of the surge of new power, albeit similar to the common creatures of the forest, Lucien couldn't help but enjoy himself. 

He felt the small strain of newly converted energy as it traversed his body, reaching to the deepest depths and slowly being absolved by him.

As the expected bell-like sound rang out in his head, he slowly opened his eyes and checked the appearing message on the screen…