Whoosh!
While Lucas dashed forward to where they were as his fists carried both a terrifying energy and terrifying momentum for both Valyr and Tryndall, the three at the center looked at each other for a bit, with Braum lightly nodding at the two of them before taking a few steps forward.
Taking in a deep breath, he bent his knees to get into a stable sentence before clenching both of his fists. Then, at great speeds, energy a similar color to the armor he wore started to manifest around his fists, gradually condensing before taking on the shapes of gloves that went over his fists.
"Hah!" Bellowing out his breath, Braum sent out one of his fists just as Lucas was in position to land an attack of his own. With all of his strength gathered into this single fist, as well as the insurmountable gap that existed between the two of them, it was no surprise that Braum's fist had landed on Lucas' body before the latter could even land his own.
Bang!
With Braum's fist coming in contact with his stomach, Lucas was sent flying back at great speeds, crashing through a few walls before eventually coming to a halt. As the dust settled down, the three noticed through the holes Lucas had made that a crater in the shape of his body had formed on the wall that finally stopped his momentum.
Unsurprisingly, with the strength Braum had put into his attack, Lucas' body was slightly embedded into the wall, which the latter found it somewhat difficult to get out of, especially after having the wind knocked out of him as he was also hit in the diaphragm, finding it somewhat difficult to catch his breath.
Nevertheless, once he did catch his breath, Lucas removed himself from the wall as he let out a groan in pain, the entirety of his back, as well as his stomach aching from the attack he had just received. Seeing that the three had appeared before him at the very moment he got himself out of the wall, he clenched his fists once more, hoping to land an attack on either Valyr or Tryndall to even out the playing field.
Though, this thought of his stopped for a brief moment as Valyr opened his mouth.
"Just tell us what we want to know and we'll stop." Valyr looked at Lucas, who seemed to have the urge to attack him at any moment. Though, once he noticed that the man hadn't made a move even after he was finished talking, he went ahead and asked the man a question. "Are you the one behind the Clossbay Killer incident?"
"Why the fuck should I tell people who decided to barge into my manor all of a sudden?" Of course, Lucas wasn't going to reveal the answer they wanted that easily, spitting in front of them. "And why the fuck should I tell someone who's hiding behind someone stronger?"
"Says the one who wanted me to die from my opponent in the life and death duel earlier," Valyr scoffed, which earned a brief expression of surprise to appear on Lucas' face. "It was a mistake for you to tell me your surname, Lucas."
As Lucas looked at the man that stood before him with an expression of rage, Valyr looked at Braum beside him and lightly nodded, prompting the latter to clench his fists as dull gray energy covered them once more.
"Since you don't want to tell us what we want to know, then we'll just find other ways to get it from you." While Valyr uttered out these words, Lucas finally took in the situation he was currently in and gritted his teeth, swearing to himself to not let the three before him find out what they wanted from him no matter what.
Once they did, it would all be over.
Bang!
Once more, Braum sent out one of his fists towards Lucas, this time hitting the middle of his chest instead of his stomach.
With how the force behind the attack was concentrated into that one fist, the bones in Lucas' chest cracked as he was sent flying once more, letting out a cry of pain as he formed holes through yet more walls, eventually ending up on the ground as he clutched his chest in pain.
Of course, Valyr asked Lucas the same question once more, telling the latter that everything would come to an end as long as he told them what they wanted to know. In response, Lucas told Valyr that he regretted not killing the latter. After that, Lucas told them that he wouldn't obtain the information they wanted from him even if he died.
And thus, they put that to the test.
Bang!
Yet again, Braum sent out an attack at Lucas, sending both fists towards his stomach and his chest at the same time, causing the latter to have the wind knocked out of him yet again as his chest slightly caved in now that the force from the attack had thoroughly broken his bones.
However, unlike before, Braum only put in enough strength into the attack that would allow him to inflict the greatest amount of pain to Lucas, who was slightly embedded into the wall after the man's third attack. Nevertheless, he still did not relent, cursing Valyr for making an enemy out of him and how he would regret it once Lucas found a way to escape from this ordeal.
With that, Braum attacked once more.
And surprisingly, this one was the last.
Seeing that the disparity in their strength wasn't enough for Lucas to start telling them answers they wanted to know, Braum tapped into the faint connection he had with the world, awakening his Intent as everyone in Braum's vicinity instantly felt like the world had come down to support Braum's move.
Clenching his fists yet again, dull gray gloves made out of energy appeared around Braum's hands as he was about to land another punch to Lucas' fist. Though, before this fist could even make contact with the man's body, it seemed as if a wall had finally been broken within Lucas' mind as he exclaimed, "Please have mercy! It wasn't me! I'm not the one behind the incident! It wasn't me, I swear!"
With Lucas starting to talk all of a sudden, Valyr, Tryndall, and Braum looked at each other for a bit before Braum decided to retract his fists. Nevertheless, the power of his Intent was still in full swing, applying pressure on Lucas as Valyr asked the man for clarification. "What do you mean?"
"I was just being ordered to do these things! If my clan wasn't under this man's control, I wouldn't even have accepted it!" Listening to Lucas' words, Valyr and Tryndall looked at each other before sending a few messages to one another that Lucas might be telling the truth. After all, the City Quest they received hadn't updated its progress yet.
"Someone else is behind this incident, I'm telling you! Believe me!" As these words came out of Lucas' mouth, Valyr looked back at the man before asking the question that would finally put this incident to a close.
"Who's behind all of it then?"
Hearing the question, Lucas went silent for a bit, hesitating whether or not to tell the three in front of him who that person was. Eventually, he came to a decision, deciding to break the promise he had made to himself earlier before being beaten up.
'Compared to that man… the man before me is a far scarier opponent.'
Taking in a deep breath, Lucas let out a low sigh before opening his mouth. "The person behind all of it…"
"The mayor."
"Merdus is the one behind all of it."
Ding!