Chapter 222: A Bit Happening
———Lynda———
<12: 02 pm>
“...So you guys are still staying here because of that?” I said while scratching my head.
“Yeah. It’s way too dangerous back home, and the people at the school still let us rent a room there.” Fiss explained. “Honestly, I have no idea how long it’ll take until things will go back to normal. We could be staying here for over a year at this point.”
“That certainly sounds dire. Your place isn’t all that bad though, right?” I think she had off-handedly mentioned it before.
“Yeah. It’s actually very fancy and spacious. It’s hard to believe that it’s something equivalent to a room in an apartment.” She replied. “Obviously it’s still not a house, but we could do a lot worse. I’m not gonna complain… Actually, we’d have to be crazy to complain. They basically let us live there for free since I’m a student here.”
“An insane benefit to get.” I remarked, and soon after the food we ordered finally arrived. “Alright. Time to eat. We can talk a little bit later.”
It’s only the two of us, which is certainly rather odd. Glery obviously doesn’t like to roam outside often, so I don’t really find her anywhere, but I didn’t really expect Fiss to be roaming around without her parents, mainly because this isn’t a town she is familiar with, she shouldn’t be roaming around by her lonesome even if this is probably one of the safest towns on Earth at the moment.
Ahh… The nostalgic taste of this cheesesteak. Can never get enough of it. This restaurant certainly has a lot going on for itself, from the food to its owner… By the way, what ever happened to the stage in the back? Back in the day those two would throw hands while spectators watched. We basically never get to see them together here anymore.
I guess it was never an official event, and that stage was supposed to be used for people renting the inner area for parties and such.
“Do people come here often?” Fiss asked after eating about half of her portions.
“Of course they do. This is one of the most frequented places ever despite not being that big. It’s always busy.” It’s certainly hard to get into here without seeing a crowd of people and the place drowned out by noise. Today though, it’s a bit more peaceful. “...Aside from here there’s actually not a lot. It’s a quaint little town. Not much to really think about until last year. Who knows that we have quite a few influential people roaming around undetected.”
“...I wonder if there’s someone like that back home.” Fiss muttered.
“I doubt it. Otherwise something big would’ve happened by now. The city you’re in is up north, right?” I said before pulling out my phone to check it.
“Yeah.” She confirmed as I searched for news or anything on the city… So it is one of those cities that was overtaken and now governed by those powerful people… Looks like it’s a small army, just like with other cases of this. Most likely, there isn’t any Ahdeid there. The headlines and the photos would’ve been more eye-catching
…I guess with someone like Kenni roaming around freely, even that might not be a good sign, but there is just no sign for anyone like either category anyway.
“Doesn’t look like it. There is usually a tell if someone like that is present. Usually something very mysterious or flashy that’s hard to comprehend. It just seems like your city was taken over, plain and simple.” I explained my conclusion. Obviously a quick search like this is far from perfect, but I think it’s safer to assume no one like that is around for her than the other way around.
“I see.” Fiss muttered. “...You think those guys are very dangerous? Those overtakers”
“How should I know? It just sorta looks like the group quickly wiped their police force and the local government, but other groups that aren’t that impressive also got that sort of description.” Considering it’s a large group as well and it’s hard to gauge anything just from a few news articles from the people who probably weren’t even there to witness a moment of it. Many of them could be weaker than me for all I know, and I don’t even know where I’m placed on this town’s power hierarchy, or whatever you wanna call it.
*Rumble*
“Huh? Did you feel that?” Fiss asked as there seems to be a bit of rumbling, and also a loud sound of screaming somewhere outside. A commotion at this time of day? Just after we talk about how safe this place is?
“I’ll go take a look.” I’ve already finished my cheesesteak anyway. Let’s go check it out.
“RAAAAHH!!!” A loud roar echoed throughout the area and I felt the pressure emanating from the one responsible.
A giant hulking man with two golden horns. He seems to be having some sort of a breakdown as he moves erratically and causing panic amongst the passerbys.
This guy. He’s going on a rampage again? It has been so long since last time that I expect him to never go haywire like that again! Were the two humiliating defeats from Wiina and Emmie not enough?
Speaking of which, is anyone going to come to rescue? He wasn’t exactly chill last time he was present!
*Dash* *Punch*
Someone ran in and punched him straight in the face before he could try anything. A blonde guy with a plain black shirt and gray pants. It’s Malk from the Perfect Class.
“And here I thought you would never show your sorry face in public again.” Malk scathingly said.
*Dim* *Clank*
Just as the big brute got up, suddenly he was constricted by multiple chains of darkness appearing out of nowhere.
“Real classy for you to rampage in front of this diner, you reprobate.” Rico said as she walked out of her family’s place. “Alright, time to take you out back and… Were you two in the middle of something?”
“...I was planning on stopping him myself before you showed up.” Malk replied while the Krusher is still trying to break himself out of the bindings to no avail.
“Well I can’t exactly have you two start a scuffle in the middle of town, let alone near the diner. Alright, you two go to the stadium, have fun there.” Rico said.
*Snap* *Zoom*
She snapped her fingers and teleported the two of them out of the area. Did she seriously just forcibly teleport two people? I thought it’s supposed to be an extremely advanced spell.
“...What? Do you want to go watch them?” Rico said since she noticed me starting.
“N-No. I’ll be fine.” I said while breaking eye contact.
“Suit yourself.” Rico said before going back into the diner and everyone else started moving again. They have adapted to the situation pretty darn quickly, considering the possible consequences. I guess they are overall just quite relaxed with how infrequent this type of incident is.
…Oh, right. Let’s go back in and talk to Fiss about it. She’s probably extremely confused right now. Let’s get back inside the diner.
“What happened out there?” Fiss asked with worry as I sat back down.
“Oh. Just a guy rampaging. He rarely ever shows himself, but he’s a big brute who randomly shows up completely berserk. He’s been detained now, so no need to worry.” I casually said to get it across that nothing bad ended up happening.
“...Of all the times.” She remarked, due to what we discussed earlier.
“Compared to all the other nonsense people in other towns and cities have to deal with, this is a lot more manageable.” It’s just one guy that gets dealt with quickly. From the looks of it Malk is gonna beat the crap out of that guy and actually calm him down. They should both be away from any bystanders so there’s no harm done… Rico could’ve probably just done all of that herself in less time, but she clearly doesn’t feel like it. “Anyway, you get anything else you wanna ask?”
———Wiina———
<12: 14 pm>
*Swing* *Evade* *Punch*
The large brute missed his right hook only to be hit with Malk’s in return, staggering him for a bit before Malk kept pummeling into him.
The gap in power between them was simply not enough for that big guy to throw around attacks without a care in the world. At least not yet.
*Strike* *Kick*
Malk then struck him in the chest and then followed it up with a kick to the chin. He’s trying his hardest to keep the brute on his toes and not allowing him a chance to breathe.
Even a single moment for him to breathe and Malk might never be able to recapture the advantage ever again.
*Strike* *Bash*
Much like during his fight with Qyunda, he keeps delivering strong and heavy blows to his opponent in an attempt to debilitate him outright instead of slowly wearing him down with cheap shots and conserving his own stamina. He needs to continuously stagger the rampaging man and pile on substantial damage to his body so he can’t even move anymore.
He is visibly struggling to keep this rhythm up as the big brute keeps trying to break out of the combo loop he has been put into.
Those big hits that Malk performed also drain him quite a lot, and the big guy is still standing and resisting.
In fact, even when faced with a barrage of attacks with no kids gloves on, he is still rising in power. It just isn’t apparent since he’s also losing power of the damage accumulated on his body.
*Punch* *Tumble*
“Ugh!” Unfortunately for Malk. He slipped up just once and got hit right in the chest and sent flying.
“RAAAAHHH!!!” He screamed loudly before running towards Malk for another clean hit. His power is now rapidly rising without the constant punishment he takes, and in only a few seconds he would’ve already replenished all the energy he lost.
It’s an absurd ability, even if it comes with quite a hefty downside as he can’t control himself at all. Consumed by bloodlust and the need to destroy.
*Grab* *Swing* *Crash* *Swing* *Crash*
He grabbed Malk by the leg and swung him around, smashing him against the hard floor multiple times.
*Throw* *Crash* *Dash*
The big guy throws Malk far and lets him hit the invisible barrier, bouncing off it and ready to follow it up with another attack.
*Blast*
“Rargh!” Malk throws out a small energy attack right to his face and stops him in his tracks for a second, but that was clearly to show defiance more than anything. The few hits he took from the big brute was pushing his body to its limit already when compounded by him expending a lot of stamina to end the fight early to no avail.
His power continues to rise because he is rapidly diminishing. He just has to accept defeat at this point.
*Zip* *Strike* *Crash*
I fly in and strike the big guy right in the chest, sending him flying to the other side of the battlefield and crash into the wall on that side.
He immediately loses steam and reverts back to base, going unconscious.
“Alright buddy, let’s heal you up.” I said before healing him and helping him back to his feet.
“Thanks, Wiina…” Malk replied, still clearly winded.
Rico was certainly wicked to actually let him go through with doing something so dangerous. That guy was genuinely not in his right mind and might have ended up killing him, and while I know that this fighting ground has an automatic system in place to prevent possible fatality, I don’t really want to see my friend here skirt so close to death.
“Alright, go home and take a break. I’ll take care of things here.” Need to bring him to his parents again and explain what happened. That’s Walsuna and Mana’s job to deal with, not me. All I need to do is lock him up for a while before those two show up.