Chapter 350: Strongest vs. Strongest
Hearing Asagiri's declaration and seeing Human Asura and Walrider appear behind him, the audience in the spectator seats could not help but show looks of shock.
"Taking on three at once? Seriously?"
"This team was completely unscathed before..."
"Wait a minute, didn't Shadow also get here unscathed? And this is the first time he's used that summoning ability. Could it be... is Shadow finally going to use his full strength?"
...
"Hmph, a summoned beast?"
Kure Raian watched the black humanoid creature Asagiri had summoned slowly walk toward him, and a ferocious, fanatical look appeared on his face.
"To think you'd send a summon to deal with me. How arrogant..."
Before Kure Raian could finish speaking, Human Asura's figure flashed.
It instantly rushed in front of him with astonishing speed that completely contradicted its massive build.
"What!?"
"Bang!"
Human Asura threw a punch.
Kure Raian quickly raised both arms to block, but his feet still slid several meters across the ground before he barely managed to steady himself.
"Interesting..."
Kure Raian slowly lowered his arms and looked at Human Asura standing before him. His eyes revealed near-maniacal excitement.
"This is too interesting!"
As Kure Raian began clashing with Human Asura, and Kanoh Agito began struggling against Walrider, Kuroki Gensai also assumed a steady, unmoving stance.
His right hand slowly reached forward as he looked at Asagiri standing there and spoke in a deep voice.
"Mr. Shadow, if we had followed my original proposal, I should be the one being surrounded by you and your two summons right now."
"That would be too boring."
Asagiri loosened his shoulder joints while speaking in a flat tone.
"You are a rare martial arts type opponent, so I'll take this opportunity to test my close combat strength against you."
"So I am to be your touchstone?"
Kuroki Gensai's face remained expressionless.
His entire being seemed to transform into a heavy mountain. His eyes locked onto Asagiri's shoulder as he slowly spoke.
"Then let me witness the strength of the strongest."
"As you wish."
The moment his voice fell, Asagiri had already rushed to Kuroki Gensai's side in a strange arc and launched an attack.
"Bang!"
Facing Asagiri's straight punch, Kuroki Gensai merely raised his left arm and deflected it. The collision between fist and arm produced a dull thud.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
As Asagiri continued his relentless attacks, Kuroki Gensai's blocking speed also increased.
Their movements blurred into afterimages. It was not just ordinary people; even a considerable number of Players could not clearly see their actions. They could only hear the increasingly rapid, continuous impacts, almost like the firing of an automatic rifle.
"So strong..."
Watching the broadcast on the large screen in the lounge, Yuuki Asuna frowned and muttered to herself.
"This Kuroki Gensai can actually block all of Asagiri's attacks perfectly..."
"He isn't relying on reaction. It's prediction."
Miwa Ashikaga raised a hand to push up the frame of her glasses, staring intently at the image on the large screen. Her tone was complicated.
"Although Asagiri's motor nerves are well developed, and his talent for combat arts is astonishing, he has only been seriously practicing combat arts for half a year. Kuroki Gensai, however, has spent decades honing his techniques. In terms of skill, Asagiri cannot compare to him."
Just as Miwa Ashikaga finished speaking, a sudden change occurred in the arena.
Kuroki Gensai first took a step back, then used his left arm to deflect Asagiri's straight punch. Immediately afterward, his right hand shifted into a pushing palm and struck Asagiri directly in the abdomen.
"Thud!"
Asagiri's body rapidly retreated.
Looking at Kuroki Gensai, who stood there like an unmoving mountain without a single opening, and feeling the intense pain in his abdomen, Asagiri already had a judgment in his heart.
In terms of physical stats, only his speed was higher than Kuroki Gensai's.
His strength and defense were inferior to his opponent's.
Most importantly, Kuroki Gensai's combat technique was above his own.
The experience accumulated through decades of hard training was Kuroki Gensai's strongest and most unshakable defense.
But...
"The battle has only just begun."
Hearing Asagiri's words and seeing the pitch black Rope Dart chain wrap around his right arm, Kuroki Gensai nodded slightly.
His forearms and palms were also covered in a thin layer of armor that looked like wood.
"That's right. The battle has only just begun."
If this were a bare handed fighting tournament where only the body could be used as a weapon, Asagiri would have no chance of defeating Kuroki Gensai without activating Human Asura Mode.
But this was not a fighting tournament.
This was an unrestricted deathmatch between Players.
Seeing the pitch black Rope Dart enlarge in his vision, Kuroki Gensai quickly sidestepped, narrowly avoiding it.
He then reached out, intending to grab the Rope Dart chain that had stretched straight into a line.
However, before he could grab it, Asagiri quickly pulled the Rope Dart back.
Because of that risky move, Kuroki Gensai's palm was nearly sliced open by the returning Rope Dart.
With Kuroki Gensai's combat experience, he truly should not have made such a reckless mistake.
"As expected."
Asagiri grabbed the retrieved Rope Dart and looked at Kuroki Gensai standing there, speaking softly.
"Your defense is flawless. Although every move is simple and unadorned, each one carries astonishing destructive power. In terms of close combat strength, you are stronger than me, perhaps even the strongest among all Players. But your weakness is also very obvious."
"Mobility."
"Seen through, have I..."
Even though Asagiri had seen through his weakness, Kuroki Gensai's expression remained as steady as ever.
That was right.
As a fighter, he had no weakness.
But as a Player, his weakness was very obvious.
In a match between fighters, regardless of the style or technique either side used, they had to follow one basic logic.
They had to get close before they could attack.
Kuroki Gensai's fighting style was also very simple.
Unmoving defensive counterattacks.
However, Asagiri's Rope Dart had an attack range of ten meters, and his mastery of it was extremely high. He could continuously launch attacks from midrange without approaching Kuroki Gensai.
No matter how strong Kuroki Gensai's physical defense was, he could not withstand the purple quality Rope Dart of Deathly Grievance forever.
Then there was only one way.
The moment Asagiri threw the Rope Dart again, Kuroki Gensai, who had already predicted it, immediately reached out.
While dodging the Rope Dart itself, he truly grabbed the chain connected to it this time.
Grab the chain, then close in.
That was Kuroki Gensai's original plan.
But the moment his palm touched the pitch black chain, he heard Asagiri whisper,
"You fell for it."
The next second, Kuroki Gensai felt a cold force that chilled him to the bone enter his palm and rapidly invade his entire body.
"Bad..."
The upgraded Rope Dart of Deathly Grievance possessed a trait: when striking an enemy, it would release Cursed force that inflicted frost damage.
It was not only the sharp Rope Dart. The connected pitch black chain was the same.
Kuroki Gensai's act of touching the chain, even with his palm covered by equipment resembling thin wooden armor, already met the definition of a hit.
In that instant, Asagiri closed in again.
He lowered his body slightly, twisted his waist to build momentum, and formed a pushing palm with his right hand.
Seeing this, Kuroki Gensai wanted to block, but his right hand, which was tightly gripping the pitch black chain, could not let go immediately.
Because of the erosion from the Cursed force carrying frost damage, his body had become sluggish, like a rusted pulley.
"Bang!"
Asagiri's pushing palm struck Kuroki Gensai's abdomen, producing a dull thud.
"Cough, cough..."
A trace of blood spilled from the corner of Kuroki Gensai's mouth.
At that moment, he finally recovered and immediately released the pitch black chain connected to the Rope Dart.
The five fingers of his right hand formed a piercing motion. His fingertips sliced through the air like a sharp spear, stabbing toward Asagiri's face.
However, Asagiri seemed to have anticipated his attack and did not get greedy.
The moment Kuroki Gensai released the Rope Dart chain, Asagiri had already quickly retreated nearly ten meters away.
"You are strong..."
As a martial arts type class, Kuroki Gensai's health bar was absurdly thick.
Even after taking Asagiri's full force blow, his tone remained as steady as ever.
"To be able to imitate my move just by seeing it once... Not only as a Player, your talent for martial arts is equally astonishing."
[Your Persona Human Asura has been destroyed. Trait Final Rebirth activated. Strike resistance increased.]
Asagiri glanced at Kure Raian, who had already destroyed Human Asura and was walking toward him, then at Kanoh Agito, who was still struggling against Walrider.
Finally, he returned his gaze to Kuroki Gensai standing opposite him and spoke slowly.
"Although fighting you is fun, the game of playing house by imitating the exchanges between fighters should end here."
As Asagiri's voice fell, Walrider, who had been struggling against Kanoh Agito, disappeared.
At the same time, Asagiri's body rapidly rose into the air.
"Hmph, using flight to avoid battle, huh..."
Kure Raian stared intently at Asagiri, who was looking down at them from above, his face revealing a ferocious and twisted expression.
Before the match, he had of course considered the question of what he would do if the opponent used flight.
The answer was...
He could not deal with it.
At this moment, Asagiri's flight altitude was about twenty meters.
With the physical abilities of Kure Raian, Kuroki Gensai, and Kanoh Agito, all three could completely reach that height by jumping.
But they had no leverage in midair, while Asagiri could move as if walking on flat ground.
Voluntarily jumping up was no different from seeking death.
This could not be blamed on them.
After all, all three were fighters who had received professional combat training.
Whether it was the assassination arts of the Kure clan, the Kaiwan Style studied by Kuroki Gensai, or Kanoh Agito's mastery of various techniques, no martial arts school could possibly have considered how to deal with an enemy who possessed flight.
"Then, let's deal with the weakest one first."
Asagiri's gaze turned toward Kure Raian standing on the ground.
Dark red patterns appeared across the surface of his body.
"Human Asura Mode."
.....
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