Cho Il's eyes widened until they seemed ready to split. Bone-crushing pain lanced through both his shoulders, clamped fast in Geo Sangwoong's grip.
Geo Sangwoong smiled.
What power!
He was a fist fighter who faced armed opponents bare-handed and never neglected his external arts. Even at the Heavenly Martial Academy, a gathering of the world's finest prodigies, he boasted one of the best physiques.
However, Geo Sangwoong's strength belonged to another realm entirely. The moment he felt those pot-lid sized hands close around him, he realized that failure to break free would result in certain defeat.
Cho Il's eyes widened until they seemed ready to split. Bone-crushing pain lanced through both his shoulders, clamped fast in Geo Sangwoong's grip.
This was the price for his brief moment of carelessness following his one clean strike.
You think I'll go down like this?!
Cho Il gritted his teeth. He had been named a Dragon twice at the Dragon and Phoenix Tournament, and his body and spirit hardened through the Blood Cult's brutal spy training. He had not clawed his way this far only to fall to a single grapple technique!
Cho Il's head snapped sideways, and his whole body reeled like a tower about to topple over.
WHOOSH!
Geo Sangwoong cupped a hand to his ear. "What are you mumbling about all the way over there? I can't hear you, so come closer and speak up."
Despite having both shoulders firmly pinned, he bent his knees, shifted his weight backward, and thrust his feet forward, slamming them into Geo Sangwoong's chest and riding the recoil.
THWACK!
Geo Sangwoong's hold broke, and he clicked his tongue in disappointment. "Tsk! I wanted to start by ripping off at least one of your arms."
"You won't get lucky enough to catch me twice."
He dusted off his hands. A torn scrap of Cho Il's uniform fluttered from his fingers to the stage.
"...Your strength is nothing but brute force," Cho Il muttered, rubbing his throbbing shoulders as he backed away to create more distance between them. From that fleeting contact, vivid red handprints had already bloomed on his skin. If he had reacted even a heartbeat slower, he would have been in real trouble.
Still, a faint smile touched his lips. He had seen through Geo Sangwoong's entire strategy.
Two years of buried fury and repressed feelings poured out of him as raw killing intent.
"You should have finished it with that grab," he sneered. "You won't get lucky enough to catch me twice."
Cho Il was confident. Admittedly, Geo Sangwoong's raw power was formidable, but strength alone had never been enough to ensure victory, even before inner arts came into play.
Geo Sangwoong staggered under the flurry.
All that mass, all that absurd power. He has to be slow.
Agility and flexibility had to be the giant's weak spots. He had no doubt that he ranked several tiers higher in those areas.
Geo Sangwoong cupped a hand to his ear. "What are you mumbling about all the way over there? I can't hear you, so come closer and speak up."
Agility and flexibility had to be the giant's weak spots. He had no doubt that he ranked several tiers higher in those areas.
"...Your arrogance ends here."
SWOOSH!
Cho Il charged forward, delivering a punch to Geo Sangwoong's solar plexus with lightning speed. Geo Sangwoong widened his stance, practically inviting the strike, and reached out to seize the incoming wrist.
Just as I thought!
The two bare-fisted young men collided again at the center of the stage, hostility blazing in every glance they exchanged.
Cho Il twisted at the waist, barely clearing his wrist from those fingers. A triumphant grin split his face as he laughed. "Did you think the same trick would work twice?"
Spinning past the larger boy, he rained down rapid blows, his fists cracking off of Geo Sangwoong's left shoulder, flank, and thigh.
PAPAPAPAK!
Geo Sangwoong staggered under the flurry. By the time he wheeled to counter, Cho Il had already danced back out of reach.
The crowd erupted in admiration.
"That's the Fist Tyrant for you! Look at that speed!"
"It's not just speed. Look at the agility and flexibility! That's what it means to wring every last drop out of the body!"
"Size isn't everything, after all. Unlike a certain someone from the Azure Dragon Academy!"
The cheers swelled in support of the Fist Tyrant. After all, he was the Heavenly Martial Academy's own Fist Tyrant, a prodigy who had been named a Dragon twice in as many years at the Dragon and Phoenix Tournament. Enthusiasts already hailed him as the next Fist King.
"Do you really think you can take my alias with nothing but brute strength?"
Regaining his composure, Cho Il used his nimble footwork to close the distance and attack Geo Sangwoong from every angle. His fists moved in dozens of unpredictable arcs, impossible to block even if his moves were seen through.
PABABABABAK!
His uniform was torn, his hair was disheveled, he was covered in bruises, and blood dripped steadily from his split lip and nose.
The blows piled up, each impact sending jolts through Geo Sangwoong's frame. He lashed out with his broad hands now and then, but each time, they grasped only air.
WHOOSH!
Geo Sangwoong said nothing.
Slipping free from another attempt at a grapple, Cho Il sneered. "Can you hear them cheering? That's the roar for the next generation's greatest fighter."
Geo Sangwoong said nothing. He seemed hard-pressed just fending off the relentless assault.
Because then I might get angry enough to actually kill you."
As the minutes passed, his supporters' faces darkened.
"I guess the Fist Tyrant was just too much for him..."
"I was so sure he'd win. I bet my whole purse on that boy!"
"Didn't you see what happened earlier? If he can grab him once, there's still a chance!"
"Do you think Cho Il is careless enough to get caught again?"
Cho Il was clearly fighting a level above his opponent. Apart from that brief moment when his shoulders were seized, he hadn't faced a single real crisis. Meanwhile, Geo Sangwoong appeared increasingly overwhelmed by the relentless onslaught.
One by one, Geo Sangwoong's supporters lost hope and fell quiet. Only the Azure Dragon Academy students continued watching the match undaunted.
"Pfft! Ahh, I can't hold back anymore. Did you have fun?"
As the minutes passed, his supporters' faces darkened.
Finally, Geo Sangwoong broke his long silence. Moments before, he had struggled just to survive the storm and taken a beating, yet somehow he still sounded perfectly composed
Cho Il snorted, dismissing his opponent's statement as a bluff. Geo Sangwoong had already endured dozens of his punches, after all. "Your endurance is impressive, I'll give you that," he mocked sarcastically. "By the looks of it, you've trained yourself half to death. But so what? Nothing's changed in the last two years."
With such pathetic martial arts?" he spat, returning the very insult Cho Il had hurled at him two years ago.
He unleashed a jab the exact same way he had two years ago, intending to rattle Geo Sangwoong by dredging up the memory of standing there helplessly while he toyed with him.