Marco's golden shields flickered and died.
His hands dropped to his sides, trembling visibly.
Behind those shields, he'd felt invincible for years.
Now they felt like paper walls against a hurricane.
"Wait! Just wait, please!"
His voice cracked with desperation.
Damian kept walking toward him, his axe dragging across the blood-soaked pavement with that horrible grinding sound.
"We surrender! I surrender! My men surrender! Just tell me why!"
Marco's knees gave out. He collapsed, hands raised in submission.
"Why the hell are you even attacking us!? We never touched any Academy students! We don't operate near the campus! What did we do to deserve this!?"
Damian stopped a few feet away.
His crimson eyes, cold and emotionless, stared down at the broken gang leader.
"Your gang runs drugs. Extorts businesses. Preys on people too weak to fight back."
He lifted his axe, resting it against his shoulder.
"That's reason enough."
