Chapter 243: We can’t lose our leverage!

Kevin was the first to lunge, charging like a bull straight at Lily. He expected her to flinch, but Lily stood her ground, swinging the heavy wooden bench leg with all her strength. The crude weapon connected with a sickening crack against Kevin’s forearm as he raised it to block, eliciting a sharp howl of pain.

Simultaneously, Ronny rushed to Cixi. She didn’t hesitate to strike him. Gripping the metal shaft of the rainbow umbrella, she thrust it forward like a spear. The hard, pointed tip caught Ronny squarely in the ribs. He grunted, stumbling back a step, but the impact only seemed to enrage him further.

For a frantic few minutes, the girls actually held their own. It was a chaotic, desperate flurry of swinging wood and jabbing metal. Lily managed to catch Kevin across the brow, splitting the skin so bright red blood poured down into his eyes, temporarily blinding him.

Cixi swept the heavy umbrella handle across Ronny’s jaw, busting his lip and sending a spray of blood onto the concrete.

But brute strength and actual combat training eventually tipped the scales.

Kevin, wiping blood from his eyes with a furious roar, stepped inside Lily’s guard. He absorbed a brutal hit to the shoulder just so he could grab the wooden stick. With a twisting yank, he ripped it from Lily’s hands and tossed it aside, and the friction cut Lily’s palms. Soon the blood started falling on the ground from Lily’s palms.

A second later, Ronny closed the distance on Cixi, dodging a wild thrust of the umbrella before grabbing the metal shaft and wrenching it out of her grip with ease. He drove the tip of the umbrella with great force into Cixi’s abdomen, knocking the breath from her. She doubled over, clutching her stomach, and collapsed to her knees on the ground.

"Cixi!" Lily took a step towards Cixi. But she failed to take another step.

Both girls shrieked as Ronny and Kevin lunged at them. Their enormous fists ruthlessly grabbed into the girls’ hair. The sudden, forceful pull yanked their heads back sharply, stopping Lily dead in her tracks. And Cixi was pulled up to stand.

"You stupid, pathetic Bitches," Ronny spat, yanking Cixi’s hair so hard tears sprang to her eyes. Her already bruised scalp burned even more. "Did you really think you could take us down?"

Kevin laughed darkly while his bloody face twisted in a cruel sneer as he tightened his brutal grip on Lily.

They coiled their fists tightly and drove their hands back to strike Lily’s and Cixi’s stomachs with brutal force.

Lily and Cixi’s eyes widened in terror as they braced themselves for the impending impact. In a moment of sheer instinct, they closed their eyes, prepared to endure the blow that was about to come crashing down on them.

Suddenly, the deafening CRACK of a gunshot tore through the stadium air, followed instantly by a second shot fired straight up into the sky.

The explosive sound jolted everyone. Ronny and Kevin flinched visibly, their heads snapping toward the noise, though they refused to release their ironclad grip on the girls. As the men turned, Cixi and Lily were dragged painfully along with them. Both girls had their hands raised, desperately clawing at the thick fingers digging into their scalps, trying in vain to pry themselves free.

But the struggle died instantly as they saw who had fired the shots.

Standing not far away was Zoyar.

The temperature in the air seemed to plummet. Zoyar’s dark, cold eyes swept over the scene. They landed first on Lily. He took in her soiled clothes; the dirt smudged across her skin, and the nasty, swelling bruise blooming across her cheekbone. Her hands were painted red. A muscle ticked in his sharp jaw.

His chilling gaze then shifted to Cixi. Taking in her trapped, battered state, he muttered a dark, frustrated curse under his breath.

Finally, his dead eyes locked onto Ronny. The look on Zoyar’s face was nothing short of murderous. He had explicitly warned Ronny never to come around the cafe or Cixi again, and here he was pleasuring himself while assaulting not only Cixi but also Lily.

Just then, Silviya came sprinting around the corner, completely out of breath. "Don’t leave those Bitches alive!" she shrieked hysterically. But the words died in her throat as she slid to a halt. She realised that Ronny and Kevin had gone completely rigid. Cixi and Lily had stopped struggling. Everyone was frozen in dead silence with their eyes locked in one direction.

Silviya followed their gaze, and all the colour drained from her bleeding face as she saw Zoyar standing there, looking like the Reaper himself who had come to collect souls.

"Zoyar!" Lily exclaimed, a sudden surge of excited relief washing over her. Forgetting her predicament for a split second, she tried to sprint towards him, but immediately winced in agony. A sharp hiss escaped her lips as the tug on her scalp reminded her that Kevin still had his fist tangled tight in her hair. Even the small, relieved smile forming on her lips sent a spike of sharp pain radiating through her bruised cheek.

Zoyar’s eyes tracked her movement. He stared coldly at the purple swelling on Lily’s face, and then his dark gaze shifted slowly to the thick hand still gripping her hair. Reaching behind his back, slipping his hand beneath his jacket, he smoothly drew his firearm. He raised it with casualness, aiming it directly at the man daring to hurt Lily.

"Where exactly would you like to be shot?" Zoyar asked, his voice deadpan and utterly devoid of emotion. "Point-blank? Or should we start with the knees first? Maybe your groin, then work our way up to the stomach, shoulders, and neck. What is your preference?"

Ronny, who had already witnessed one-on-one with Zoyar at the cafe, stiffened. He swallowed hard. The colour completely drained from his face as he hastily loosened his grip on Cixi’s scalp, stepping back with his hands raised. He frantically gestured for Kevin to let go of Lily.

But Kevin shook his head, his bloody face twisted in panic and defiance. "If we let them go, he will just shoot us!" he whisper-screamed at Ronny. "We can’t lose our leverage!"