Chapter 2932: As Night Falls (14)

Cassandra's punches were fierce, and Shiller occasionally raised the candlestick to defend, yet Cassandra's expression showed not the slightest bit of triumph or relaxation, instead becoming more and more serious.

She realized that the opponent defended too easily. Her greatest strength combined with Inner Qi and Inch Force should easily shatter an adult male's arm into comminuted fractures, but it hardly took any effort for the opponent to throw off her wrist.

This meant something terrifying—the enemy's strength was far superior to yours, not even on the same level.

It was extremely desperate because this wasn't a gap in skill but more akin to an average person fighting a bear with bare hands. No matter the skill level, the differences in size and strength couldn't be compensated for; even a martial arts master would be crushed by a single swipe of the bear's paw.

Cassandra's parents were top assassins, and she had received the most professional training since childhood. Even if her physical stature was limited genetically, and she indeed couldn't grow into a huge form and was a bit too light, she, after all, cultivated Inner Strength. The power she could unleash was far beyond that of an ordinary person.

This was also key to her defeating ordinary Batman. When Batman faced her in the past, it was somewhat like her current situation facing Shiller; the fight was utterly unfair.

But she truly didn't understand how Shiller could burst out with such tremendous strength. Could he also have cultivated Inner Strength?

But Shiller was not of the same kind; Cassandra could feel it. Practitioners had a special intuition, and besides, his techniques were plainly not of her style.

Cassandra followed the way of the East. The method of martial arts cultivation wasn't particularly advanced, but it was orthodox, and she had quite a talent for it, refining Inner Qi and being full of vitality at a young age.

However, there was a disadvantage to cultivating Inner Qi, which was a form of idealism: once she began to doubt herself, the flow of Inner Qi would become obstructed.

The more Cassandra fought, the more perplexed she became. Distraction during combat was a grave taboo. She was a thought too slow, and her punch fell three inches short. Shiller seized the opportunity, not dodging sideways but surging forward, directly pinning her shoulder.

With just a pinch, Cassandra felt like her shoulder blade had shattered. She let out a muffled grunt but still twisted and broke free at the cost of breaking an arm, followed by a spinning kick.

The combo was already broken. She was just trying to push Shiller back to catch a breather.

But Shiller wasn't fooled at all. He didn't dodge or evade, taking the kick squarely. Cassandra was sure she had broken his ribs, but the next second, she was sent flying by him.

This blow wasn't like the previous ones that threw her, which at least allowed her to adjust her body in mid-air to dissipate the force. With such a frontal collision, Cassandra felt as if she had hit a train head-on, her blood and internal organ fragments spewing out of her mouth.

"Cassandra!!"

Fury sparked in the Robin's eyes; no one had ever beaten the strongest combat master of the Batman Family like this.

Cassandra, who landed on the ground, spat out another mouthful of blood, her complexion visibly turning ashen, and because of the worry that the broken ribs might have injured her organs, Batman didn't go to help her up but instead administered another healing needle.

However, using the healing needle twice in such quick succession greatly reduced its effectiveness. Batman could only call for Dick again.

But Dick's vampire magic healing was limited, and such evil magic was not adept at healing. The purple glow had just enveloped her when Cassandra felt the wounds inside her body heal, but at the same time, her blood was rapidly vanishing.

Batman noticed as well, and quickly called a halt. Fortunately, having recovered slightly, Cassandra was assisted to the side to catch her breath.

The Robins also realized that they had fallen into an extremely troubling situation.

They hadn't refrained from using long-range tactics before, but most of their attempts failed to hit the target, and the few that did seemed to have no effect on the opponent, who even appeared to grow stronger the more he was wounded.

The Robins had never faced such an adversary before, not even when going up against Deathstroke. In that case, a war of attrition had been effective – first deplete his stamina, then add more injuries. After all, there were many of them, so, to some extent, that strategy worked.

But facing Shiller, that tactic was futile. Obviously, the worse his condition got, the better he seemed to become. If they continued to drag it out, it was uncertain if they could exhaust him completely; it was certain, however, that their own end was nigh.

Fortunately, Batman was not merely a spectator; he had identified the crux of the issue.

He turned his head and called out to the second floor, "Tim!"

The sniper scope instantly focused, and a healing needle was fired, very much as expected, Shiller dodged it, but when it hit the ground, a puff of smoke arose.

The Robins immediately covered their mouths and noses, refraining from inhaling, but it was clear that Batman wouldn't resort to such a simple trick. The substance was not intended to anesthetize through inhalation but through penetration of wounds on the body, especially open wounds.

Although Shiller's body was covered with extensive burns, he had been hit by two darts earlier, leaving wounds on his chest and arm. Upon coming into contact with the anesthetic smoke, his movements froze instantly.

Even so, this did not impose any real restriction on him, which was why Batman called out to Dick again.

This time Dick understood instantly. He immediately released the magic binding Khonsu. With a forceful swing of Khonsu's magic wand, a beam of moonlight fell upon Shiller.

In an instant, the cuts and burns on Shiller's body healed, and the clothes burnt away were replenished by fabrics woven from the silver moonlight. A faint silver glow began to emanate from his body again – the protection of the moonlight had returned.

Shiller put down the candelabra, gave Batman a deep look, and turned to walk towards the exit of the Batcave.

Before leaving, Khonsu left behind a single phrase, "Dawn is nearing."

A phrase that was ordinary under any other circumstances caused Batman's heart to drop to the abyss.

"Dawn is nearing" signified two things – the sun rising and the moon disappearing.

The former would severely harm the vampire Shiller, and the latter would make Shiller's moonlight protection ineffective.

And this also implied one thing – that Shiller's strength would reach its peak.

And the only piece of good news was that the peak-strength Shiller would not bring disaster upon the Batman Family.

After a major battle, nearly everyone was injured. Batman took the anesthetized Robins back to Wayne Manor, where, together with Alfred and Shiller, they dressed their wounds.

"Do you have any weaknesses?" Batman asked as he adjusted Cassandra's bones.

"Do you think it's appropriate for you to ask me that?" Shiller, who was tending to Jason's shoulder wound, looked up and countered.

"You are the same person."

"Yes, then what are Batman's weaknesses?"

Batman fell silent but soon spoke again, "That's not a fair comparison, clearly you're not on the same side, otherwise, you wouldn't come to me."

"Most Batmen also fight on their own."

"Is his weakness your weakness?"

"Isn't it obvious to you?"

Batman internally agreed with this, though he thought it shouldn't be the case, or rather, he didn't want to admit that these two were actually one and the same, that this savage Moonlight Shiller was the young version of the Shiller before him.

If that were true, although their weaknesses would be the same, so would their strengths.

The young Shiller was a good fighter, which meant that the older one probably wasn't bad either, only that he might have mastered another skill during his long years of training, that being to resolve things with words rather than fists.

The problem was his verbal attacks were also deadly, and if coupled with the physical prowess of his youth, that could pose a massive problem.

It would be better off letting the Teen Titans take on Deathstroke; at least Deathstroke didn't talk much, only mocking, and he didn't really wish to kill those kids, the Robins would at most get beat up.

But Shiller, apart from possibly being skilled both intellectually and martially, was also a madman, and the psychological trauma he could inflict on the Robins could be much more severe than any physical injuries.

Now, for Batman, vampires weren't much of a problem anymore, but this surgeon right beside him was much more troublesome than any vampire.

Batman tried to negotiate terms with him.

"I hope you won't interfere with the Batman Family's affairs," Batman said.

"And do you think your children will just let things be?"

Batman was left speechless again; he knew very well that the recent defeat would only spur the Robins even more, and sooner or later, they would seek to settle scores with that young version of Shiller.

Batman indeed had strong control over the Batman Family, but in this matter, warnings were ineffective, and the more he forbade them, the more they wanted to go.

It was often Jason who took the lead, Damian aided him, Tim bridged the gaps, and Dick paved the way; the only ones who spared him some worry were the girls Barbara and Cassandra, but one didn't have enough strength, and the other was mute, unable to stop the boys.

At a deadlock, Batman had to consider from another angle, saying, "You mentioned there's another mole in the Batman Family, but the supposed surgery didn't lure them out."

"Perhaps it did, but because of the presence of my younger self, the person didn't take action," Shiller suggested another possibility, "It's also possible they thought Moonlight was the invader they arranged."

"Why would that be?"

"Don't think too highly of that organization," Shiller shook his head, "Whoever is the mole in the Batman Family must hold a high position in the vampire organization, otherwise, they wouldn't choose you as their opponent."

"But not everyone has the ability to lead such a big organization. Do you think any of your Robins could instantly take over Wayne Enterprises without causing chaos?"

"Tim would be one," Batman said.

"So you probably ruled out another suspect," Shiller said, "Do you think if Tim was after your life while you were vulnerable, he would make such a scene?"

Batman shook his head, not just because Tim had experience handling Wayne Enterprises affairs, but mainly because Tim wasn't that kind of person. He was somewhat like Batman himself, preferring to solve problems without resorting to violence, ideally winning without a fight.

"So if he were to make a move, even poisoning would be more likely than summoning a vampire army to assault the Batcave, and he probably wouldn't abandon his plan just because of an inexplicable outsider invasion."

"So the mole doesn't have strong leadership abilities," Batman pondered, "They can't organize a decent attack."

"And they are very conservative and cautious," Shiller added, "If they called off the invasion because Moonlight interfered, indicating a change in plans, then they definitely aren't very aggressive."

"But it's also possible that they want me to think this way."

"That's indeed possible," Shiller didn't disagree, but continued, "However, if they wanted you to distrust the Batman Family, it would be better not to create any conspicuous characteristics. Framing someone is fine, but keeping you guessing without a shred of evidence, harming your feelings would be more advantageous for them."

Batman agreed because he knew that the Batman Family was just an accessory; the main objective was still to target Batman.

So making certain actions to lead Batman to suspect someone could be troublesome for Batman, but it would be a short-lived pain, like with Dick.

But not revealing any slipups, causing Batman to equally suspect each person, would be a prolonged pain and constantly distracting Batman's attention would be the most beneficial approach.

So if the person revealed certain personality traits, it wasn't a deliberate strategy but more likely due to a lack of ability, forced to reveal themselves.

But when it comes to incompetence, each member of the Batman Family has their own shortcomings; no one is flawless. Based on such minor faults, it would still be too difficult to confirm anyone's suspicion.

However, the trick of sowing discord and luring the enemy deeper couldn't be used a second time in a short period, so what should be done next?