Episode 11: Rider Kick!!!
“Well then, let’s resume.”
The Overlord, who had been bowing his head, raised it and once again entered a combat stance.
Kazuma similarly took a combat stance, watching for the Overlord’s move.
The two glared at each other for several seconds, but the Overlord moved first, and the battle began.
“Haaah!!!”
“Hmph!”
Kazuma deftly parried the continuous fists unleashed at high speed by the Overlord.
Without pause, Kazuma landed several blows to the Overlord’s abdomen.
The armor the Overlord wore dented, and he exhaled sharply, losing his balance.
“Guhh!”
“Not bad moves. But at that level, you won’t reach me!”
“Not yet!”
Immediately, the Overlord regained his posture and, turning his body towards Kazuma, unleashed a kick.
The kick, delivered with a spin like a top, assailed Kazuma with enough force to shatter even rock.
Normally, one would have to dodge it, but it had no effect on Kazuma.
Without showing any sign of dodging, Kazuma raised one hand and blocked the Overlord’s kick.
Seeing Kazuma not even budge, the Overlord gasped, his eyes widening.
“Chieaaah!!!”
In that case, this time the Overlord unleashed a kick with a reverse spin.
However, since it hadn’t worked before, there was no way it would work now.
The Overlord’s roundhouse kick was easily caught.
“Ngh!”
“I told you! I’ve seen this level before!”
As Kazuma shouted, he grabbed the Overlord’s leg and lifted him up.
The Overlord was a heavyweight, larger and more muscular than Kazuma.
Kazuma, who had lifted him with such ease, swung the Overlord around like a towel and threw him.
“Nghuoooooooohh!?”
Letting out a cry of astonishment, the Overlord was sent flying.
The Overlord crashed into the nearest rocky mountain, creating a thunderous roar.
Dust clouds billowed, obscuring the Overlord’s figure, making it unclear if he was unharmed.
One might have thought he was dead, but Kazuma was certain the Overlord was still alive.
In the first place, if he had intended to kill, he would have followed up the instant the Overlord hit the mountain.
Not doing so was proof he was holding back.
“My armor is ruined…”
A part of the rocky mountain had been blown away, and emerging from the dust was the Overlord, who had removed his armor.
It seemed the previous blow had completely destroyed his armor.
His defensive power had dropped sharply, but such a thing was trivial.
After all, his opponent was the Crimson Knight.
He wasn’t an opponent to whom common sense applied.
In that case, he probably hadn’t needed armor from the start.
“Fuffuffu… I suppose I can just think of it as becoming lighter.”
The inner wear he had on underneath was also torn in places, so the Overlord forcefully ripped it off, unreservedly exposing his well-trained physique.
Kazuma looked at the Overlord’s honed body and understood just how much he had devoted himself to training.
He had likely spent most of his life immersed in training and battle.
It spoke of his accumulated experience and history as a veteran warrior.
“Against him, I can go all out. No, my true, full power. That’s right! I’ll surpass my limits and reveal everything I am!”
The Overlord, who had been slowly walking towards Kazuma, let his fighting spirit surge, a fire lighting up in his eyes.
Worthy rivals like the King and the Sun King existed, but both were opponents he couldn’t easily fight.
However, the Crimson Knight alone had responded to his desire.
If that was the case, he had to repay that favor.
A boring fight was out of the question.
He must not disappoint him, of all people. The Overlord took a powerful step forward, his fighting spirit shimmering like heat haze from his entire body.
“Hoh…”
Realizing that the Overlord had broken out of his shell with just a little prodding, Kazuma gave a faint smile.
Thinking he might enjoy this more than before, Kazuma clenched his fists and prepared to meet the Overlord.
“Here I come…!!!”
The Overlord felt his Gift grow dramatically, unleashed his maximum power, and with Multiplication, boosted his Body Enhancement by several hundred times.
The Overlord, shattering the ground and kicking up dust as he raced across the wasteland, displayed even more intensity than before, and the intimidating aura he emitted had risen to a different league.
Kazuma, fearing that his new model Powered Suit might be destroyed if he took a direct hit, deactivated the Powered Suit and met the attack.
“Nngh!!!”
“Ngh!”
Kazuma caught the Overlord’s approaching fist.
The shockwave sent the ground behind Kazuma flying, demonstrating just how much power the Overlord’s punch possessed.
“Fuhah! You’ve gotten stronger than before! But even so! That’s not enough to defeat me!”
“I know that!”
What began from there was a storm of Rush attacks.
The Overlord, after pulling back his fist, unleashed a series of punches towards Kazuma, attacking with a strategy that mixed in kicks.
Kazuma, without struggling against the fierce assault, lightly parried, counterattacked, and kept the Overlord in check.
With Kazuma’s mercilessly precise blows, the Overlord flinched many times but continued to attack boldly without hesitation.
“Nuoryaaaaaaah!”
“Impressive! But you still can’t reach me!”
The Rush attacks, like a Gatling gun, Kazuma elegantly handled, then punched the Overlord away.
The Overlord flipped in mid-air to stop himself, but when he looked up, Kazuma was there, launching a follow-up attack.
“Hmph!”
“Guh!”
Punched in the face, the Overlord fell to the ground.
There, Kazuma mercilessly rained down follow-up attacks, pulverizing the ground along with the Overlord.
The ground cracked like a spider’s web, and the Overlord gasped for breath with his mouth wide open, but he didn’t lose consciousness.
“Hoh! You didn’t lose consciousness from that!”
Intending to launch another follow-up, Kazuma leaped above the Overlord’s head and unleashed an axe kick.
Not wanting to take Kazuma’s attack a second time, the Overlord rolled his body sideways to dodge and simultaneously jumped back to his feet.
Then, immediately kicking off the ground, the Overlord attempted to close in on Kazuma with a leap.
“Cheryaaaaaaaah!!!”
“Useless! I’ve already seen through your movements!”
“In that case, I’ll just accelerate further!”
“What did you say!?”
True to his words, the Overlord’s movements accelerated.
The sharpness of his techniques and his attack speed rose a level, and Kazuma ended up taking a slight hit.
It only grazed his cheek, but the Overlord, feeling a definite response, was enveloped in euphoria.
However, there was no point in being satisfied with this.
As long as he didn’t stop moving forward, he would grow, so the Overlord allowed no compromise.
Believing that he would grow only by landing not just one, but two or three hits on Kazuma, the Overlord continued to attack, even forgetting to breathe.
“Fuhahahahaha! This is getting a little fun! I’m shifting up a gear!”
“!!!”
The Overlord, feeling the increase in Kazuma’s intimidating aura on his skin, flinched for just a moment.
However, telling himself he mustn’t falter, he stepped towards Kazuma.
As if in response, Kazuma also stepped towards the Overlord, dodged and parried the incoming fist, and slipped into his guard.
“!”
The Overlord, having allowed Kazuma into his guard, showed a look of alarm.
Before the Overlord could escape, Kazuma powerfully kicked off the ground and launched an uppercut to his abdomen.
“Buh…!”
The Overlord’s body floated lightly into the air.
Towards the now defenseless Overlord, Kazuma spun his body and unleashed a roundhouse kick, sending him flying with great force.
Bouncing repeatedly off the ground like a rubber ball, the Overlord was sent flying, rolled over and over, and then got to his feet.
He immediately looked for Kazuma, but he was nowhere to be seen. He moved his head, looking around.
However, he couldn’t find him anywhere.
As he was warily wondering where on earth he had disappeared, a shadow fell over him. The Overlord looked up, and there was Kazuma, with the sun at his back, delivering a flying kick.
“Dam—”
“Too late!”
With no time to defend, the Overlord took Kazuma’s flying kick to his chest and crashed onto the ground on his back.
The sheer destructive force shattered the ground, and the Overlord coughed up a large amount of blood.
The Chinese Gifted who were watching their fight gasped at this, but thanks to Kazuma, the Overlord was able to catch his breath.
“Hmm… How was it?”
“A complete defeat… I thought I could fight a little longer, but it seems I was conceited.”
“Not really. At least, you were strong. That much is certain.”
“Is that so. I’m very happy to hear you say that.”
“As for advice, it would be better to develop your Gift more. You’re probably raising your Body Enhancement to its limit with your Multiplication Gift, but that alone is insufficient.”
“Is it alright to give advice to someone who might become your enemy in the future?”
“…When that time comes, it comes. But for now, we’re like friends, aren’t we?”
Saying that, Kazuma smiled and extended his hand to the Overlord.
The fallen Overlord was taken aback, but he soon smiled faintly as if accepting defeat, took Kazuma’s hand, and stood up.
“Thank you for today. If you have time again, I’d like to ask you.”
“I have my own schedule too, but if our times align, then it’s totally fine.”
And so, the mock battle with the Overlord came to an end, and Kazuma returned to Japan.