Sign-In Successful! Gotham Knight Fighting Style!

The abandoned station had become an arena for two apex predators.

Every attack Batman made was textbook precise.

No wasted movement. No hesitation.

Straight punches, leg sweeps, elbow strikes—each move was simple, yet carried the power and skill of countless hours of training.

He was like a precision killing machine, steadily shrinking Link's room to maneuver in the most efficient way possible.

Link was starting to struggle.

[Chaos Force] could disrupt an opponent's judgment and distort his senses, but it couldn't conjure strength or skill from thin air.

Against superior fighting technique, his little tricks were being seen through and dismantled, one by one.

Batman was adapting to his rhythm.

The Dark Knight's ability to learn and adapt was monstrous!

Bang!

Link blocked another of Batman's roundhouse kicks with his arm. The impact instantly numbed it from shoulder to fingertips.

He could tell Batman wasn't even using his full strength.

It felt more like a cat playing with a mouse. Batman was enjoying the process of picking apart every way Link knew how to fight.

This couldn't go on.

In five minutes—no, maybe three—Batman would have him completely figured out. Then he would break Link's limbs and toss him back into Arkham.

Link's mind raced.

He glanced through the station's shattered window.

The Batmobile sat motionless in the rainy night, like a hulking steel beast.

That was his target!

A wild idea took shape in his mind.

No risk, no reward!

When Batman threw another swift straight punch, Link did something even his opponent hadn't expected.

He didn't dodge. He dropped his guard altogether.

He deliberately left himself wide open.

Confusion flickered in Batman's eyes, but he wasn't about to pass up the opening.

His fist slammed squarely into Link's chest.

Crack—

Link heard his ribs break.

Agonizing pain tore through him. Blood rose in his throat, and he spat out a mouthful.

But he smiled.

Riding the force of the blow, he flew backward like a cannonball.

Crash—

He smashed through the waiting room's huge floor-to-ceiling window, tracing a ragged arc through a storm of flying glass.

Then he slammed onto the concrete outside.

The pain nearly knocked him unconscious.

But he had no time for it. Fighting through the agony, he struggled to lift his head.

The futuristic Batmobile was parked right beside him.

Within reach!

[Host has entered sign-in range!]

[Target: Batmobile! Sign-in task initiated. Countdown: five seconds!]

The system prompt in his head sounded like music to his ears.

But the tall figure in black had already stepped out of the station's shadows.

Rain washed Link's blood from Batman's armor.

Batman wasn't moving fast, but every step seemed to land on Link's heart.

Five seconds!

In his condition, lasting five seconds against Batman was next to impossible.

"The game is over." Batman's voice held no emotion.

"No." Link coughed up bloody froth, an eerie smile spreading across his face. "The party's just getting started."

He pulled an unremarkable little metal ball from his coat, pressed its button hard, and threw it onto the ground between them.

It was a gadget he had made after drawing inspiration from Scarecrow.

Batman's pupils contracted. He instinctively stepped back and raised an arm to shield his eyes.

But it was too late.

The ball didn't explode. It burst into blinding light!

Ten thousand times brighter than a camera flash!

At the same time, a harmless gas containing several hallucinogens spread through the air.

Even with Batman's willpower, his vision went white for an instant.

Twisted, grotesque visions flooded his mind.

Joker's manic laughter. His parents lying in pools of blood. Wayne Manor burning...

He forced the visions away in less than three seconds, but that brief lapse was enough.

System, sign in!

Link roared the command in his mind.

[Sign-in successful!]

[Congratulations, Host! You have received an A-rank reward: vehicle operation and modification mastery!]

[Congratulations, Host! You have received an S-rank reward: Gotham Knight Fighting Style (incomplete)!]

Two unimaginably vast streams of information surged into his mind like floodwaters bursting through a dam!

Endless mechanical knowledge, countless fighting techniques, a torrent of muscle memories...

His brain buzzed painfully, like an overloaded computer.

His body twitched beyond his control.

Batman, meanwhile, had recovered.

Anger burned in his eyes as he charged Link again.

But this time, watching Batman close in felt completely different.

Link could see it.

He could see where Batman drew the power for each movement and predict every possible line of attack that might follow.

It was as if the fighting style had always been his own!

He didn't keep fighting.

The task was complete.

Just before Batman's fist could hit him again, Link rolled in an uncanny motion and slipped into the shadows of a nearby alley using a stealth maneuver Batman knew all too well.

A few quick movements later, he was gone.

Fast as a phantom.

Batman stopped.

He stood there, scanning the empty street with a deep frown.

He checked himself. He hadn't been poisoned or injured.

The hallucinations had been little more than a crude prank.

Yet Link had escaped right under his nose.

And he had done it in a way Batman knew... intimately.

Batman walked to where Link had fallen, crouched, and touched a tactical-gloved finger to the blood on the ground.

It wasn't a trick.

Link really had been badly hurt.

A badly injured man had planned all this just to... get close to his car?

Batman stood and stared at his undamaged Batmobile, profoundly puzzled.

He couldn't understand the man named Link at all.

His motives, his goal, his seemingly endless array of strange abilities.

Everything about him was a mystery.

Batman knew only one thing: Gotham City had gained an enemy unlike any it had seen before—and its most dangerous yet.