CHAPTER EIGHT: SNUBBED!

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-thud!-

Another bodyguard got sent flying across the room effortlessly by Diablo.

He wasn't dead, but if he didn't get any help, he probably would be.

But that wasn't what Diablo wanted, at least not for now at that.

'Killing will come later, but as for right now, I'm just a poor ol' law-abiding citizen.' Diablo thought.

'Which means that laws actually work on me, instead of 'Richie McRichface' over here.'

He was in a pretty nice mood, mainly because he would be able to see what his intended opposition would be working with (Deus), and if they knew how to use what they were blessed with.

"Hold on now, buddy." Diablo waved his hands as if he was trying not to fight. "Don't be in a rush! Violence isn't always the answer!"

[Heh. You say that, but look ready to fight yourself, Diablo!]

Deus sneered. "Why would I let you go now after you've crossed me, huh?"

"Especially after you've attacked my guards!"

[Besides, if I let you go, then all that planning from the moment you got off of that airplane will be for nothing!]

"How about this, then?"

"If you break your arms and legs, and kneel in front of me, then I might let you off nicely!" Deus snickered.

-sigh-

"Step back missus," Diablo sighed as he flexed his neck and cracked his knuckles. "Looks like fists can work better than words in this case."

"I-I'll go call the security!" Sherry exclaimed as she left in a hurry to call the seemingly non-existent security detail.

"Yeah, you do just that..." Diablo muttered half-heartedly. 'Doubt they'll show up anytime soon...'

'So much for a low-key start...' Diablo thought.

This was about to be Diablo's first fight in Paradise City, and it was the same day that he returned too!

"Anyways, I don't have all day, so bring it!"

"Kekeke! You heard that trash! Waste him!" Deus yelled.

[Here I go! The beginning of my glory road!]

"Don't blame us for-"

As soon as Deus' order fell in the ears of the guards, they rushed swiftly to Diablo to pummel him mercilessly, but as soon as one of the guards reached Diablo first...

-wham!-

Diablo raised his leg high in the air, before slamming it down on the guard's head.

"Who else?" Diablo said.

"You're dead!" The other guards rushed at Diablo and a fierce fistfight ensued.

Diablo dodged, ducked, guarded, and weaved through countless blows. It was a violent dance in which its participants were destined to soon wake up in the hospital.

However, a few of the guards' strikes eventually made it past Diablo's guard.

-thwack!, thwack!, thwack!-

These bodyguards were tall, muscular, and had some of the most stone-cold glares that the young elite of Paradise City had ever seen, scaring them deeply.

Which meant that to the eyes of others, it seemed that Diablo would soon be overwhelmed by these guards. 

"Oh no! Now he's done for!"

"What's gonna happen now?"

"How unfortunate, he had to run into Deus of all people..."

"Dude, where the hell is the security? There's a literal action fight scene going on here..."

-Was this the end for Diablo?

No.

Maybe in a more realistic world, this might be the end. But for a novel world like this, how could he lose?

This was a world with Cultivation and likes of it!

Especially since Diablo was a former mercenary with great strength, speed, and experience in battle!

"Got you!" A guard yelled as he landed a firm blow to the side of Diablo's face.

And another landed a kick to Diablo's stomach, pushing him back a bit.

'Weak, weak, weak...' Diablo thought. 'There's little power actually in any of these strikes...'

'In any case, I should be grateful.'

'If it was against Deus' main bodyguard Custos, then I wouldn't be able to put on a show like this, since have to fight much more seriously...'

Then if Diablo wasn't weaker, then what was the reason?

-It was all for show.

Diablo just wanted to show enough 'proof' that he 'didn't want to fight at all' to the watching crowd.

Which naturally, was a complete lie.

"I didn't want to do this, but you forced my hand!" Diablo yelled loud enough for the crowd to hear.

"You're done for!" A guard dashed madly at Diablo, only to have an uppercut shatter his jaw and send him reeling back unconscious.

-thud!-

Now only five bodyguards remained, standing imposingly before him.

Diablo glanced at the 'frowning' Deus over to the side and dashed forward, and after that, the fight was over.

-A strong punch to the gut dropped one guard instantly like a sack of potatoes, and another hit to the head did the same to another.

-A nice roundhouse kick sent two other guards crashing into the ground unceremoniously, with any other attempt of dodging unsuccessful.

-And lastly, a classical shoulder throw to the floor so hard that the ground vibrated put down the last of the guards Deus sent after Diablo.

"What the hell..."

"Look at that..."

"How did he defeat all of them?"

Murmurs from the background could be heard as the crowd marveled at how Diablo turned around the fight in his favor and won, protecting the beauty while he was at it.

"Well...?" Diablo 'huffed' as he stared at Deus with 'righteous indignation' burning in his eyes. "Are you done here, or do you want to join them as well?"

Deus' face twisted to high heaven as his face was so red he made what he considered to be a 'blood-spitting expression'.

But to Diablo's knowing mind and eye, he could tell that Deus was as euphoric as a man could possibly be.

[Perfect, Diablo! As expected of a Protagonist! You may have not acted just the way I wanted you to, but you've gone back on track!]

"Good, good, good!" Deus repeated through a scowl. "Those useless fools! Can't even take care of a single trash!"

Deus then began to roll up his sleeves. "But you should be honored! Because this Young Master will waste you himself!"

"Guess we're not done yet then," Diablo sighed. "Alright, you little punk! Let's dance!"

The scene happening before the club-goers sent the entire vicinity into an uproar.

"What the hell? Are they actually gonna fight?"

"This might be tough for that guy, he defeated the guards but he should be tired now, right?"

"Is that guy stupid? Even if he wins, that would mean that he beat up the heir of the Godlight Family! They'll never let him go free!"

"How disappointing, it looks like being able to take down those guards got to his head..."

"Ignore all of that shit for a minute, where the fuck is the security!?"

Diablo ignored the mutters as Deus on the other hand seemed to revel in it.

"Didn't you hear the crowd?" Deus smirked. "You should get ready, because I'm about to crush you!"

"Let's see about that." Diablo said as he checked Deus' status.

-

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'His stats went up a bit, huh...'

'Plus, he has the Martial Arts Skill; Imperial Martial Arts (Expert)...' Diablo wondered as he saw Deus' arrogant walk bring him closer and closer.

As they began to fight, Diablo fell into his own thoughts.

'If I remember correctly, all Skills should have six levels.'

"Haah!" Deus threw a punch that Diablo easily dodged.

'Beginner, Average, Intermediate, Expert, Apex, Master.'

Diablo's leg shot up in a fierce front kick that sent Deus skidding back a few feet as Deus brought his arms up to guard.

-skiddd-

'Although I use a different Martial Art Skill, my skill should be around (Expert) as well.'

"Kekeke! You're done for!" As Deus let out a flurry of punches, Diablo parried each and every one of them before driving his fist into Deus' stomach, causing him to stumble backwards.

"Kuuogh---!" Deus groaned as his face twisted in pain.

'Meaning that he should have around the same level of Martial Arts as I do, thanks to the cheats and rewards from the Complaint Diary System.'

-thwack!, thwack!-

Deus struck Diablo twice, landing a blow on Diablo's leg with a low kick, and a direct strike to the face.

'Though there's not much power behind those strikes of his...'

Diablo could've countered, but he chose not to.

Instead, he grabbed Deus close and headbutted him, bashing Deus' face in with his head, causing an eruption of blood to gush from Deus' nose.

-wham!-

"Kuuack---! Fuck!" Deus stumbled as he clutched his nose.

'Damn. In a way, I'm kinda jealous.' Diablo thought as he uppercutted Deus', sending him reeling back once more. 'Although that System of his is untrustworthy as hell...'

"Damn you---!" Deus jumped back up and stuck Diablo firmly in his face, who simply received it without blocking.

'In the first half of the original novel, this skill allowed him to fight and beat opponents that had stats way higher than him, especially an arrogant Diablo.'

'However...'

"Hah! How'd you like it now, huh!?" Deus' fists rained on Diablo as Diablo blocked each one of them.

'I'm not that kind of guy!'

-wham!-

Instead, Diablo matched the speed and timing of Deus' strike to let out a blow of his own, smashing into Deus' face at the same time Deus' fists would've reached him.

-thud!-

And in the end, Deus fell to the ground, grabbing his face once more in pain as Diablo sat down leisurely, snatching an unattended drink on a table nearby and chugging it.

'I've learned all I need to learn for now... And the consensus is that stats mean shit to our system slave over here...' Diablo thought as he let out a sigh.

"Man, what a cheat." Diablo muttered as he wiped his nose. "A system really does wonders for ya', huh..?"

His nose wasn't broken, but due to the way he positioned his face to take Deus' punches it seemed to have the desired effect as blood slowly trickled down his nose.

After this, nobody could really say that only one person got hurt in this 'fight'.

"Hey, Young Master." Diablo chuckled as he poked fun at a glaring Deus. "We have matching nosebleeds, haha!"

"So, have you calmed down now?" Diablo asked. "Because I think I'm seriously tired out after all of that."

Diablo enjoyed looking at Deus' frustrated face as he knew that Deus knew that he was lying through his teeth. After all, with Deus' meta-knowledge, he should know that Diablo would go through tougher battles overseas as daily warmups before actual battle, so this was nothing to Diablo.

Diablo ignored Deus' glare as he continued to blabber on.

"Y'know, you've got some technique alright. Shame you'd use it to harass women instead of training." Diablo sighed. "Who knows, maybe you might actually be able to go pro."

"That wasn't all, right?" Deus gave a frustrated wheeze. "You... Who do you think you are, holding back?"

'So you can see my Status after all.' Diablo thought.

"Really? Did I? I wouldn't know, I'm dead tired. Honest."

"Y-You... You arrogant trash..." Deus snarled.

"To be fair, you're way more arrogant than me, you shitty-snot-nose-rich-punkass." Diablo retorted with added venom in his tone that made Deus shiver. "Seriously, trying to bed a girl because of an almost accident that didn't even affect you? I should rip your balls off and make you eat it, you little shit!"

"Don't you know who I am? I am Deu-"

"Don't you know that your name is a real mouthful? Cut it out already." Diablo interrupted him. "Most people don't want to hear you repeat the same thing over and over."

"I didn't ask you that, and I'm not done yet. This isn't the end, do you think you'll live after-"

"-Don't care." Diablo said whilst picking his ears.

"You'll regret this." Deus slowly got back up. It seemed as if he was ready for another round.

"I sincerely doubt it. But even if I did, I already have enough regrets anyway, so what's one more?"

It was their own world of violence and arguments, and the climax of their first bloody meeting was soon to meet its end.

And as both men stood back up, and were ready to continue their little altercation...

-baam!-

"Freeze! Put your hands up!"

The doors of Valkyrie Club slammed open as in came a group of armed police officers and a particularly stubborn police girl heroine.

'Shouldn't the owner of this place, and this fuckface's sister be the ones showing up now? I guess variables and butterflies do end up changing the events of this world...' Diablo thought as he glanced at Deus, and as far as he could tell, Deus was thinking the same thing as him.

Well, that was just what he thought.

No one knew what Deus was thinking at the moment, not even himself.

With a closer look, the policewoman who took the lead was rather a familiar face to the two of them, though instead of the expected appearance of the owner of Valkyrie Bar and Deus' strict sister, it wasn't a face that was supposed to show up right now.

Diablo looked at Deus.

Deus looked at Diablo.

They both looked at the police team in front of them.

"..."

"..."

'huh?/what?' They both thought.

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CHAPTER EIGHT: SNUBBED! (END)

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