After Neo just jumped for the old man, before he could even have the time to calculate or even come up with a plan to deal with this whole situation, he screamed loud enough for his lungs to feel like they were about to burst.
He had formed a fist, and from the way it was though he looked mad he wasn't mad enough, but he was mad to the point that he couldn't think straight, even his hands were shaking.
Neo threw the first punch to the old man, who really didn't even seem to be scared by him. Once his fist came close to the old man's face, maybe inches, the old man didn't even try so hard to dodge, he just leaned back, moving only his face out of the way.
Either Neo was quick enough to see this, or maybe he had anticipated this kind of reaction from the old man. After seeing that he couldn't land his first punch, Neo quickly formed another fist with his other hand and tried to give the old man the upper cut.
But the way the old man was also so prepared, it was if he too was anticipating this kind of reaction from Neo. Since he had his cigarette in his mouth, which seemed to be his main focus, the old man didn't do much but just move out of the way with a swift step move, like he was dancing on ice.
He must have been fast too, because Neo thought that for sure how the second attack that was meant to be a surprise would surely land. He felt the after effect when he couldn't feel anything on his fist.
"That sure got him, hah, that old man thought he could dodge my attacks with no problem at all."
Neo celebrated as he thought that he had won.
Only for the old man to appear just a few feet away from him, standing by the corner of the house.
"Hey kid, do you happen to have a match or lighter by any chance?"
Neo thought that maybe he must have heard that in his head, so he turned just only his head to look at where the question was coming from, only for him to see the old man unscathed and looking for something to light his cigarette.
"How the fuck did you get over there?"
Neo was surprised, but he pretended not to be caught off guard for the sake of the old man, and also not to seem weak in front of him.
The old man ignored Neo, and continued to look for the lighter or the match that he had asked Neo about just a second ago.
Neo probably thought that the old man had let down his guard, so just like the first time, before he could even come up with a plan or at least calculate his next move, Neo just jumped head first without thinking again, repeating his first mistake.
He got next to the old guy and kicked the cardboard door, hoping that maybe it would hit the old man's face, but once again he was smart and quick enough, so he just moved out of the way.
Neo just heard only the cardboard door slam without even hitting his aimed target.
The old man appeared behind Neo, putting his head on his shoulder and busy playing around with his cigarette in his mouth.
"So I take it that you don't have a light or match?"
The old man sighed in disappointment.
"What a let down?"
"Get the fuck away from me!"
Neo was now getting a little bit mad than before, so he just waved his elbow around, trying to hit the old man, but this time around the old man didn't dodge or move away, he just blocked Neo's elbow with his hand.
Pushed Neo's elbow enough to turn him around, more like spin him around, and when Neo faced him, the old man just placed his fingers onto Neo's chest, just, and even before he could comprehend what was going on, the old man closed his hand, forming a fist.
That was not only loud enough but also strong enough for him to push away Neo, causing him to crash against the wall, and he actually cracked it up a bit.
Neo couldn't stop coughing. After all, this was all new to him. Yes, it's true Neo was used to fighting, and it didn't matter who he fought, since he defeated everyone without even breaking a sweat. He had come to believe that he was the strongest.
And since no one seemed worthy to be his opponent, let alone land one this strong, Neo's mind could'nt process this.
That punch wasn't that powerful, but yet it made him feel like he couldn't gasp up his breath, and each breathing felt like it was his last and final one.
And this came from an old man, and not just any old man, one that seemed to relive his youth days.
"Why are you doing this, what did my parents ever do to you, why did you kill them like this?"
Neo wanted to get up, but realised that the effect was severe, and it was going to take him a few tries to actually get the hand of it and manage to get back up, because he did try, but all he did was just slip back down.
"Kid, I have no problem with your parents. The only person I've been sent after is you. They just happened to be in the way, and from the info I received, they had betrayed their brethren and chose a Devil Blood over their own family, so you realise what that would mean I must do to traitors."
The old man walked over to Neo, when he realised that in his hand he had been carrying the lighter that he was looking for.
Neo wanted to fight, but he was still weak, and it was going to take him time to recover. Even his whole body felt a little paralyzed, but when the old man tried to take away his lighter, Neo tried to hold it off, but eventually he couldn't keep up.
The old man then got up after taking the lighter, and he lit his cigarette.
"Ah!"
He said the second he took his first puff.
"Nothing beats puffing a cigarette that is stained with the blood of your victims."
The old man said.
"Don't you want a taste of your parents' blood?"
He handed his cigarette to Neo, who was still not fully recovered yet, but after hearing the old man's talk and disrespecting his family, Neo just forced and push himself to stand up.
"You are fucken dead!"
Neo had gotten up and had tried to grab the old man, but since he wasn't strong enough, the old man just grabbed his hand and twisted it.
"ARGHHH!"
Neo screamed in pain.
Then, seeing that there is nothing that Neo could do, the old man perceived him as a weakling, and after twisting his hand, he spun him around, making Neo turn and fall into the floor.
"So this is the Devil Blood that I've had to come out of my retirement and deal with because the new recruits of the Crucifixion were afraid because of what they thought he could do to them, huh?"
The old man just saw Neo lying on the floor all helpless while he held up his hand.
"Pathetic, pathetic, you are not even worth my full strength."
The old man had been stepping on Neo's head for some time now, and since his shoes were alligator skin, the sole was steel, and when he stomped Neo's head he'd been actually pushing and driving him deeper into the floor.
Neo was now blooded and unconscious. The old man even checked for the response by waving around Neo's hand, and it didn't seem to be responsive.
The old man took a deep breath.
"Ha, what a disappointment."
The let go of Neo's hand and left him there while he went to sit down.
"And I just bought this."
He noticed that his suit was now dirty and stained with not only Neo's blood that had jumped onto him but also the dust and dirt that he had collected.
The old man had sat down, and since his last cigarette was now dirty and impossible to smoke, he set it aside to the table and took another one from his box, and he lit it.
For maybe like a couple of seconds, he just smoked it and shared a few puffs, as he was looking at the dead bodies of Neo's parents, and he paid closed attention to Neo, who he had believed was really dead, but after the fuss he'd heard about, he just wanted to be sure.
Nothing really happened, and there wasn't any sort of indication coming from Neo that showed that he was still alive. Even the old man couldn't even hear a single heart beat.
"Very well then, I'll just have to simply report back to base and inform them of my mission completion."
The old man took one last puff from his cigarette, then he stood up, threw the cigarette on the floor, and the one that he had put on the table rolled on over, and once it landed next to the one he'd threw,
It lit up as it continued to roll on over to the pool of Neo's parents' blood.
And the whole house just went up in flames.