Chapter 318 — You Look Like Shit

Piece by piece, bullet by bullet, they were being torn apart.

Time seemed to slow.

Brian’s vision tunneled as blood loss and exhaustion caught up with him. His legs were barely functioning, his Aura completely spent, his body held together only by willpower and momentum.

’We’re not going to make it.’

The thought arrived with terrible clarity.

’This is it... This is how it ends.’

Then he looked at Damian.

The kid was still shooting, his weapon raised despite having only one functional arm. Blood covered his entire body, his Obsidian Hide in complete tatters, his face pale from blood loss.

But his eyes...

His crimson eyes burned with determination that refused to die.

BANG

Damian fired again, intercepting another round.

KABOOOOOOOM

Then his weapon broke.

The frame simply gave out, damaged from repeated Aura channeling and impact stress. Pieces of metal clattered to the ground, leaving Damian holding nothing but a broken grip.

Brian’s chest tightened.

’He still has a family waiting for him.’

The thought cut deeper than any bullet.

’His mother... His father... His sister... They’re all alive and they need him.’

Brian thought of his own family.

His parents’ smiles, Eric’s laughter. Both gone, buried and never coming back.

’I already lost my everything. But he...’

Damian was still struggling, trying to use telekinesis on the incoming bullets despite his damaged mental state making the skill nearly useless.

’He still has everything to live for.’

Brian’s eyes blazed as the last embers of his Aura ignited, burning what remained of his energy.

’Then I’ll make sure he gets back to them.’

His grip on Damian tightened.

Damian felt Brian’s hold change, felt himself being pulled closer, Brian’s body shifting to cover him completely.

His eyes widened.

’No. What the fuck is he–’

Damian struggled, trying to break free, but Brian’s grip was iron despite his injuries.

He thrashed, his good arm pushing against Brian’s chest, his legs kicking, trying to force distance between them.

"Brian! Let go! What are you–"

Brian’s Aura exploded outward in one final burst, his eyes blazing with light as he poured everything he had left into his legs.

BOOM

They accelerated to speeds Brian had never reached before, his body breaking past its limits through sheer force of will.

BOOOOM

A bullet hit Brian’s back.

He grunted but kept running, his body curled around Damian like a shield.

BOOOOM

Another tore through his shoulder.

BOOOOM

His leg took another hit.

BOOOOM

His back was shredded.

Damian kept struggling in his grip, trying desperately to break free, to push Brian away, to make him stop this.

"Brian! STOP! Let me–"

But Brian just held him tighter, his black hair falling across his eyes as blood poured from his mouth.

He smiled.

Then he leaned close to Damian’s ear and whispered, his voice barely audible over the explosions.

"I can’t let my little brother’s hero die."

Damian’s breath caught.

’No. No no no–’

BOOOOMBOOOOMBOOOOM

More bullets tore through Brian’s body, each one that should have hit Damian finding Brian instead.

Then Damian felt it.

Multiple powerful presences converging on their position from every direction, Auras blazing to life across the city.

A rank presences... S rank maybe... They were coming closer

The snipers felt it too.

And their fire intensified, trying to finish what they’d started before the presences arrived.

BOOOOMBOOOOMBOOOOM

Brian took every shot, his body jerking with each impact but his grip never loosening.

Then they fell.

Brian’s legs finally gave out completely, his body crashing to the street with Damian still held against his chest.

They tumbled, rolled and came to a stop in a spreading pool of blood.

And the gunfire stopped.

The snipers had fled, disappearing before the reinforcements could arrive.

****

Neither of them moved for a long moment, both just breathing, both covered in blood.

Then Damian pushed himself up on shaking arms.

"Stop acting dead."

His voice was rough.

Brian didn’t respond immediately, his breathing labored and wet.

"Can you move?"

"Yeah."

Brian’s voice was barely a whisper.

They supported each other, Damian pulling Brian’s arm over his shoulder despite his own injuries. They moved slowly, dragging themselves away from the scene before the powerful presences arrived.

A small alley, dark and narrow, provided temporary shelter.

They both collapsed, Brian’s back feeling pain as it touched the ground, Damian falling beside him.

"..."

For a moment, they just lay there, looking up at the night sky. Stars were barely visible through the smoke and city lights.

Their breathing was the only sound, harsh and ragged.

Then Damian moved.

He dragged himself over, grabbing Brian’s collar with one hand and pulling him up slightly.

Brian looked up at him, his black hair falling across his eyes, blood on his lips.

And he smiled.

It was a smile of relief, pure relief.

And that smile broke something in Damian.

His hand came up, shaking with rage and something deeper.

"You FUCKING–"

BAM

His fist came down, hitting the ground beside Brian’s head.

"IDIOT!"

BAM

Another punch, this one hitting the pavement on the other side of Brian’s face.

"WHO THE FUCK–"

BAM

His fist cracked the concrete, his knuckles splitting, blood mixing with blood.

"GAVE YOU THE RIGHT–"

But every punch missed Brian’s face, hitting the ground instead, his rage and fear and something else pouring out in furious strikes that deliberately avoided their target.

Then his strength gave out.

Damian fell back, his forehead resting against the ground beside Brian, his hairs covering his face.

His voice came out as a whisper, rough and broken.

"Fuck you, Brian."

Brian’s smile didn’t fade. His own voice was just as quiet.

"F-Fuck you too."

They stayed like that for a moment, both of them broken, both of them breathing, both of them alive.

Then Damian pushed himself up slowly, sitting back against the opposite wall.

His eyes met Brian’s, and something passed between them that didn’t need words.

Understanding and acknowledgment. The kind of bond that forms when you survive hell together.

"They... were watching him. The house... they had people on Davies."

Damian’s voice was steadier now, falling back into analysis because that was easier than dealing with what had just happened.

"We were... watching him too... our scouts... never reported."

Brian nodded, his breathing starting to even out as his vitality worked to seal the worst injuries.

"Their people... were better than ours."

The admission still tasted bitter.

"A rank snipers... Military training... Telekinetic control... Professional coordination."

Damian looked back toward the destroyed neighborhood, smoke still rising.

"That’s not some terrorist organization."

"No."

Brian’s voice carried grim understanding.

"It’s not."

They fell quiet again.

Damian’s hands were still shaking, adrenaline slowly fading to leave exhaustion and pain in its wake.

"We’re too weak."

His voice was quiet but firm.

"The Mafia... We’re not ready for this. We need time... Need to grow stronger before we can actually fight them head-on."

"...Time we might not have."

"Then we make time."

Damian’s voice carried cold determination despite the exhaustion.

"We survive, we get stronger and then we come back and burn their entire organization to ash."

Brian managed a weak laugh, then immediately regretted it as pain lanced through his chest.

"Big talk from someone who can barely stand."

"Says the guy with more holes than a cheese grater."

Despite everything, despite the blood and pain and near-death, the corner of Brian’s mouth twitched upward.

"We need to move."

Brian pushed himself up with a grunt, his body protesting every movement. Damian stood up as well.

They looked at each other.

Damian’s eyes still held something cold, anger that hadn’t fully dissipated.

Brian saw it and said nothing, just offered his shoulder for support.

After a moment’s hesitation, Damian accepted it.

"You look like shit," Damian muttered.

"You too."

They stood there swaying, both barely able to support their own weight, let alone each other.

But they moved anyway.

One arm around the other’s shoulders, blood dripping with each step, they disappeared deeper into the alley system.

Behind them, powerful presences scoured the area, searching for whoever had turned a residential neighborhood into a warzone.

Ahead of them, the night offered darkness and escape.

And between them, something unspoken but understood.