In the parking lot, Ice hadn’t moved from the floor he was on. They had parked on the eighth floor, and there were still four more floors before one would reach the rooftop. The reason he hadn’t moved was because there was no reason for him.
After having spent a long time in a prison cell, staying outdoors in the current wide space was a relatively easy task. He had actually come to enjoy it now that nothing was watching him.
He leaned up against the car, folded his arms, and started to daydream.
‘I left the prison, and now I’m on guard duty, but if it’s all for the sake of helping the world better itself bit by bit, to forgive my crimes, then I can accept this,’ Ice thought.
It was then that his peaceful time felt like it had come to an end. Footsteps could be heard, and moments later he could hear the sound of a door flapping. Someone had entered the same floor as him.
‘The fight isn’t over, there would be a rush of people. And no one would leave in the middle of it,’ Ice started to think. ‘So who has come to pay a visit at this time? It can’t be any of the Howlers—they would have sent me a message.’
Just in case, Ice went to look at his phone. Upon seeing that there were no messages, he placed it back down. Now, in the car park, down the driving aisle, there was a figure standing there.
They were wearing a purple and white sporty tracksuit. The jacket the man was wearing was unzipped, revealing his dark skin and chiseled abs.
Although the man wasn’t exactly large like Ice, his upper body was well-built and carefully structured. There was another thing Ice noticed. After being in prison so long, he could figure out differences between the two types of people.
Those who faked their strength and had a bigger bark than their bite, and the real thing. In this case, the man in front of him felt like the real thing.
“Are you here for me… an enemy of ours?” Ice asked, figuring he was part of the Howlers now; he imagined they would have a number of enemies.
“Are you the one that destroyed all the cameras?” Simba replied. “If so, then I guess it means you’re my target. It’s quite clear you’re up to no good, and you’re no ordinary person.”
The two were staring at each other, both of them able to tell the other had some strength behind them.
“My name is Simba Jule!” the man stated. “I am one of the Twelve Zodiacs from the One Gang. The reason I’m telling you this is so you give up fairly quickly once you’ve tasted the strength of my fist.”
“One Gang… I guess you are trying something then,” Ice said as he thought about the situation. A large number of thoughts were running through Ice’s mind.
They had figured out who Gary was, and Gary was possibly in the fight for his life. Now they were trying to get rid of their escape route.
‘If that’s the case, I need to get to the others as quickly as possible.’ For a moment, Ice turned to look at the car, and that’s when Simba took his chance. He ran forward, digging his feet into the ground. The flooring underneath was destroyed as he took each step toward Ice.
‘Going straight toward your opponent… that’s not a good idea when you have no idea what they can do,’ Ice thought to himself as he reached his hand out, and his ice powers started to form.
The ice condensed down and turned into the giant ice club that Ice was familiar with.
Simba could see this in his hands and was already making adjustments to his plans.
‘So he’s an Altered, and one with strong ice elemental powers. No wonder he’s confident in his strength. I can’t take this lightly!’
Simba’s own body started to transform, as his dark skin thickened in areas and grew slightly in size. His whole body was changing.
Ice ignored this as he went ahead and swung his club with full force right at Simba. Both of them moved ahead, and Ice felt a large connection as his club made a successful hit, but it had been stopped.
Ice’s muscles were tensing as he tried to push forward with his club, but he was unable to.
“What in the Altered are you?” Ice asked.
Looking at his club, he could see that Simba’s mouth had enlarged to a giant size and had overlapped over the big club. The entire thing was in Simba’s mouth, and he was able to match up with Ice’s strength as they both pushed against each other.
At the same time, though, Simba was thinking the same thing.
‘I am one of the Zodiacs. I’ve trained, conditioned my body to be one of the strongest in the One Gang. In my Altered form, I shouldn’t lose out in a battle of strength. So who is this stranger? Who is this nobody holding me back?’
The longer Simba was holding onto the club with his mouth he could feel his teeth, and his insides starting to freeze over. The elemental power was one of the strongest he had faced.
As Ice looked at Simba, his body was now starting to change slightly, as white fur was growing on the back of his arms and neck. He then lifted his other hand, and an ice spear had formed in it.
“I’m in a bit of a rush, so I need to finish this fairly quickly!” Ice declared.