Dazzling firelight pierced the sky; the mountain peak behind him turned to ash under that savage beam, leaving only a sheared-off mid-slope.
Before Genos could even draw breath, he realized the right arm he'd just fired the Incineration Cannon with was stuck—he couldn't pull it free.
As the smoke cleared, King stood almost unscathed.
Between his vast vitality and the Psychic Power shield, Genos's assault hadn't managed so much as a scratch.
Seeing this, Genos fell silent and lowered his head.
He'd watched King fight before; he knew exactly what this meant.
KING-sensei's true strength lies in offense… yet I haven't even qualified to make him use it—what a joke!
Genos jerked his head up; his eyes blazed with golden light as two micro-muzzles extended from his pupils, lancing out rapid-fire lasers.
The beams carved fierce trails through the air, but when they struck the pale-green barrier coating King's body, they couldn't advance a single millimetre.
Hmm?
King was slightly surprised; this move had never appeared in the original story—had Genos invented a new technique?
Another butterfly effect, I suppose; my arrival really has changed countless tiny details.
"Great for ambushes, but the power's still a bit lacking, and the area of effect can't compare to Incineration Cannon."
Sensing the beams' strength, King offered an objective critique.
Commenting mid-fight wasn't contempt; he was simply fulfilling a teacher's duty.
In a teacher-student spar, the pupil needs the master to point out flaws in real time so he can improve.
"I'm not done yet!"
Genos roared; the eye-lasers ceased, his thrusters ignited, and he vanished in a fiery after-image, streaking through the air.
With a mechanical roar, he flashed behind King, jets blazing from his heels as a momentum-packed kick slammed into the Psychic Power shield.
"Incineration Cannon!"
A muzzle extended from his toe-tip, detonating the Incineration Cannon point-blank against the shield; scorching tongues of flame and golden energy swallowed King whole.
Genos back-flipped away, blue arcs crackling across his cyborg frame, gaze tense.
After so many techniques—especially opening with the High-Power Incineration Cannon—his body was starting to overload.
Would it work… could it break KING-sensei's defence?
A silhouette strode from the flames; fire and energy were kept a metre at bay as the Psychic Power shield still wrapped him—King remained untouched.
Facing the wary Genos, King curved a smile and finally offered praise:
"Clever idea—turning every part of your body into a gun port, not limiting yourself to your hands. Catches an enemy off-guard. Did you come up with it?"
Hearing that, Genos shook his head:
"The concept wasn't mine; I adapted it from your fighting style, KING-sensei.
When you fight, you treat every part of your body as a weapon, so I added gun ports wherever I could strike, enabling instant energy attacks."
So I was the inspiration, huh.
King had to admire—whoever invented Psychic Power really made life convenient.
He kept the shield up not from fear of injury but simply to spare his clothes.
Crafty little Genos always unleashed ultra-high-temp Incineration Cannons, hoping to incinerate outfits and leave opponents naked.
A direct hit wouldn't wound him, but it would vaporize every thread and leave him stark naked in an instant.
At that moment, Genos's tone shifted, urgent:
"KING-sensei, please stop defending—attack me with everything you've got!"
From the start, he'd done nothing but attack, while King had only defended and critiqued.
Genos believed real progress came from mutual combat, from life-and-death crisis—not one-sided bombardment.
Seeing the resolve in the cyborg kid's eyes, King scratched his head—Genos had shown most of his moves; it was time to finish.
The instant Genos finished speaking, King became a scarlet streak, closing the gap in a blink.
So fast!
Genos's pupils shrank; his cybernetic fist scythed through the air with a metallic shriek toward King's face.
But in the next second, King vanished from his optic sensors.
"Too slow—don't rely on mechanical scans; learn to sense your opponent."
A deep voice sounded behind him; without turning, Genos morphed a gun port on his back, firing Incineration Cannon to engulf the area in a storm of sand.
Did I hit—no!
Genos froze, staring at the hand already touching his core; his short blond hair whipped in the sand-laden wind.
King had somehow returned to face him, a fist loaded with crushing force hovering mere centimetres from the core.
As a cyborg, Genos could survive having his body torn apart; his true lifeline was that blue core.
One tiny push forward and King would crush it, killing him on the spot.
He stood motionless, stunned the spar had ended so quickly.
In a real fight, an attack centimetres from the core meant Genos was already dead.
He said nothing, simply stared at King, eyes full of bewilderment.
The victor was decided…
...
(End of Chapter)
[Throw some stones]