[Insanity is reaching a new threshold]
Dust. That was all I could see. However, I was not eager for the dust to settle. I didn't want to see the outcome of the collision. My arms along with my legs were shaking tremendously. I felt as if I stuck an incoming cannonball with a mere baseball bat. My legs were ready to give up. My entire body was in pain. But I couldn't fall down yet. If I did then I would die. There was no doubt in my mind that Jerome was still fine despite me parrying his attack. Yes, I perfectly parried Jerome's attack. Since I already dodged twice, he wouldn't fall for it again, so I had to act like a cornered rat. Problem is that it would be impossible for me to perform that strike again. My arms would shatter like thin glass. Furthermore, the crowbar was bent beyond recognition. But still..I managed to parry. Hehe It won't be impossible to survive.
The dust settled without any consideration for my feelings and as expected, a figure of a giant man appeared before my sight. My gaze was immediately drawn towards his right hand, and I was surprised to find his fingers were bent somewhat oddly.
'I-I managed to break his fingers…haha..heheheh that's even better than what I was expecting.'
I looked back at his figure and I was shocked. He had numerous wounds that were profusely bleeding. How did I not manage to notice that? How? That must be from the demon at that warehouse. Did he somehow manage to escape?
"H-how did you do it?" Jerome asked in a somewhat shaky tone.
"What do you mean?"
"Y-YOU..HOW? You managed to block my attack. IMPOSSIBLE."
'I need to provoke him as much as I can.'
"How? Bahahaha maybe because you are weak?"
To ensure he buys my bluff, I threw my crowbar away and assumed a fighting stance position. I stared at him with eyes that were filled with insanity and widened my smile.
"To think I was scared of you a second ago…ridiculous. You look like you are about to die. Even my 14 year old sister can beat you up..pfft hahaha."
"You think…I won't be able to crush a rat because of scratches like these? I AM JEROME VALESKA. I HAVE KILLED BEARS WITH MY BARE HANDS. You might've thought I'd die to that warehouse demon…BUT I SURVIVED. Say your last prayers because there's no later for you. You will die here."
Jerome strained his leg muscles again. He's planning to charge again. I'd definitely die if I were to block this. But I didn't move. I strained my triceps and prepared to swing the meanest punch I possibly could. With the help of insanity, my determination did not waver. After a second, Jerome charged shoulder first. And I…
***
"Sigh I can't even move my legs properly."
"Well, at least I am still alive."
I used my arms to push myself off the floor and crawled towards the wall to lean against it. I took deep breaths and allowed the oxygen to properly circulate through my body.
[Insanity has been deactivated]
'I feel like I am going to die right now. Although I have exerted myself quite a bit, it is nowhere near the amount for me to feel like this. There might really be something wrong with this body.'
I looked towards my left; however, I wasn't able to see anything. Dust…Too much dust. Once the dust cleared, I could see a figure laying there silently. Obviously, that was Jerome. Knocked out cold. My lips curled upwards.
"At least, my plan worked. Hehe"
I looked at the steel exit door that Jerome collided with. It was carved in the middle! The hinge on the top right was missing but the bottom right one was still in its place. This created a small gap top right, and I could fit through that hole if I tried hard enough.
'I coated my quads with Insanity fused mana and managed to dodge at the very last second. As a result, Jerome crashed into that steel door headfirst and knocked himself out. However, my legs paid a heavy price for it. Muscle Strain. It will probably take a week or two to heal completely. I can't run but I feel like I will be able to somewhat walk after a couple of minutes. Now here's the main question…'
I looked over at Jerome whose face strangely portrayed a blissful expression. Then I glanced over at the hallway and frowned.
'Jerome...he is powerful. If he somehow wakes up, then I won't last for even 3 seconds. Should I kill him right now?'
I tried to stand up, but my legs just could not handle the pressure, forcing me to tumble back down to the ground. As a result, the only option I had was to crawl. I crawled to the other side of the room to pick up a knife. It wasn't very long but I could definitely kill someone with this.
'No definitely a bad idea. Firstly, I don't understand this world enough. I don't understand what type of investigative methods there are in this world. If I kill Jerome, then I might be in trouble. I'm not talking about legal trouble but also trouble that might come from his backer if he even has one. Plus, legally even if this could be disguised as self-defense, it would go down in my record, and I'd rather prefer for that to not happen. For now, Kez Jolkev will be a normal righteous 19-year-old. At least in public's eyes.'
I tried to stand up once again but once again was forced to tumble back down. I frowned. This was bad. I might need a full hour before I can walk again and if Jerome wakes up in the meantime...
I crawled towards the hallway and explored all the room. There had to be some kind of ropes or chains I could use considering these guys keep people they kidnap here. As expected, I found some ropes and used them to restrain Jerome however I wasn't very assured of the rope's capability. I have already seen this man bend iron with his fist so it's natural for me to not be optimistic. I quickly searched through his pockets. A wallet with couple hundred AP, a membership for some company I have never heard of and a phone. Naturally, I shoved the money in my pocket and put the wallet back in his pocket as there was nothing else in it. I stared at the membership card for a good while before deciding to put it in my pocket as well and finally I picked up his phone and turned it on but soon found out that there was a very unexpected surprise waiting for me.