Steady Retreat

Nathan looked at his opponent as he slowly retreated up the tunnel. The black-haired guy in a leather jacket looked just like any other Vijang Syndicate thug. He had slightly more refined looks than the others Nathan had stumbled across so far. But that didn't necessarily say much.

The Demon of Dusk Street swung the javelin around a few times before stabbing it into the wall like a toothpick in butter. He turned to Nathan.

"You look a little lost, kiddo. This isn't a place you can ding-dong-ditch that easily. Were you the one who killed my guys or are you working with someone?"

"It wasn't me. I don't know who it was. Will you let me go if I apologize for disturbing you?"

"Of course…"

The Demon of Dusk Street gave Nathan a kind smile. But then he continued and his expression turned cold.

"Not."

"I suspected as much."

Nathan nodded without an ounce of fear on his face.

Nathan retreated, and the Demon of Dusk Street advanced.

"You said you didn't know who it was that killed my men, but did you not see anyone else on your way down here? It's not like there are any other exits."

Nathan shook his head.

"No, I promise, I didn't see anyone. I heard a ruckus up there when I was passing by and decided to investigate. The guys up there were also dead and there was a hole in the ground, so I checked it out. And well, you can figure out the rest."

Nathan shrugged and smiled sheepishly.

The Demon pointed at the two javelins in Nathan's hands.

"And those?"

"I picked them up for self-defense."

"And the blood on them from the wounds on the guys down there?"

"Ah…"

The Demon smiled.

"Thought so. Now, how about you start speaking the truth? I might be lenient enough and make your death painless. Let's begin with who you are and where you're from."

Nathan nodded obediently like he was reluctantly accepting his fate. The Demon was pleased until he started talking.

"My name is Jim, and I'm from this place called Lagarta. I recently came to Avalio and started working for the Vijang Syndicate. And let me tell you, they fucking suck!"

The Demon flew forward and punched Nathan in the center of his stomach. Nathan barely blocked the punch with his palm and used the force of the strike to fly backward.

"Bastard, you have a knack for irritating people."

The Demon of Dusk Street glared at Nathan as the blackish-red smoke surrounding his fists and feet crept up and swirled around inside his eyes.

"Thanks! I do my best, is what I would like to say, but irritating shitstains like you is too easy."

The Demon frowned. Nathan was too composed for someone who had received his punch and met his gaze.

"...What are you?"

It didn't matter that he had blocked the fist. The Demon's smoke wasn't that kind.

Nathan tilted his head.

"I could ask the same. Your skill is pretty interesting, but I don't remember fighting you last time?"

"You know about our Syndicate, you discovered and tried to infiltrate our base, but you don't recognize me? And I thought my infamy was on the rise. That's a shame."

"Well, who are you, then?"

Any opportunity to stall for more time was welcome, and Nathan took it. He looked composed. He was composed. He could handle the pain wracking his hand with ease. But fighting the slick fucker in front of him would be even more difficult than he first thought.

"My name is Rotgi, but people know me as the Demon of Dusk Street."

Rotgi looked at Nathan expectantly, waiting for the moment fear and dread set in when he recognized the nickname of a fearsome villain. But contrary to Rotgi's expectations, Nathan frowned.

"Demon? As if. You're barely even at the level of a demon spawn's toes. Who gave you such a misleading nickname?"

"The fuck are you talking about?"

Rotgi glared at Nathan again and shot forward.

Nathan blocked Rotgi's strike with his other palm.

"Oho? Did I hit the nail on the metaphorical head?"

Nathan smiled through the pain of Rotgi's smoke biting his skin like a swarm of fire ants.

"Who are you?! Who told you?!"

Rotgi chased after Nathan who had bounced back using the force of Rotgi's punch. Nathan used his forearm to block the next strike.

Nathan was both fortunate and unfortunate. Rotgi had no intention of making it a short fight since he wanted to torment answers out of Nathan. However, the longer the fight dragged on, the more pain and damage Nathan would take from Rotgi's strikes and skill.

Nathan had been through his fair share of suffering before his regression, which said a lot, considering how much he had inflicted upon others. But his current body hadn't experienced anything more painful than a solid body blow.

Rotgi's skill crept beneath his skin and ignited his cells and nerves. The displeasure was only second to a fierce pain.

Peerless Perception didn't help.

Nathan had learned to strangle his skill so that the information didn't overwhelm him. But the skill was still too powerful for his current self for him to exercise absolute control over all of his senses.

Nathan had to choose between using superhuman senses to see and read Rotgi's movements and experiencing an even sharper pain or letting Rotgi beat him up as he pleased without being able to raise a smidgen of resistance. He would get hammered with pain and nausea either way. 

In that case, the better option would be to reduce the actual damage he took since Rotgi's strikes and skill relied on inflicting status abnormalities and fake damage.

Pain, displeasure, and nausea were only the tip of the iceberg. And as Rotgi layered strikes on Nathan to try and get something other than a smile out of him, various feelings of anger, sadness, despair, vertigo, and frustration also surfaced.

However, feelings weren't as effective as pain since they affected the mind more than the body.

Nathan had started regaining some of it after reuniting with his parents.

But his mind was still far from that of a normal person's. And his emotions had died the same day as his parents.

If anything, Rotgi was doing Nathan a favor.