From Bullets To Billions Chapter 762: A Rumbling

Hercules could feel the change the moment he lifted his hands from what remained of Hugo’s face. His fists were soaked in blood, along with other pieces he didn’t care to look at too closely, but it was the energy draining from his body that held his attention.

It confirmed two things.

The first was that Hugo had finally been dealt with. His former student was dead, and the evil Hercules believed he had created would no longer be able to harm anyone else.

The second was that Hercules had broken his Vow.

With his Vow broken, Hercules was no longer a superhuman. At least, that was what he believed. Even he didn’t fully understand the rules surrounding Vows or what happened after someone failed to uphold one.

Did breaking a Vow mean that a person had to start again with the same promise? Was it even possible to make the same Vow twice? Would someone still possess the same conviction after already proving that they could break it?

Perhaps the body would know that the person was lying to themselves.

The human body was an amazing thing, though. Hercules found it difficult to believe that everything his body had become capable of could simply disappear in an instant. His muscles were still there, along with all the years of training and experience he had gathered before making his Vow.

However, the unnatural strength that had once flowed through every part of him was fading quickly.

Regardless of what happened next, Hercules didn’t care. Even if he was never considered a superhuman again, he had accomplished what he had come here to do.

He placed one hand against his injured chest and looked down at Hugo’s motionless body.

"If that fight had continued any longer, I might have been the one to give out," Hercules said quietly. "But my body remained strong long enough."

Looking around the docks, Hercules tried to decide what to do next. The battle surrounding him was still ongoing, and he could see people fighting in every direction. He owed Max for allowing him to accomplish his final goal. If Max hadn’t drawn all of these people to one place, Hercules might never have found Hugo.

Even without his former strength, he needed to help Max somehow.

Hercules took a single step forwards, but a sharp pain suddenly spread through his chest. His body folded under the pressure, and he dropped onto one knee while gripping the area around his wound.

’It hurts even more than it did before. Was my superhuman body the only thing keeping this pain under control?’

Until then, everyone nearby had been reluctant to interfere in the fight between Hercules and Hugo. They had witnessed what the two were capable of doing to each other, and none of them wanted to be caught between their attacks.

Now, however, they could all see that the larger man was injured.

It wasn’t greed or confidence that drove them towards their next decision. It was fear.

"We have to take him out now," one of the men said.

"What are you talking about?" another replied. "One swing from that monster and he’ll swat us aside."

"That’s exactly why we need to do it now! He’s clearly hurt. He must have pushed himself too far or taken serious damage during that fight. If we let him recover, we’ll all be finished!"

The other men looked at Hercules kneeling on the ground. None of them wanted to be the first to move, but they understood what would happen if they allowed someone like him to regain his strength.

Eventually, the fear of what Hercules might do later became greater than the fear they felt towards him now.

The group charged.

Hercules heard their grunts and shouts as they forced themselves into action. Most of them needed to yell simply to build enough courage to approach him.

He pushed himself back onto his feet and stepped forwards, throwing a fist directly into the first man’s face. The attacker was sent crashing to the ground before he could even swing his weapon.

Hercules might have lost the power of his Vow, but that didn’t make him weak. His immense size gave him a much longer reach than the others, and he still possessed years of fighting experience.

A bat was swung towards his head, but Hercules leaned out of its path before striking the attacker in the body. Another man approached from behind, only to receive a heavy kick that knocked him away.

Hercules continued dodging their weapons and returning with punches and kicks of his own. However, every sudden movement sent another wave of pain through his chest.

He didn’t know how long he could continue fighting like this.

’If I keep pushing myself, will my heart give out?’

Only moments ago, Hercules had accepted that he might die while fighting Hugo. If that had been fine with him then, it should have been fine now. At least this way, he could repay Max by dealing with a few more of the enemies surrounding him.

Before the attackers could close in again, a strange rumbling echoed across the docks.

At first, it was quiet enough to be mistaken for distant thunder. Then it steadily grew louder, and the noise appeared to be coming from several directions at once.

"What is that sound?" one of the men asked. "Is it thunder?"

"No, it sounds more like a car."

"Cars coming this close to the private docks? That doesn’t make any sense."

The rumbling became impossible to ignore. Everyone soon realised what it was when several motorcycles emerged through the narrow gaps between the shipping containers.

They raced into the open area before sliding across the ground. Some of the motorcycles lifted their front wheels and crashed straight into the attackers, knocking them aside before they could react.

Women wearing long white coats climbed off the backs of the motorcycles. Each of them carried a wooden sword, and they wasted no time charging into battle.

"What is this?" Dud asked, smiling as he looked towards Max.

Dud noticed the immediate change in Max’s expression and demeanour. Moments earlier, Max had been focused entirely on surviving, but the arrival of the new group had eased some of the tension in his body.

There appeared to be around thirty of them. Even with their arrival, Max’s side remained outnumbered by the escaped prisoners and hired fighters. Several of the enemy’s men had already been defeated, but there were still more than enough of them to continue the battle.

Dud didn’t believe thirty people would make much of a difference.

"You really think a group of women coming to rescue you is going to change anything?" Dud asked. "Was this your big plan?"

Max pressed his lips together as he looked at him.

"What is it with you idiots underestimating these people?" Max replied. "You used to be part of the Underworld, so you should know who they are."

The women had already begun proving Max’s point.

Their wooden swords struck with precision, hitting the men who approached them across the necks or sweeping into their legs. Several attackers dropped almost instantly, unable to continue fighting after receiving a single clean blow.

"These people are the Fallen Rose," Max said.

The smile on Dud’s face disappeared, and his eyes widened as he finally understood who had arrived.

The Fallen Rose were one of the top fighting syndicates in the Underworld. Their weapons might have been made of wood, but the women wielding them were strong and skilled enough to defeat the hired fighters without needing anything more dangerous.

"So, yes," Max continued, watching more of the enemy fall, "I’m feeling pretty confident now."

"We made it!" Abby shouted as she looked towards where Max was standing.

She tightened her grip around her wooden sword and prepared to join the battle.

"This time, I’m going to help you!"