Held was still standing before his opponent, still smiling somewhat kindly at the serial killer. The music of the soldier's feelings that Lume could hear was of the purest and truest happiness, love, hope, and determination.
— Assassin of the night… no, Lume! I will save you from your anguish!
The soldier said this before charging full speed at the terrorist. His speed was so extreme that he disappeared from sight for a moment, simultaneously breaking the sound barrier. Held appeared again in front of the serial killer, his right fist—his current only fist—raising but quickly coming down hard against the blond man's head. The most sensible reaction the son of a prostitute could take in that situation was to jump and get away from the soldier as fast as he could. The building next to them was instantly sliced as if the claws of a giant jaguar had cut through it.
"Air pressure claws? Judging also by how easily he destroyed the concrete and reinforced steel beams of the building, this attack has the same destructive capacity as Jupiter's Great Red Spot, but much reinforced!"
Lume thought as he observed all the destruction caused by the soldier. Of course, it didn't last long since Held charged again at the assassin. The man in the black cloak quickly grabbed some pieces of iron and concrete that had fallen from the building, charging them with determination and then throwing them at the face and chest of the mountain of muscle before him, using all his agility to act before Held.
"That trick of throwing things, a classic move of his!"
The captain of the operation thought this as he moved his right arm in front of the objects, using the air pressure to "pulverize" them before they could hit his body. His advance wasn't over; the soldier now tried to land another punch on the serial killer's skull, but like all previous attempts, he missed and hit another building, instantly destroying the foundation and causing more debris.
"If one of these hits me directly, I will surely die the moment it touches!"
Lume thought as he threw more rubble at the man apparently made of pure muscle. But the soldier's hand not only completely destroyed those attacks but also continued straight toward the blond man's body. The tall, slender man noticed the air pressure was focused at the tip of that fist, judging by the "ripples" in the space there. Seeing this, Lume decided to leap toward the fist and jump when close, using the soldier's arm for a big boost to fly over him. Held's arm tilted down slightly, sending the damage of the attack crashing into the ground.
— Damn, just surrender already, Lume!
The soldier spun quickly and said these words, only to be surprised by a small hail of knives thrown his way. He moved his arm hard to defend, using the air to deflect the knives. Lume had reached near a manhole and a streetlamp, exactly twenty-eight and a half meters from his opponent. But the distance didn't last long due to Held's speed, breaking the sound barrier again with ease and disappearing from sight, appearing before the terrorist once more. Another punch was about to be landed on the man responsible for countless deaths throughout his life, but in response, Lume stepped on the manhole cover, making it jump up in front of him. Quickly, he grabbed it and filled it with feelings of determination and self-defense, causing that punch to stop midway and dissipate in a huge shockwave.
"That was close—"
Lume's thought was cut short when he saw the sewer cover starting to bend and take the shape of the soldier's fist. That wasn't just from the soldier's strength but also the wear the object had suffered from the intense feelings inside it. The soldier's hand soon pierced the object and struck the man's chest, throwing him far away.
"Tsk, my punch isn't as destructive as before. He must have been hurt, like someone hit by a nine-hundred-kilogram economy car going twenty-five kilometers per hour. Probably cracked or broke a rib or two."
Held thought while watching his opponent. Obviously, Lume had already gotten rid of the manhole cover. Lume was getting up, spitting a lot of blood—one of his ribs had cracked badly—and feeling slightly nauseous.
"So there is a limit to how many feelings an object can absorb? Interesting, it seems everything really has limits!"
Lume thought as he watched the cover disappear and started glancing around, planning what to do to get out of this dangerous situation. Held wouldn't give him much space, already moving to strike Lume with his "stub." The assassin jumped back and barely dodged the blow. Having already thought about what to do, Lume quickly pulled his last rope weapon from his cloak and threw it onto the top of a building, trying to escape over the rooftop. The soldier charged again at the night assassin, reaching him in less than a second and punching him in the stomach, sending him flying into a gate with a sharp top, impaling Lume alive in a vital spot.
Lume managed to free himself by putting a massive amount of various feelings into the part that had impaled him, breaking part of it and allowing him to fall to the ground. He pulled out that "spear" and used it like a cane to support himself, breathing heavily and holding his left hand to the wound.
— I already told you, Lume, give up now, or you will die.
Held said this with a determined yet slightly worried look at his opponent. The response from the assassin was just an ironic laugh as Lume took off his cloak.
— Yes… I definitely should…
Lume took off his black cloak with his right hand, hiding the "spear" somewhere in his clothing. Right after, the building began to tilt and fall on top of both men. For the soldier, it wouldn't be difficult to dodge due to his super-hypersonic speed, but that was prevented because Lume charged at him holding a machete in his left hand. So if Held tried to dodge the falling building, he would be cut by the serial killer; if he tried to defend against Lume's slashing attack, he would be hit by the rapidly falling building. However, the soldier noticed there was an open window nearby that could save him from damage, so he decided to defend against the incoming attack, putting his arm in front of where the blow would land.
But something surprised the soldier—Lume didn't attack but instead jumped, using Held's arm to propel himself through the window with a smile on his face.
— I should take off my cloak so I don't stain it with blood, and I should also warn you—the path through this window will be completely blocked from now on, my friend Held!
Lume said as he entered the window, completely confusing the soldier since the window wasn't actually closing. But something even more surprising happened—there were two of Lume's rope weapons there, the one used most recently and one from the beginning. The most recent one had the barrel end on the ground, and the initial one had the tip of the rope on the ground. Both ends had recently been filled with determination, causing the destruction of the tips and releasing the ropes. Both ropes spun quickly and fiercely around the building, exposing the side without the window to the high-ranking soldier.
Held tried to hold the building with his only arm, but the building itself started to wear down due to the feelings charged into its structure. The floor where the captain was standing cracked and completely broke, burying him under the debris filled with determination from the building. The man was badly injured and thrown down there, with some iron beams piercing his shoulder and other non-vital parts of his body. He stayed that way until he felt a chill down his spine and then heard a soft voice speaking to him.
— Held, you promised me you would never fall or give up. You promised me you would never get hurt!
It was the soldier's mother's voice, her words making him remember his past, remember those promises.