Chapter 472: Reversal
Swish-la-la——!
Ren Shiroki was sent spinning through the air by the Second's heavy punch,
cartwheeling like a speeding wheel.
Or perhaps like a spinning, dancing firework—though instead of sparks, it was
blood that sprayed through the air!
Drip-drip-patter————
Droplets of crimson rained down, even dotting the faces of several spectators in
the front rows.
Yet, not a single person minded. They remained utterly transfixed, their eyes
locked onto the sky above.
They watched Ren soar, saw gravity take hold as he began to plummet, and finally
heard the heavy thud as he slammed flat on his back against the earth.
"Cough..."
Ren's eyes were unfocused, glazed over with a near-catatonic haze. His entire
face was drenched in blood, blood tears leaking from the corners of his eyes
while his eyeballs throbbed red from the concussive rattle.
Guevara's punch—the strike anchored deep in the earth's core 6,378,000 meters
beneath their feet—had been far too heavy, pushing past the boundaries of mere
"human strength."
It was a uniquely peerless, earth-anchored strike that only J. Guevara could
ever deliver!
"Hiss————!"
His ogre mask dripping with gore, Guevara remained frozen in his upward-punching
stance. Wisps of white vapor streamed from his nose and mouth, drifting off into
the air.
That posture possessed the structural rigidity of heavy machinery operating
under maximum load, evoking the cold, unyielding hardness of forged steel!
He slowly lowered his fist, resetting back into a standard standing guard.
Seeing this, the surrounding onlookers collectively swallowed hard.
The vast majority of them knew in their hearts that even if someone were holding
a loaded gun to their head right now, they would never, ever want to take a
single hit from the Second!
"Isn't that... already enough...?"
Someone murmured in the crowd, a sentiment that instantly rippled through the
spectators.
"..."
"That Guevara guy is a monster who brought the President of the United States to
his knees! Making it this far is already beyond incredible..."
"The match is decided, Ren. Stop!"
"If you keep going, you're gonna die..."
Amidst the chorus of anxious warnings, Ren violently heaved his body over onto
his stomach, planted his palms firmly into the dirt, and forced himself up onto
all fours.
With one final grinding grit of his teeth, he surged to his feet.
Swish!
Ren settled back into a side-facing stance, his head hanging low as he raised
his trembling arms—left hand pressing downward, right arm guarding his
ribs—reclaiming his signature guard.
The crowd had run out of words to express their worry; awe was all that
remained!
"Oh-oh, he can still stand?"
"Ren Shiroki is trying to keep going!"
"This fight just keeps giving!"
"..."
"Hoo————"
Ren exhaled a breath thick with the metallic reek of blood.
Without needing to speak or be prompted, Guevara's frame swayed slightly, but he
locked his absolute, undivided focus onto Ren, refusing to slacken his guard by
a single fraction of an inch.
"That's it, Mr. Guevara..."
Ren muttered beneath his breath.
No masks, no hiding—let it all hang out in the open heat of battle!
[DRIVE RUSH]!
Whoosh!
Ren's leg muscles coiled tight as he burst forward in a rapid sliding charge,
moving with a distortion so violent he practically dissolved into a blur,
closing the distance to Guevara in the blink of an eye.
The blood splattering off his face trailed behind him in a red mist!
[ZANGIEF: HELL STAB]!
Flipping his left palm upward and driving his core forward, Ren fired off a
wrestling-style spear-hand thrust straight toward Guevara's abdomen.
Swish!
Simultaneously, Guevara swept his right arm horizontally, batting Ren's
spear-hand wide off target.
Without breaking rhythm, Guevara swept his left leg low, aiming to kick out
Ren's ankle while cocking his right fist tight at his waist.
"Hah!"
He was going to unbalance Ren's stance, force him forward, and follow up with
another [Earth Core Strike]!
Just like that, Mr. Guevara—
With heavy eyelids, Ren snapped his right leg high into the air, gracefully
hopping over Guevara's low sweep before stomping his foot down hard to rattle
the earth beneath them.
Thump!
Dropping his arms low and cupping his hands half-open—as if cradling a giant vat
of wine—Ren bladed his torso sideways, leading with his left shoulder to slam
straight into Guevara's chest.
Jamie [DRIVE IMPACT: SOVEREIGN FIST]!
Bang!
Guevara, who had been winding up his own follow-up attack, took the heavy
shoulder-check dead-center. He was forced backward, his offensive rhythm
instantly shattered.
Yet, even without landing a knockback, Guevara refused to halt!
Gritting his teeth and squeezing the absolute last drop of stamina from his
frame, he planted his right foot firmly into the earth—anchoring
himself 6,378,000 meters deep into the planet's core—
The sheer torque fractured the pavement beneath his heel!
Clenching his right fist tight, he uncorked a devastating counter-strike!
Whish—!!!
The [Earth Core Strike] fired once more, a right hook driving upward like a
massive pillar of light erupting straight out of the ground!
Thud!
Ren crossed his arms to intercept, but the sheer impact blew his guard wide
open, sending violent tremors shooting up both of his forearms.
——That's it!
Ren bared his blood-soaked teeth, blood bubbling freely between his lips as he
felt a surge of pure, unadulterated admiration:
A momentary setback was never going to be enough to stop J. Guevara.
This was the manifestation of Guevara's "Love"!
Ren had once asked Guevara what kind of fight he wanted people to see, a
question Guevara hadn't answered at the time.
Yet now, through the impact of those fists, Ren finally understood.
Guevara possessed a love for his country, a love for his people, and a love for
the earth itself—and all of those combined to forge his ultimate combat
philosophy:
"..."
It was the act of standing tall and staking your ground for all the world to
see!
"Shrah!"
With a fierce roar, Ren launched a right straight that Guevara met by crossing
his left arm into a tight check.
Guevara moved to bat it aside and counter, but Ren's recovery timing was
sharper. Pulling his right fist back in an instant, he drove both palms forward
in a rapid, overlapping shove.
[RYU: HASHOGEKI (PALM BLAST)]!
Bang-bang!
Invisible kinetic shockwaves forced Guevara back onto the defensive, compelling
him to cross his arms and absorb the barrage.
—Again!
A brilliant, piercing light ignited deep within Ren's eyes, tracing twin
floating arcs through the air as his body moved in fluid concert.
[SATSUI CHOICE]—
Right straight!
Bang!
The punch landed, instantly followed by the hyper-accelerated recovery of the
[Hashogeki], cross-firing punches and palms in rapid succession, chained
rhythmically to the cadence of his breath for four or five consecutive cycles.
Whack-thwack-whack-thwack-whack—!
The striking sequence rolled on like an endless ocean tide, overwhelming Guevara
and driving him backward step by step!
——?!
The principle underlying this relentless onslaught was rooted entirely in
[Frames]—the complete timeline of a technique encompassing "startup," "active
effect," and "recovery."
Different moves activated at different timings.
A landing punch, a spear-hand thrust, a palm heel-strike, the micro-second a
grappling throw initiated—all of them carried subtle yet distinct differences.
The same rule applied to recovery frames: while a massive throwing technique
packed devastating power, its recovery animation was inherently slower than a
light, snappy jab.
The fundamental unit tying all these micro-details together was the [Frame]!
If one wished to establish absolute, inescapable pressure, they had to push the
[Frames] of every single move to their absolute theoretical limit, understanding
their core essence to weave an unbreakable, high-pressure string of combos!
——That was Ren Shiroki's brand of "martial arts"!
"Shrah!"
Ren pressed relentlessly forward, chaining heavy punches and palm strikes in a
rapid, uncomplex, yet overwhelmingly suffocating display of pressure!
And yet...
Even so, Ren could clearly see it: within the eyes of the painted ogre staring
back at him, an indomitable, fiercely unyielding light burned brighter than
ever.
——Snap!
Guevara's left foot swept outward, clipping the side of Ren's right leg and
throwing off his balance, introducing a microscopic window of lag in his combo
linkage.
Swish!
Seizing the opening, Guevara surged forward, hammering a heavy right hook
straight toward Ren's face.
"Oh..."
Gazing at the fist hurtling straight for his eyes, Ren acted.
Dropping into a compressed squat, sinking his weight into a deep bow stance,
extending his left hand forward to maintain balance while cocking his right fist
tight against his waist.
...Mr. Guevara, your fists proved that no matter what kind of opponent stands in
your way, there is only ever one thing you need to do: stake your ground and
show them where you stand!
Then what about me?
Ren thought to himself.
No matter how my actions unfold, no matter what kind of punches and kicks I
throw, no matter how many styles I cycle through, there is one single truth that
has remained identical from the very beginning——
Regardless of whether it's the Satsui no Hado or the Psycho Power, the ultimate,
foundational secret of all execution boils down to a single directive: You just
gotta Reversal (Ou) it out!
The secret of the wave is to Reversal (Ou) it!
The combat I love so much means——Reversing it right in their faces!!
"Hoh—!"
Ren rasped out a hoarse, guttural breath.
He stomped his foot down with a concussive shock that cracked the pavement
beneath him!
Tensing his leg muscles, he sprang straight upward like an uncoiling spring,
driving his right arm upward in a ferocious rising uppercut.
[RYU: SHORYUKEN (DRAGON RISE)]!
"Shrah!"
Slipping neatly past the incoming right hook with a slight body shift, Ren drove
his right fist straight up, smashing squarely into Guevara's jaw and lifting his
entire frame off the ground with the momentum of his ascent.
Bang—
Crash-shatter!!
The impact sent Guevara spinning upward through the air, trailing a fine mist of
blood droplets.
Finally, almost simultaneously with the descending Ren, Guevara hit the ground
with a heavy thud, landing flat on his back and sending a violent cloud of dust
billowing into the air.
Thud—thump!
The second dull thud was the sound of Ren collapsing to his knees.
He panted heavily, his pupils dilated and nearly unfocused, his eyelids drooping
low with exhaustion.
"Hiss————Huu————"
After a long series of ragged gasps, Ren braced one hand against his knee and
staggered unsteadily back to his feet.
Catching sight of Guevara lying completely motionless on the ground, Ren drew in
a massive lungful of air, gritted his teeth, and forced his trembling arm
straight up into the air as he roared out his remaining scrap of life force—
"I WON AAAAAAHHHHHHH————!!"
☆☆☆
-> 30 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
-> https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Hollowborn
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to access patreon normally)
If you like this novel please consider leaving a review that's help the story a lot Thank you