Chapter 25

The fist landed squarely on Greyson's face, and his tall body swayed greatly. After a few seconds of silence, birds startled by the sudden noise took flight all at once. As the fluttering sound of wings faded away, Greyson, who had staggered backward, slowly turned his head.

When his face returned to its position, Dane hesitated for the first time. The deep purple eyes were emitting an eerie glow. Flashing golden, then returning to purple, then mixing with gold again repeatedly.

"Puhehe. Hehehehe."

An ominous laugh flowed from Greyson's mouth. At the same time, an enormous amount of pheromones spread from his entire body. It was clearly overflowing uncontrollably due to extreme excitement, regardless of his own will. Dane unconsciously got goosebumps and stepped back. He really seemed like a madman.

"Ahahahahahaha, hahaha, hahahaha!"

He was laughing. As if he was so happy he could die. As proof, Greyson, who had shuddered greatly once, slowly but strongly clenched both fists.

"Now it's self-defense."

Then he launched his body with surprising speed. Toward Dane.

***

More time passed helplessly than expected. Wilkins anxiously looked back and forth between his wristwatch and the low mountain.

"Isn't this taking too long?"

Someone said, and another person answered.

"That's what I'm saying. Even at the longest, they should have been back by now."

"And it's strange that Dane is this late? I hope nothing's happened?"

"No way, would a firefighter need to rescue another firefighter? Especially when that firefighter is Dane?"

Despite their various comments, they still couldn't hide their worry. DeAndre anxiously bit his thumbnail among them. A considerable amount of time had passed since Dane and Greyson disappeared behind the mountain. DeAndre could more than sufficiently predict that his request was being fulfilled there. The problem was that it was taking too long. What on earth was happening? Surely nothing had happened to Dane...? Nonsense, Dane was their ace. There's no way someone like Dane would be in trouble against someone like Miller.

But still, what if...

He anxiously kept looking in the direction they had disappeared. Hopefully nothing was wrong.

* * *

Thwack, with a loud noise, Dane staggered greatly. Eek, a surprised groan escaped his lips. He had almost rolled down the slope. The fairly steep place led to a cliff that was chillingly deep just from a glance. If he rolled and couldn't stop in time, he would fall down there, resulting in at least fractures, or in the worst case, risking his life.

I shouldn't have chosen this place.

For the first time, he questioned his choice, but there was no time to think deeply. Because Greyson immediately kicked at him. Contrary to expectations, he was quite flexible and especially good at using his body. He might have learned multiple martial arts from fairly reputable masters. Of course, that wasn't true, but for Dane who didn't know much about Greyson, he was no ordinary opponent, enough to make such an estimation and more.

I thought he was just a young master who lived off others.

This was a disaster. He had to admit his mistake. He regretted it belatedly. If he had known things would get this big, he should have received at least 100 dollars. He had already more than earned the 38 dollars and 25 cents, but now he had to use his body to get out of here, which made him feel irritated. This was exactly what he hated most in the world - wasting time and effort unnecessarily. He shouldn't have participated in such idiotic things in the first place!

Regret flooded in, but there was no time to indulge in sentiments. Dane quickly lowered his upper body to avoid Greyson's attack while placing his hand on the ground and sweeping his leg widely to catch the man's ankle. Greyson, who had been attacking while standing on one foot, easily rolled on the ground, and Dane didn't miss the opportunity to dominate over him.

For a while, they rolled back and forth on the dirt ground like that. When Dane punched Greyson's face, Greyson grabbed Dane's neck and knocked him down, and Dane escaped by crossing his long legs over Greyson who was choking him and applying an arm bar. As he pressured Greyson with his legs, Greyson waved his arms from below and tried to choke Dane again.

He has the build and strength, so his skills are quite good for a civilian. But not good enough, Dane mocked him even while bleeding from his nose. He hadn't been in the military for three years just for fun. No matter how exceptional, what could a mere civilian do against a former soldier who had received professional training?

The outcome was as good as decided. Dane planned to knock Greyson out and go down first. Dane had already done far more than enough. If he explained the situation, either the other guys would come drag him down, or this bastard would regain consciousness and come down on his own.

Anyway, he never had any good connections with this guy. Of course, even if offered a good relationship, he would decline from his side, but this would be the third time he had to knock out the same opponent. Perhaps it really would be right to just leave this neighborhood.

It's not that he believed in talk of destiny or whatever. But repeatedly encountering and getting entangled like this was not a good sign at all. Moreover, the other party was not of good character. He had knocked down this crazy psychopath who had laughed while suppressing Omegas with pheromones even while handcuffed in a burning mansion, and who was filthy rich, three times with pheromones and fists. Of course, the current situation was a request he had accepted, so there was nothing to say, but...

Damn, listing it out made him more irritated. Nothing had gone right since this bastard came to his previously quiet workplace. He might need to seriously talk to Darling about leaving this neighborhood soon.

Just as he was thinking that far and applying the final pressure, Greyson suddenly grabbed Dane's arm. Dane thought it was a last-ditch effort, but what happened next was unexpected. Greyson pulled Dane with tremendous strength, and in a moment of carelessness, Dane rolled down the slope with Greyson.

* * *

The test that had started in broad daylight had not ended even as the sun was about to set. Everyone gathered was anxiously staring at the mountain. Finally, unable to wait any longer, Ezra urgently spoke up.

"Shouldn't we go check? What if there's been an accident?"

Starting with those words, voices of concern followed from here and there.

"This is taking way too long. Something must have happened! There's no way Dane would be this late."

"If someone's injured, the sooner the rescue, the better. Even Dane could be helpless with bad luck, right?"

"Miller can take care of himself, but we need to save Dane!"

Wilkins was at a loss amid the outcry. He was also worried, but as the one who had initiated this, it wasn't easy for him to take action. However, there was a limit to appeasing the staff by saying let's wait a little longer. There was no time to waste anymore. Once the sun set, they would have difficulty searching even on a small mountain. It would be better to move as quickly as possible. While thinking this and struggling to find the right timing, suddenly an unexpected voice was heard.

"What is everyone doing here? If you have spare time, you should be doing physical training, not gathering to chat!"

At the stern reprimand, they all turned around at once. As expected, the chief was standing there watching them with an angry face.

"Well, um, Chief..."

Ezra tried to come up with something to say, but it wasn't easy. Seeing him fumbling, Wilkins stepped forward to take responsibility.

"I'm sorry, we were conducting a physical fitness test for Miller."

"A physical fitness test? For Miller? Without telling me?"