With his secondary hand free, Noah drove a devastating, full-force hook straight into Allen's exposed ribcage.
The blow landed with the force of a battering ram. Allen convulsed, coughing up a spray of dark blood. Noah didn't give him an inch—using the grip he still maintained on Allen's captured leg, he swung the teenager's body around, slamming him brutally onto the frozen earth. A sickening sound of cracking bone echoed through the trees. The land cracked.
"You're done, kid," Noah growled, a sadistic smile lighting up his face.
Driven by absolute malice, Noah began repeatedly slamming Allen's body against the frozen ground, four... five times, treating him like a ragdoll.
Finally, Noah hoisted him up by the throat, pulling him level with his gaze as he drew back his fist for a final, skull-crushing strike.
But Allen's eyes were wide and burning with life. Before Noah could throw the punch, Allen snapped his arm forward, driving a rigid, two-finger throat strike directly into Noah's windpipe.
Noah gasped, his oxygen supply instantly cut off as he reflexively released his grip and stumbled backward, clutching his neck. Seizing the moment of freedom, Allen launched a desperate side kick into Noah's ribs, sending the massive Number 9 flying across the clearing until he crashed into a heavy trees.
How is this brat still functioning? Noah thought frantically, massaging his bruised throat.
He looked closely through the swirling snow. Allen was visibly trembling, his boots sliding against the ice as he struggled with everything he had just to keep his balance. He looked like a man standing on the absolute precipice of death.
Noah's predatory grin returned. He's completely done. He's at his absolute limit.
Noah lunged forward, throwing a final, decisive straight punch to end the prodigy's life.
Allen stood completely motionless, seemingly unable to react as the fist closed the distance to his face. But at the absolute last millisecond, Allen's entire posture shifted. He slipped the punch with fluid, effortless precision.
Noah's eyes widened in absolute shock. He looked at Allen's face—the exhaustion was entirely gone, replaced by a cold, razor-sharp smile.
What?! He played me? Noah's mind reeled in sudden terror. He faked the fatigue to bait me into overextending?!
Before Noah could pull his arm back, Allen unleashed an absolute storm. A blinding, high-speed combination of strikes exploded across Noah's vital points—a throat strike to disrupt his breathing, a quick jab to the eyes, a crushing hook to the liver, and a devastating palm strike to the sternum.
Noah couldn't even raise his guard. With a final, agonizingly powerful straight punch, Allen connected squarely with Noah's chest, the kinetic output sending the Number 9 flying backward through the air, crashing violently through three consecutive Giant Sequoia trees before his body finally slumped into the deep snow.
Unbelievable... Noah coughed, his vision fading as he tried to push his shattered body off the ground. The kid doesn't just have technical skill... he knows how to weaponize the psychology of the environment against his opponent. If I let this drag out this fight, he's going to systematically dismantle me.
A desperate, vicious realization washed over him. He needed to change the rules of the engagement.
Allen was already closing the distance, sprinting through the snow to finish the execution while Noah was still struggling to rise. As Allen drove a heavy finishing punch toward his face, Noah didn't try to dodge.
He braced his jaw, took the full force of the blow, and used that exact moment of proximity to violently clamp his massive, iron hand directly around Allen's throat.
Allen's eyes widened. What? He chose to take the hit just to lock me down?
Noah's blood-soaked face twisted into a maniacal, victorious grin.
"Got you, you arrogant little bastard," Noah wheezed, his grip tightening like a hydraulic vice. "You're dead."
With his secondary hand completely free and Allen entirely pinned in his grasp, Noah began driving his heavily conditioned fist into Allen's chest and upper body, striking him repeatedly with terrifying, bone-crushing velocity.
Allen's body went limb.
Noah grinned.
I won. Noah thought.
Allen fell on his knees as Noah let his throat.
"You are strong kid. Now, tell me who sent you?" Noah said.