Leo Gambino A Thousand Foes

021 Unexpected Hero

The masculine voice cut through the night, carrying an icy authority that made the very air seem to thicken and freeze.

Sophia's tear-streaked eyes snapped open. Through the haze of panic and terror, she realized the voice was familiar. 

"Let her go."

The five thugs froze mid-motion. Their leader, Bruno, still positioned between Sophia's pinned thighs, turned his head sharply towards the newcomer.

Sophia lifted her gaze through vision blurred with tears, her heart hammering so violently she could barely breathe.

A lone figure stood silhouetted against the moonlight on the hillside path, his simple clothes catching the silver glow and giving him an almost ghastly outline. Sophia recognized him instantly. It was the same man she had defended at the gala. Leonard.

For a split second, the gang was stunned. Then the tension shattered.

"Hahahaha!" Bruno threw his head back, his laughter booming across the hillside. His men joined in, their voices dripping with mockery as they scanned Leonard from head to toe.

The intruder was young and handsome, but that was it. He carried no weapons and had no fighter's stance. There was no trace of lethal aura these men knew too well from years in the underworld.

In their eyes, he was just a fool playing hero, probably a random pedestrian who had wandered too close after hearing Sophia's screams.

"Pathetic," Bruno sneered. "Boy, walk away now, and we'll pretend you saw nothing. I'm feeling generous tonight, so I'll spare your worthless life. Not every pussy is yours to save."

His comrades howled with laughter, slapping their knees. They turned their attention back to the half-undressed Sophia, dismissing Leonard completely.

Bruno reached down again between her legs, ready to resume his vile act.

Leonard's eyes narrowed. "I said… Let her go. I will not warn you again."

Bruno's face twisted with irritation. Why was the brat disrupting his horny adventure? Not only did he ignore his warning, but he now had the nerve to repeat himself?

Bruno had been kind enough to offer the young man a safe passage, but now he had to pay the price.

"Ryker! Since this fool wants to die so badly," he growled to the thug still holding Sophia's left leg, "Grant his wish. Make it quick, or you'll miss the fun."

"With pleasure, boss!" Ryker released her limb and moved forward, cracking his knuckles. He was already furious at the interruption. This punk had delayed his turn with the beautiful heiress.

"Leonard!" Sophia suddenly screamed through her sobs, her voice cracking with desperation. "Please, run! You can't fight them! Run to my family's villa! At least let them know what happened to me!"

"Thank you for trying, but don't act like a hero! Please, save yourself!"

The thug sneered. "Shut up, bitch! Do you think I will let him leave? You're dumber than you look."

Without warning, he lunged at Leonard with terrifying speed, his fist cocked back for a bone-shattering blow. "We gave you a chance, punk. Now, die!"

In the face of the charging killer, Leonard remained perfectly still, his face calm and emotionless.

Sophia squeezed her eyes shut, her heart sinking in despair. It was over. The innocent Leonard was about to be slaughtered because of her.

Ryler's lips curled into a smug grin. What a joke! The fool was so frozen in terror that he couldn't even react.

Just as his fist was inches from Leonard's chest, the young man's body suddenly blurred and disappeared. One moment he stood there, and the next he was gone.

The thug's expression twisted in shock, and his smug grin vanished.

"Where the hell did he go?" he muttered aloud, his eyes darting wildly for the stranger's location.

"Looking for me?" A chilling whisper came from directly behind him.

The thug's blood ran cold. Every hair on his body stood on end, as if a jungle predator had found him. He spun around, his fist already swinging in panic. However, it was too late.

BANG!

Leonard's fist connected with the man's ribcage. The impact wasn't human. A visible ripple of force exploded outward, lifting the thug clean off the ground and launching him like a cannonball.

He soared through the night air, crashing violently into the rocky hillside fifty feet away.

BOOM!

The stone shattered on impact, carving a small crater. Dust and debris rained down. The thug spat a mouthful of blood, his eyes wide with horror and disbelief, before his head slumped lifelessly to the side.

The remaining thugs froze.

Bruno, still half-dressed and positioned over Sophia, heard the crash and assumed it was Leonard being finished off.

"Alright. That's taken care of. This bitch keeps struggling! Ryker, get back here and help Mickey spread her legs again!"

"Are you so sure Ryker is still alive?" Leonard's cold voice asked from the shadows.

Bruno's body stiffened. He turned sharply, his face paling as his eyes locked onto Leonard standing unharmed.

"You… How the hell are you still standing?" he stammered.

"Isn't it obvious?" Leonard flashed a calm, almost boyish smile that sent a chill down every thug's spine. "I killed your comrade."

"What?" Bruno and the three remaining men snapped, their eyes wide in disbelief.

Their gazes ventured slowly towards the hillside. Ryker lay motionless in a crater, his lifeless eyes wide open in horror. The man who could take on fifty trained bodyguards had been terminated in a single strike by this nobody.

"You bastard! We'll kill you!" the thugs roared in fury. They drew daggers and charged like rabid beasts, their blades glinting under the moonlight.

"Hmph. You overestimate yourselves." Leonard scoffed and moved to meet them.

One thug slashed viciously at his chest. Leonard's form blurred again, his supernatural speed leaving afterimages.

He dodged the attack effortlessly and countered it with a single palm strike to his midsection, infused with faint qi energy.

The thug's body folded like paper, his ribs cracking audibly as he was sent flying backward. His mangled, dead body was dragged to a stop beside Ryker's corpse.

The remaining two thugs roared and slashed wildly. Leonard's hands moved in a blur. BANG! BANG!

Two more devastating impacts echoed across the hillside. Both men were launched through the air, slamming into the rocks with bone-shattering force.

One of them glimpsed a faint golden glow pulse from the ring on Leonard's finger just before darkness claimed him.

Bruno's face was drained of all color. He fumbled to pull his pants back up, mortal terror replacing his lust.

"You… What the hell are you?" he whispered, his voice trembling. The thugs had underestimated him completely. They had laughed at the boy, who turned out to be a monster.

Leonard approached him with measured, unhurried steps, the night seeming to part around him.

Terror flashed across Bruno's face. "D-Don't come any closer, you monster!"

Leonard's expression remained indifferent. "Relax. I won't kill you," he said coolly.

"I'll just knock you out and leave you on the ground. You tried to outrage the lady's dignity, so I will let her decide your fate."

Bruno's face turned deathly pale. The Harrington family wouldn't simply kill him. First, they would drag him to their infamous underground Black Prison for torture that made death seem merciful.

Desperate, he resorted to threats. "Boy, I serve Black Bill, who is backed by the Starks! If you dare lay a hand on me, they'll hunt you to the ends of the Earth!”

Leonard chuckled softly. "Didn't you say earlier there were no cameras here? How would Black Bill or the Starks know your fate?"

His figure suddenly began to blur, as if gaining momentum while standing. "Besides, I've already killed four. What's one more?"

Panic overtook Bruno. He fumbled into his jacket, yanking out a gun and firing wildly. "You bastard! I'll kill you!"

Gunshots cracked through the silent night. However, they hit nothing but empty air.

Bruno's breathing grew ragged. He squeezed the trigger again and again. But Leonard was a ghost, disappearing and reappearing.

Click. His weapon was empty.

The dark realization crashed over him that the battle was lost. There was no way he could fight a monster like this.

Bruno dropped to his knees in despair, his hands raised in surrender. "Please… Let me go! Let me go!"

"That's for the Harringtons to decide," Leonard whispered, now standing directly above the trembling leader. A single precise strike to the neck sent Bruno crumpling unconscious to the ground.

Sophia lay on the cold Earth, her dress torn, and her body shaking with sobs. Through her haze of trauma and tears, she had seen only a blur of movement and heard the crashes and screams of thugs dying.

The young woman didn't register the impossible speed or the faint glow of power that made it happen. All she knew was that the nightmare had stopped.

Leonard knelt gently beside her, careful not to touch her. "It's over, Miss Harrington," he said softly. "You're safe now."