Adrien clutched Geiler's wrist , lifting his hand up, away from Clara. "WHAT THE- HOW DOES HE HAVE ANY STRENGTH LEF-???"
Geiler failed to finish his sentence.
Adrien broke free from the chains, and slammed Geiler at once onto the ground, by pulling him downwards with devastating force, crushing his left part of the body entirely.
"AHHHH..."
Geiler let out a dying scream as he went unconscious.
"!!!"
Kerl flinched and stepped back two blocks, as if his heightened
senses hinted him to be watchful of Adrien all of a sudden.
Adrien crouched down infront of Clara, placing two fingers under her chin and lifting her head up.
"I am here now, don't worry."
Adrien said while looking straight at Clara's unconscious, lifless face , with a very soft tone and a faint smile.
"...?"
Clara opened her eyes mildly, just enough to see Adrien, only to close
them again.
"You will pay for this, Kerl."
The entire room appeared to be shivering in fear, with fluctuating temperature just as those words rolled off Adrien's tongue.
"What can you even do?" Kerl said arrogantly "I have this powe-"
He was immediately slammed into the wall by Adrien, before he could even finish talking. "What the- Owh..." Kerl said as he dusted off the dirt on him "And I thought i was special"
"The world is not normal anymore i guess" He murmured with a nervous smile.
Adrien and Kerl launched themselves forward at each other with immeasurable speed , moving across the room in just mere fraction of seconds.
As Adrien was searching for an opening to strike, he took a step back, letting Kerl move forward just a step more.
"!!! Tch—"
Kerl slightly lost the momentum of his body which led to Adrien taking advantage of it by landing a left hook on his face, but he immediately responded with a kick to the gut.
Adrien went for a kick, it was blocked by Kerl with immediate response as a punch to the chest. As they went blow for blow, punches for punches, kicks for kicks, they rushed out of the room and moved towards the dormant, quiet yet eerie street.
"How long will this go? At this rate…"
Adrien thought to himself going to and fro with Kerl. "Hmph... He won't budge as if..."
Kerl whispered in his mind, as he looked for that one tiniest opening to strike Adrien.
"WE ARE EVENLY MATCHED!"
Both of them thought of the exact thing in their mind, Adrien in shock and Kerl with a smile spreading across his face.
"Then just maybe if I…"
Adrien thought to himself, that if they are evenly matched against each other, he can outsmart Kerl in a battle of attrition.
"No good… I am falling behind..."
Adrien thought to himself as he missed a punch on Kerl.
"GOT YOU!"
Kerl shouted in utter joy as he landed a combo of hook, uppercut and knee to the chest, and then threw Adrien towards a wall with a kick.
Adrien's body got exhausted early, unable to master his newly unearthed strength and power right off the bat.
Huff... Hufff...
"I am overpowered now… Is this it..?"
Adrien's will was yielding to the temptation of giving up, nevertheless he suddenly recalled a short conversation with Noir when he was hospitalized.
Exactly Three days ago.
"So, what happened there?" Adrien asked curiously.
"I don't know..." Noir replied. "But my body had gained some supernatural power, on the verge of death… As if my desire to save that child was answered by something."
"Is that even possible...?"
Adrien asked, completely in shock.
"For a fact, I know now..." Noir said with a serious face. "The world is not normal anymore. Adrien, remember… If you are ever faced with such circumstances, trust your heart and you will prevail."
"..."
Adrien stayed silent as he heard Noir's statement, scared yet excited a little.
As the memory shattered and Adrien drifted back to the present, he stood up on his feet again.
"I understand you now, Noir."
Adrien said with a confident smile as he looked up at Kerl.
"I will finish yo-"
Kerl was startled by something abnormal.
"You missed, Kerl."
Kerl's punch didn't land on him, he was left shocked. Kerl went for many blows, but not a single one landed on Adrien. He didn't understand what was happening at all. He froze for a second and tried to back off. Nonetheless, Adrien moved first.
A sudden, destructive punch went through his chest, scarring even the air, leaving even the walls shaking by the sheer force of it.
"So this is the power Noir was talking about..."
Adrien whispered to himself, mesmerized. "I do understand it a little."
Adrien looked at his bloodied hand, lowering his gaze from Kerl, as he pushed him off his hand.
"As if..." Kerl thought to himself "He knew what i was going to do…" Kerl's life gave out just as he spat out his blood for the last time.
"I feel dizzy..." Adrien muttered to himself. "I guess it has its drawbacks… I need to go back... To... Clara..."
His voice faded mid sentence, falling onto his knees, ultimately almost hitting his face on the ground, but caught by a familiar face.
"I knew you would beat them..." Noir said with a hushed tone, holding him. "But look at yourself now..."
"Guess I will have to take you both home."
End of Chapter 10