9 I Was Wrong! Sorry! Ouch!

Yes, Artemis was right.

Tyson lunged forward, accelerating his pace. Artemis followed, using her body's natural advantage to counter him.

They went on exchanging moves, speeds increasing as the time goes on. Sounds of punches swishing through air, hard thumps of blocked attacks, gasps, they went all in.

There was complete silence in the audience. They even forgot to call out, words were struck in their throats.

The emcees had forgotten their commentary. They were all looking wide eyed at the fight.

Everyone looked at the stage with different reactions; admiringly, appreciatively, emotionally, passionately, even fervently.

But the protagonists ignored those gazes.

Tyson attacked his opponent like a beast that he was; vicious and merciless. He aimed at all the vital points, clawing, punching, grabbing, throwing, all in.

Artemis had practiced soft body martial arts. She was light, sharp and swift.

They both entangled, crossing moves, getting injured, none willing to admit defeat.

But, don't forget one thing. A wild beast would never submit, unless he is dead. Tyson had become what he was by snatching his life back from deaths, countless times. Many times he had taken up missions who others had given up on.

He has changed the entire situation of the missions, single-handedly, by spilling his blood.

Slowly, the atmosphere around Tyson changed. Everyone noticed the change. He still looked like a human, but yet he didn't. He was like a beast prowling, desperateness in his every attack.

Artemis was first equally attacking and receiving, but it slowly changed to defending.

The attacks were getting more and more powerful with time. She was calm at first, but slowly started getting panicked. She had heard about the stories of Tyson, he was cruel and merciless. He would definitely kill her.

Sometimes, it is the mentality of a person that defeats them first, much before their opponents do.

Artemis decided to give up. She was smart. Usually, in such underground matches, people valued their self-esteem and reputation more than their life, accepting defeat was like getting shamed. But, when your life really comes in line, you should not become muddle headed and get influenced by people's big-talks.

Valuing your life is the best decision.

Tyson was berserk. He only had one thought in mind - 'finish the person and go back home'. Nothing else was left in his senses. He did not want to waste any more time.

This time, he went for a finishing move, charging forward and forcefully attacking the neck of the person. It was at an incredibly great force.

He did not see his opponent's panicking expression, nor did he hear her final loud shout for defeat. He was reaching near her, his speed faster than ever.

Just when he was just inches away from killing her, he heard the sudden roar of a dragon. The roar was resounding, as if a real dragon was roaring out loud, exuding pride and dominance.

He found himself slowly coming back to his mind, the beastly aura slowly diminishing. Just as what the bell was meant for, he controlled himself to freeze in his place, his muscles stretching to their limit to control the momentum.

Then, he realized what was happening around him.

Artemis had a ghastly pale face and she was taking in deep breaths of air. She seemed to have come out of hell. The audience was again roaring more than ever, some people booing for don't know what the purpose was. The emcees were again chattering, more than ever, their focus on the fight that had just ended.

"The fight was impressive. I have never seen such a match in this lifeline… "

"Tyson has again shown his brilliance. He has again flawlessly won as he always does..."

Tyson got bored soon and he started thinking about other things.

'I must have really been out of control for the alarm to sound.'

It was always enjoyable for Tyson in that state. He loved the feeling of hunting and killing his prey.

'Maybe it was because the last mission had been too long before. My body must have missed the fun.'

He tried to distract himself by different topics and memories, but he could not shake off the two piercing gazes which seemed to have fixed permanently on his back. So he reluctantly thought about what he was deliberately avoiding with a light guilty consciousness...

The dragon roar horn was just known to two other people other than him. It was specially prepared for such circumstances when he was not sane.

Today, he had sneaked out alone and hadn't told anyone about the match. He was confident at that time that nothing would happen. But, reality played with him.

He roamed his eyes in a certain direction, and as expected, he saw the two of them standing at the last, highest row near the gate.

He gulped, and tried to talk to them by gesturing with his eyes and... he was ignored.

'People really don't respect me these days.'

Artemis seemed to be finally out of her state so the referee announced the result.

"And the winner is… Tyson!"

Cheers again resounded everywhere in the seats.

Tyson got out from the arena and walked up the stairs towards the exit and where the two men were standing. He tried to ignore their existence and walk past them like he didn't know what was happening.

But obviously, those two don't seem to spare him before he was miserable and crying.

As he entered the dressing room, he heard the door closing behind him with a loud thump.

He looked back at two scary faces and tried to form the usual angelic smile, but what came out was an ugly attempt.

Internally panicking, he thought:

'Ah! It seems like my skills have become rusty. Let's have a last attempt.'

"Look, I can explain."

But then, he just heard an, "Asshole bastard!", and two people charged together to beat him up.

He hastily uttered an "ouch!" and a "Sorry I was wrong!" but his voice was drowned in the sounds of punches and kicks he was getting.

"I really can explain!!!!!!"

*thump*

"Hey!"

*bam*

"Ouch!"