Chapter 16: Kael versus Johnny Part 1
Since Mick and Torn were close by, Johnny should also not be that far away.
And just as expected, Kael soon spotted Johnny, who was currently running away for his life. He could already guess the reason why. The latter should have been lucky enough to spawn in a hidden location, and from there he saw him killing Mick and Torn.
As if realizing he couldn't outrun the young man chasing after him in this unfamiliar environment, Johnny finally decided to face Kael.
"Did Arnold send you?" Johnny took out a gun from his waist.
Despite seeing the gun, Kael didn't feel nervous. With a flicker of his arm, he also took a gun out from his waist pocket. It was from Torn that he picked up earlier, believing he'd be using it soon.
A gun might not be an effective weapon in Avalon, but that is only the case for beings in this world and the players in the future. Right now, it is very much effective against Johnny.
"I see," Johnny could recognize the gun was the one that Kael picked up from Torn.
A mouthful of breath later, a series of gunshots started ringing around the place.
*Bang! *Bang! *Bang!
*Bang! *Bang! *Bang!
In the midst of shooting, Kael and Johnny were running around finding covers before firing again.
Kael wasn't good with a gun, but he wasn't worried since his goal right now is to make Johnny run out of bullets. The problem, though, is to make sure he doesn't get hit by one. After all, his body is still an ordinary body. If he gets hit by a bullet, it would be fatal for him.
Soon, the banging sound stopped.
"Finally!" Kael threw the gun away and prepared his knife.
However, before Kael could get away from his hiding spot, a bullet hitting wood sounded close to his ears.
"Fuck!" Kael immediately rolled away to another tree close by. As soon as he landed, he made sure to hide well before glimpsing at his original location just now.
A bit of smoke could still be seen oozing out from where the bullet landed on the tree he had previously hidden behind.
"If I weren't lucky just now, that bullet would have hit my head," Kael swore inwardly.
Clasping his cheeks, Kael could feel blood from a scratch he had just received from a wooden chip that had been flung his way. That was why he rolled, because he thought a bullet flew passed him.
"This body is the worst!" Kael couldn't help blaming his body. He misses the time when he could just stand in one spot and no bullets could still graze him.
"I guess I'll have to make use of one of my traps," Kael surveyed his location while trying to spot signs of the few traps he set before. Of course, he made sure to put some indication of the location of his traps so that he could easily make use of them.
"What's wrong? Did you forget to pick some bullets earlier?" Johnny let out a loud chuckle. He knew the young man had only picked up a gun before, which was why he shot his gun without worrying, as he wanted to trick the latter into using all of his bullets.
That's right, it was the other way around. Not Kael making Johnny run out of bullets, but the contrary.
"I admit, you got me there," Kael responded while thinking of ways to lead Johnny to his trap.
"You still haven't answered my question. Did Arnold send you? If yes, how much did he pay you? I'll double it!"
"Arnold? Is that the name of the spy you ordered to follow us? He's long been dead, and you will follow him soon!"
"Dead?" Johnny was shocked. Then who on Noverra is the man his been communicating with all this time? He's certain his not talking to a mere ghost.
"That's right!" Kael purposely responded loudly before rolling to another tree close to him.
*Bang!
Another gunshot rang, and the ground that Kael had just rolled from now has a gunshot mark.
"You speak so arrogantly, yet you are actually running away from me?!" Johnny snickered while making sure to follow Kael closely. "Where's your arrogance now?"
Contrary to what Johnny was expecting, the young man no longer responded.
"Did I just hit him?"
Naturally, Johnny did not hit Kael. The latter was just crawling, which was why he didn't make a sound. If he did, he'd be dead, as his movement was now limited.
"I should have grabbed a few magazines from that dead body earlier." Kael was now regretting rushing into things. If his trap also fails, then he'll have to do everything until Lawrence backs him up.
"Are you dead?" Johnny quickened his pace in approaching where he thought the young man was last hiding. However, as soon as he arrived, the latter was nowhere to be found. There were also no traces of blood, which means he didn't hit him.
"He escaped!" Johnny felt frustrated. He looks around his surroundings, hoping he'll find traces of the young man. Fortunately, there were obvious traces of someone crawling on the grass.
"Are you a dog or something?!" Johnny threw out an insult as he slowly and carefully followed behind the crawl marks.
Unbeknownst to Johnny, that was exactly what Kael wanted him to do because that would lead the former exactly to where the trap is located.
By this time, Kael was already up and hiding in a tree near his trap, waiting for Johnny to get close enough so he could pull the rope beside him.
"Shit! This dog is good at hiding!" Johnny continued to ridicule the young man while slowly following the crawl marks.
"Got you!" Kael quickly pulled the rope.
With a whooshing sound, a rope trap that was hidden in the dirt suddenly entrapped Johnny's right leg and, in the next moment, pulled him upward.
"What the!"
"Time to finish the job!" Kael celebrated as he slowly approached Johnny.
Contrary to what Kael was expecting, Johnny's upper body quickly bent almost one eighty degrees and reached close to his feet, and with a knife in his other hand, he easily cut the rope. In addition to that, instead of falling flat on his body, the latter rolled mid-air and landed on the ground with his feet.
"Did this guy practice martial arts or something?" Kael was momentarily taken aback.
"There you are!" Johnny pointed his gun at the young man.
Before Johnny could pull the trigger, Kael immediately jumped behind a tree nearby.
*Bang!
"Fuck!" Kael started sweating on his forehead. He might have experienced a lot in his first life, but that doesn't necessarily mean he is not afraid of dying, especially right after gaining another chance in life.
However, his experience still helped him think of a way out. "There!"
"It's been so long since I told anyone this," Johnny slowly approached the young man's hiding spot. This time, he is confident the latter won't be able to crawl his way out of here. "I used to be a soldier in the military in the past."
"So, if you believe you could easily defeat me, think again!" Johnny jumped to the side and pointed his gun at the location behind the tree, but to his surprise, the young man was already gone.
However, it didn't take long for Johnny to see where Kael was as the latter swung from the tree and threw a double kick straight to his face.
*Bang!
Johnny's entire body fell to the ground.
As soon as he landed on the ground, Kael immediately kicked Johnny's right hand that was holding the gun, successfully disarming the latter.
But before he could execute another attack, Johnny swung his left hand, which was holding the knife.
Kael swiftly jumped backward to evade.
"I don't need a gun to defeat you!" Johnny stood up and immediately rushed towards the young man as he transferred his knife to his right hand.
"Now this is fair!" Kael smiled coldly.
He didn't care about Johnny's history of being a soldier since he had fought even stronger people in the past. Also, in Rustfall, a lot of people were originally soldiers who used to protect the businesses that slowly killed the continent. But then, after those businesses were done with their operation, all of those soldiers suffered the consequences of protecting the corrupt and unethical businessmen. They're basically one of the reasons why the continent of Rustfall became the way it is in the present.
*Clang!
Kael and Johnny's knives clashed together.
"I can't believe you're actually proud of yourself for being a soldier," Kael snickered.
Johnny was stunned as he jumped backward.
"You understand what I meant, right?" Kael rushed forward since he had no intention of giving Johnny any advantage. If this were a gun versus knife fight, then he would obviously lose. But in a knife versus knife fight, he's confident that with his skill honed not only from his first life but also from how he was surviving in Rustfall all this time, he could defeat Johnny.
*Clang!
"If it wasn't for the soldiers, Rustfall wouldn't have fallen to such a state today!"