Chapter 262 - Returning The Favor ’This must be his alter ego that I knocked out the other time. I don’t remember him being this powerful... Is he also being controlled by the rock?’ Gustav prepared for a difficult fight as he stared at Falco, who was slowly walking towards him. Gustav could remember knocking Falco out twice when he met him in the bathroom. At that time, Gustav wasn’t even aware of Falco’s alter ego. So, it took him by surprise when he knocked Falco out repeatedly before he could attack. In that brief time, Gustav had noticed the difference between the two. Now Gustav felt he might have just gotten lucky at that time because the alter ego hadn’t stabilized himself before Gustav struck again. Falco approached Gustav with a frown on his face. ’I could hardly see his movements earlier. His speed is almost comparable to my original,’ Gustav said internally as he pushed his perception to the limit trying to capture every single movement around him. His plan was to read the moves of Falco as they battled so he would be able to dodge them in a timely manner, even though Falco was currently faster than he was. Falco paused his footsteps after arriving fifteen feet in front of Gustav. He stared at Gustav angrily, like he had a personal vendetta against him. "You... I will return the favor!" Falco voiced out before dashing forward. Swooooshhh! ’Return the favor?’ Gustav didn’t get the chance to unravel the meaning of that statement before Falco arrived in front of him with an outstretched hand. Gustav spreading his perception to the max, already used Falco muscle movement to predict where the attack was headed and swerved to the right. He was able to dodge Falco’s thrust by only half a centimeter. Sccrrhhh! A small cut appeared on his right cheek due to the shockwaves from the palm. Falco didn’t waste time before thrusting out his left palm also. Swerve! Gustav swerved again, dodging that, and it became a game of thrust and dodge between them. Gustav was always moving out of the way before Falco thrust his arms out. If not for that, he would have been pierced through by now. Falco’s fingers were black and two inches long, and he wasn’t just thrusting out his palms. He was actually thrusting out his fingers in a piercing format. Gustav could tell that if those fingers made contact with his body, it would pierce through his skin. Gustav’s mind was constantly thinking of ways to deal with Falco without having to use too much energy or reveal more of his abilities. They were currently engaging each other in a passageway, so the harmful energy from the mining crystal was not too dense. Gustav could tell that the MBO would be able to see this particular location with hidden cameras since there won’t be transmission interference. ’Why did he say that, though? it doesn’t look like he’s being controlled by the rock,’ Gustav wondered internally as he kept dodging the thrusts. Every thrust from Falco was done with the intent to inflict severe injuries. A weaker mixedblood would find themselves at death’s door if they were pierced once. It wasn’t the same as the participants that were attacking him earlier due to mind control. They weren’t attacking with the intention to kill Gustav or seriously injure him, unlike Falco here. Swooooshhh! Falco dashed towards the left and sent out a kick towards Gustav’s neck. Gustav bent backwards causing, Falco’s leg to sweep over his body. He placed his hands on the ground and used them to push himself backwards. Thooom! Thooom! Gustav jumped backwards twice to distance himself from Falco. ’I don’t have time for this,’ Gustav was trying to get as far away from this place as possible, but due to this, he was being delayed. Now that he knew Falco’s alter ego wasn’t being controlled, he decided to try and reason with him. "Why are you doing this?" Gustav asked just as Falco was about to dash out again. "Are you trying to play dumb right now? Did you think I wouldn’t be able to recognize you again because you’ve changed a little?" Falco said with a tone of annoyance. "Hmm?" Gustav exclaimed. "This is payback! I will not accept being knocked out by a lesser being!" Falco voiced out before dashing out once again. This time he moved faster than before. He arrived in front of Gustav again and swung out his fingers. Gustav swerved to the side, but suddenly dark energy resembling a scythe’s blade was created from the swing. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂 Thrrhhii! Gustav wasn’t able to escape the full range of the dark scythe blade and his left arm was slashed by the edge of the blade. Bang! The dark energy blade slammed into the ground behind Gustav and a three meters wide crevice was created with cracks surrounding it. A three inches gash appeared on Gustav’s left arm with blood dripping out. "Ugh!" Gustav growled with a look of pain as he spun and swung out his feet in response. However, Falco was quick to dodge and swerved towards Gustav back to send out another attack. Krrhhkkkk! Icicle-like covering appeared on Gustav’s back as the attack connected, slamming into his back. Gustav was sent flying due to the force. However, he wasn’t injured. Falco dashed forward and appeared in front of him again. Swing! Falco swung his foot towards Gustav’s face. Grab! Gustav grabbed onto Falco’s feet tightly but was still thrown to the side by the force of Falco’s kick. He lost his balance and was falling towards the ground, but it would seem that Falco still wasn’t done with him. Sweeiii! Two fingers were headed for his eyes. "You will lose your eyes for making a fool out of me!" Falco voiced. Gustav gritted his teeth as he noticed the fingers two centimeters away from his eyes. [Gravitational displacement has been activated] [100 EP] ’Damn it, I had to result to this,’ Gustav said as he activated gravitational displacement. The force of gravity around Gustav suddenly changed, and his body descended faster, causing Falco’s fingers to pierce into his hair. Scruffles of Gustav’s hair were sliced off due to that