Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

Everyone's eyes were on me after Mr. Cuervo's declaration but I let out a smirk as I took my wakizashi from Kaley's belt. I fastened it right next to my katana before I spoke on my earpiece, my voice traveling through the speakers.

[I can stay alive.]

[Oh? What's that supposed to mean, Hermano?]

[Castro, if I don't kill Benjie… you're gonna owe me big time—]

I wasn't even finished with my sentence when Benjie cut me off.

[JUST GET DOWN HERE SO WE COULD SETTLE IT ONCE AND FOR ALL!]

The people from the viewing platforms were already getting hyped up but I still kept eye contact with the person I was speaking to earlier. All Benjie could do was spout insult after insult but Mr. Cuervo ordered Benjie's mic to be muted remotely.

At this point, Castro was looking straight at me with a solemn expression before he took a deep breath once again, speaking on the mic with a normal tone.

[I will owe you a favor, Annie too. I give you my word on that.]

[Then it's settled, the match will be decided when either person gives up or is unable to fight. He could try to kill me for all I care and I'll try to keep him… intact. Ready your medical team if possible—]

[STOP SPEWING BULLSHIT AND GET DOWN HERE! YOU—]

For some reason, Benjie managed to grab ahold of another earpiece though Mr. Cuervo's team was quick enough to mute it before everyone listening burst their eardrums.

It's just that Quinn and her group couldn't believe I agreed to such a deal because they incurred losses just trying to take him down. I even already mentioned that I was gonna take care of him but I just instantly took it back the minute I was offered a favor from a new head.

Quinn shook her head as I double-checked my gear, "Do you even know what you're doing?"

"I just had a feeling… I dunno."

"..."

Eventually, I made my way back to the play area and the atmosphere had never felt so heavy and dense.

I could feel the heat coming from the spotlights though the pressure coming from Benjie was much more apparent.

He was like a deranged mutt from his screaming earlier but he suddenly clammed up once I was only a few feet away from him. He even started to change his breathing pattern as he held his dagger but he never looked so infuriated when I didn't pull out either of my blades.

Instead, I pulled out an extra K-Bar knife I had on my belt and watched the edge gleam from the spotlight.

"What the fuck are you doing?"

"Offering a fair fight?"

"You're gonna regret that—"

"We'll see about that."

To everyone's surprise, Benjie tore the shirt he was wearing and exposed his skinny-muscular body that was filled with cuts, burns, scars, and bruises. Some of them were fairly new but the one that still stood out the most was his fucked up eye that I was the one responsible for.

In turn, I also took off my shirt and even gingerly folded and put it to the side to tick him off even more.

In all honesty, I thought he'd lunged at me the moment my eyes were obstructed by my shirt for an instant but it seemed like he knew cheap tricks wouldn't work on me.

With that said, the crowd just grew wild but everyone could see the difference between our physiques.

To keep it simple, Benjie looked like a car that just came from a Demolition Derby while I looked like a car that was newly refurbished. Granted I had old scars too but it was covered by my tattoo sleeve and the one in my eyebrow looked like I just shaved it for some street cred.

It only took a few seconds before everyone gave us the count down and I had lightly exhaled before Benjie almost disappeared from view.

Right from the fucking get-go, killing intent just filled the air before he launched himself forward and attempted to cut my carotid artery in one swipe. His eyes never looked so deranged once I caught a glimpse of them in close proximity, and I received his knife with my own.

Our blades just cried out once they made direct contact and I could feel the weight from his blow. He used his full body to launch himself instantaneously but it wasn't enough to end the match in one exchange. However, he never looked so surprised when he saw a small cut on his wrist and he immediately turned to face me.

I let out a smirk as I said, "That's twice you've done that…"

As soon as I said that, a large vein just appeared on his forehead—almost bursting from how red his face had gotten, but he held his dagger in the opposite way before sending it straight to my left shoulder. However, I also saw him planting his left foot deeply while his right leg was slowly curling up.

He was aiming to carve off my shoulder before sending in a knee to my solar plexus but all I did was to circle to his right to avoid those attacks completely. However, he quickly spun as he changed trajectory with his dagger but I hit the back of his knee with my left foot before I sent my right knee straight to his torso.

Benjie's form had already deviated from losing his balance but his body buckled when I probably cracked a rib or two of his.

There was only so much a dagger can go when swung to the back while your opponent was on your right side, more so if he was swinging with so much strength.

Despite that, it was like any other day for Benjie because he just gritted his teeth as he tried to send his left foot on my temple.

I tried to dodge by leaning backward but his fingers were already this close to poking my eye out.

All I could do was lean even more but I put power in my toes when I saw a smirk forming in his lips. Like clockwork, his dagger suddenly tore through the air as he tried to rip up my insides but I grabbed hold of his arm and jumped, performing a flying arm bar.

My whole weight was already bringing him down to his knees but when I noticed his wrist holding his dagger moving in to cut my face, I just dislocated it without thinking twice.

Benjie's face just contorted from pain as he let go of his dagger but he started to hammer my head with his other hand in which I quickly let go. He was this close to jabbing his fingers in my body but his immediate reaction was to send me punches.

His wrist was just twisted the opposite way—along with his elbow, and he just picked up his dagger with his other hand while he tried to catch his breath. To my surprise, he just punched hard in the air to set them back but I'm 100% sure his joints were burning from pain right now.

One sign of pain was that he didn't bring his dagger back to his dominant hand and the second sign was that he was actually keeping his distance.

From the start of our fight, he only managed to send me a few punches while I had already cut his wrist, cracked his rib, and dislocated his arm.

I said earlier that I could stay alive but if things continue as is, I might win without much effort.

To be fair, he already wasn't at his 100% but not everyone could have a fair fight all the time. He was already bruised and battered while I had already taken a long rest. I have fully recovered from the games I participated in while he just came from three fights aimed to take him down. Furthermore, discovering that his patriarch had just died and knowing that he was an actual scumbag was taxing on his psyche so he wasn't performing in his best.

I thought he'd fall down with one more push but I remembered Annie's words from earlier:

'He'd always gets up… He always comes back…'

I instinctively placed my hand on the handle of my katana when I saw Benjie wound himself.

Everyone was aghast when Benjie's dagger made a cut from his stomach diagonally going up to his chest, but he didn't stop there as he reached for his back and dug deep with his own nails.

Blood was just flowing out of his wounds and something told me that most of the wounds he sustained wasn't from fighting others but from his own doing. But to my surprise, Benjie looked like he was having a fucking orgasm as his eyes had already rolled over his head while he was wearing this euphoric smile.

Pain was something almost everyone tried to not experience but for someone that was bathed in it all his life, it could turn into something else.