Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

Without even blinking, the two just gave each other a devilish smile before they smashed each other's face alternatingly. Unlike Mikhail and Bob, Mauro and Ilya were giving each other closed-fist punches with full power. I would've preferred kiting my enemy and not getting a single hit but this was their fight, not mine.

With each hit, their heads would just blow back from the impact but since they were holding onto each other's collar, they were actually keeping each other stable. They took each hit head-on, only gritting their teeth before impact, but it didn't take long before it became a bloody mess.

The left side of Ilya's face was already getting bruised while Mauro's left eye was completely shut.

Looking at it normally, it would look like they were just giving each other a free hit but looking at it closely, Ilya had the slight advantage. Granted Mauro was basically punching down on the left side of Ilya's face, but Ilya was only aiming for his left eye.

It's just that Mauro's fist—granted his size—was fucking huge, it was almost the size of Ilya's head. But not only that, almost all of the time, a huge fucking frame equals huge fucking constitution and if Ilya doesn't finish it quicker, he'd run out of lifepoints soon.

Their match-up was basically a David VS Goliath but this time, Goliath was about to come out on top.

With that said, my eyes were glued to their fight but I suddenly felt a surge of killing intent that made me turn my head to the side.

'Who's this motherfucker—'

Just as I was about to tell that guy off from disturbing my viewing pleasure, I had to tilt my head sideways to avoid a sudden eye-gouge. I fucking thought that Benjie rose from the dead for a moment, but turns out, it was one of his puppies looking to take revenge.

The way the motherfucker carried himself was just too much of a fucking giveaway, and I just abruptly grabbed his neck before I tried to throw him on the ground.

"Lie. The fuck. Down!"

For a split second, he tried to turn it around by performing a flying arm bar but I smashed his head on the ground first before he even managed to straighten my arm. Granted I didn't come out unscathed—since some of his nails dug into my arm—but like Benjie, he'd probably be out for the remainder of this event.

But to everyone's surprise, I kicked the unconscious motherfucker on his torso, probably breaking a rib or two.

'Double-tap… Always…'

I was happy that I ended my match with him as fast as possible but I was disappointed when I tuned back to Ilya and Mauro's match. I had an inkling that Ilya had a chance to turn it around but this time, the size difference decided the match.

Ilya was already being helped off the stage by Mauro's underlings but when I turned to the big screen, luckily enough, an instant replay was shown.

It showed the final moment when Ilya eventually opted to purposefully throw his head back to reduce the damage, but Mauro didn't care, he received one more solid hit to his left eye but his last punch caught Ilya off-guard. The punch just came at an off-beat tempo—totally different from the punches he threw earlier—making Ilya miss the timing and eat the punch with his mouth.

Ilya's head actually blew back without theatrics but he didn't hit the ground because Mauro still kept a tight hold on his collar.

He could've piled on more punches to double or triple-tap but he knew when to stop.

At this point, he was actually looking at me with his only working eye, but I completely snubbed him as I turned to Nikolas and Mr. Alvarez's match.

"YOU MOTHERFUCKER—"

'I'm not missing another match…'

But to add insult to injury, I shouted back at the top of my lungs, "REST, DUMB FUCK! I'M NOT GONNA HEAR THE I WAS ALREADY TIRED EXCUSE WHEN I BEAT YOUR ASS!"

"BITCH! FUCKING TRY ME—"

"I'M NOT GONNA HEAR THE I ONLY HAD ONE EYE EXCUSE TOO! YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO BENJIE, YOU COULD CALL IT QUITS NOW SO YOU'D HAVE A GREAT NIGHT— ERR, MORNING WITH YOUR WIFE! CONGRATS BY THE WAY—"

Turns out, I just spilled some jet fuel to the fire and the huge blaze was coming straight at me. He looked like a chiseled refrigerator that grew legs but I positioned myself in a way so 'that' would happen.

'3… 2… 1…'

"GRCHHKKK!"

What happened was Benjie's puppy who was lying unconscious got stepped on by the rampaging gorilla, and Mr. Cuervo's medical team had to run for his help. I guess they were also too focused on watching the match—missing the guy completely—but only a few people cared about that motherfucker.

With that said, I eventually stopped messing around because my body was already cold from the brief encounters and Mauro's body was still pumped full of adrenaline. Steam was almost coming out of his body and his mere aura was enough to engulf anyone that was frail to stand in his presence.

But that wouldn't work on me.

It only took a second before I released pressure that clashed with his own, but to preserve my own existence, I had to aim for his weak spots.

Mauro's left eye was swollen and completely shut and I just disappeared from his view when I entered his blindspot. Doing that definitely messed with his charge but to my surprise, he swung wildly and threw a left hook that was enough to break a tree in half. Despite that, all he hit was air but if I somehow got grazed with that, the final match would be between him and Mr. Alvarez.

Dodging it at the last second made me forget to throw a middle kick to his torso but once I opted for a low kick instead, another gust of wind came barreling when he threw another punch without looking.