CHAPTER 326: DOUMEKI AUN VS. ONIGAWARA GANTETSU①

 

The first day of the main tournament—Tenka Touden.

The enormous circular arena was packed with nearly thirty thousand spectators, and countless more had gathered outside in front of several enormous magical image projectors.

At the center of the arena stood a massive fighting stage built from white stone.

A barrier of mana surrounded it to protect the spectators.

And now.

In the middle of that stage, I stood facing a giant of a man.

‘Onigawara Gantetsu’.

Standing well over two meters tall, with broad, thick shoulders and arms like logs, he had such a weighty presence that the ground seemed liable to sink beneath him just from standing there.

But—

What I found truly threatening wasn’t his body. It was his stance.

His center of gravity was slightly lowered, both feet firmly planted on the ground. Yet his body swayed ever so slightly, relaxed just enough to move at any moment.

Can’t find a single opening…

I’d thought the same thing during the preliminary round, but this guy was one hell of a seasoned fighter.

Deep, booming cheers, almost like angry bellows, rang out from the stands. Gantetsu’s fans were overwhelmingly male, probably because he was the sort of man they aspired to be.

In combat, he didn’t just crush everything with overwhelming power. He had technique to back it up. And while he seemed boisterous and carefree, he had a solid set of principles, which made him pretty likable.

On a simpler level, there was that perfectly developed physique. His bulging muscles were like an ocean that could swallow everything, or a mountain that could embrace it all.

If Drake were here, he’d probably be singing that body’s praises…

I glanced down at my waist for a moment, reining in my wandering thoughts.

There was my beloved blade, 【Shiranuemaru Hoshimeguri】. The sword Kunimitsu had forged just for me.

Drawing it would change the battle completely.

But this time, I had no intention of reaching for its hilt.

Nor would I use long-range magic to wear Gantetsu down without giving him a chance to hit back. The only magic I’d use would be for support and physical enhancement.

In other words, I’d decided to ‘beat him at his own game’.

But that certainly didn’t mean I was underestimating Gantetsu.

After all, I’d come to the Bukyo Kingdom for two reasons.

One was to meet Grandpa, the man known as the 【War God】.

To earn the right to challenge the Naraka Dungeon, I had to win this martial arts tournament.

And then there was the other reason.

To understand the power dwelling within me.

I still couldn’t fully control the power of the 【Enma Ruler】 race.

Even the amount I could currently draw out was absurd. I couldn’t begin to imagine what would happen if I unleashed its full power.

But simply possessing great power wasn’t enough.

What mattered was—mastering it.

How much power to release.

When to release it.

And where to stop.

Unless I could learn to decide those things for myself and control that power freely, I’d probably never manage to punch Zoa or my parents in the face…

That was precisely why—

I would fight this match with my own body as much as possible.

Not to brag, but in terms of raw stats, I should have been well ahead of every other contestant. But ‘strength’ was a different story. This tournament was crawling with people who could consistently bring every last bit of their power to bear. It was precisely because my opponent was Gantetsu, a man who fought with nothing but his body, that going without a weapon was an option.

When I looked back at Gantetsu, his eyes gleamed fiercely, and a faint smile played on his lips.

Well, no point overthinking it. It’d be a waste not to enjoy this fight.

Just as I reached that conclusion, the announcer’s voice rang throughout Tenka Touden.

「All right, all right, all RIIIIIIIGHT!! It’s finally time!! The Shurasaki Festival main tournament is about to begin!!」

Those words alone sent the crowd’s excitement surging, and a tremendous cheer erupted.

「The two fighters kicking things off have taken to the ring!!」

Magical cameras flew about to capture alternating shots of me and Gantetsu as the announcer shouted.

The crowd roared in response, a sound like the rumbling of the earth.

「We’ve got an unbelievable matchup for our very first bout—Doumeki Aun versus Onigawara Gantetsu, right from the opening round!! And the crowd knows it!! This arena is already so fired up, it feels ready to BUUUURST!!」

I tightened my fists again, trying to calm my pounding heart.

—This is fun.

Yeah. This is what it’s all about.

Trading blows head-on with someone strong, with nobody getting in the way.

Doesn’t get any better than this.

「Now then—」

The announcer took a long pause to draw in a deep breath.

And then—

「LET’S GET THIS STARTED, YOU BASTAAAARDS!!」

「「「「WOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!」」」」

—Goooooong!!

The gong rang out amid the roars from the stands.

「All right! Here I come, Gantetsu!!」

「Come on, Aun!!」

We kicked off the ground almost simultaneously.

Gantetsu charged with speed that seemed impossible for his size, and his fist came flying at me in the blink of an eye.

「【Thunderclap】.」

—Crack!!

I activated Thunderclap at around forty percent power in response, accelerating in an instant.

I slipped past his fist by a hair and moved to his side.

「Hraaah!」

I drove a fist at him, but Gantetsu easily blocked it with one arm, then grabbed mine with his other hand.

He can read me at this speed right from the first attack…?

Wait, this is bad!!

「Hrrrgh!!」

「—!?」

Gantetsu shifted straight into a throw.

As he swung me around, I somehow twisted my body and kicked toward his back.

「Gwoh!?」

The kick threw us both off balance, and I went flying into the air.

Still, that was far better than being slammed into the ground. I twisted in midair, landed, and readied myself again.

By then, Gantetsu was already right in front of me.

「You’re fast!!」

「So are you!」

Our fists collided head-on, and the impact shook the stage.

Then, almost as one, we drew apart and returned to our starting positions.

「W-What an unbelievable exchange of martial arts!! These two are really going at it!! This is Bukyo!! THIS IS THE SHURASAKI FESTIVAL!!!」

With the announcer’s shouts still echoing around us, I activated Thunderclap again and kicked off the ground.

My body wreathed in lightning, I closed in on Gantetsu in an instant and clenched my right fist.

He immediately raised his left arm to guard.

Your stomach’s wide open!

In an instant, I turned the motion into a feint and switched to a knee strike.

「Hraaah!!」

「—!」

The blow landed squarely. At the same instant, though, Gantetsu’s fist struck my left cheek.

He can hit back from that position? Seriously…?

Even thrown from an unbalanced stance, Gantetsu’s punch was heavy.

I’d been caught off guard. He’d knowingly taken my attack to land a counter.

The next exchange would drive that difference home all too painfully.

I snapped my eyes back to Gantetsu, only to see a massive fist already bearing down on me.

I managed to twist my head out of its path by the narrowest margin, but felt the wind pressure slice my cheek.

If I didn’t hit back now, I’d be stuck on the defensive. Backing away in this situation would be the stupidest move I could make.

So I braced myself to take a hit and went for a counter.

But Gantetsu had read even that.

He slid an arm into my fist’s path and deflected it.

Then he immediately slammed his shoulder into me.

「Guh!」

The impact sent me flying back, but I somehow brought myself to a halt, my soles gouging the stone floor.

…I see. Speed alone isn’t enough. And simple feints are useless, too. In that case—

「【Thunder Drum】, 【Swift Gale, Flash Thunder】.」

I stacked the two buffs and tried attacking again, mixing in more feints.

I stepped straight in and launched a high kick with my left leg—or made it look that way, changing its trajectory midway through.

An instant later, Gantetsu’s gaze shifted to follow the path of my attack.

He can still keep up, even at this speed…?

The way my body was angled.

The placement of my feet and the movement of my shoulders.

He was watching all of it.

I feinted right, then went left.

I feinted left, then went straight ahead.

And still—

Gantetsu’s fist was always waiting.

As though he’d known exactly where I would go from the start.

—Wham!!

「Gah!」

At last, one of his punches caught me square in the stomach.

My body doubled over, my feet lifting off the ground.

Damn it…!

It’s not that he’s gotten used to my speed.

He’s reading my movements—

「…I see how it is.」

Gantetsu grinned.

「You ain’t the sort whose body moves on its own without thinking, are ya?」

「—!」

…He’s been analyzing me while we fight?

「You’ve sure got your own rhythm when you attack. Can’t fault your speed or power, either.」

A chill ran down my spine.

Gantetsu’s appearance and rough speech made it easy to misjudge him, but he was apparently a highly analytical fighter. And his tactical thinking was anything but ordinary.

「…But I’ve got your habits figured out. I’ve seen the limits of your power, too. Now it’s time for some fun. Some real fun—let’s fight.」

「Hah! Now that’s a bold claim.」

Some things only became clear once you fought someone. I’d mistaken him for a complete musclehead.

And for some reason, that made me ridiculously happy.

Onigawara Gantetsu. If I beat this guy, I’m sure to reach a whole new level.