In Gotham University's laboratory, the confrontation continued. Lex had gained the upper hand now; his advantage was simply too great.
Joker possessed a mental critical-hit attribute against Batman, while Mr. Freeze's technology handled the physical critical hits. Lex's intelligence coordinated the two, allowing them to achieve perfect tactical synergy. As a result, Batman was in a very sorry state.
With a wave of Lex's hand, the omnipresent freezing mist slowed Batman's movements. His evasive motion lagged for only an instant, but an ice spike shot past his waist, slicing open his bat armor and leaving a huge gash along his side.
That frenzied laughter made Batman dizzy. Combined with the extremely low temperature, it even made his thoughts sluggish.
To evade the ice spike, Batman shifted sideways, but he lost his balance somewhat. The floor was too slippery. He staggered, his shoulder slamming into a desk, and let out a muffled groan.
"Batman! Hahahahaha! Batman! Is this all you are?? Who's unarmed now? Who's losing again and again? You think you can save Gotham like this? What an absolute joke, hahahahahaha!!!"
Lex launched verbal attacks while coordinating them with physical ones. He was not as insane as Jack, but his physical attacks were much stronger than Jack's, leaving Batman even more bedraggled.
Batman's tactics against Joker had primarily been designed for Jokers like Jack—opponents with high mental attack and low physical attack. Focusing solely on magical defense and neglecting physical defense meant that when he encountered an enemy with armor-piercing physical attacks, he had no particularly effective defensive measures and could only dodge.
Yet no one noticed that the small figure who had previously been in the laboratory had vanished. Cobblepot had slipped away long ago, but he had not fled to save his own life.
Batman's stamina steadily drained