Chapter 05

Upon reaching the warehouse, Zirken came across her mother in the corner of the room while holding an axe with trembling hands in an attempt to protect Mikasa who was hiding behind her, withdrawn by fear. The boss was also in the room, but had a large knife in his hands and was slowly walking closer to the mother and daughter duo.

"DON'T COME NEAR US YOU MONSTER!!!" - Mother.

"Shit! Those good-for-nothings aren't even good enough to take care of an injured boy?!" - Boss who has just spotted the boy.

In the next instant, the armed man immediately drove a half-moon style kick towards the elbow of the woman who was holding the axe. The blow was quick enough that she couldn't react in time.

*KYYYYYYYA*

Causing the bandit to succeed in hitting her and disarming her without difficulty. The girl fell to the ground from the force of the impact and the axe was thrown to the nearest wall, falling close to Mikasa, but away from Zirken.

"Now I just need to take care of you and my wealth will be guaranteed." - Boss

"Even with your two subordinates dead you still only think about money?! You really have no salvation at all!" - Zirken.

"Kekeke, this is the world we live in kid, the weak will be discarded for the survival of the strong." - Boss.

Sequentially, the man with his large knife in hand set out to attack Zirken Ackerman. He was emitting his clear murderous intent and was certainly not going to let the boy leave that place still alive.

Just as he was about to strike the first blow, the child ducked to the side and landed a diagonal kick on the man's shin. However, it didn't have much effect as the bandit was still older than him and consequently also stronger.

"So you still had more tricks, huh?" - Boss.

The bandit again tried to attack the boy using his blade, but the young man deflected as if he had already been expecting those moves. Zirken could easily follow the man's somewhat clumsy movements.

Continuous blows were launched with the aim of taking the boy's life, but none of them hit or even caused a serious injury. Both men remained in this sequence of attacking and dodging for only a few seconds until the bandit finally began to gasp.

*huff* *huff*

"Have you had enough?" - Zirken taunting and teasing.

"YOU BRAT!!!" - Spoke the boss as a vein popped out of his forehead.

The man was so angry that he focused only on eliminating the young man in front of him. Because of this, his next actions surprised the boy.

He dropped his knife on the ground and ran like a bull at full speed with his arms outstretched to grab the child and prevent him from continuing to dodge. In a matter of seconds the bandit caught up with Zirken and ran at him with all his ferocity.

They both fell to the ground, but to the boy's misfortune, the bandit fell on top of him and was now pinning him to the ground while preparing his fists.

"Get ready to die slowly you little shit!" - Bandit Boss.

After hearing him, Zirken realized what was coming and armed his defense with his two small arms. At the same instant he raised his guard, the man lowered his closed fists towards the boy's face.

Multiple punches began to be thrown and slowly they became heavier and more painful as time went on. The man was pouring enormous anger and annoyance into these blows and made it clear that he would only stop attacking when the child died.

'Shit!!! if it continues like this my arms will give out!!!' - Zirken.

The boy's defense kept giving way little by little after each blow and apparently would not last more than a few seconds. Both the bandit and the boy knew that when this happened, it would be the end of the battle.

It was then that Zirken shifted his gaze to his surroundings and finally noticed his mother, who was passed out from hitting her head on the floor and his sister cowering and trembling in the corner of the wall.

'Tsk, I didn't want to have to put her through that, but circumstances demand it!' - Zirken.

"MIKASA!!! ATTACK HIM!!!" - Zirken.

The bandit was so furious that he didn't even pay attention to what the boy said and only increased the strength of his blows. However, Mikasa clearly heard every word ZIrken said.

"I-I can't..." - Mikasa.

"You have to!!! YOU HAVE TO FIGHT OR YOU WILL LOSE EVERYTHING!!!" - Zirken with his arms numb and about to give way.

These words echoed in the girl's mind as if they were being recorded in her subconscious. A whirlwind of thoughts went through her head and a wave of goose bumps ran through her body. It was at this moment that memories with her brother surfaced in her mind.

"Mikasa, it may not seem like it, but this world is full of killing. Like when we kill ducks to eat and survive starvation, or like when we kill dangerous insects so we don't die of disease. So if the time comes when you need to kill someone to save the life of someone important to you, don't hesitate," - Zirken.

"Aren't you saying something too dangerous for our age?" - Mikasa.

"You will understand the meaning of this at the right time." - Zirken.

After remembering this, the instincts of an Ackerman within the girl came to the fore and an extraordinary strength awakened in her body. And inside her mind she had already made her decision.

'I must attack at all costs!' - Mikasa.

The girl finally moved her body towards the huge knife that had been thrown on the ground. When she reached it, she held the blade with an enormous force that was even able to crush the handle of the weapon a little, and took off with a single momentum towards the bandit who was still continuing to throw stronger punches at her brother.

His running steps were so strong that they left holes in the wooden floor. Her body and mind were acting together to fulfill a single purpose: to save her beloved brother.

As she came close to the bandit, she clutched the gun even harder and drove the knife into his heart.

"Wha-what?" - Bandit confused.

In his mind, this little girl could do nothing against him, so much so that she didn't even care about her surroundings as she punched the boy. So Bandit was shocked by this turn of events.

Taking advantage of the opening, Zirken immediately used the last strength in his arms and punched his enemy in the solar plexus. In the next second, the bandit lost all the adrenaline he was feeling and his body lost its strength, causing him to tip to the side and fall to the ground.

Zirken quickly got up and went to his sister who was now unarmed.

"Are you okay?" - Zirken asked with concern.

The next moment, Mikasa hugged her Zirken tightly and sank her head into his chest. Hearing his heartbeat, she calmed down and moved her head to answer his question.

"Good..."-Zirken hugged her back with what little strength she had left.