The previously hooded figure ignored Avery's hate-filled words and instead tried to pull the canister away from him. From his body language, even he had gotten desperate and couldn't care less for Avery right now.
All he wanted was his device back, but Avery, who was equally and maybe even more desperate, resisted.
The previously hooded figure's grip was weaker than usual but still strong enough considering the damage he sustained from the fall. On the other hand, Avery's fingers, which lackadaisically followed the instructions sent by his brain, were losing in the contest of grip strength.
"F-fucking let free!" Avery exclaimed with bullets of saliva shooting out his mouth, his sentences getting harder to construct properly as the Shadow Loss Fever was doing more and more damage to his body.
To be able to contend, Avery quickly tried using his other hand to assist, but the previously hooded figure wasn't just going to allow that.
With his other hand, the previously hooded figure raised it and started pounding sideways, trying to attack Avery's head, but Avery did his best to pull himself out of the way.
Being a natural-born but also a well-trained fighter, Avery could tell from each missed strike that the previously hooded figure's strength was no longer as monstrous as it was in the kitchen. It had dwindled to that of a regular person, which was still dangerous considering that Avery's had dwindled way below that.
All he could do was dodge the blows aimed at his head while still trying to force the previously hooded figure to let go of the canister. All he needed was the chance to deliver one more strike of the canister into the ground, and he was sure that the device would come apart, freeing his shadow.
Once freed, he wasn't going to let his shadow glide towards him like back in the kitchen with Cassandra. He wasn't going to make that mistake. Instead, he would be the one to rush to it, making contact as fast as possible and hopefully fuse back with what was once his.
The more the previously hooded figure struck down at Avery's head but missed, the closer he got to getting a hit as he adjusted the distance between himself and Avery, whose fear was adorned on his face.
It was a challenge for who was going to get their target first. Avery with taking the canister into his possession and the previously hooded figure with delivering a satisfactory hit on Avery's head.
Unfortunately, the previously hooded figure wasn't that patient. He moved quickly, rolling and climbing on top of Avery, who was shocked that he could still move in such a way after falling 6 floors to the ground.
"Just what thing in the planet are you—?" Avery asked with shock, but wasn't able to finish when the previously hooded figure reached for his neck and started choking the life out of him.
Avery flailed and kicked his legs, but the weight of his adversary on his body prevented him from escaping. With the oxygen flowing to his brain being cut off, Avery started to black out.
All he could see was the blurry figure over him. Is this how he was going to die, Avery thought— not even being able to see what the identity of his attacker was.
Avery delivered a few blows to the previously hooded figure's ribs but both his positioning and strength weren't adequate to do anything significant to his adversary. The lack of air also made things increasingly worse for him.
Seconds later, Avery, who had lost all strength to resist, finally let go of the canister. However, even when he had taken the device into his possession and held it under his armpit, the previously hooded figure continued choking Avery.
"MErRy fAX CurRY bASe" Avery heard the previously hooded figure say, and he took that as the figure telling him that he was going to kill him this time.
Avery recollected his previous encounters with the figure and realized that he had many opportunities to kill him and Cassandra, but refrained. This time, however, things were different. He had had enough of Avery's interference and was going to end it, permanently.
A tear fell down the side of Avery's eyes as he realized that he wouldn't be able to escape his fate this time. He might have escaped death when involved in the same accident that took his parents' lives, but this time, however, he wasn't going to be as lucky.
At least that's what Avery thought until suddenly he and the previously hooded figure heard footsteps and then voices approaching the alley they were in.
"I think this is where the crashing noise came from! Come on, let's hurry and check it out" yelled a male voice which pulled the previously hooded figure's attention to the direction.
He saw an older-looking man and woman running towards where he and Avery were and he panicked.
"Look over there! I see people on the ground next to where those metal structures are, and I think those are the things that made the noise. Anyway, let's check if they were hurt and need help!" The same man yelled as both he and the lady increased their pace.
The preciously hooded figure looked down at Avery, obviously annoyed by yet another interference, then he said "WiNe amoURE", which could have only meant him telling Avery how lucky he was.
He let go of Avery's neck just before the defeated young man passed out, then he punched him in the mouth to release his anger.
The previously hooded figure got up from Avery's body, seeing the two people approaching, then he wore back the hood over his head to conceal his blurred identity.
He turned in the opposite direction from where those two strangers were approaching and started limping deeper into the poorly lit alley.
"Hey, where are you going?! Are you okay at least—" the man asked the hooded figure, who didn't reply, but rather kept trying to get away, and he was cut mid-sentence.
"Honey, look at that on the ground, I think it's Avery!" The lady yelled in a panic, which made the man ignore the hooded figure and focus on Avery.
"You're right, that's Avery!" The man yelled and both of them finally made it to Avery on the ground.
"Avery, are you okay?" The man asked as he crouched closer to Avery and tried to check on his condition.