Crowned Victor

Rentarou's first move was the same as the one he started off the fight with, rushing at Shin with explosive speed. Shin expected this, so he strained the mana in his arm, waiting for Rentarou to get close enough to hit him, but Rentarou didn’t move as Shin expected him to.

Instead of aiming to hit Shin, Rentarou slammed his fist on the sandy ground around them. This not only riled up the sand for cover, but it also sent chunks of earth at Shin.

To protect himself, Shin had no other choice but to use some of the mana in his arm, along with dodging a few. And, unknowingly, he was playing right into Rentarou’s hand.

In the middle of Shin dodging, out of nowhere, Rentarou’s massive fist appeared on his side. So, he used his arm to block it, channeling and forcing mana through it to harm Rentarou in the process. However, despite the pain, Rentarou said, “You forgot the other one. Idiot!”

After he said his piece, another massive fist appeared on Shin’s side, and he didn’t have anything to block with. Crap. What do I do? What do I do? I need to block it… or dodge it… wait, I can dodge it… maybe.

For the first time in this fight, Shin tried something he didn’t try in training with Yukimura. Instead of directing the mana at Rentarou, he redirected it back to himself. Shin expected it to hurt, but surprisingly, it didn’t. The only thing that hurt was when he was blown back from the force of his own mana into the wall of the colosseum. It was the same wall that Yukimura was punched into.

Shin struggled to get up, and while he did, Rentarou pulled on his black hair. “Is that it? Are you done already? That wasn’t as interesting as I thought, yokai.”

“I’m not a yokai!” Shin screamed those words as he uppercut Rentarou with his right arm. When his fist made contact with Rentarou’s face, the mana within it expelled. The power wasn’t its greatest, but it was still enough to loosen Rentarou’s grasp on Shin.

“Good! I don’t want it to get boring. After all…” Rentarou’s body began to expand at once until his shadow loomed over Shin’s body. “You didn’t get to see the move I’ve been practicing lately: Giganto.”

“That’s a pretty dumb name.”

“Shut up!” Rentarou slammed down his left fist toward his opponent. Shin was able to dodge it after smearing more blood on his hand and using his mana to propel himself in the air. However, in the air, Shin saw how destructive that fist truly was. From one punch, it left a crater in the colosseum floor.

Crap… I gotta be careful of that. However, as Shin thought to himself, Rentarou didn’t give him any time to rest. Even when Shin was in the air, Rentarou’s giant-sized fist could still reach him. So, Rentarou aimed to punch Shin with his right hand.

Shin tried to deter the fist’s approach with mana blasts, but it was of no use. The punch didn’t stop, rapidly approaching him. There was no time left to react; the only thing Shin could do was eat the punch.

The sheer force of the fist caused Shin to be slammed down on the ground. As soon as he made impact with it, he began to cough up blood. However, he didn’t once surrender.

Shin wiped the blood off his mouth with his right arm, and that caused it to be charged with even more mana.

“Good! Good! I like that fiery expression you got there!”

Fiery expression? What is he talking about? Shin didn’t realize it in the heat of the battle, but he was smiling as the blood smeared on his arm. To Rentarou, it looked as if Shin was enjoying this fight as much as he was. “You’re not gonna let it end already, though, right? You still haven’t used that move.”

“That move?” Shin asked because he was puzzled by Rentarou’s words. He had no idea as to what Rentarou was referring to.

“Yeah. You know the move that blasted me through the damn wall, that move! Don’t act as if you forgot!”

“Oh, that? That wasn’t really a move—” Wait… Can I make it a move? Shin stood in place as he thought about that moment in the infirmary again, as he thought about the power able to blast Rentarou through a wall. My other attacks didn’t work earlier, so maybe it can work.

Shin stood still, thinking about how to reuse the power he used back then, and that idleness annoyed Rentarou. “You’re gonna show me, then? What are you, some statue?”

After Rentarou said those words, he hovered his left foot above Shin’s head before slamming it down. “Die!” And it was in that moment that Shin made his move.

Before Rentarou’s foot slammed down upon him, Shin used the mana in his arm to propel himself to Rentarou’s face. Then, while still being in the air, Shin bit down on his left arm so fiercely that blood leaked out of it. That blood powered his right arm as he thought to himself. Should I give it a name? What would I call it? Eh, I’ll just name it— “Full burst!”

When Shin said those words, a brilliant flash of scarlet filled the colosseum. Satori, Hinako, and Takeda, who were watching from the seats, stared up at Shin’s power in awe. As for Rentarou, he greeted it with a smile. That smile was the last thing Shin saw before the red color enveloped it, as it did with his surroundings, painting everything red.

In that moment, when the world around him was red, Shin heard a voice. It was the same ancient voice he heard in the infirmary. And it demanded the same thing it did before: “More!”

Shin didn’t even know who the voice belonged to; he didn’t even know what it was demanding. But he did know, deep down, that he didn’t want this voice to get what it wanted.

No. You won’t be getting anything you want. I’ll make sure of it! As that thought passed through Shin’s head, the red mana that filled the arena began to fade, and he could see the threat in front of him: Rentarou.

His breathing was heavy. There were some tears and obvious wounds on his clothes and body, too. However, Rentarou refused to give up. “How do you like that one? I used the ground around me to block some of the damage!”

“The ground?”

“Yeah! I knocked it up with my foot. And now it’s over!” As Rentarou finished speaking, he brought down his fist like a hammer onto Shin.

Shin was already tired from using so much mana, and after releasing the full burst, his head began to spin. Despite being nauseous, Shin knew that he had to continue going. He needed to use more blood. However, his body couldn’t handle it.

Shin couldn’t muster up the strength to block or even dodge Rentarou’s fist. He could only eat that gigantic fist once more, and that hit was enough to knock Shin out cold.

When Rentarou saw that Shin was no longer responding, he reverted to his normal size. He had to pause between every word, but despite his exhaustion, he pointed at Takeda and Satori, who were in the seats next to Hinako.

“Now…Takeda… you gotta… hold up… the second thing… since I won!”

“Second thing? Taku, what’s he talking about?”

“I said he could fight you if he wins this battle, Satori.”

“Without my approval? You’re a meanie.” Satori lightly pummeled Takeda before jumping into the arena to meet Rentarou. Despite their words, there was a smile on Satori’s face as they went eye to eye with Rentarou.

“You ready, Tarou?”

“I was born ready… I’m gonna show you that I have the power to beat Kura-Koji, too!”

“Sure, sure. But, I won’t be using my daggers, though.”

“Huh? That defeats the purpose, though!”

“It’d be overkill. That’s why.”

As Satori and Rentarou continued to banter in the arena, Hinako looked up at Takeda to ask him a question. “Shouldn’t you stop him from fighting? He looks worn out already.”

“I know you’re worried about your brother, but you have to remember… He’s a lot tougher than both you and I think.”

Hinako didn’t say anything else in response to Takeda’s words; she only nodded.