Chapter 124: Martial Arts Tournament ⑥
“Final match! Otto versus Fog! Begin!”
Perhaps getting too excited, the referee started things off anticlimactically by letting his voice crack into a falsetto, but the final match had finally begun.
Even before the start, Ochcho-san maintained a half-stance, pointing the tip of his staff towards me, ready for combat at any moment.
Meanwhile, I faced him in my usual stance, arms hanging loosely, the tip of my Sword pointed behind me.
“Against you, I’ll have to go all out from the start, nada na~”
No sooner had he said that, Ochcho-san’s body seemed to blur, and a thrust from his staff came lunging from the left.
I easily dodged the considerably swift attack, taking the opportunity to get behind Ochcho-san and deliver a reverse diagonal slash with my Crystal Sword.
“Ngh!”
Perhaps sensing my faint killing intent, Ochcho-san dodged the danger by rolling forward. However, the relaxed expression he had before was already gone from his face as he turned back.
“I never thought there’d be a human who could move faster than me, nada na…”
Well, with stats like his, I can understand why he’d say that. Among those I’ve met, only Zmey or Jabberwock seem like they could possibly beat Ochcho-san.
But I’ve obtained stats that surpass even them. It took a long time, starting from being Moss, but the hardships yielded great rewards.
Whoops, this wasn’t the time to get sentimental. Since Ochcho-san had stopped moving, likely out of caution, I decided it was my turn to attack.
I deliberately attacked at a speed Ochcho-san could likely react to, swinging my Sword upwards towards his left flank. Ochcho-san saw through the sword’s path and moved to press down on it with his staff from above. But too bad. This is a feint.
Just before my Sword and Ochcho-san’s staff made contact, I stopped my Sword dead in its tracks, spun my body like a tornado in the opposite direction, and swung my Sword down, aiming for Ochcho-san’s off-balance right shoulder.
It was a sharp sword strike carrying centrifugal force, but Ochcho-san deliberately didn’t stop his staff’s movement; instead, he used the rebound from striking the ground to flick his staff up and barely managed to block my Sword as he turned.
(Not bad!)
But my attacks don’t end there. I deliberately lessened my grip to absorb the impact of my sword being blocked, then slid the blade forward as I advanced, this time going to slash Ochcho-san’s arm.
“Muo!? What the, nada na?”
Ochcho-san dodged my attack by letting go of his staff, and took advantage of the opening created as my sword went wide to catch his staff again in mid-air. Mm-hmm, even though I’m holding back, he won’t let me cut him easily, huh?
Realizing he was at a disadvantage, Ochcho-san backstepped to create distance, but I wasn’t about to let him escape so easily.
I closed the distance, matching Ochcho-san’s backstep.
A reverse diagonal slash into a horizontal slash, a diagonal slash followed by a thrust. Ochcho-san somehow managed to defend completely, sometimes dodging, and when he couldn’t dodge, blocking with his staff.
“S-Strong, nada na…”
I paused my attack for a moment, facing Ochcho-san once more.
I doubt the spectators could see much of our exchange just now, but they seemed quite worked up. Ah, I spotted Taiyo-san. She looks kind of pale, is she okay?
“Just who are you, nada na? To be able to fight evenly with me, that’s clearly strange, nada na.”
Hehehe, Ochcho-san is bewildered. Of course he is. Ochcho-san is the progenitor of the Beastmen, a Pure Beast. If someone could fight him evenly, it would have to be someone from the same ancient races, or perhaps the Gate Guardians like Zmey.
And both of those should be beings from over a thousand years ago. He probably wouldn’t even imagine that a newcomer like me is a Neo-Human.
“I’ll tell you if you can beat me.”
Perfect. I actually got to use a line ranking high on my list of things I’ve always wanted to say.
“Alright then, I’m getting a little serious, nada na!”
Ochcho-san’s aura changed. I feel an incredible killing intent. He must have judged that I wouldn’t die even if he got serious; he’s coming at me with the full intention to kill.
First, a seemingly ordinary thrust… or so I thought, but its trajectory suddenly changed!? Is he aiming for my leg!?
(I lifted my forward left leg to dodge the unnatural attack. That movement clearly ignored the laws of physics, which means it must be a Skill.)
The unnaturally moving staff accurately pierced the spot where my foot had been, and this time, the dirt sent flying by the impact came hurtling towards me. Apparently, this is also a Skill.
I dodged the shower of dirt by stepping back and looked at Ochcho-san again. He was poised with his staff pulled back. His right arm was clearly a size thicker, and I instantly understood he was about to activate some kind of Skill.
“Spiral Gale Staff! Nada na~”
The thrust Ochcho-san unleashed was clearly outside the staff’s normal reach, but a tornado, generated by the incredible speed and rotation of the thrust, rushed towards me.
(What a cool name!)
Pure Beasts cannot use magic. However, it seems they can perform elemental attacks using Skills. I assume this is a wind-element attack. That being said, unfortunately for him, I have the “Wind Nullification” Skill. It won’t affect me at all.
I deliberately charged into the oncoming horizontal tornado and thrust my Crystal Sword back at the tip of his staff right after his thrust ended.
BOGOH!
From the impact, the staff tore the skin from Ochcho-san’s hands as it stabbed into his chest. The area below his throat caved in, and Ochcho-san dropped to his knees. It was clear continuing the fight would be difficult.
Unable to speak, Ochcho-san tapped the ground to declare his surrender.
“Winner, Fog!”
Along with the referee’s excited declaration, loud cheers erupted from the spectators. I didn’t really like standing out much, but this isn’t so bad. The only regrettable thing is that I’m not wearing clothes… Huh!? What was I just thinking??
“A complete defeat, nada na.”
Ochcho-san, recovering from the blow to his chest, stood up and offered me a handshake. I firmly grasped his hand, and we praised each other’s fighting spirit.
Now then, after winning, I’m supposed to fight Taiyo-san, right? And what’s going to happen with that declaration from the Dragonoids? As I was pondering this, a tremendous magic power signature suddenly appeared on my detection. It appeared as if it had teleported via spatial transfer.
I looked up towards the source of the magic power signature, high above the center of the Arena. There, a majin wearing clothes like a clown’s was floating in the air.