Chapter 103: Chapter103-Lost or Won?

"Get up, Lia!" I shouted, my eyes darting to her. Lia, now steadier thanks to the potion, got to her feet, her bruised face showing new resolve to fight... As I faced Mickey, Lia moved to stand beside me, ready to jump back into the fight. I quickly checked Mickey's character status and saw that his condition hadn't changed. This meant he might give me a few chances to win because he wasn't in good state of mind... It seemed like Lia's conversation had really affected him... He took it personally. "Stick close and watch his footwork," I told Lia urgently. "Go for his left leg. That's where he's most vulnerable." As Mickey charged at us with his sword slicing through the air, I stepped in front of Lia, holding my daggers low and ready. I needed to be carefulone wrong move could mean disaster for both of us... Mickey swung his sword in a wide arc aimed at my torso. I reacted fast, stepping forward with my left foot and turning my body to the side. I raised my right dagger to block his sword, the impact of the metal vibrating through my arm. Huu... At the same time, I thrust my left dagger towards Mickey's midsection... With quick reflexes, Mickey twisted his body, barely avoiding the stab. Even though his balance was a bit off, he quickly regained his stance. Ehh... I was somewhat taken aback by this... Considering how he fought against Lia and Zeras, I thought he would effortlessly dodge the stab, but the way he barely avoided it left me unimpressed... Even so, I quickly turned my attention back to the fight. Seeing the opening, Lia darted in from Mickey's left, her sword poised for a strike. Her target was his left leg, the weakness I had identified earlier. She swung her blade in a downward diagonal slash, aiming to catch him off guard which, as expected, didn't work as... Mickey, however, noticed her approach in the corner of his eye and instinctively shifted his weight to his right foot, lifting his left leg just in time to avoid her strike. The blade skimmed his trousers but didn't cut him, showing how fast he reacted even though he was off-balance earlier. Mickey quickly responded by kicking Lia in the midsection with the leg she had just targeted... Shitty bastard, he sure loves kicking people around... Lia gasped as she was forced back, but she held her ground, refusing to give in. Not this time, though... Taking advantage of the moment Mickey had all his weight on one leg, I lunged forward, closing the gap between us. "Let's make this more exciting, Mr. OP!" I shouted... He didn't reply to my challengehe might have just ignored me. I slashed sideways with my right dagger while stabbing my left one towards his stomach... Mickey deflected the horizontal slash with his sword but was again caught off guard by the thrust... Did I get him? No... He shifted his stance again, this time pivoting on his right foot to avoid the strike, but it left him open. Lia seized the opportunity, recovering quickly from the kick. She stepped in again, this time faking a strike toward his upper body. Mickey raised his sword to parry, but Lia suddenly dropped to a low stance, slicing her sword in a tight arc towards his left leg. This time, the blade found its mark, cutting a shallow gash into his calf. "Ahh!" Mickey snarled in pain, his footing faltering slightly. He still hasn't said anything... I thought he might say some curses again since he wasn't in his right mind. Realizing the advantage, I moved in to press the attack... Before doing anything else, a sudden idea popped into my head. Hmm... Will that work? Anyway, let's give it a shot. I feinted with my right dagger, making it seem as though I was aiming for his throat. Mickey, seeing the feint, instinctively shifted his weight to his back foot again, preparing to parry the blow. That was the mistake I had been waiting for. He really ended up being a fool. I thought the fight would be challenging because the system said he was smart, but this behavior is hugely contrasting from what I expected... As his weight shifted, I pivoted my body and aimed a low, sweeping kick at his left ankle. The kick connected solidly, throwing him off balance just as I brought my left dagger up in a sharp uppercut aimed at his side... I was sure he couldn't dodge this strike since he was still recovering from the previous kick and the pain in his leg... I was mainly aiming to stab him and weaken him to win the fight. For the first three seconds as I moved my daggers towards him, everything was going well until... He pulled out something unexpected out of nowhere... What? From the corner of my eye, I noticed him grinning, his smile growing wider by the second. Why is he smiling like that? Is he losing his mind, or something? How can he be smiling right now, knowing he's about to lost by- Wait! Lose... Why did I think he was going to lose? The battle is still raging, and on top of that, what kind of overpowered guy smiles in the middle of a fight? As his grin stretched even further, it suddenly hit me. Don't tell me! Had I been playing right into his hands this entire time? Damn it... Panic surged through me as I tried to halt my momentum and retreat, but it was already too late. He suddenly produce a small, gleaming objecta throwing knife from his pocket... With a fluid motion, he hurled it towards me. Uh, Shit! The knife flew through the air with lethal precision, its trajectory perfectly calculated... My immediate reaction was to dodge, but the movement forced me off-balance. I twisted to the side, but the knife grazed my shoulder, causing me to stumble and lose focus. "Eee!" The pain was sharp, but I gritted my teeth to try and lessen it. However, the real threat was still to come. Mickey took advantage of my little distraction with lightning speed... How did he do that? In an instant, he seemed to blur, and then he was right in front of me. "No way! That's cheating!" I barely had time to process what was happening before he brought his sword down in a powerful vertical strike aimed at my head... My daggers were still out from the last attack, and I struggled to raise them in time. Mickey's blow was so powerful that it knocked me to the ground, and my daggers fell away, useless. I tried to get up from the ground, but... "Ahhh!" Mickey kicked me in the jaw, sending me crashing to the ground. The pain from both my wounds was too much to handle. "F...uck! It's bur...ning!" The hit to my jaw was hard and jarring, making it difficult to speak, but it was nothing compared to the burning pain in my shoulder. A flurry of thoughts started to swirl in my mind. Knife? Poison? The intense burning made me think the knife might have been coated with poison. One the other way Mickey with one quick move, he pulled out another knife and threw it at Lia. Oh, no... I tried to get up, but I knew I couldn't help her, so I yelled, "Lia, get out of the way!" She was trying to stand up, breathing heavily and moving slowly. She failed to understand what was happening and asked me, "What" But before she could finish, the knife struck her arm, making her scream and drop her sword. "Ahhhhhh!" Lia gasped in pain as the blade cut through her side, her breath hitching. She gritted her teeth, fighting through the agony as she staggered back, her hand instinctively clutching the wound. "Damn it...!" she hissed, her voice trembling with both pain and anger. She glanced at the blood dripping from her side, then back at Mickey, her eyes burning with a fierce resolve. "You won't get rid of me that easily," she growled, her voice low. "I'm not... done yet." With trembling hands, she gripped the bloody knife, forcing herself to stand despite the pain. "Michael! Run, get out of here!" she called to me, her voice strained. "What?" I asked, still on my knees, shocked and confused by her words. "I'll... hold him off... just go! Stay alive!" she gasped, struggling for breath as she pulled the knife from her side and let it drop to the ground. She pressed her arm against the wound, trying to stop the bleeding. I wasn't prepared to hear that. It caught me off guard, and I didn't like it at all. Even though, she wasn't wrong, but it felt like she was saying I was weaker than her, and that really bothered me. "No, Lia! Don't think I'm weak!" I shouted back, frustration in my voice. She turned to look at me, her body bruised and battered, her clothes torn from the fight. Even so, she tried to stay strong. "Michael, this isn't the time to" she started, her voice fading as she swayed, struggling to stay on her feet. But before she could react, Mickey moved with lightning speed, appearing right in front of her and slashing his sword vertically, aiming for her stomach. "Oh no!" She quickly grabbed the bloody knife to defend herself, raising her injured arm to block the attack... I shouted, "Don't you dare do anything, bastard!" But... Mickey completely ignored my warning, just like he always ignored me before. Then, his blade slashed through, cutting deep into her side. "Auckkk! My sto...mach!" She fell to the ground, clutching her wound and gasping for breath... In just moments, Mickey had taken us both down with such efficiency that we had no chance to fight back.... As I lay on the cold, hard ground, I could only watch in horror as Lia clutched her bleeding stomach with both hands. Her face was contorted in pain, her breaths shallow and strained. Blood seeped through her fingers, staining the ground beneath her. Each gasp she took was a painful reminder of how quickly everything had fallen apart. "Lia..." I whispered, my voice barely audible over my own labored breathing. I tried to push myself up, but my body wouldn't respond. The burning pain in my shoulder and the throbbing in my jaw made it nearly impossible to move... "Fuck, get up!" This body... Just garbage... Mickey stood over her, a smile on his face. What the hell is looking at? His eyes gleamed with cold, cruel satisfaction, as if he was enjoying every moment of our suffering... I used my appraisal skill on him again and saw that even though he wasn't in the best condition, he still managed to defeat us. How? No, what? It really shows just how dangerous he is. He casually wiped the blood from his sword, not even bothering to glance in my direction... I could feel the anger rising inside me, mixing with the helplessness that weighed me down like a heavy burden... This helplessness feeling... I have felt that before... "Is this it?" Mickey taunted, his voice dripping with mockery. "This is the best you two could do? How pathetic. I expected more from you guys..." I gritted my teeth, the anger in me growing stronger with every word he spoke. My hands clenched into fists, my nails digging into my palms. You motherfu*ker... "You think you're some kind of hero, don't you?" Mickey continued, his tone condescending. "But look at you nowon the ground, helpless, just like everyone else who's tried to stand against me. You're nothing, Michael. Just another failure." His words cut deep, but they also fueled the fire inside me and, mystery inside me.. He knows who I am? Waitof course he would know who I am. I'm the son of the fourth richest man, after all... But still... My current situation isn't fitting for someone rich. Maybe he's right; I am a complete failure. The anger and regret that had been building up inside me were now boiling over, ready to take over. If the previous Michael had been here, he would have already taken this guy down. "Shut... up," I managed to spit out, my voice shaking with rage... I forced myself to move, to fight through the pain. I couldn't just lie there and let him win. Not after everything we had been through. Not after what he had done to Lia. Mickey finally turned his gaze to me, a cruel smile playing on his lips. "What's that? Still got some fight in you? How amusing. But let's be honest, Michael. You've already lost." I felt my blood boiling, the anger surging through me like a wave... My vision blurred with the intensity of it, my focus narrowing to one single thought: I had to kill him... I had to make him pay for what he'd done. For some reason, my mind had turned him into my archenemy. Maybe it's because he hurt Lia. That's probably why. "You're wrong," I growled, my voice growing stronger. I forced myself to sit up, despite the pain throughout my body. I didn't care. I had to keep going. "I'm not finished yet. I will kill you, that's for sure!" Mickey raised an eyebrow, his smile widening. "Oh? And what exactly do you plan to do? You can barely stand." My eyes flicked to Lia, who was still on the ground, fighting to stay conscious. Seeing her like that only made the anger burn hotter inside me. I couldn't let this end here. I couldn't let him win. "Michael," Lia whispered weakly, "don't do something reckless... Go away..." Fuck! She was still thinking about me instead of herself... Damn it... No, not this time. I won't back down. I swear... Her words were hard to hear, but they made me even more determined... "I'm not leaving without you! Either we both die or we both live!" I yelled through gritted teeth. For a brief moment, a memory flashed in my mind before disappearing making me confused for a few seconds... What was that? Why did it come up suddenly? I refocused on the situation at hand. Lia managed a faint smile through her pain. "Thanks... Michael," she said, her voice trembling. "But don't do this..." Mickey's smile wavered for a brief moment before he chuckled softly. "How touching. But this is where your story ends." In an instant, he moved with such speed that I barely registered what had happened. He appeared next to Lia, who lay on the ground with a bloody gash on her stomach. Mickey knelt beside her, his gaze fixed on me with a cruel smirk. "So, Michael, how would you feel if I were to kill her right here? Let me remind you, you're not going anywhere for a few minutes. That poison should be starting to affect you by now..." Wait! Na... That can't be... With those chilling words, he slowly lowered his right hand towards Lia's neck, his intentions clear. "No! Stop!" I shouted, my voice hoarse with desperation. "Don't you dare touch her! You won't get away with this!" Mickey's eyes flickered with amusement. "And what will you do about it, Michael? You're in no condition to stop me." I tried to move, but But But But... I... Failed... But after a few minutes, something happened that left both Mickey and me in shock.