A Knight's Journey: A Cultivator's Journey in a Superhuman's Modern World

Chapter 2 - Choices have consequences (Part 2)

[Re-edited: 25/01/2024]

EDIT: I changed the song's lyrics to avoid being bothered by the copyright-related trial addicts.

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Damian's P.O.V.

As he was about to reach the entrance door, the young man noticed something out of place. The lock on the entrance door looked broken. Despite not being the first time since he moved in there, it still annoyed him. 'Perfect! Someone broke the lock again. What a shitty neighborhood!' He thought, his previous happy mood slightly dampened.

Rubbing his face helplessly, he thought. 'I really need to find another apartment. This one's security is truly terrible.' Pushing those thoughts aside, he instead started moving to the staircase by the elevator. He would have loved to be able to ride the latter, however, it had been out of service for months now despite the vocal protests of pretty much all the tenants living in that building. That was New York City for you!

That combined with a job he loathed made the prospect of leaving more and more enticing for Damian. As soon as his feet reached the third floor, however, his previous gloomy thought evaporated. With an anticipating grin on his face, he walked toward the opposite side of his own apartment's door, toward Sofia's.

As his steps brought him closer, he noticed her apartment's door ajar. 'Did she leave it open for me? A nice gesture.' He thought amusingly. Unfortunately, as soon as he pushed the door completely open, the greeting words he was about to utter died on his lips with his previous happy grin. What replaced it was unprecedented seriousness mixed with some fear at the scene playing in front of him.

A man looking like a demented hobo had a handgun aimed in the direction of Sofia and her daughter. The redhead was begging the man to let her daughter go, the latter looking terrified, with silent tears running down her otherwise adorable chubby cheeks. The dirty-looking man, however, was muttering a string of incomprehensible sentences.

He was certainly mad and in other circumstances, Damian would have felt some pity for the guy. But not now. Not when he was pointing a gun at both the woman he cared about and the girl who could potentially become his future daughter. Instead, dark emotions surged inside him, making him hesitate as to what would be the best course of action.

Time seemed to freeze as many possible scenarios went through his head and not all were heroic. Until he met her eyes and he understood the words she mouthed him. 'Run away' was what she wanted him to do. Not 'Save me' or even 'Save my daughter'. That crazy woman simply asked him to save himself.

Looking up helplessly, he thought. 'Compared to her, I'm really trash.' Letting out a silent sigh, he continued with the resolve in his eyes solidifying, chasing away his fear. 'As her future man, how can I leave her like a coward.' His inner monologue drew a somewhat crazy smile on his face, while a surge of adrenaline coursed through his body in response to the insanely dangerous stunt he was about to perform.

His gaze seemed to have unwittingly transmitted his plan since the redhead beauty started shaking her head slightly, catching the mad hobo's attention, who lowered his gun slightly and started to turn slowly in Damian's direction. 'It's now or never!' The young man thought as his body seemed to explode in movements, his legs pushing as hard as they could to gain even a fraction of a second, all to increase his chance of dealing with that man.