Chapter 85

The moment he stepped forward my hand slipped towards my waist. Pulling out an entire packet of marbles and scattering them across the floor before turning around and running away.

If I could by some time, I could lure him into one of the areas that I scouted beforehand. Then ambush him while he’s attempting to catch up to me.

An explosion rang out popping my eardrums, but I didn’t look back. It was pretty obvious to guess what happened though, as several marbles rocketed past, or collided into the back of my legs. The pain was nothing I hadn’t felt before, and it wasn’t going to stop me here.

When I finally got to the end of the corridor, I pivoted on my foot in order to dart down the new hallway. Only to be shoulder checked into the far wall. His speed had completely caught me off guard, due to the sound of his footsteps being covered by the explosion.

Luck didn’t seem to be in the cards, as the shoulder that took the brunt of the first explosion was the same one that smashed into the wall. The pain becoming more intense than before.

Even so, I ignored it. I had to. Hesitating did nothing for me. Curling up in a ball and licking my wounds wasn’t going to solve my problems. Only cold calculated moves would.

Which is why I bit down on my cheek before swiveling my body towards Law. A small knife already shooting down my sleeve and caught at the last second before being stabbed into his gut. The knife wasn’t particularly large, but that didn’t matter as long as you knew where to stab.

Law responded by slamming his knee into my stomach. Almost causing me to vomit as I rocked backwards. The knife that had been inside him was pulled out as I was pushed back. The same leg lashed out and was aiming for my knee. I quickly moved it in order to not have my leg broken. Instead of my knee, his foot slammed into my shin.

He wasn’t the only one who could use their legs.

That was something I made sure he knew by lashing out with my own kick, which he blocked with his arm. What he didn’t account for was the blade that suddenly shot out afterwards. Cutting into him once again.

His movements seemed to be slowing down, if only slightly. Causing me to smile.

“What’s wrong? Wounds taking their toll? Or is it the poison?”

“Hmm, some sort of nerve paralyzing agent and…is that the toxins from a cone snail, or is it your own special blend?”

We had heard that Law could replicate chemicals, but we hadn’t been told that made him immune to them. Even then, he apparently could only replicate chemicals he’s seen beforehand. So why the hell was he already this well informed?

Has he already sampled countless toxins?

Tsk tsk, what a naughty hero.

My leg attempted to fall to the side, dragging the knife in his arm all the way down to his hand. Unfortunately, he was quick enough to get a hold on my foot. Stopping me from moving.

My hand darted to my side, retrieving a throwing knife, only for him to immediately respond by pivoting his own body and aiming for a side kick. An exchange of blows wasn’t my style, so I decided to instead pull my foot out of his arm, and evade it.

An act that proved to be the definitive correct move, as white liquid seemed to ooze out of nowhere before surging towards his leg. Causing it to quickly triple in size before slamming into the wall where I had been a second ago.

The kick blew the wall in. Causing half of the hallway to start tilting inwards due to the blow. The remains of the wall were now scattered in the room that had been blown open, and onto the other side.

Just as quickly as the white goo appeared, it once again disappeared.

It would seem as though the League’s information needed to be updated.

“With moves like that, I can’t help but wonder if you’re just trying to kill me.”

I stated in a playful and sarcastic tone. He smirked casually in response. As if what I had was just amusing to him. Like being accused of being murder was comical.

…The League’s information really needed to be updated.

“It’s fine. It’s not as if you’d have let that hit you, right?”

My eyes narrowed behind the mask. My sight darted over to his wounds, which had stained his outfit with his blood…only for the wounds to seemingly already have closed themselves up.

Regeneration? Was that another ability? Or…was it something else?

I quickly darted back, wincing slightly as I put pressure on the leg he had attacked. For just a second I had looked away, and when I looked back a large chunk of drywall was heading straight for me.

The problem wasn’t that it’d hurt if it hit me, the problem was the explosion of dust and bits of drywall that’d get in the air. Which would severely limit my vision. Law was also quickly following up as well…

Well then, if I had a losing hand, then I just wouldn’t play the game.

Retrieving a smoke bomb from my pants, I quickly smashed it against the ground. If he was trying to obfuscate the area to make it to where I couldn’t see, then all I needed to do was even the playing field. Then neither of us could see. The smoke bomb was even more effective due to it being in an enclosed hallway.

Unfortunately for Law, I had already trained with my senses taken away from me. Something that he was unlikely to have gone through. So the ball was back in his court.

The piece of drywall hit the nearby ground, exploding outwards as expected. If it wasn’t for my mask, I’d probably be coughing or finding it hard to breathe. My mask didn’t help me see through the smoke, but it did at least keep my eyes protected. Meaning I could at least keep them open.

My other senses were honed and focused. Waiting and listening for Law’s footsteps to betray his current location.

CRACK!

I jolted slightly at the unexpectedly loud crashing sound. It sounded like…he had once again hit the wall with full force. Breaking it open. Even now, I could hear the thumping sound of his feet hitting the floor as he got closer and closer…from the inside of the other room.

Mmm, it wasn’t a particularly good play, but it also wasn’t a particularly bad one either. He was giving up his momentum in order to attack from the other side of the wall. The problem with that was that he no longer had any line of sight on me. Meaning he didn’t know my position.

And if he didn’t know my position, then he couldn’t hope to attack me accurately unless I stood completely still like an idiot. And if he wasn’t going to attack the place where he had last saw me stand, then he was just shooting in the dark.

Making it a matter of chance.

A matter of chance that also wasn’t particularly good. As the moment he poked his head out, he’d immediately be attacked with knives again. I also had some grenades, but it was better to not draw attention to myself.

Besides, killing a Titan would be a pretty big deal. Not only would the entire team come down on top of me, but the Justice League would as well. The League of Shadows would also be more than happy to simply throw me to the wolves.

Avenging the deaths of fellow members was one thing, as well as making sure it couldn’t be traced back to them. But killing a Titan and leaving behind a trail that might as well be a glowing neon sign pointing towards The Demon’s Head?

I’d be more worried about what they were going to do to me than the Justice League.

As expected, Law smashed open another hole in the wall, completely missing my position. Instead of his leg, it seemed to have been his whole body. Seems like he was expecting to close the distance as quickly as possible and using the vacuum caused by the whole to alleviate some of the smoke.

Unfortunately for him, I wasn’t caught…off-guard…

In retrospect, I should have realized that something was off when the thumping sounds of his footsteps were loud. Much more than they should have been for a guy of his size. But instead, I was more focused on locating where was going.

So, the moment he crashed back into the hallway, I had already thrown knives at his direction. Judging from his current height, I ballparked where the nape of his neck was located and the posture he would take.

When he came through the wall, there was a split second where the smoke funneled around the explosion. Quickly filling in the vacuum for a moment and letting me catch a glimpse of Law’s position.

Only to see some sort of eight feet tall towering figure in the smoke. The hulking man was much more massive than Law in practically every aspect. His limbs, his chest, and even his eyes.

His eyes were the only thing I could see clearly through the smoke. Orange pupils that were shaped like an eight-pointed star, slowly rotating counter clockwise. But instead of the points of the star being triangles, they were more like arrow heads.

Due to being caught flatfooted, my first shot only hit the side of his chest. Where I had originally thought his head would be. As his body shifted towards me, I tossed a second with my other hand, and went to equip a third-

I had mistakenly believed that it would take him a few seconds in order to get to my current location, when that was not the case. I thought I had judged the size of his tree trunk limbs accurately, and thus hadn’t expected him to so casually reach out and grab me.

I might as well have been a toy with how easily he was able to pick me up by my arm, and slam me into the nearby wall. The air being knocked out of my chest for a second, before I was quickly lifted back up. My arm protesting as it was bent in an unnatural way in order to throw me against the ceiling.

Thankfully my arm hadn’t been broken, nor had being thrown against the ceiling been particularly grueling. Unfortunately, I knew exactly what was coming next.

My back was slammed against the floor of the building, causing a resounding shuddering for the entire floor. The force of which caused me to momentarily lose control of my body. As I involuntarily curved my back in pain. My mouth opening wide only for no air to enter my lungs.

I needed to breathe. I needed to breathe. I needed to breathe. I needed…to breathe…

Someone’s foot had firmly planted itself in my midsection. Causing me to groan in pain, but also finally take a much-needed gulp of air. Due to the size of the foot, as well as the fact that I was still alive, I knew it hadn’t been the giant from earlier.

The smoke was starting to fade a bit from the area, allowing me to see a completely normal looking Law standing above me. A smug smirk on his lips as he looked down at me.

My hands twitched and lowered down to my side, only for him to further drive his foot into my stomach. Forcing me to give up my plan of counter attacking him in favor of trying to peel his foot off of me.

If I thought about it logically, grabbing a knife and digging it into his leg would have been the smarter move. But the pain and exhaustion that was currently wracking my body was overpowering just about everything else I could offer.

“Not bad. At the very least I can see how you were able to press Ravager.”

I grunted in pain as he added a bit of pressure. His leg seemed like it had suddenly turned into steel. Completely refusing to budge even with me putting everything into it.

“A shame, honestly. If you hadn’t been so successful, we would be having a very different conversation…”

“T-tha-”

My words were cut off as he mounted even more pressure on my arms. They were straining just to keep the bulk of his weight from digging into my body. If they relaxed for even a second, the force would probably kill me. If not cause serious internal bleeding.

“Then again, if you hadn’t been so good at your job, then we also wouldn’t be talking, because Ravager would’ve been able to beat you. So, I guess meeting like this must have been fate.”

His eyes were illuminated once again with the orange looking star. Slowly rotating as he seemed to look through me.

“…Not that I really believe in shit like that.”

My arms ached as I fought for even a centimeter of room, just to speak.

“You…really…like to…hear your…self…talk…huh?”

His smirk only grew wider at my comment, before his foot suddenly left my chest. Allowing me to finally suck some air into my lungs.

But the sweet moment was fleeting, as his leg swiftly came back down. Slamming into my gut with enough force to cause my ears to ring. Causing everything around me to become fuzzy. Even my hearing was a bit muffled, only able to pick up Law’s words as a faint whisper despite how close he was.

“Well, it certainly beats the voice in my head.”

He stomped down again. I rolled instinctively away, but it didn’t make a difference as his foot came down again. And again. And again. And again.

My vision blurred and shifted. For a split second I had completely forgotten where I was, so my mind immediately assumed that this was training and he was good old dad. Before reality came crashing back down on top of me.

“Don’t worry. You’ll survive. I guarantee it. I will however be making sure…”

He stomped again. I couldn’t even feel any pain that time. Only a sense of numbness mixed with a fundamental understanding that something was wrong.

“That you understand what it means to mess with a Titan.”