Run? That was definitely impossible. He was far too fast.
Fight back? Come on, not even a hundred lives would be enough for me to spend on a guy like this.
Surrender and I die.
Fight and I die.
Stand still and I still die.
There was no "live" door left for me to open now.
Tch… if I hadn't been standing here eavesdropping earlier and had gone to look for the gun instead, maybe there would've been a way out by now.
The assassin glanced at me briefly, but then looked back down at JJ. Learning from last time, he did not move toward me. Instead, he lifted her up with one hand. His solid arm closed around JJ's throat and hoisted her into the air as easily as if she were a stuffed animal. Coldly, he shook her back and forth in the air like a toy, his voice thick with mockery:
"You really don't know when to give up, do you? There's a reason they chose me, JJ, because I am fully capable of overwhelming you. You know that?"
Suddenly, JJ's eyes snapped open. She spat water from her mouth straight into the assassin's face, catching him off guard and making him let go and step back. That was all she needed. JJ lunged forward at once, grabbed both of his arms tight, and drove a brutally hard headbutt straight into his forehead.
"Ugh…"
That clearly hurt. Even I, just watching from the outside, had to wince at the sight.
Both the assassin and JJ reeled backward from that strike. It tore a long gash down the middle of her forehead, and fresh blood quickly spilled from it, drenching her whole face. But JJ did not seem to care about that at all. She wiped the blood from her face with one hand and bared her teeth in a grin:
"What was that you said? Who was being countered?"
Blood ran over her lips, forming a long streak all the way down to her chest. Her dark black satin outfit, faintly shimmering, was soaked through and clinging tightly to her body. The sight of it was alluring and horrifying at the same time. JJ's short hair was drenched, and she swept it back.
The assassin clutched his face, staggering backward, but he could not hide the streak of blood on his forehead. Perhaps even he had not expected JJ to gather rainwater from the ground in her mouth and spit it in his face as a distraction. No one in that situation could have seen something like that coming. It was a completely unimaginable move.
"That hurt. And that was dirty, by the way."
He looked calmer than I thought he would. Anyone else in that position might have gone mad with rage by now. But after that, his expression changed. It turned cold, and killing intent poured off him in waves.
In his eyes, the only thing left was the idea of killing his enemy. I could see that clearly from the hand he had clenched so hard that it had started bleeding.
"If this still isn't enough to put you down, then I'll raise it to sixteen." Then he reached into his coat and pulled out a pair of brass knuckles. "And this too."
A metallic gleam flashed from the weapon in the assassin's hand, but it could not hide the dark brown stains on it. Blood. For a man with close-combat ability this terrifying, brass knuckles were more dangerous than bullets.
"Fine. But if you're using a weapon, then I should get one too."
JJ immediately swept her eyes around. She spotted a metal water pipe lying against the wall. At once, using the full strength of her body, she grabbed it with both hands and ripped it out from the line. Her grip was monstrously strong, enough to send all the screws flying free while the metal supports bent as if they were soft noodles, easy to tear apart.
"Vandal…" the assassin let out a sigh, then returned to a ready stance.
The girl held her new weapon in her hand. After spinning it a few times in the air and ignoring the torrent of water still pouring behind her, JJ pointed the pipe straight at the assassin in provocation:
"Come— ack—"
Before JJ could even finish speaking, he drove an absurdly heavy hook straight into her stomach.
In that instant, the man disappeared from my sight as if he had passed through space itself. His body slipped like the wind. The strike was so fast that all I saw was JJ's silhouette flying into the air. I could not even see his fist.
The girl shot upward like a ball, slammed into the power lines above, then crashed down hard onto the ground. Though she still managed to force herself back up, there was now a stunned look on JJ's face, and dark red blood was spilling from her mouth. Most likely internal bleeding from that horrifying attack just now.
But the assassin had no intention of stopping. He was moving much faster than before. Every swing of his arm cut the air with whipping sounds. The speed was so great that my eyes could no longer follow it. The only thing I could see now was JJ's unsteady body reeling under hundreds of punches.
Blood painted an entire section of the wall red. All she could do now was helplessly raise her arms to block while punch after punch devoured her body. The fight had become completely one-sided now, and death was only a matter of time.
Then I suddenly remembered what he had said to JJ before. Four. Eight. Sixteen. Every time the fight was "paused," he would say a number, and his speed would increase noticeably.
At once, a hypothesis rose in my mind. It sounded ridiculous, but it would explain what was happening: after each number, his speed was being doubled from the previous level. And right now, it had already become ten—no, sixteen—times his normal speed. And with striking speed like that, the force of his punches would naturally rise enormously as well, which was exactly why JJ was having such a hard time blocking attacks carrying eight, sixteen times the force of an ordinary blow.
If that was really possible, then this man definitely wasn't human anymore.
That was a monster.
JJ had used everything she had to try and suppress that monster, even tricks and dirty moves, but the difference in raw power between them was still overwhelming. Yet in one short second, JJ's weapon finally managed to touch the assassin.
It was not exactly a heavy strike or a fast one, but it still landed on his bicep and forced him to take a step back.
The whole alley reeked of the thick stink of blood. One of JJ's arms now hung limp at her side, covered in dark bruises. She could no longer stand properly. Only the metal pipe braced against the ground was keeping her upright.
"Hey!" I stood up and shouted toward JJ. "His ability is speed! Can you adjust and catch up to it?"
"Got it. Hard, though…" She brushed her hair back lightly. Blood had soaked her whole face by now, and only one eye could still open.
"Fight carefully. If you lose, we're both finished. You have to know when to dodge and strike back, like this."
As I spoke, I threw a few punches into the air. The answer I got was JJ's irritated voice.
"If you're so good, then get in here and fight!"
Looks like she was actually angry…
"I'm sorry."
At that moment, an idea flashed through my head. It was a little insane, but based on the calculations from what I had observed up to now, it might actually work. At least in theory.
That man had a stepping habit when he threw punches. His feet moved in a rhythm: left-left-right. Even though his footwork was incredibly fast, I had been carefully watching the puddles under their feet this whole time. And especially on the second left step, he would usually throw a straight punch with his off hand and his whole body would lean slightly forward. It had taken me a while to notice this habit, and if JJ had not managed to hold him off long enough, I would never have had time to figure it out.
And the solution to this problem was incredibly simple:
"Just hit straight. Pick one target and smash right into it. If you have to, just close your eyes and hit. Relax your whole body too. One, one, two—just catch the rhythm."
It seemed JJ understood what I meant. She nodded, then stepped back once. Her hand gripped the weapon tight, and then her eyes slowly closed. And like this, adaptability to the environment and the brain's information processing speed would improve.
Yeah. In theory, that was how it worked.
"Tch. Idiots." The assassin clicked his tongue, then flashed forward and drove a brutal punch straight into JJ's center, sending her smashing into the wall.
But unlike the previous times, her whole body sprang back immediately like a rubber ball, shooting straight toward him again.
And he threw another punch, but this time, to everyone's astonishment, the attack slipped off course. JJ had not actively dodged it in advance. She had merely gone with its motion and drifted aside after the fist had already been thrown. It was a passive form of defense, made possible by relaxing the body so that the soft tissues could absorb contact and increase flexibility and reflexes.
The assassin's attacks were still vicious, red blood staining his whole arm, his face twisted in fury. Then, in the instant he least expected it, one of JJ's slow, heavy swings struck straight into the center of his chest and knocked him backward several steps. It was a sudden blow—she had let her weapon slip from her hand and driven her fist in from close range, leaving him no time to react.
"Got you." She curled her lips into a slight smile.
The man's eyes turned bloodshot, his mouth twisted, and he began throwing punch after punch toward JJ to force her into a corner against the wall. The streetlight, the black of the night, and the red of fresh blood made the scene in front of me look almost beautiful. JJ gradually drew herself in under the storm of his attacks.
She was waiting.
Just one mistake. This beast was waiting for her chance.
And when the assassin overstepped by one foot—
"One." I counted silently in my head.
Then he stepped once more, trying to throw a deeper punch toward JJ.
"One."
And he paid for that greed and carelessness.
"Got you." JJ opened one eye, her hand already gripping the man's shoulder. She locked it down tight and—
Bit.
Even I had not expected that. The sight was savage.
JJ bit straight into the carotid artery in the man's neck. It looked insane. Blood sprayed everywhere, like the broken water pipe from before, only much thicker with stench.
Brutal.
That was the only word in my head now. Her face was soaked in a rain of blood, and most vivid of all were those glowing red eyes beneath her black hair as JJ threw her face up toward the sky.
She was still smiling. A grotesque smile. The smile of a victor, a victory won in surprise and savagery. Like a predator tearing down prey. Like a lion bringing down an antelope. She chewed something in her mouth and swallowed it down her throat, then walked away in a slow, almost casual step, leaving her enemy behind her.
"I killed him." JJ smiled brightly, showing bloody teeth. "That guy tasted… not as good as the meal box you gave me."
As for the assassin, his eyes went wide and he dropped to his knees. His gaze had turned hollow. One hand clutched the wound, but the blood kept pouring out.
He was going to die now. He no longer had the ability to resist.
I stepped out from my hiding place and slowly walked closer to him. Red blood was running into the rainwater puddles, mixing into a dark, filthy red that looked both dirty and terrifying. But I did not care much about that. My foot stepped into the puddle, then lightly nudged his thigh.
"That's terrifying." I let out a sigh, then glanced over at JJ. "A little while ago, I almost got killed by her too. But… getting bitten to death… that sounds horrifying."
"It hurts… it hurts…" His voice was faint, and his hand slowly fell slack to the ground.
There was too much blood. Most likely it was a side effect of forcing his circulatory system into overdrive. At this rate, he would not last another five minutes. So that ability really could backfire on its user too.
"Are you religious?" I placed a hand on his shoulder.
I did not understand why, but all the hatred and fear from before had completely vanished. Standing before me now was no longer a monster, just a human being afraid of death.
"What do you mean?"
"Buddhist sutras, the Quran, or the Bible. Depending on your religion, I can read something for you before you go."
"Weird bastard." He smirked faintly, then collapsed fully onto the ground. "I'm going to die… yeah… sooner or later, everybody dies."
JJ suddenly stepped up from behind me, the metal pipe in her hand, and spoke:
"That's right. You're going to die." Her voice was cold, her face expressionless. "That was actually pretty hard. I don't remember anything from before, but you really were tough. I almost lost."
"No… not at all… if it were still raining… you would've beaten me from the start…"
The assassin's breath was growing weaker and weaker, his eyes lifting faintly toward the sky. Still the same gloomy patches of black clouds overhead.
"I don't understand what you're saying." JJ shook her head, then walked closer to him with the metal pipe in her hands. "It was annoying, though. You kept dodging all my attacks. But now…"
JJ took a deep breath. She set one end of the pipe behind the assassin's neck. After one long exhale, she raised the metal bar with both hands, like a golfer taking stance. And then—
"Try dodging this!!!"
Crack.
A heavy impact rang out.
Poor bastard. I still had not even figured out which scripture I should read for him.