“...Where am I?”
At the sudden light, my vision narrowed.
As my eyes slowly adjusted, the scenery around me finally came into focus.
An all-too-familiar white ceiling... a hospital room.
So that was it. I’d lost after all.
In terms of technique, and in terms of physical ability... I had been utterly defeated.
“Ah. You’re awake, Snack.”
“...Suiryu, was it.”
He’s safe.
Unlike me, who could barely manage to sit up with injuries all over my body, he looked perfectly fine. Relief washed over me.
So I protected him.
That monster hadn’t intended to kill anyone, but still... I had stopped what could have become far greater damage.
...Thank goodness.
As Snack was lost in that thought, Suiryu spoke again.
“...Snack, I... I want to be a hero.”
“If you’re going to joke that it’s because of money again—”
“No, I’m not. This time... I mean it. I want to be a hero like you.”
“...........”
Like me, huh.
Snack let out a dry laugh.
“You know? My measured sense of justice is a six. That means there are plenty of guys out there who are way cooler than me. It’d be better to learn from them than from me.”
Probably because my talent as a senior in the trade was rock bottom.
A fight that had continued for more than twenty minutes.
The heat of it still hadn’t cooled.
A fist shattered the ground.
The already ground-down fine particles crumbled further, turning to dust and scattering away.
A spinning kick split the wind.
The direction of the wind that had blown for an instant flipped, then came back around.
Their forearms collided at one point, and the two shoulders that followed with that momentum slammed together and were forced apart.
As a thrust came flying in, it was flowed away, and a punch was thrown immediately after.
The incoming punch was guarded, and a knife-hand strike swept in.
In response, this side also swung a knife-hand strike, and for a brief moment the pushing match held at a deadlock before fists once again lunged at each other.
Bang!!
“Hk!”
TUKWAAANG!!!
“Kyaah!”
One struck the face, the other the abdomen, and the distance between them opened up.
The first to move next was Gouketsu.
Just like before, one foot and one hand in front.
The other foot and hand behind.
Gathering strength.
And at the same time he exhaled.
He drove forward brutally.
“Hwoooooo!!!”
[Gouketsu Style]
[Kongang Collapsing Fist]
Overwhelming force approached.
A punch empowered by the breathing technique that had strengthened his body, carrying power that could not be compared to before.
It charged in to tear apart everything in front of it.
The hunter rushed straight toward it.
[Snake Bite Fist]
He threw his body forward and spun in midair.
He wrapped his entire body around the outstretched arm and climbed up it.
But midway through, the technique was canceled and the arm bent, sending him bouncing away.
He spun in the air, and the moment his feet touched the ground, a murderous follow-up strike came flying in.
A fist smaller in size, but many times greater in force and power, came for the solar plexus.
In response, he leaned his upper body forward, bent one hand, and exposed the back of it.
Then, with a natural motion, he reached toward the fist.
[Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist]
[Flowing Water Formation]
Using the back of his hand, he pushed the side of the fist away and let the attack flow past.
KWAAAAAAANG!!!
The heat of destruction surged behind him.
But there wasn’t even a split second to confirm it.
A knee strike, rough like stone yet at the same time restrained and silent, flew toward his abdomen.
If the earlier one had been a massive spear, this one was a dagger—smaller, but vastly superior in speed and precision.
In response, he also raised a knee and thrust in.
TUKAAANG!!!
It collided with a sound like steel striking steel, not skin against skin.
Shockwaves spread to both sides and split the surrounding area in a circle.
Once again, the test of strength continued.
But in the middle of it, Gouketsu took one step back.
As the force that had been pushing against him suddenly vanished, the hunter’s posture naturally tipped forward.
Losing balance, his arms flailed through the air.
By contrast, Gouketsu had a perfect opening for a point-blank punch.
[Gouketsu Style]
[Tiger-Driven Shattering Roar]
He extended the fist he had kept near his waist and smashed it into the abdomen.
Gouketsu was certain this would land hard.
And as expected, it did.
The merciless punch, like a tiger’s roar, slammed in properly this time.
KWAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!
The shockwave passed through the entire body while still maintaining its shape, blasting out behind him.
There was nothing left around them to break anymore, so dust rose like it had been caught in a storm.
Overwhelming power.
A destructive blow worthy of dragon-level.
But.
The hunter endured.
[Brute Force Crushing Method]
He momentarily changed his abdomen into a soft material and absorbed the damage from the punch.
He had been inspired by what he saw in the previous match.
As a result, he reduced the damage and succeeded in sending the shockwave backward.
Then.
Now it was his turn.
In the brief moment while Gouketsu was startled and trying to respond, a single punch was prepared.
[Shock Absorption]
He concentrated all the shock he had absorbed to its limit in the battle so far.
At an absorption level far beyond anything before, the sensation that his fist might tear apart sent a warning through his brain.
He ignored it.
He coated his fist in hardening and concentrated his psychic power, preparing [Psychokinetic Crushing Fist].
But he didn’t stop there.
He dislocated his shoulder to loosen it, adding one more layer of natural, fluid motion.
He detached the joints in his wrist and spun them with ferocious momentum.
Accelerating.
It felt as if the wind itself had taken up residence inside his fist.
So much power gathered there that it felt as though it might burst any second.
But.
It didn’t burst.
That was enough.
He drove the completed strike into Gouketsu’s stomach.
[Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist]
[Psychokinetic Crushing Fist]
Arranged.
“Super Spin Screw Punch” ver.
TUKAKAKAKAKAKAKAKAKAKANG!!!
“K-buh?!?”
One blow. It landed hard.
For an instant it was like a flash of light, and then he was forced back, the distance between them opening again.
The wave of force swept through the surroundings and twisted them apart.
Gouketsu’s body was no different.
The enormous destructive power that had suddenly poured in began rampaging inside him.
He hurriedly compressed his body further to resist it, but once he had already taken a hit deep enough to cave his stomach in, it was too late to stop it.
As his abdomen was struck directly by the force of a blow that might have been half of what he himself had just unleashed, blood burst from Gouketsu’s mouth.
This was the moment he had been waiting for.
He regenerated his shattered fist.
Then he rushed at Gouketsu, who was staggering while clutching his stomach after taking a heavy hit.
Gouketsu tried to throw a punch while somehow steadying himself, but it didn’t reach.
He slipped beneath the incoming fist and charged in, diving into his guard.
The target was the solar plexus.
As he bounced upward, he twisted his body and fired a punch.
TUKWAAANG!!!
“Ghk...!”
A searing pain so intense it made his mind go white slammed into his head.
Suppressing the urge to clutch his own skull, Gouketsu launched a surprise counterattack.
He raised both arms high and returned them to their original size.
[Gouketsu Style]
[Kongang Star]
He brought down a strike packed with massive mass and acceleration.
As the overwhelmingly powerful technique detonated, the hunter was knocked flying like a sheet of paper, and the distance opened again.
The hunter, thrown into the air, spun and tried to regain his stance as he fell.
Meanwhile, Gouketsu rapidly moved his legs and charged in.
BANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANG!!!
Walking with a footwork so forceful it seemed to drive his legs into the ground, he maximized the technique’s power.
As the hunter was just about to land, he unleashed [Tiger-Driven Shattering Roar] again.
But.
The tiger’s roar failed to connect this time.
Twisting his body with a flexible motion, the hunter simply let the punch slide past, then threw a fist back at him.
TUKWAAANG!!!
“Kuhh....”
He was struck in the face and pushed back.
Using the opening created by the distance, he checked his own condition.
And then.
Only then did Gouketsu fully realize it.
“...I’m being pushed back.”
At the start, they had clearly been evenly matched.
No, if anything, in terms of technique, this side had probably been superior.
For a while after using [Quiet Steps], he had been almost completely dominating.
With his improved physical abilities and technique, he had fought as if toying with him for a moment.
No matter how many punches he threw, they never reached this side, and only this side’s counters landed.
But.
That only lasted for a while.
Their attacks had started reaching him more and more.
No, was that all?
His opponent was now flowing away his attacks as though they were familiar with them.
He’s growing.
The completeness of his technique was gradually surpassing this side.
Even now, and from here on out.
And.
Above all else.
The most terrifying part was—
[Gouketsu Style]
[Kongang Collapsing Fist]
A fist so fast its form was barely visible charged in.
And yet.
The other side also took the same stance.
[Gouketsu Style]
[Kongang Collapsing Fist]
The two techniques were unleashed identically, and in the end the two fists simply collided.
Even that alone generated such tremendous power that it split the ground, but it would have been stranger if that were all.
The horrifying learning ability to instantly make the opponent’s technique his own after seeing it.
And the absurd adaptability to use the exact same technique against the opponent’s own technique, canceling each other out.
He was a monster.
A monster whose very existence was absurd.
But.
“...Yeah. That’s how it should be!”
As he was forced back, Gouketsu glared with bloodshot eyes.
He was boiling.
The passion that rose from battle.
Until now, he had seen countless strong fighters stronger than himself.
And countless weaker ones as well.
He had only ever been utterly defeated or won in a boring way.
Maybe that was why he had forgotten.
The instinct of a martial artist.
How enjoyable a contest of exchanging blows with an opponent could be.
A fight this evenly matched, with fists flying back and forth, was...
Truly a long time coming.
KWAAAAAAANG!!!
“Krrrgh...!”
The hunter’s movement suddenly changed.
He vanished from sight in an instant, then appeared behind him without warning.
[Elite Bloodline Combat Arts]
TUKWAKKAAANG!!
Two punches burst out from a single fist at once.
The first strike numbed his shoulder, and the follow-up shattered his blood vessels.
Pwoosh!
“Kugh...!”
He swung his hand to grab that arm, but in the blink of an eye the hunter was already above his head, as if he had teleported there.
[Hyper Karate]
KUKUUNG!!!
“Kkgh...!”
[Nigamushi-style Fist Arts]
[Long-Life Fist]
[Water Strike Fist]
[Brute Force Crushing Method]
[Hokuto-ryu]
[Snake Bite Fist]
[Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist]
Nine merciless strikes buried themselves into his entire body.
Then, as the hunter flashed past so fast he couldn’t even track the movement for a split second, the tenth strike he couldn’t answer landed.
[
-Collaboration ver.
TUTADATUTATUTATATUTATATUTADADADADUTADUTADUDADADADADUTADADUTATUTATUTADADADADADADA!!!
TUKWAKAKAKAKAKAKAKAKAAAAAANG!!!!
“Fghuuhh!!!”
Thud-thud-thud!!!
Every part of his body broke and crumpled as he rolled miserably across the ground.
His blood, everything, was utterly wrecked.
Bones were broken and cracked all over.
Both eyes were gone.
Several teeth had been shattered, and because the damage was so severe, [Quiet Steps] could no longer be maintained.
“K...h...”
At this rate, he would die.
The ambition to seize everything through violence was slipping away.
If he didn’t retreat now, even if he survived, he wouldn’t live long.
Even if he didn’t retreat, this was defeat.
But.
Not yet.
He would not back down.
“I... will bring you down!!”
Death.
Ambition.
None of that mattered anymore.
I acknowledge you.
I respect your talent and your ability.
So now.
As a martial artist.
I will defeat you, monster.
“GROOOOOOOO!!!”
The pride of a martial artist, which had been fading away, and the hidden longing for battle.
They sent ripples and surges through his heart.
In that brief instant.
Gouketsu shed his monsterhood.
“I’ll blast away this entire city, you included! Take this as a martial artist... monster hunter!!!”
He gathered every last bit of energy left in his body and slammed it all into one strike.
Blood burst out and his body split apart, but he paid it no mind.
He concentrated everything into a single point.
He kicked one leg back, leapt toward the sky, and as he fell, he unleashed the one strike of his life at his opponent.
The final blow containing everything he had.
[Gouketsu Style]
“Heroic, Collapsing Roar Punch!!!!”
“...........”
Then.
This side prepared its own greatest blow.
He concentrated psychic power into every joint of his fingers.
He poured in his stats.
He stepped back with his right leg.
He extended his left leg forward.
He drew his right arm back as far as it would go.
And then.
He imagined the smooth, supple movement of a snake flowing like water.
He applied the hint he had gained from Bazuz Nuclear Fist to it.
Toward the massive force falling from above.
He shot forward like a single beam of light.
[Flowing Snake Bite Killing Fist]
70%.
A ringing sound began in his ears.
A flash erupted once, and for a moment everything went quiet.
But almost immediately, an enormous wave of force began to swallow the surroundings.
As the power intercepted in midair collapsed, even the remaining dust was blown away.
And then.
With Gouketsu collapsed in front of him, the hunter stood up.
Casually regenerating his completely crushed arm, he walked forward.
He could have used acid in the middle of the fight.
He could have rushed in while ignoring the damage to his body and regenerated at high speed.
If he had used his psychic power differently, he might have won more easily.
The reason he hadn’t was.
Before he was a monster hunter.
He was also a martial artist, showing respect to a true master.
Less than five seconds later, he began tearing into the fallen flesh.
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