Heroine-Saving System: Reborn In A Third-Rate Manga As The Protagonist-Chapter 47: Fight To The Death

[A / N: Bit of a long Chapter]

"Oi, wake up, boy."

Kōya blinked his eyes open slowly as rough hands shook him.

There was absolutely no way to tell what time it was down here in this underground prison since there were no windows or clocks either but based on how his body felt and how much his stomach was cramping from hunger, it had been roughly three days since he’d been thrown in this cell.

And to say he was tired would be a massive understatement. He was exhausted on every possible level... physically, mentally, and emotionally drained.

Those three days had been an absolute nightmare. Tetsu came by regularly to whip prisoners with a leather strap... children, adults, elderly people, it didn’t matter at all to him.

He beat them all with the same emotionless efficiency, and their screams echoed through the warehouse constantly.

Kōya had also learned through whispered conversations facilitated by Victoria that Renji was imprisoned not too far away in another cell.

They had managed to exchange a few words, and Renji was still conscious and relatively okay physically though clearly traumatized. They had tried desperately to come up with escape plans together.

Victoria had provided what information she could about the layout and the captors’ routines.

She could only maintain her bat transformation right now because Tetsu had been regularly giving her some kind of weakening poison agent before Kōya arrived, which had reduced her normally formidable vampire powers to roughly the level of an ordinary human.

Right now, they actually had something resembling a real plan.

However, the plan absolutely required a major distraction to work... something to draw both Tetsu and the fat man’s attention completely.

If only his proposed match with Tetsu had been approved, that would have been perfect.

Kōya sat up slowly, noticing the pronounced dark circles that had formed beneath his eyes.

He looked up at the grotesquely fat man standing outside his cell... the same one who had murdered those two children just because they annoyed him.

"Clean your damn face up and make yourself presentable," the fat man said with a wicked grin spreading across his face. "I’ve made a decision... you’ll fight against Tetsu in the arena today for everyone’s entertainment."

He leaned closer to the bars, his breath reeking of alcohol.

"And here’s the deal I’m offering you, boy: If you somehow manage to win against him, I’ll let you and every single person in this warehouse go free. But if you lose or rather, when you lose then you’ll willingly become the first sacrifice for our god’s descent. How does that sound?"

Kōya’s mind raced. This was exactly the opportunity they needed.

’He’s lying about letting us go, obviously,’ Kōya thought. ’But it doesn’t matter. This creates the distraction we need.’

He looked up at the fat man and forced himself to nod.

"I accept your terms."

...

Kōya soon stood in some sort of makeshift arena... it was pretty wide, roughly fifteen meters across, with a dirt floor.

On either side of this warehouse section, captives sat on overturned buckets and crates, forced to watch. He could see Renji in the distance, looking pale and gaunt with dark circles under his eyes.

Even in that condition, the green-haired young man flashed him a thumbs-up with a weak grin. Victoria was nowhere to be found, which meant the plan was already in motion.

It was pretty straightforward: Renji had mentioned that their Academy phones had an emergency chip which could send off a distress signal directly to ALI Academy. As for how Renji knew that detail, Kōya wasn’t questioning it right now.

All Victoria needed to do was get to where their phones had been crushed and discarded, retrieve one functioning chip, bring it back to Renji so he could activate the emergency signal, and then they’d wait for the Academy to dispatch rescue teams.

The plan was half-baked at best and relied on too many variables, but it was infinitely better than having no escape plan at all. They needed to secure the remote control as well since they could all be blown up at any moment, but the main priority right now was alerting the Academy to their location.

’Imagine being so pathetically weak that I got kidnapped this easily and even got a bomb implanted in me...’ Kōya thought bitterly as he took the Flowing Dragon fighting stance. He needed to be stronger... Much stronger.

He glared at the man standing opposite him across the makeshift arena.

Tetsu stood there calmly wearing a clean white singlet and dark trousers, and he even smelled like soap.

The bastard had taken a bath and changed into fresh clothes.

Meanwhile, Kōya was covered in sweat and three days of accumulated filth. The fat man sitting on an oversized bucket chuckled loudly, clearly enjoying himself.

"Alright, all of you better cheer loudly!" he shouted while waving the detonator remote around carelessly. "Or you’ll die right where you’re sitting!"

The children, adults, and even the elderly among the captives immediately began cheering and clapping as loudly as they could.

All except one older man sitting up front near the arena.

He was clearly trying to cheer, his mouth opening and closing desperately, but he’d apparently lost his voice from screaming during torture.

The fat man’s eyes instantly locked onto the older man like a predator spotting prey. He stood up from his bucket throne.

"What did I just say..." he said in a low, dangerous voice.

He grabbed the man roughly and pushed him forward into the arena, right at Kōya’s feet. The old man stumbled and fell to his knees, looking up with terrified eyes while the fat man held up the remote control, his thumb hovering over a button.

"You don’t follow simple instructions—"

He pressed the button. The old man exploded completely in a spray of blood, gore, and chunks of flesh.

The detonation splattered warm blood all over Kōya’s face, into his hair, across his clothes. Some got into his mouth... and it was hot, copper-tasting as well as disgusting.

His Calm Mind skill failed completely as he tasted human blood on his tongue. His whole body went rigid with shock and horror.

The fat man cleared his throat and grinned directly at Kōya while everyone else watching was visibly shaken and traumatized.

Several children were crying silently.

"Now THIS... this is a match with absolutely no mana allowed and all your pathetic lives on the line," he announced, returning to his oversized bucket seat. "That blond pretty boy will represent you worthless victims, while my champion Tetsu will represent me. Winner takes all!"

Kōya forced himself to step away from the corpse or what remained of it. The other captives began cheering for him with desperate, terrified voices.

He spat out the blood in his mouth and tried to calm down.

It was just blood... human blood... from someone who’d just been alive.

He used his bloodied sleeve to wipe the blood from his lips, accidentally smearing more blood there in the process.

’Fuck,’ he thought, breathing hard. ’Just focus. Focus on the fight. The plan and people are counting on you.’

"Now let the match BEGIN!" the fat man bellowed. The instant those words left his mouth, Kōya’s Danger Sense exploded with warning.

He tilted his head sharply to the left.

A throwing knife whizzed past his ear so close he felt the wind of its passage, and it embedded itself into the dirt ground behind him with a solid thunk.

"Oh right... the bad guys don’t play fair, remember?!" The fat man let out a booming, bellowing laugh. "This ain’t your fancy Academy sparring matches, boy!"

Kōya side-stepped quickly as Tetsu closed the distance between them in a blur of movement.

Tetsu’s powerful kick landed exactly where Kōya had been standing a second earlier, sending up a cloud of dust and leaving a small crater in the dirt.

’Even though Sensory is significantly weakened by the mana suppressor, I can still detect his movements,’ Kōya thought, analyzing the situation rapidly. ’Unlike that time back at the cell when I was caught off-guard and exhausted, I just need to focus more intensely on my Sensory skill and perceive the world primarily through that ability instead of my eyes.’

He’d realized something important during these three nightmarish days of captivity.

’Thankfully I trained and refined my Sensory skill constantly during these past three days while sitting in that cell, so this nightmare hasn’t been an entire waste of time.’

He’d had nothing else to do except meditate and practice using his skills at their absolute minimum output levels.

Tetsu immediately followed up his missed kick with a savage straight punch aimed directly at Kōya’s face.

Kōya barely managed to twist his head to the side. The fist grazed his cheek hard enough to split the skin, and he felt warm blood trickle down but he was already moving, driving his own fist toward Tetsu’s exposed ribs while the four-liner was extended.

Tetsu shifted his weight with inhuman speed, and Kōya’s punch slammed into his side instead of the vulnerable ribs. It still connected solidly and Kōya felt the impact travel up his arm but Tetsu barely flinched.

’The physical gap is massive,’ Kōya realized. ’It’s a four-liner versus two-liner... He’s really built differently.’

Tetsu retaliated immediately with a vicious elbow strike toward Kōya’s temple and Kōya ducked under it then felt the air pressure as it passed over his head.

He was in close now and it too close for either of them to use proper technique so the fight devolved into brutal, desperate infighting.

Kōya drove a short hook into Tetsu’s stomach and Tetsu took it responding with a knee to Kōya’s thigh that nearly buckled his leg.

Kōya grabbed Tetsu’s singlet and yanked him forward while simultaneously throwing a headbutt.

Their foreheads cracked together with a sickening sound. Both of them staggered backward and were dazed.

Kōya’s vision swam, and he could feel blood running down from a split in his forehead while Tetsu shook his head like a dog, spraying droplets of blood from a similar cut.

"Not bad for Class 5 trash," Tetsu said, his emotionless voice carrying a hint of respect.They circled each other warily now, the both of them were bleeding and breathing hard.

Kōya’s Danger Sense suddenly screamed and he threw himself to the left.

Tetsu had closed the distance impossibly fast and launched a devastating roundhouse kick at where Kōya’s head had been.

The kick passed through empty air with enough force that Kōya heard it whistle.

’If that had connected, my neck would’ve snapped,’ he thought.

Using the momentum from his dodge, Kōya spun and swept Tetsu’s supporting leg but Tetsu had already shifted his weight, anticipating it.

He brought his heel down in an axe kick aimed at Kōya’s spine and Kōya rolled forward desperately.

The heel slammed into the dirt where he’d been with tremendous force, creating a small impact crater.

Kōya came up from his roll and immediately launched himself at Tetsu. He threw a combination... left jab, right cross, and left hook.

Tetsu slipped the jab, blocked the cross with his forearm, and caught the hook with his palm then he twisted Kōya’s captured fist and yanked him forward off-balance.

Kōya saw the knee coming but couldn’t avoid it. It slammed into his solar plexus, driving all the air from his lungs making his vision go white for a second.

Tetsu followed up with a brutal punch to Kōya’s face that sent him sprawling to the ground and Kōya hit the dirt hard, tasting blood and dirt.

The captives were screaming and cheering desperately for him to get up. He pushed himself to his hands and knees, spitting blood.

He forced himself to stand, swaying slightly and Tetsu walked toward him calmly, not even breathing hard.

"You’re persistent," Tetsu observed. "But this is the difference between us."

He blurred forward. Kōya’s Sensory screamed a warning, and he managed to get his arms up.

Tetsu’s punch crashed into his guard with such force that Kōya was lifted completely off his feet.

He flew backward through the air and crashed down hard, rolling several times and just that single hit made his entire body screamed in protest.

’Can’t... can’t match him in strength,’ Kōya thought desperately. ’Need a different approach.’

He forced himself up again, adopting a more defensive stance and when Tetsu came in this time, Kōya didn’t try to trade blows.

Instead, he focused entirely on his Sensory, reading Tetsu’s intent.

Tetsu threw a straight right and Kōya slipped it by inches, letting it pass over his shoulder.

Tetsu followed with a left hook while Kōya ducked under it, feeling it disturb his hair.

A knee came up toward his face and this time, Kōya twisted and let it graze his shoulder instead of his head.

He was in survival mode now reading every attack and moving just enough to avoid the worst of it but Tetsu was relentless, throwing combination after combination.

He threw a high kick and Kōya ducked, a low kick came after that and Kōya lifted his leg which was followed by a spinning backfist where Kōya leaned back but he couldn’t dodge everything forever.

Tetsu feinted high, and Kōya committed to defending his head. The real attack came low which was a devastating body shot that caught Kōya clean in the ribs.

Something cracked and pain exploded through his side making him gasp.

’Broken rib,’ he realized. Tetsu capitalized immediately, throwing a follow-up punch to the same spot.

Kōya desperately twisted away, taking it on his side instead of directly. It still hurt like hell.

He created distance, backing away and clutching his ribs.

"I see you can somehow read my attacks before they land," Tetsu observed, analyzing him clinically. "You also clearly understand you can’t compare to me in pure speed or raw strength."

Then Tetsu smiled... that crazed, fanatical smile.

"But reading attacks means nothing if your body can’t keep up. Let me show you."

Tetsu blurred forward even faster than before.

Kōya’s Sensory picked up the attack which was a straight punch to his face and he tried to move but his exhausted, injured body was too slow.

The punch connected solidly, snapping his head back and another punch to his stomach.

Kōya saw it coming but couldn’t dodge and it drove into his broken ribs making him cry out in pain.

A third punch went to his jaw and his legs buckled as he dropped to one knee. Blood dripped from his mouth, his nose, and even the cuts on his face.

’I can predict where he’ll attack,’ Kōya realized through the haze of pain. ’But I’m too injured and exhausted. My body can’t execute what my mind knows.’

"It’s time to end this." Tetsu said as he stood over him and reached into his pocket.

Kōya’s blurred vision focused on Tetsu pulling out four gleaming metal needles between his fingers.

’Poison,’ he thought. ’He’s going to paralyze me, then finish it.’

Tetsu threw all four needles in rapid succession. Kōya’s Sensory was still working and he forced his battered body to move.

He twisted left and the first needle missed by inches then immediately shifted right making second needle graze his shoulder, it drew blood but it didn’t embed into his skin then he ducked making the third needle pass over his head.

The fourth one was the only needle he couldn’t avoid and it embedded itself in his left forearm.

Immediately, his entire arm went numb from the shoulder down.

’Paralysis poison,’ he confirmed.

He tried to move the arm but there was nothing... It merely hung uselessly at his side. Tetsu advanced, and Kōya pushed himself to his feet with his one working arm.

They faced each other again with Kōya bleeding, broken-ribbed, with one arm paralyzed while Tetsu barely scratched.

"Still standing?" Tetsu said. "Admirable. But pointless."

He rushed forward again. Kōya could only defend with one arm now.

Tetsu threw a combination, and Kōya tried desperately to block with his remaining arm.

He caught two strikes.

The third got through which was a palm strike to his chest that sent him staggering and the fourth was a brutal punch that connected with his already-broken ribs.

Kōya fell to one knee again, gasping in agony.

’Need... need one opening,’ he thought desperately. ’Just one clean shot. That’s all I need.’

Tetsu came in for the finish, throwing a powerful straight punch aimed at Kōya’s head. Kōya saw it coming through his Sensory and instead of trying to dodge or block, he did something desperate.

He shifted just enough that the punch became a glancing blow against his shoulder rather than a direct hit to his head.

It still hurt like hell and spun him halfway around but it put him exactly where he needed to be... right inside Tetsu’s guard, off to the side.

His one working hand shot forward with the palm open.

Something happened.

His palm began to glow with a crimson light and he thrust his glowing palm forward with everything he had left, aiming for Tetsu’s chest.

For just a fraction of a second, Tetsu’s eyes widened in genuine surprise then Kōya’s palm connected.

The impact created a visible shockwave that rippled outward from the point of contact.

Tetsu was launched backward through the air like he’d been hit by an explosion with blood and saliva sprayed from his mouth in a violent arc.

He flew across the entire arena and crashed to the ground hard, tumbling and rolling before finally sliding to a stop.

The entire warehouse went silent and even the fat man stopped laughing, staring in shock.

Tetsu caught himself on his hands and knees, immediately pressing both hands against his chest where Kōya had struck him.

His face was twisted in pain and disbelief as blood dripped steadily from his mouth onto the dirt.

"What the hell?!" the fat man shouted, jumping to his feet. "What the fuck was that?!"

He pointed the remote control directly at Kōya. Kōya stood there breathing hard, staring at his own hand in complete confusion.

’What... what was that?’ he thought, genuinely shocked. ’That surprised even me. I was only trying to land one clean hit, so what was that power? It definitely wasn’t mana... the suppressor is still active.’

Across the arena, Tetsu struggled to his feet, still clutching his damaged chest as more blood dripped from his mouth.

"W-well... I managed to land my own hit regardless," Tetsu said, his voice strained and pained for the first time.

He looked at Kōya with those intense eyes. Kōya looked down at his own body and was shocked by what he saw.

A throwing knife was embedded deep in his stomach, and blood was spreading rapidly across his shirt.

He hadn’t even noticed when it happened.

’During that final exchange,’ he realized hazily. ’When I hit him, he must have thrown it at point-blank range.’

His legs suddenly gave out completely and he fell to his knees, then to his side.

His body felt impossibly light, almost like he was floating and the world was getting darker at the edges.

"That’s it! I’m blowing all of you the fuck up—" the fat man started screaming.

Through his fading vision, Kōya saw Renji suddenly charge into the fat man from behind with a desperate tackle.

They crashed over the buckets, knocking captives aside.

The remote control flew from the fat man’s hand and clattered across the ground.

Victoria swooped down in bat form and grabbed it in her tiny claws.

"Fuck yo—" the fat man started.

Renji’s fist connected with his face in a solid right hook. The fat man’s head snapped to the side, and he rolled across the ground.

"Boss!" Tetsu shouted.

Despite his massive chest injury, he forced himself to move toward Renji. He closed the distance and delivered a devastating kick to Renji’s stomach.

Renji coughed up blood and doubled over.

It was a one-liner versus four-liner which was similar to a baby versus hydrogen bomb.

"Renji!" Kōya tried to shout, but it came out as a weak whisper.

He tried to get up, but his body refused to respond. Tetsu raised his leg again, preparing to stomp on Renji’s head.

Kōya blinked, trying to clear his rapidly darkening vision.

With the first blink... everything got blurrier, the second blink... the world was fading to black, the third blink, his vision started to clear slightly and on the fourth blink... he could suddenly see clearly again.

A katana blade had gone completely through Tetsu’s skull from behind, the bloodied tip protruding from his forehead.

A black-haired woman in an Academy uniform stood behind Tetsu’s body, her expression cold and empty.

In less than a second, Mio had killed Tetsu.