75. Gotham: You City People

83.

Falling from a height was too much for these seldom-trained court members. Aria saw at least a few of them shaking on the ground in pain, no longer as arrogant as before.

Seeing this, the farmer smiled even more brightly. Although her smile looked more like a grin to these people, she did walk up to them with the joy of a good harvest, grabbed the man's collar with one hand, and lifted him up roughly.

The elegant suit was crumpled in her hands, and the pocket square fell to the ground, the deliberate refinement now shattered like a mirror. Aria lifted him up as easily as pulling a carrot.

"Are you satisfied with my performance, sir?" There was a bright light in her eyes, as if she was really looking forward to the other party's answer.

However, the man's legs were dangling helplessly in the air, and the tight fabric at his collar was the culprit that could very well strangle him. His face flushed crimson, sweat dripped down his face, and he could only utter a few syllables: "Uh - ho -"

His health bar shone brightly above his head, as if a gentle squeeze would shatter it. The dying man finally attracted the attention of the claws fighting Damian, and two of them turned their blades and slashed at her.

Cold weapons flashed in bursts of light under the incandescent light. Aria retreated to avoid their sword flashes. Occasionally, when she encountered one that she couldn't avoid, she would use the man she caught to block it.

If the original game had some weapons like shields, maybe she would have completed the achievement of going down the 100th floor of the mine without eating or drinking much earlier.

A walking human shield! Everyone who has used it says it's great!

By attracting firepower here, the pressure on Damian's side suddenly decreased. He leaned down and followed suit, randomly picking a lucky spectator - but compared to the farmer who didn't care about the identity and just grabbed and used him, he was much more direct.

Damian used his sword to pick off the lucky audience's owl mask, revealing his face.

This face has appeared in many places. In order to flatter Bruce Wayne, he even praised Damian Wayne, who always had a sour face, at a banquet - Robin was certainly impressed by this.

"Wow," Robin reverted to his devilish nature when he saw he was an acquaintance, mocking him mercilessly, "I thought I'd see you in the dock at Gotham Supreme Court first—but I didn't expect you to be so impatient as to attend the 'court' yourself before the truth was revealed."

The person whose mask was taken off quickly covered his face with his hands, but it was no use - with Robin's memory, he must have already matched this face with the information.

Robin knowing meant Batman was not far from knowing. Then, Batman would suddenly burst into someone's home in the middle of the night, drag that person out of their bed, and then beat out a few good teeth with his punching fists... The crowd trembled even more violently at the mere thought of this scene, as if they were about to faint at any moment.

Damian didn't care if they fainted or not. To him, fainting was better than being awake. If everyone screamed like the one in his hand, he would soon get a work-related injury with a perforated eardrum.

With hostages in hand, the Claw's attacks were much slower. After all, the first requirement for being a Claw was loyalty to the court, which of course included protecting their lives - this iron rule had become a mental imprint in their minds. Every time Robin dragged someone over to block the sword, his reaction time would be delayed by about four seconds.

When the claws faltered again, Damian seized the opportunity and, at the cost of exposing the vital parts of his body, swept across with his sword, splitting the claws in half.

A heavy object fell to the ground, and the group of people huddled on the ground screamed again!

"What are you yelling about?"

The crowd booed.

Now the roles are reversed, making them look like vicious criminals and the Court of Owls like innocent lambs.

Damian wanted to laugh when he thought of this metaphor. He wiped the blood that splashed on his face with his sleeve, and took off the masks of these people one by one. He glanced at the farmer out of the corner of his eye - she was still fighting with Claw and the other two, and the lucky spectators who acted as her shield seemed to be going to die before Claw.

I hadn't had time to study it carefully before, but now it seems that the farmer's fighting style is quite... unique. She doesn't aim for vital points, but instead leaves wounds on their bodies like she's playing with her prey. Some organizations call this method "bleeding", and the main purpose is to torture the enemy - but judging by the farmer's appearance, she doesn't seem like someone who enjoys this.

Damian felt that Aria was obviously more interested in "peaceful" activities such as fishing or brewing wine than fighting monsters and torturing enemies.

Ultimately, she has great physical skills, but isn't great at fighting - which inevitably makes people curious about what kind of environment could produce such a wonderful person.

After completing the last cut, the claw collapsed in front of her.

Aria dropped the hostage to the ground and turned to check Robin's progress, only to meet his strange gaze.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Damian turned his head. He was getting those who were still able to move to stand up and lead a way out.

"It's useless! It's useless! You can't get out! We can't get out either!" Perhaps due to excessive mental pressure, one of them suddenly burst into tears, as if talking to Robin, or as if talking to himself: "They have been watching us the whole time, and until now they haven't sent anyone to rescue us!"

"We must have been abandoned!"

"Shut up!" Her companions scolded her in a low voice, "Be careful, she'll give you something bad to worry about..."

"Who are you talking about?" This was clearly the key clue. Damian grabbed him and tried to ask more, but saw a blaze in his eyes: "I told you my lady wouldn't give up on us!"

His sixth sense allowed him to dodge instantly. An ancient dagger came from the position where he had just predicted the danger and pierced directly into the man's chest.

He breathed his last, but the battle didn't stop. The owl statues had unleashed their claws again, this time even more numerous than before, ready to devour them alive.

"Finally here." Robin gripped his weapon tightly, but the farmer got there first, jumping onto the sculpture with the lightweight steel sword in hand. He knocked the man who had just thrown the dagger down with one blow, and he fell into the fountain below.

Damian: “…”

The crowd's renewed hopes were dashed.

…

Fortunately, the leader, the Claw, immediately climbed out of the pool. He was soaked all over, but he forced a smile in the face of Aria's sword attack, as if it was not an attack but a hug.

"I still have the wounds you left on me before." When Aria raised her sword and hit him, the claws whispered in her ear, like the devil's call in the middle of the night: "You were too gentle, and those wounds almost healed overnight - I spent a lot of effort to keep them."

"At night, when they're almost healed, I'll cut them again." She used a long sword, and he used a long sword at the same angle - when it pierced the body, the skin would always feel the coolness of the metal first, followed by a euphoric shudder.

He would wonder what she was thinking at this step, why she chose this angle and this direction to attack, when there were obviously faster and quicker ways to defeat the enemy, such as chopping off his hands or feet...but Aria chose the most merciful one.

She only wanted his wounds, only wanted him to bleed, only wanted to stop this monster from attacking her, like an innocent child holding a sword. No one even taught her the correct way to kill, so she walked around Gotham with a sword like a joke, not even noticing that the reflection of the city was a huge abyss.

Why is it that someone who has never known death is able to receive death's care? Why can she always stay in the rare sunshine of Gotham, while I live in darkness forever?

Five minutes ago, the lady had just scolded him. He saw that a few strands of her unruly golden hair were trembling with extreme anger. The lipstick she had applied had become mottled due to repeated biting of her lower lip, and the tips of her teeth were stained red as if they had just sucked someone's blood.

The calm demeanor that always appeared calm and composed faded from the lady like a tide. She accidentally broke the teacup beside her. The shiny new porcelain plate was shattered into pieces, but it still reflected her distraught face.

"Little Thomas!" she screamed, hysterically, like the madman in the Willow Grove Orphanage. "You, you go kill them for me! I want you to put them on a platter and serve them to me!"

"But your plate is broken." He looked at her helplessly, as if she was the most unreasonable person in the room. "Ms. Pavos."

The answer, which was completely different from what she expected, made her panic. How many years had it been since she saw fear in the eyes of this lady of Pavos? He liked this look very much.

So he kept it, used that plate—even though it was broken now, it had been his lady's favorite.

…

Aria tilted her head and raised an eyebrow, "It's you."

She recognized the man who had first fought her and revealed the face of the Court of Owls to her.

To be honest, the Claws' equipment looked just like wholesale goods, and when Aria fought them, she often had the illusion that she was fighting clones.

So she was particularly ruthless in the fight later. These mass-replicated guys were like bats and slimes in the mines - would you name the slime you met today Riley or Daniel? In her eyes, they were just resources.

Because of this, she was a little confused by the other party's self-introduction. The farmer's steel sword brushed against his shoulder armor, but it only set off another burst of sparks - this man's equipment used to feel no different from those claws, and it was upgraded after just a few days. It was a bit annoying.

However, considering another situation, Aria lowered her voice and kept the conversation between the two of them. "If you're revealing your identity so I can show mercy, then let this fight end here."

He was one of the few Sharp Claws the farmer had observed who had a clear sense of autonomy and was willing to talk to others. If there was really some hidden secret of being coerced, Aria was willing to forgive him for hurting her.

"No..." Claw smiled. His gaze penetrated the mask, deep and dark, as if nailing her to the spot: "Do you know?"

"Every time I stab you, my soul trembles. Every time I see your blood, my heart beats faster..."

"I personally chose my lifelong enemy, and you must be the enemy that fate has given me."

No! I don't understand! Can you speak some human language?

The farmer was so eager to kill the pig that she quickly withdrew her light steel sword to block. However, the man still stared at her like a mad dog and fought her alone. If she had known this would happen, she would have knelt in front of the TV before going out today and begged the elves to show some mercy.

I don't expect to have an infinite blade right now, but I must have an obsidian blade. With a lightweight steel sword reducing its combat power by 8 each time, it will take a long time to reduce it.

"Don't lose focus!" Robin roared. Then, a long, heavy object flew over Claw's head and headed towards Aria with unerring precision.

"Try my weapon! Throw me your broken sword!"

If you can't kill someone after fighting for a long time, it must be the user's problem. There are only people in this world who don't know how to use a sword. How can there be a sword that can't kill the enemy?

Damian took the farmer's obviously lighter lightweight steel sword and immediately slashed it against the sharp claws that were wrapped around his neck!

It was precise and hit the vital point, with enough force to make the claw in front of it drop the head like the previous one.

The sword flashed, and a wound appeared on the neck where the sharp claws were forced to rise. After two seconds, a few traces of blood slowly flowed out of the wound.

"Keep going, Robin!" Aria kept cheering him on during the fight. "I saw you knocked off eight of his health points. Thirty-four more hits and it'll be over!"

Damian immediately followed up with a rear-naked choke, but he obviously couldn't hold back his swear words.

What a broken sword!

Damian: What a lousy sword! How did you fight before?

Aria: Only speed can break it? (The faster you swing the sword, the more you hit it.

Did you say that because you drank spiked fountain water or did you just speak your mind? Little angels, feel free to express your opinion x

*Mi was also quite "brutal" before. In the comics, he killed the claw and only his head was left stuck in the tree. He also scared a passerby bushi to death.