From Bullets To Billions Chapter 615: The Wooden Sword

Crouched behind the chilly bumper of the parked SUV, the two young women remained frozen in sheer disbelief. Only a moment prior, they were sipping coffee in a cozy cafe, blissfully detached from the city's grim reality. Now, they were paralyzed by the horrifying awareness that their lives might be coming to an abrupt end.

Both individuals had weathered deeply traumatic experiences in the past. Cindy carried the heavy burdens of her desperate search for Abby, where she had ventured into the dangerous underworld only to encounter utter despair. Sheri bore her own emotional scars from that harrowing day she was snatched by the Black Hounds; she still vividly recalled the sensation of the icy van, the musk of damp concrete, and the suffocating weight of powerlessness.

They understood intimately that the world could be cold and brutal. This grim perspective was why, upon witnessing the syndicate armies clashing with lethal intent in the courtyard, they immediately agreed that abandoning the district was their only logical course of action.

However, their path to safety had been completely blocked.

While they might have attempted to flee if they possessed the courage to challenge the Gilt Rat wielding the bat, the reality was not an action film. The odds favored them suffering severe, permanent injury. They lacked the combat training, the physical strength, and the ruthless malice required to overcome a seasoned gang member.

Consequently, they stood frozen in terror, anticipating the impact of the heavy aluminum bat, until a vibrant newcomer stepped from the shadows to intercept the blow.

"Why... why are you helping us? We don't even know who you are," Sheri stuttered, her voice trembling as she stared at the lady's vibrant pink hair.

As the dust settled from the parry, the girls identified the large object previously obscured on the stranger's back. As the heavy fabric fell away, it revealed that her weapon was a masterfully carved, dense wooden practice sword.

"You stupid bitch!" the Gilt Rat thug bellowed, his face contorting with injured pride. His hands throbbed from the jarring impact of the block. "Do you honestly think that because you carry a little wooden toy, I cannot easily dispatch a fragile girl like you?!"

The scarred man pulled his arm back, muscles bunched, and charged forward with the intent of landing a haymaker against her jaw.

As he unleashed his swing, the pink-haired woman remained calm. She adjusted her stance with practiced fluidity, stepping inside his wide range. With a sharp flick of her wrists, she redirected his incoming hand. The heavy wood connected with his forearm in a sickening crack, striking the bone with such intensity that his arm was flung upward, leaving his torso completely defenseless.

Without pause, she pivoted her hips. Leading with the blunt end of the practice sword, she thrust the weapon forward with lethal accuracy, impacting the center of his chest.

The man groaned in agony as the wind was knocked out of him. The kinetic force pushed him stumbling backward. Gasping for air, he tried to shield his chest, desperately reaching out to grasp the wooden blade to stall her next move.

However, she had already retracted her weapon. She seamlessly transformed the momentum of her thrust into a whistling, horizontal arc. The heavy wood struck the side of his head, spinning him around before he collapsed lifelessly to the concrete.

"Wow," Cindy breathed, her eyes wide as she climbed up from behind the vehicle. "That was... that was actually incredible. It looked like a choreographed fight from a movie."

"Right? She took down a veteran gang member with such ease," Sheri agreed, her heart still racing as she observed the unconscious thug.

The pink-haired protagonist, however, lacked any sense of triumph. She lowered her wooden sword and stared at her palms with an expression of profound confusion.

"Did I really just do that?" she murmured, her brows furrowed in concentration. "It felt as though my limbs were moving on their own. The muscle memory simply took over without my consent."

"Thank you! Thank you so much!" Sheri said, cautiously approaching to break the tension. She observed the woman with a mix of genuine gratitude and deep curiosity. "But... why are you here in this restricted zone? Did you come down this blocked street specifically for us?"

"Wait, consider this. Maybe she's meant to be involved in the fighting at the courtyard," Cindy remarked, narrowing her gaze toward the Fortis building. "That would make logical sense. She could be hired security."

The woman with the pink hair shook her head, dismissing the assumption.

"No, I don't know any of those angry men," she replied, her tone earnest and soft. "When you left the street, you both looked terrified. I feared something terrible was happening, so I trailed behind to ensure your safety. Then, I saw that you were cornered and in harm's way."

While the circumstances behind her decision to stalk them felt bizarre, they could not bring themselves to critique her boundaries after she had literally saved them from a brutal assault.

"Oi! What is happening over there?! I think we are being flanked!" one of the Gilt Rat grunts yelled from the courtyard.

The audible crack of the wooden sword and the thud of their comrade had attracted attention. Now, several syndicate members abandoned the Fortis building and began descending the street, clutching iron pipes and serrated blades.

An agile man sprinted forward, mounted the hood of a parked car, and leaped toward the trio.

The woman with pink hair did not panic. She adjusted her grip on the wooden sword, her gaze turning cold. She stepped forward, meeting the attacker in mid-air. With a powerful upward strike, the blade slammed into the man's chest, reversing his momentum and sending him crashing through the windshield of a nearby vehicle.

Simultaneously, another man lunged with his hunting knife toward her ribs. She spun on her heel, her body contorting with grace to evade the lethal blade by mere centimeters.

Utilizing the momentum of her rotation, she bypassed the knife-wielder and struck the third man behind him. She jammed the butt of her sword under his chin. As his head snapped back, she swept her weapon low, knocking his feet out from under him and sending him to the pavement.

When the knife-wielder turned to stab her, her instincts remained ahead of him. She pivoted back, bringing the wooden edge down in a crushing overhead strike. The weapon met his face, sending him collapsing to the ground instantly.

Three lethal gang members neutralized in mere seconds.

"Come on, we need to leave. Now," the woman said, her breathing steady as she looked at Sheri and Cindy. "The more of these thugs I defeat, the more attention I draw. They have an entire army up there; the waves will not end."

The two girls did not wait for further explanation. Fueled by adrenaline, all three turned away from the gang conflict and bolted, sprinting as hard as they could.

Fortunately, the Gilt Rats were far too occupied with breaching the Billion Bloodline building to focus their resources on chasing the fleeing trio.

Eventually, following an exhausting run through the winding alleyways, they reached the rear fire exit of the business structure they had used to enter the district initially.

"I think... I think we are safe here," Sheri gasped, leaning against the masonry while clutching her chest. "I do not think we should return there today."

"Agreed. We will have to find a safer way to discover the truth from Max later," Cindy replied, wiping the sweat from her face.

"Max?" the pink-haired woman whispered, her ears perking up at the mention of the name.

"Oh! I am so sorry, thank you so deeply for aiding us back there," Sheri apologized, standing upright and looking at their savior with gratitude. "We don't even know your name."

"Ah... right. My name?" the woman said quietly.

She raised a hand to her lip, appearing lost in thought. Her demeanor seemed to shift rapidly, oscillating between that of a lethal martial artist and an innocent soul.

"My name is... Vere," she answered, offering an uncertain smile. "Please, just call me Vere."