Chapter 11: The Butcher's Waltz
The fog at Pier 17 was no longer just weather; it felt like a living shroud, damp and smelling of copper and engine oil. Across the wooden planks, The Butcher loomed like a nightmare given flesh. He was a mountain of a man, nearly seven feet of corded muscle hidden beneath a grimy leather trench coat. The rusted iron mask covering his face hissed with every breath he took, and the two massive meat cleavers chained to his wrists scraped against the ground, sparking against the wet wood.
[System Warning!]
[Target: The Butcher (S-Rank Enforcer)]
[Status: Bloodthirsty / Berserk]
[Analyzing Combat Pattern... Probability of Fatal Injury: 65%]
Isabella Vane stood off to the side, her violet eyes gleaming with a mixture of amusement and clinical curiosity. She leaned against a stack of crates, casually holding the data-drive I had tossed her. She wasn't an ally yet; she was a spectator at a gladiator match.
"You know, Fang Li," Isabella shouted over the wind, "the Triad doesn't send The Butcher to kill people. They send him to erase them. To turn them into something the cleaners can just hose off the pavement. Are you sure you don't want to beg for my help?"
I didn't look back at her. I adjusted my stance, feeling the cold rain slide down the back of my neck. "Watch the drive, Isabella. And try not to blink. You might miss the moment your investment pays off."
The Butcher didn't talk. He roared—a sound that vibrated in my very marrow—and lunged.
For a man of his size, he was terrifyingly fast. He swung the right cleaver in a wide, horizontal arc. I dropped low, the blade whistling inches above my head, cutting through a wooden support beam like it was made of paper. Before I could counter, he yanked the chain, bringing the second cleaver down in a vertical strike.
[Skill Activated: Ghost Step]
The world turned grayscale. I felt my body become weightless, a blur of static in the physical world. The cleaver slammed into the pier, shattering the planks and sending splinters flying, but it passed through my shimmering image without resistance.
I reappeared three feet to his left, my palm glowing with a faint blue light.
"Bneal." I whispered, pouring a massive amount of Authority into the [Neural Command].
The Butcher's massive frame shuddered. His knees buckled for a split second, the command fighting against his 90/100 willpower. He groaned, the iron mask vibrating with the strain. But then, his eyes behind the mask turned a blood-red hue.
[Warning! Target has activated 'Berserker Blood'!]
[Neural Command Overridden!]
[Target Strength increased by 40%!]
He swung his arm back blindly, his elbow connecting with my chest before I could retreat. The impact felt like being hit by a freight train. I was sent skidding across the slippery pier, my boots sparking against the wood until I slammed into a rusted shipping container.
"Ugh..." I coughed, tasting blood.
[Health Status: 72%]
[Internal Bruising Detected.]
[System Suggestion: Stop trading blows. Use the environment.]
The Butcher was already charging again, his heavy boots sounding like a drumbeat of death. He didn't care about finesse; he was a force of nature.
"Is that it, little lion?" Isabella called out, though her voice had lost some of its playful edge. She was tightening her grip on her own blade. "If you die here, the Sterling Empire falls by morning!"
I stood up, wiping the blood from my lip. I didn't feel fear. Instead, I felt a cold, analytical clarity. The [Sovereign's Luck] wasn't just about winning gambles; it was about finding the one-in-a-million path to victory.
I looked up at the rafters—the same rafters where the snipers had been. I saw a massive cargo crane looming over the pier, its rusted hook dangling by a thick steel cable directly above the path the Butcher was taking.
"System," I thought, my mind racing.
"Calculate the tension limit of that crane cable. And give me the exact timing for a 'Mental Flare' to stun him for two seconds."
[Calculating...]
[Timing Window: 0.4 seconds.]
[Probability of Success: 12%.]
"I've had worse odds in the boardroom," I muttered.
I ran. Not away from him, but toward the crane's control panel. The Butcher followed, his chains clinking with a rhythmic, deadly sound. He threw both cleavers at once, the chains extending to their full length. I dove between his legs, the blades burying themselves into the shipping container I had just vacated with a thunderous CRANG.
He was stuck for a second. The blades were wedged deep into the steel.
"Now!"
I leaped onto the control lever, but instead of pulling it, I turned toward the Butcher and unleashed everything I had.
"STAY!"
[Skill Used: Mental Flare (Level 2 Upgrade)]
A wave of visible blue energy erupted from me, hitting the Butcher square in the chest. Because I had focused all my Authority into a single point, even his Berserker Blood couldn't ignore it. He froze, his muscles locking up, his hands still gripping the chains.
In that two-second window, I pulled the emergency release on the crane.
The massive steel hook, weighing several tons, dropped like a meteor. It didn't hit the Butcher—I didn't want to kill him yet; I needed him to send a message. Instead, the hook slammed into the chains he was holding, dragging them—and him—down through the weakened floor of the pier.
With a roar of twisting metal and breaking wood, the Butcher was yanked into the freezing, dark waters of the harbor, anchored down by the very weapons he used to slaughter others.
Silence returned to Pier 17, broken only by the sound of the rain and the groaning of the crane.
[Ding!]
[Hidden Objective Completed: Overcome S-Rank Threat using Environment.]
[Reward: 2,000 Desire Points.]
[Title Earned: 'Giant Slayer' – +10% Damage against targets larger than the user.]
I stood at the edge of the hole in the pier, looking down into the black water. He was still down there, struggling, but he wouldn't be coming back tonight.
I turned back to Isabella. She was standing perfectly still, her violet eyes wide with genuine shock. She looked at the hole in the pier, then at the data-drive in her hand, and finally at me.
"You're insane," she whispered, a slow, predatory smile spreading across her face. "You didn't just beat him. You humiliated him."
She walked toward me, her heels clicking softly. When she reached me, she didn't give me the drive. Instead, she pressed it against my chest, her hand lingering there. I could feel her heart racing—not from fear, but from excitement.
[Desire Pulse Detected!]
[Isabella Vane's 'Obsessive Interest' has increased!]
[Progress: 45/100 toward Bond.]
"The Triad will be furious," she said, her voice now a sultry purr. "But the rest of the city? The families in the shadows? They are going to be terrified of you, Fang Li. You've just declared war on the old gods of Oakhaven."
"Let them come," I said, taking the drive from her. "I have a Queen to protect and an empire to build. And I think you've seen enough to know which side you should be on."
Isabella leaned in, her lips inches from mine. "I'm on my own side, always. But... I find I like the view from your shadow. Tell Elena she has a very, very dangerous man in her bed. I almost envy her."
She stepped back, disappearing into the fog as effortlessly as she had appeared. "The drive is clean, by the way. No trackers. I wanted to see if you could survive without my help. You did. We'll speak again when the 'Shadow Broker' has something you really need."
I watched her vanish, then turned toward my car. My body ached, my suit was ruined, and the most dangerous organization in the city wanted my head on a platter.
But as I looked at the System's HUD, I saw a new notification glowing in gold.
[The Sovereign Queen is Awake.]
[Elena Sterling is calling you...]
I answered the phone.
"Fang?" Her voice was frantic, breathless. "The news... there was an explosion at a warehouse in the industrial district. And Arthur Vance was found wandering the streets in a trance. What is happening?"
"The trash is being cleared, Elena," I said, my voice softening as I leaned back into the leather seat of the sedan. "I'm coming home. Get some rest. Tomorrow, we take over the rest of the city."
As the car pulled away, I looked at the 2,000 DP in my account. It was time for a major upgrade. The Triad wouldn't make the same mistake twice. Next time, they wouldn't send a butcher. They would send an army.
And I would be ready.