Chapter 82 : Upstart
Upstart
Brother Dao tossed away his cigarette, barely half-smoked, and couldn't sit still any longer. He cleared his throat and said in a threatening tone, "Hey, what are you looking at? Looking for trouble?"
"......"
Cecilia didn't respond, remaining quietly where she was, sizing up Brother Dao a few meters away, while inwardly comparing the difference in combat ability between the two sides.
Two seconds later, Cecilia reached a conclusion.
If Brother Dao's fighting power was 100, and the other two street punks were at 50 each, then she herself was an utter weakling—if she tried to go head-to-head, she'd absolutely be beaten to a pulp within seconds.
The streets nearby were dark and sparsely populated. If those guys got any nasty ideas, it might lead to events that only adults should witness.
Compared to women, men generally had utterly overwhelming advantages in height, build, and strength.
Though Cecilia was quite experienced in combat, she also understood that in the face of absolute physical superiority, any skill became utterly useless.
Brother Dao wasn't especially tall, but his physique was undeniably robust—just glance at his thick arms nearly bursting out of his short sleeves, then look at her own slender, powerless limbs. Along with her growing sense of frustration, Cecilia couldn't help but yearn for her original body back when she was a boy.
If this had been two weeks ago, before she had become what she was now, even without pulling out the folding knife, "Malfeasance," in her pocket, she would have had an eighty percent chance to single-handedly knock out all three of them.
Looks like tonight, there will be no way out without blood being spilled...
Brother Dao, having not received the expected reaction after his long-prepared threat, narrowed his beady eyes viciously, his expression growing increasingly irritable.
On the other side, the youth in the tiger-head t-shirt tossed the missing person poster in his hand aside, evidently eager to show off. He glared with his crooked nose and said in an extremely arrogant tone, "Are you deaf, damn it? Our Brother Dao is talking to you, can't you hear? If you don't want a beating from us street folks, then get lost!"
Cecilia still didn't react, but her right hand was already slowly gripping the folding knife in her pocket.
"Damn, you really do have a death wish."
Feeling completely ignored, the tiger-head youth was instantly even angrier.
Earlier that day, he'd been chased off multiple times by city patrol and cleaners for randomly putting up ads. Holding a well of anger inside, now being "provoked" by Cecilia, he lost all sense and strode towards her, spouting all sorts of nasty curses.
A few seconds later, the tiger-head youth was right in front of her. He reached out to grab Cecilia by the collar, clearly used to bullying students in the area and acting extremely rough, showing not the slightest restraint just because she was a girl.
As his right hand moved in, Cecilia's light blue irises suddenly narrowed under her hood. The world in her eyes seemed to slow down, even as if time itself paused for a moment.
No one could make out her movements—Cecilia moved immediately.
From the perspective of the tiger-head t-shirt youth, it was simply a blur in front of him. In the blink of an eye, Cecilia had already extended her right hand, grasped his index finger, and snapped it backwards with clear force—
Crack!
The sound of bone breaking followed.
"Ahhh——!"
Ten fingers, tied to the heart; before the tiger-head youth even realized what had happened, he only felt excruciating pain shoot through his right hand. His legs went weak, and he fell to his knees, tears and snot streaming, his left hand bulging with veins as he clung desperately to Cecilia's right hand:
"Let go! Damn it! Let go now!"
Even with his finger bent backward and broken, the tiger-head youth kept on shouting in rage, still not giving up spouting threats.
Cecilia gazed expressionlessly at her right hand, tightly grabbed, feeling jolts of pain at her slender wrist.
To avoid her wrist being broken as well, Cecilia decided to go all in. She reached out with her free left hand, repeated her earlier move—hooked another finger on the tiger-head youth's other hand—and bent it backward!
"Aaaah~~~!"
Another horrifying wail burst forth. The tiger-head youth finally let go, curling up on the ground, completely losing the ability to fight.
The pain of broken fingers was no joke. Let alone breaking two index fingers in quick succession—within just a few breaths and barely any effort, Cecilia had utterly crippled the youth in the tiger-head t-shirt.
Only then did Brother Dao and Yellow Hair snap to attention. Seeing their companion go down badly injured, brother Dao's eyes widened as he shouted furiously, "Damn it, you want to die!"
With that, he clenched his fist and stamped his right foot on the ground. His short but strong body shot forward like a cannonball, charging at Cecilia from several meters away!
Can't block this head-on!
With almost no preparation, facing the charging man, Cecilia made her decision instantly. She swung to the side, wanting to dodge Brother Dao's rush.
However, even though Cecilia had reacted optimally in a short time, this was reality, not the world of Legend of Kaloran.
Her physical condition just wasn't good enough.
She stumbled slightly, couldn't dodge in time, and Brother Dao's angry punch landed hard on Cecilia's left shoulder.
"Ugh..."
A muffled groan escaped as Cecilia staggered back several steps, slamming into the wall by the sidewalk, just barely keeping herself upright. Her phone flew out of her pocket and skittered several meters away.
Clutching her bruised left shoulder with her right hand, Cecilia's delicate face alternated between pale and flushed. Her chest heaved several times before she gradually recovered.
That impact snapped her focus back: the throbbing pain in her left shoulder brought her rationality back to the fore.
Compared to other girls her age, her body wasn't exactly fragile. Still, putting it up against three grown and burly men was definitely pushing it too far.
She could only cause real harm by hitting their vitals—landing blows elsewhere would be like tickling them.
Her enemies, though, could land a random punch or kick, and for Cecilia, it would be absolute critical dmg; taking a direct hit would only spell disaster.
Fortunately, it was her left shoulder, not her right hand, that took the hit... She had to end this fast.
Thinking so, Cecilia hesitated no more. Gritting her teeth through the pain in her left shoulder, she reached into her hoodie pocket and drew "Malfeasance."
With a flick, the jet-black blade snapped out with a loud "click", locking securely with the spring mechanism in the hilt.
Her slender right fingers spun the knife, and, after a deft flourish, her grip shifted from standard to reverse. The specially treated black blade was neatly concealed in the hollow of her palm, hidden by the shadows of the night.
Seeing his strike had landed, brother Dao's face flashed with a brief, satisfied grin—this girl was softer than he'd imagined, truly frail and helpless.
"You little slut, now you know how tough I am, huh?"
Not intending to give Cecilia any time to recover, brother Dao pressed to keep the advantage and quickly readjusted his stance, charging at her once more.
This time, from more than two meters away, he raised his right leg, aiming to land a flying kick and stomp the "ignorant" woman against the wall—but he'd clearly underestimated Cecilia's reaction speed.
Suddenly, the car horns on the road sounded ethereal, the tiger-head youth's screams stretching unnaturally.
As a wave of distortion washed over her senses, everything in Cecilia's view slowed down again.
And now, brother Dao's form was right upon her!
Her body sprang to life—stepping, twisting, dodging, each movement fluid and swift. Cecilia spun deftly, slipping past Brother Dao's forceful kick with impeccable agility!
At the same time, as she finished this series of moves, her petite body lunged forward—practically into Brother Dao's arms. The stench of tobacco stung her nose, making her frown and her stomach churn.
A second later, brother Dao's kick smashed into the wall by the roadside, leaving a black footprint.
Cecilia, using her smaller frame to her advantage, slipped easily inside Brother Dao's guard. Her small right fist whipped through the air, landing with a flurry of blows on Brother Dao's abdomen, before she gave a forceful yank to the side!
"Haha, that doesn't hurt at all!"
Face-to-face with the girl, brother Dao sneered, taking in her delicate scent. He grabbed her arms and shoved her violently aside. Cecilia was flung to the hard pavement.
Her tender kneecaps scraped against the bricks, sending a stab of pain up her legs as bright blood oozed out.
"Whew..."
Brother Dao rotated his shoulder lightly and let out a deep breath.
It'd been ages since he'd been in a real fight. And to think, dealing with a little girl would take him this long—maybe he really was getting old.
Still, the outcome was favorable.
Now it was time to claim the spoils of victory.
Yellow Hair had arrived, stretching lazily in the background. Just as Brother Dao was about to approach Cecilia, his eyes widened suddenly as a tearing pain shot through his abdomen, and he distinctly felt a wave of hot liquid flowing out.
His trembling right hand dropped to his belly. When he lifted it back up into the dim yellow streetlight, what he saw was a palm covered in crimson liquid, reeking of iron!