Utterly terrified

Moving by an unfamiliar instinct, Tristan gracefully sidestepped the punch.

Then Tristan used the inertia of Mark's body to throw him to the ground with an extra kick on the underside of his knees.

"Ack!"

Mark struggled to stand, but Ricky was approaching Tristan instead.

The wiry man lunged at Tristan with more speed, but less power in his attack than Mark had.

However, thanks to the points he put in skills, Tristan's body was full of combat reflexes.

Moving naturally like breathing, Tristan grabbed Ricky's wrist and twisted his hand around, until Ricky was in a paralyzing hold. Then Tristan pressed some more.

"AAAAAAGH!"

There was a crack as Ricky's arm went out of socket.

Tristan pushed the wiry man aside, where he fell to his knees, clenching his limp right arm with his left one. There were tears of pain in his eyes.

Mark stood up and snarled at Tristan like a wild beast.

Evelyn approached from the other side, holding an open switchblade.

Tristan eyed them with disdain.

"Damn you… You were told to leave me alone!" Evelyn hissed.

"You ain't leaving this place on your feet, asshole!" Mark shouted.

They both moved at Tristan at once from opposite sides.

This was an inconvenient position for him, since he could only see one attacker at once. He knew that even with his combat skill, he might get wounded if he let them approach him as they wanted.

So Tristan moved first this time.

He went for Mark, lunging for his arm and using the bulky man's movement to throw him over his shoulder.

Although Tristan's strength was barely enough for this maneuver, Mark's inertia and Tristan's skill did most of the work.

Then, before Mark could recover again, Tristan stomped on his knee, hard.

There was another crack.

"Ugh!"

Mark went pale with pain in his knee, which could even be broken at this point.

Then Evelyn reached Tristan, trying to cut him with wild slashes of her knife.

The woman was no good at fighting and was relying on intimidation and charm more than anything.

In two movements, Tristan took the knife out of Evelyn's arms and broke her wrist, forcing the woman to step back. He put the switchblade in his own pocket.

Evelyn was crying from pain, and her mascara was running in two black lines down her face. However, unlike Ricky, who could already only cry and pray in fear, she was standing up.

With her free hand, Evelyn folded a fist.

"Don't come closer, Scarface!"

"Babe!" Mark growled. He was shaking from pain as he stood up and limped on one hand toward Tristan.

Mark tried to attack one more time, but it only earned him another throw to the ground and a couple of kicks under the ribs.

Evelyn fell to the ground from a single punch to the jaw afterward.

Then Tristan walked around the group, talking and leaving generous kicks to the groaning bodies instead of punctuation.

"Don't act like I'm the villain here. I never did a thing against you when we were a part of the same gang. And HOW MANY TIMES DID I TELL YOU TO STOP CALLING ME THIS NICKNAME?!"

With a sudden burst of anger, Tristan lunged at Evelyn, pinning her head to the ground with a tight grip on her head.

"Ah—"

"I have a fucking name! A Scarface, huh? I hate this movie."

Evelyn shook, crying harder. She was panting from fear—however, not a word fell from her lips. The woman was so terrified by this new Tristan, that she couldn't utter a single word of pleas.

Tristan pulled Evelyn's knife out of his pocket and slashed wildly at the woman's face.

"No! Evelyn—bastard, what are you doing with her?!" Mark shouted fruitlessly.

"N-no, please, stop!"

Evelyn tried to get away from Tristan and the knife, but he was holding her tight, leaving a cut after another, which bled profusely on her beautiful face.

[Ding!]

[You have terrified 2 people. Reward: your PP increased by 20.]

[Ding!]

[You have utterly terrified and impressed 1 person. Reward: your PP increased by 100.]

Tristan paused and looked down at Evelyn.

She looked back at him with a terror that went beyond fear and became something indistinguishable from awe. Her face was all bloody, and it was hard to tell how much of it remained whole besides the eyes.

Tristan let out a breath, feeling his anger abating. These three weren't worth any more of his thoughts.

However, the feeling of power was still singing in his veins. Beating up these three was as good as performing.

It made him feel so much better than them.

And he could also earn system points by intimidating people. That was interesting.

He wiped the bloody knife on Evelyn's clothing and stood up.

"Tristan, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" Ricky whined from the side. "Please, spare me. You are cooler than Mark, I will do whatever you say… I will kick them both if you tell me! Just don't—"

Tristan glared at him.

"Shut up! You are the most pathetic person here. Those who can't think for themselves in this world only have worth as pawns. And pawns are only worth something when they are loyal enough to not leave at the first sign of trouble. You are useless even as a pawn, Ricky."

Then Tristan turned to Evelyn.

"Tell me where you have stashed the money you got from the robbery. And don't try to lie to me."

"I won't… I will tell you everything! We stashed them at…"

Evelyn blurted out everything, and from what Tristan knew of the gang, her information sounded believable.

After memorizing all that, Tristan stepped away from her.

"Call a doctor for yourself. Or not. After you can walk, I want all three of you out of this city. If I see you again—if I just hear that you are still here a month later—I will not be as merciful as today. You will rot in prison, like you almost made me."

Tristan left at that.

***

Two hours later.

Tristan grinned, counting banknotes he took from the gang's stash.

There was $10000 in cash! The trio stole some expensive stuff from the store before being busted.

It was good that the gang didn't have the time to spend all that money.

Now Tristan was going to spend them instead!