The mist clung stubbornly to the ruined valley temple as the shadowed figure stepped inside. His boots pressed against the cold, damp stone with deliberate control, axe gleaming in the faint light. He moved like a predator among prey.
Yatkha, scarred and weathered by years of bloodshed, felt his body tense. His dagger twitched in his grip.
"You… who are you?" he growled, trying to hide the tremor in his voice.
Soe Gyi's reply was flat, cold, unyielding.
"I am from the Blood Gang."
Before Yatkha could blink, the axe swept in a brutal arc. Steel met flesh and bone with terrifying force. The blow didn't kill, but it launched Yatkha across the temple floor. He slammed into the broken altar, the sound echoing like thunder through the ruins. Dust and shards rained down. Blood dribbled from his mouth as he coughed violently.
Gasps rippled through the others.
"He… he just threw him like a doll!" someone whispered.
ThuTa and SomLin raised their weapons but faltered when Soe Gyi advanced, his expression unchanged, his gaze like death itself.
Yatkha spat blood and dragged himself up, his chest heaving. His eyes burned with panic and fury. He looked at his comrades and shouted, "Why are you just standing there? Fight him!"
"This is not our battle, Yatkha," Daw May Kha said. "It is yours."
"Crowd! ."
Yatkha wiped the blood from his lips, glaring at the figure before him. He forced his voice steady, though it cracked with desperation. "You…" Yatkha demanded, pointing his blade.
"Tell me your name!"
Soe Gyi paused, resting the axe lightly against his shoulder. His eyes, dark and cold, scanned the room.
"Soe Gyi," he said simply.
The name struck Yatkha harder than the axe. Disbelief clouded his rage. Soe Gyi? That laughable fool? Yet here he stood—an executioner cloaked in shadow.
Even Daw May Kha whispered, horror in her tone.
"The stories… the Tiger King… it was him."
Soe Gyi rested his axe against his shoulder, his gaze cold and unflinching. "Do you have anything left to say?" his voice cut through the silence, sharp as steel.
"If not… then let us begin."
The silence snapped. Yatkha lunged like lightning, dagger flashing for Soe Gyi's throat.
CLANG! The axe intercepted, sparks bursting where steel collided. Soe Gyi twisted, deflecting the blade and shoving Yatkha back with sheer force.Yatkha slashed wildly, his dagger a blur of frantic desperation.
Soe Gyi's movements were exact, each dodge as silent as a whisper, each counterstroke carrying the patience of a predator. His axe hissed through the mist, grazing Yatkha's shoulder and shattering stone whenever it missed flesh.
Yatkha screamed, spinning into a reckless kick and slash combination, but Soe Gyi read him like a map. He slid past the blade, pivoted, and unleashed a final, merciless strike.
The axe came down with surgical precision.
SHRRKKK—
Blood fountained. Yatkha's head tore free, tumbling through the mist. Soe Gyi caught it mid-fall by the hair, lifting it with steady hands.And he hung the head at his waist.
The body collapsed to the stones in a heap, twitching once before silence claimed it.
The survivors froze, paralyzed by terror. The temple grew heavier, as if the very air recoiled from him.
ThuTa whispered, trembling. "He's… he's not human."
SomLin's lips quivered. "That fool… was this monster all along…"
Soe Gyi lowered the head to his waist,at his waist, the severed head swayed like a crimson pendulum, a silent testament to his ruthlessness.
His cold gaze swept the trembling figures.
"The mission is finished. Step aside… or your blood joins his."
He walked out unhurried, axe on his shoulder.
The valley mist curled through the temple doors, carrying the scent of blood into the forest beyond.
The mist slowly swallowed Soe Gyi's retreating figure, leaving the temple in breathless silence.
The survivors huddled together, their faces pale, their hands trembling.
SomLin broke the silence first. "Did you see his eyes? It … likes death itself."
ThuTa shivered. "He fought like something not human."
Daw May Kha's voice cracked. "Pray we never see him again. The Blood Gang… they've unleashed a monster."
Her words sank into the air, heavy as the smell of blood. Then a sudden realization rippled among them.
"Wait…" Daw May Kha muttered, looking around frantically. "Where is Sayar Yaw?"
They froze. "That snake!" SomLin spat on the ground. "He slipped away the moment the fight began."
"He always was a coward," ThuTa growled. "May curses follow him to hell!"
Their anger flared, but before it could burn further, a new sound cut through the ruin—slow, deliberate footsteps echoing from the dark corridor.
Daw May Kha's eyes widened. "No… it can't be him again."
The survivors gripped their weapons, hearts pounding, as the steps drew closer.
Barely a few breaths passed before Soe Gyi reappeared at the temple entrance. The mist outside clung to his cloak, his axe resting casually on his shoulder as if he had walked out for a stroll. The remaining members of Yatkha's gang froze, their wide eyes reflecting disbelief.
"Why… why are you back?" ThuTa stammered, gripping his sword tighter.
Soe Gyi's dark eyes scanned each of them with a calm, almost indifferent gaze. "My mistake," he said simply. "The mission… it specifies no saviors."
A ripple of horror passed through the group. They had barely caught their breaths, and yet the shadow of death returned, heavier than before.
Daw May Kha said with a shiver, " What did he just say? My mistake… no saviors.'"
"Blame yourselves accountable for Yatkha," Soe Gyi murmured, stepping forward. His boots pressed into the wet stone, each movement deliberate and unhurried, like a predator closing in on its prey.
ThuTa lunged first, desperation in every swing of his blade. "You won't take me down that easily!" he shouted, teeth gritted, eyes blazing.
Soe Gyi's dark eyes followed the movement calmly. "You strike with anger, not skill," he said, voice low, almost a whisper.
ThuTa swung again, a wild, spinning strike aimed at Soe Gyi's side.
Soe Gyi sidestepped with fluid precision, his axe cutting a horizontal arc. The blade struck the edge of ThuTa's guard, slicing through metal and nicking his arm. ThuTa hissed, clutching the wound, blood seeping through his fingers.
"You strike like a child," Soe Gyi hissed, swinging the axe with deadly precision.
ThuTa tried to counter, thrusting upward toward Soe Gyi's chest, but the movement was sloppy, his adrenaline clouding his mind. Stay focused… I can still win…
With a swift pivot, Soe Gyi drove the axe down across ThuTa's chest. Blood sprayed in a wide arc, and ThuTa staggered back, screaming, before crumpling to the ground, his blade clattering beside him.
SomLin tried to flank him from the left, dagger thrusting. Seeing his brother's broken form, fury ignited in him. "You'll pay for this!" he snarled, eyes blazing, footwork quick and wild as he lunged.
Soe Gyi's axe moved like a living extension of his arm. "Anger won't save you," he said, voice low and deadly. A single, precise swipe knocked SomLin's dagger from his hands, the metal clattering across the stone floor.
"Impossible!" SomLin spat, scrambling backward, claws gripping at the temple tiles. But Soe Gyi spun, axe slicing in a wide arc that sent him sprawling across the floor, dust and shards of stone spraying in all directions.
Desperation sharpened SomLin's strikes. I can't fail… I must end him, he thought, rolling to regain his footing, dagger trembling in his grip.
Soe Gyi advanced with measured steps, his shadow stretching over the sprawled man. "Struggle all you like," he murmured, eyes cold and unyielding. With a sudden, downward chop, his axe struck SomLin's leg with a sickening crack.
"No… no!" SomLin screamed, collapsing, crawling uselessly across the floor as blood pooled beneath him.
Daw May Kha screamed, raising her blade with shaking hands. "Please… spare me! I beg you!"
Soe Gyi's lips twitched in a near-smile. "Begging won't save you." With a single, fluid leap, he closed the distance. His axe descended in a savage horizontal arc, smashing into her shoulder with bone-jarring force and sending her weapon skittering across the floor.
She tried to flee, stumbling, but Soe Gyi's step was relentless. He struck again, the blade biting deep into her thigh, hot blood spraying with a wet, sickening hiss. She collapsed to the ground, writhing violently, claws of pain twisting her face, eyes wide with terror as he loomed over her, axe ready for the next strike.
Upon witnessing the fate of his comrade…
"You… monster!"
SomLin's voice croaked as he crawled toward the doorway, desperate.
"Call me what you will,"Soe Gyi said, his voice steady, eyes unyielding, as he blocked SomLin's path. "I serve as the Blood Gang's blade. The task… is only finished when no one remains."
A brutal sweep of his axe cut off SomLin's escape, the motion fluid, lethal, and precise. Screams, the clash of steel, and the wet thud of flesh echoed through the temple.
Soe Gyi's steps echoed on the blood-slicked stones. His gaze swept the devastation, stopping on a trembling figure pressed into the corner. A noble boy, trembling violently, stared at him with wide, terrified eyes.