The Fang of tsudo was a proof of inhuman durability. Even after the brutal beating he had taken from Kuroki Gensai, he had barely taken any ti to recover before coming to challenge Ren.
Following another passionate introduction from Katahara Sayaka, the two Kengan Matches contestants who had generated the most buzz since the tournant began now stood facing each other, igniting an explosive atmosphere throughout the arena. The roar of the crowd was deafening.
The challenger, Kanoh Agito, entered first, his presence heavy and focused. He was followed by Ren, who walked into the ring with a disarmingly relaxed air.
One was grimly serious, the other was placid and gentle. They looked less like two n about to engage in a life-or-death battle and more like acquaintances eting for tea.
From the stands, Mouri Ran whispered with a hint of concern, "Brother Ren doesn't seem to be taking this seriously at all..."
Sōryūin Shion, having already given Kiryu Setsuna the freedom to leave on his own terms, had naturally joined Ichihara Yuko and the rest of their formidable group of won.
At Ran's comnt, Sōryūin Shion, Momobami Kirari, and Amou Kirukiru—all of whom knew the truth of Ren's power—spoke in unison, their voices calm and certain. "No. This is when Ren is at his most serious."
"Eh?!" a chorus of surprised voices echoed from the others.
In the center of the ring, Kanoh Agito surveyed his opponent, a long, slow breath escaping his lips. His expression was a mask of stone. "Fighting you requires every possible preparation, Ren. It's been a while."
Ren simply tilted his head, offering a standard, friendly pre-fight bow.
The gesture seed to catch Kanoh Agito off guard for a second before he composed himself and returned the bow with rigid formality.
"Then," Ren said softly, his voice carrying easily through the tense silence, "let's begin."
As the words left his lips, he settled into a standard boxing stance. The gentle look in his eyes sharpened, just for a mont, into a point of lethal focus.
Seeing that familiar stance, Kaolan Wongsawat, still wrapped in bandages from his own fight, spoke with conviction. "He's serious."
Kanoh Agito moved. He shifted into a strange, low posture and shot forward, closing the distance in an instant. With a sharp feint, he dropped low, aiming to grab Ren's waist and leg—a takedown he had learned from Okubo Naoya.
From his seat, the bandaged Okubo himself shouted, "A beautiful feint!"
But Ren's reaction was faster than humanly possible. He didn't dodge or retreat; he simply shifted his weight, pivoting sideways in a fluid motion that seed to defy inertia. A side whip kick lashed out, the sound of it cracking through the air like a bullwhip. It connected solidly with Kanoh Agito's side, sending his two-hundred-plus-pound fra flying across the ring.
After crashing and rolling back to his feet, Kanoh Agito's deanor shifted. He entered that invisible, deranged state of his, his eyes locking onto Ren with a feral intensity.
Ren's gentle smile never wavered. "If you're not going to attack," he murmured, "then I will."
As he spoke, he vanished.
To Kanoh Agito, it was as if Ren had been erased from existence. An overwhelming sense of danger scread through his instincts, and he imdiately threw his arms up in a desperate defensive guard.
The next mont, a blinding, sharp pain erupted through his forearms. Ren had reappeared directly in front of him, his fists a torrent of motion so fast they were impossible to count, leaving only a storm of blurry afterimages. Each punch landed with a sickening thud, and Kanoh Agito's surprisingly resilient arms began to swell and darken with subcutaneous bleeding.
The sheer overwhelming force of the assault shattered Kanoh Agito's 'Formless' state. Sanity returned to his eyes, and he secretly gritted his teeth, staring at the man before him who still wore that infuriatingly gentle smile.
The announcer, Jerry Tyson, scread into his microphone, "My God! I rember now! I once heard Kaolan say that Ren's punching speed is terrifyingly faster than his! And he does it all in one breath!"
Katahara Sayaka, her face flushed with a lovesick expression, leaned in and shouted, "So! What's the difference between them?!"
Jerry slamd his hand on the table, his voice a mixture of horror and awe. "Of course there's a difference! Kaolan needs to take micro-breaths during his flash combos! But Ren... Ren doesn't need to breathe at all! He only takes a breath once his opponent is completely defeated! This is the first ti we've seen him use this thod of attack! He's getting serious! And the most crucial part is that Fighter Ren's punching power far exceeds Kaolan's! Once he locks onto you like this, it's basically over!"
"Why do you say that?!"
"When a boxer throws a combo, every breath they take is a montary weakness, an opening the opponent can exploit! But Ren doesn't have that weakness! He doesn't need to breathe!"
"As expected of Ren! Go, go, go!"
"Miss Katahara, please be mindful of your surroundings!"
'No need to breathe...'Kanoh Agito thought, his mind racing even as his body scread in protest.'He's a monster... but even without a breath, there are ways... I bear the title of the Fang. I will not fail in the sa place twice!'
Ren wasn't using any of his instant-kill techniques. For fighters he respected, he was willing to play with them a little longer.
Just as he was relentlessly pressing his attack, driving Kanoh Agito back, the Fang saw it. He read the subtle shift in Ren's punching joints, a fractional change that signaled the next strike. He ducked under the blow, pivoted, and locked his arm around Ren's neck, using his montum to slam him backward in a powerful suplex.
"Ren!" a few of the girls cried out.
"Master!"
Kirari and the others, however, remained perfectly calm, their expressions unchanged.
The mont Ren was thrown into the air, his body went limp, but his hand shot out, grabbing Kanoh Agito's wrist. In a contorted yet strangely beautiful posture, he used the hold as a pivot point, spinning his body around in mid-air. He flipped over completely and, with all his montum, drove his heel into the center of Kanoh Agito's back.
Everyone heard a single, dull, wet thud.
Kanoh Agito's eyes went wide, and then he instantly lost consciousness, collapsing to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.
"A beautiful strike! Kanoh's internal organs must be slightly ruptured!" a new, cheerful voice cut through the stunned silence. "Ah~ I really want to study a living Mr. Ren~ Goodness~ How can this man be so strong~ Please, get injured and let study you! Damn it!"
"Eh?! Dr. Ying?! When did you get here?!" the group exclaid, turning to see the unsettlingly cheerful doctor, Hanafusa Haji.
Lucifer and Ichihara Yuko spoke at the sa ti, their charming smiles laced with ice. "Even if he gets hurt, it won't be your turn, you perverted doctor."
"Oh~ Hello everyone~ I've been here for a long ti, but no one seed to notice ~ Per... perverted?!"
"Eh?!"
Back in the ring, Ren landed softly on his feet. Incredibly, Kanoh Agito coughed up a large mouthful of blood and began to sway, trying to force his broken body to stand.
But Ren gave him no such chance. He raised his leg high and brought it down in a vicious, vertical arc, striking Kanoh Agito squarely on the back of his neck.
Kanoh Agito's eyes rolled back into his head. He spat out another spray of fresh blood and slumped limply to the ground, completely still.
Ren stood over him, not a single drop of sweat on his brow. He offered a slight bow to his fallen opponent.
"Agito," he said softly, "you still have a long way to go. You ultimately haven't distinguished between humans and monsters. Let teach you one last thing."
After speaking, he turned and walked away, leaving behind a stadium erupting in thunderous cheers.
The mont Ren left the spot, everyone saw it. Spiderweb-like cracks had appeared on the reinforced concrete where Kanoh Agito had been standing, making the scene all the more explosive.
Katahara Sayaka's mouth hung open for a mont before she leaped to her feet, shouting with unrestrained excitent, "It appeared! One of Ren's twelve Judgnt Techniques! Asura Axe! A terrifying leg technique that can vertically shatter all the bones in the upper body and temporarily displace and stop the internal organs!"
Ichihara Yuko swallowed hard. "Hey... did Sayaka just say... Ren has eleven more moves like that?! This level of power is a bit much!"
Jinx stared blankly at the ring. "He really is an amazing Chef..."
Kirari smiled, a chillingly serene look on her face. "Of the remaining eleven, besides one purely defensive skill, each of the other ten is far more brutal than this one."
Lucifer asked, her own expression unreadable, "Like what?"
Kirari tapped a finger to her chin, thinking for a mont. "For example, there's a finger technique that can crush stone. The real danger, however, is if he stabs you with it. You'd have to ask Dr. Ying why he was so kind as to teach Ren about human acupoints. If one of those is hit, you're beyond saving. He can also tear off any part of the body, but Ren hasn't reached the point where he's willing to kill. And among that pile of skills, he still refuses to use the one that's very similar to the Iron Mountain Lean, because it can directly shatter all of a person's internal organs and bones at once. So, Ren still won't use it."
Kasugano Sora looked at Ichihara Yuko and said quietly, "Sister Yuko... should I say Brother Ren spoils you, or should I say you're lucky to be alive? You're the only one who rebels against him every day..."
Ichihara Yuko's mouth twitched. Then, she suddenly realized sothing and looked around in surprise. "Kirari's gone again?!"
"Eh?!" the others exclaid, looking at the empty spot where the student council president had been standing.
At that mont, Ren was walking back through the corridors, his usual gentle deanor replaced by an unusual seriousness. He was still buzzing with the excitent of the fight.
After walking a few steps, he saw her. Kirari was waiting for him, leaning against the wall.
Before Ren could speak, she pushed off the wall and clung to his arm, a playful smile dancing on her lips. "Let's go. We're leaving tomorrow, so let's go get that grand prize I prepared."
"What grand prize? This is the direction back to our lodging, isn't it?"
It wasn't until they had actually returned to their suite that Kirari let go of his arm and stretched lazily. Her expression was mischievous, her eyes narrowing as she gestured to the immaculately tidy room.
"So," she purred, "how do you like this grand prize?"
Ren looked around, a slow smile spreading across his face. "Very good."
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