Chapter 434 Victors
?"Loosening the rope to give more freedom of movement was a good idea." Shark said with a grin, and they did the same to their rope.
As the rope got looser around their ankles and arms, they felt surprisingly liberated, as if they were finally freed from the prison.
"Shall we have a bout?" Shark asked and spread his arms wide, as if he were inviting them to attack him.
"Ambrose, I'll take him on." Moriarty said this while facing Shark with a determined look in his eyes.
'He clearly doesn't like that nickname, huh.' Ambrose shrugged his shoulders and looked at Jellyfish. "Fine by me."
"Sigh, I am facing some lackey?" Jellyfish groaned as he rolled his eyes. "I was hoping for a more challenging opponent."
"My friend." Shark smirked. "Finish him off quick, and I'll share the honor of killing the fifth-ranked streamer in the world with you."
"Heh, fine by me." Jellyfish reached out to his inventory and took out a baton.
Shark also reached out to his inventory, pulling out a similar baton.
"These are the weapons we found in this building." Shark tapped his foot on the solid floor. "It's time to put them to good use."
Moriarty moved the knife in front of his face, holding it in a sideways grip, and slid his foot forward with a cold and calculated look.
Ambrose faced Jellyfish and lowered his stance slightly while keeping his hands open. It was as if he was going for a defensive stance, ready to react to any sudden movement.
Jellyfish raised the baton over his shoulder and squinted his eyes.
Shark made the baton dance on his hand with effortless grace and then twirled it skillfully in the air before catching it again.
"Well, little Mori Mori." The shark grinned sharply. "I've heard a lot about your skill. Are you all barking, but no bite?"
"You think I haven't faced someone like you before?" Moriarty asked coldly. "Trying to taunt me into making a mistake. I've faced many people like you who want to kill me just for fame and recognition. But let me assure you, none of them have succeeded."
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"First time for everything." Shark responded confidently. "I am also rather an infamous streamsniper. I just love to humiliate you fake bastards in front of your fans.
"It's very exciting."
"Well, there aren't any cameras here." Moriarty said. "So you won't be able to humiliate anyone today."
"Haha, no worries." Shark looked to the ceiling, where a floating camera was discreetly recording everything.
"Huh." Moriarty lowered his gaze from the camera to the shark. "You sure have a knack for being an ass."
"It's my talent." The shark smiled slyly.
"Ambrose." Moriarty said it coldly and narrowed his eyes. "Let's kill these fuckers."
"Oo, you got mad?" Shark grinned.
"Very much so." Moriarty tapped his heel against the floor and kicked his leg up.
Shark backstepped to avoid the kick, but then Moriarty leaped off the ground, rotated in midair, and high-kicked Shark to his neck.
Smack!
Shark stumbled backwards, trying to regain his balance. He could feel the numbness reverberating across his body.
[Shark: 85/100 HP]
Jellyfish saw that his friend got hit but had no intention to help as he also had his opponent standing by, ready to strike him if he showed his back.
He didn't expect Ambrose to be any threat; he expected him to be some kiss-asser who said nice things to Moriarty every day to fuel his enormous ego and eventually became his teammate for this tournament.
However, he wasn't planning to allow him to have any free attacks. He still expected Ambrose to be able to deal some damage; otherwise, Moriarty wouldn't have chosen him.
Jellyfish planned to end this fight immediately.
He kicked off the ground and launched himself towards Ambrose with lightning speed. He swung the baton in a wide arc and aimed at Ambrose's head.
However, in the last moment, he rotated his wrist and struck towards Ambrose's leg instead.
Ambrose raised his leg and tanked the attack with his powerful shin. Despite the force of the blow, he remained unfazed.
Jellyfish twisted his body and swung the baton backwards to Ambrose's head.
The attack came from a hard angle as Jellyfish blocked the sight of the baton with his body, making it difficult for Ambrose to anticipate the strike.
Without letting him finish the attack, Ambrose shoved Jellyfish's back and threw him to the ground with a forceful motion.
Jellyfish quickly sprang back to his feet and repeatedly smashed the baton against Ambrose's arm, hoping to break through his defenses.
Ambrose tanked the strikes with his right arm and then formed a fist with his left hand and drove it into Jellyfish's stomach, knocking the wind out of him.
"Ngh!" Jellyfish groaned as the force of the blow sent him sprawling to the ground.
At that moment, he realized that they might've made a great mistake.
"…" Ambrose looked steely-faced and didn't seem to be under any pressure at all.
As the fight continued on the other side of the room, Shark stood up with a small bruise on his neck, but otherwise, he looked completely fine.
"Your friend seems to be in trouble." Moriarty side-glanced at the situation between Jellyfish and Ambrose and was very happy with the current outcome.
It only needed one of them to die to be disqualified from the tournament. That's why he kept a close eye on Ambrose, especially now that his opponent had a weapon and he didn't.
However, he had to acknowledge that he had underestimated Ambrose's skills.
"It doesn't matter." Shark spat and rushed forward while swinging his baton down. "I only need to kill you!"
Moriarty blocked the baton with the rusty knife and countered with a swift kick to Shark's abdomen.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmShark reeled backwards and crashed into a nearby wall, gasping for air.
Moriarty sprang off the ground and launched himself at Shark with a flying knee attack.
Shark quickly rolled out of the way, while Moriarty kneed through the wall and made a hole in it.
Shark slammed the baton into Moriarty's thigh, then grabbed him by the shirt, and launched him into the wall.
As Moriarty crashed to the wall, Shark slammed his baton down and struck his body with a scary flesh-smacking sound.
"Ngh!" Moriarty flicked the knife in hand and grazed Shark's leg, leaving a shallow cut.
He then jumped back to his feet and tackled Shark to the ground.
However, before Shark managed to fall down, he swung the baton and hit Moriarty square in the cheek.
Moriarty stumbled backwards, clutching his face with an uncomfortable expression.
"Whoo…" Shark staggered back to his feet and laughed. "Hahaha, is that bruise I see in your cheek? Did you bring your makeup to cover your wounds? You can't possibly show yourself like this in front of your screaming fangirls, ain't that right?"
"…" Moriarty touched his cheek, feeling the tenderness of the bruise. "Hmm, it stings."
"Taste more, then!" Shark raised his baton and screamed from the top of his lungs.
But, at that moment, a figure flew between them and crashed into a wall with a resounding crash.
Once the dust cleared, they both saw an unconscious figure of Jellyfish lying on the ground with blood trickling from its head.
Shark turned his head around like a robot and saw Ambrose standing there, still in his punching stance, with smoke rising from his clenched fists.
"Couldn't survive that, huh?" Ambrose said casually, and then reeled back his fist and crossed his arms over his chest.
"Shit…" Shark saw his hands disappear into pixels, as did Jellyfish, who had almost completely vanished.
Moriarty launched forward and punched Shark in the stomach, causing him to double over in pain.
"I guess this wasn't the 'first time for everything', what do you say, Shark?" Moriarty said with a cool look.
"F-fuck you…" Shark whispered and then disappeared alongside Jellyfish, leaving the duo of Phoenix Quill alone as victors.