The Lion King's Roar (4)
The Lion King's roar signaled the true beginning of the brawl. Yet Isaac swung his fist at the Lion King—a being no mere human could possibly oppose—as if it were the most natural thing in the world. That was all. A crude, unrefined punch with not a trace of refined technique. To those who had spent their lives honing martial arts, it might have looked lacking. And yet it was strong. Overwhelming power that needed no technique whatsoever.
But unlike that first moment of complete carelessness, this power could no longer push back the Lion King, who had now steadied his resolve. Planting his legs firmly into the ground like a towering mountain, the Lion King could not hold back his laughter.
'Yes... it's exactly like back then!!'
The punch that shook him to his very bones, the consciousness that felt like it might fly away at any moment—everything was identical to that time. To the Lion King, it was an irreplaceable memory.
'However, I have already seen the answer.'
That didn't mean the Lion King was simply reminiscing. Far from it. While taking Isaac's attack head-on, he read his opponent's openings with the innate instinct he was born with.
"Hup!!"
He raised both arms like a solid shield and burned with fighting spirit. The two legs that had been planted like a mountain finally moved. He charged forward with his guard up, like a wild boar ramming its target.
"Kgh...?!"
The absurd brute strength made Isaac's body lose balance and stagger. A desperate charge that ignored even pain. It was a ridiculous impact, as if an entire mountain had slammed into him.
And the Lion King was not foolish enough to miss the opportunity he had seized. He raised his fist high and brought it down like a war hammer.
But Isaac was not one to be taken down so easily.
'He twisted his body in that instant to avoid a vital point!'
The blow had been aimed precisely at the head. It carried enough force to shatter a skull in one strike. Yet in that brief window, Isaac had twisted away. He avoided a direct hit to the head, but sacrificed his shoulder instead.
"Don't think you've already won."
"?!"
The Lion King instinctively guarded his opposite shoulder. He had assumed that after taking a full-power strike, it would be completely ruined. That judgment became his mistake.
Isaac moved the very shoulder that had absorbed the full force and counterattacked. Caught off guard by the immediate retaliation, the Lion King's reaction was delayed. The fist whipped around like a lash and struck the Lion King's jaw with perfect accuracy.
Excellent. Truly excellent. This human was the real deal!
Objectively, the situation was not good. Even after taking a full-power blow, Isaac could still move his shoulder. On the other hand, the Lion King was still feeling the lingering effects of the jaw strike. Yet the corners of the Lion King's mouth were slowly curling upward without him realizing it.
A real fight—one worthy of the word—had ignited a blazing fire in the Lion King's chest for the first time in ages.
"It's been sixty years since I last felt this kind of exhilaration."
Their inborn natures were simply different. To the Lion King, humans were nothing more than fleeting creatures with short lifespans. And yet right now, such a human was daring to oppose him with nothing but his fists.
Just how much had he trained? What kind of burden was he carrying?
When he thought about it, he simply couldn't hold back. He wanted to feel more. He wanted to understand what this human before him carried, what he had devoted himself to.
For that reason, the Lion King lowered his guard.
Isaac, refusing to be outdone, lowered his own guard as well.
"What exactly are you carrying?"
"......"
"Is it family? Or your own kind?"
"So that's what you're carrying, huh."
Struck right in his sore spot, the Lion King clenched his fist instead of answering. There was no need for any more words.
Both men's fists struck each other's faces at the exact same moment. A slugfest with no guards whatsoever. For the first time, blood flowed from Isaac's mouth. He was feeling the pain that intensely.
But Isaac did not retreat. Instead, he swung his fists with enough force to overwhelm the Lion King. The Lion King refused to yield either. Having abandoned defense entirely, he took every blow with his whole body and swung his own fists at Isaac in return.
Countless invisible strikes hammered into each other.
"Kgh?!"
The Lion King was the one who finally lowered the curtain on the seemingly endless barrage. He grabbed Isaac's shoulder in a vice grip and drove his knee upward.
Unable to withstand the monstrous strength, Isaac was lifted off the ground.
'No—he used my own power to break free from the hold!'
The guard had no strength behind it just now. The Lion King had planned to pin him down and hammer him with knees until he died. Instead, Isaac had used the Lion King's own force to escape the restraint. He truly fought like a god of war.
"All this time, I've been waiting for a warrior like you!!"
Ever since that day he failed to protect her, up until this very moment. He had been waiting for a human like her—one who resembled her so closely.
The Lion King did not hide his joy as he kicked off the ground and leaped toward Isaac, who was floating in the air. There was no foothold in the sky, so he judged it would be easy to subdue him. But that was a miscalculation.
Isaac instead used the incoming Lion King as a stepping stone and leaped even higher. In that brief moment, he regained his stance and began exchanging blows with the Lion King in midair.
They had long since abandoned defense—the pinnacle of pure fighting spirit. In a battle of this level, defense was meaningless anyway. You had to pierce through mountain-like defenses to deliver impact. Only then would the opponent eventually run out of strength, be pushed back, and lose. No one here wanted such a boring conclusion.
"There's no way this is the end!!"
Even after their time in the air ended and they returned to the ground, the exchange of blows showed no sign of stopping. Every time their fists collided, the earth split open. Every clash of their kicks sent winds howling through the sky. Their battle was nothing short of a catastrophe.
A look of pure ecstasy appeared on the Lion King's face. It was the joy of fighting for the first time in ages, but at the same time, it was also the relief of finally being able to be freed.
Even while staggering from the impacts, the Lion King forced his body to move. His relentless charges showed no sign of slowing down.
At least until Isaac opened his mouth.
"You're planning to die, aren't you?"
It was like someone had dumped cold water on him. The blazing flames of fighting spirit were extinguished in an instant. The Lion King felt as if his heart had been pierced.
His true feelings, which he had kept hidden all this time, had been seen through.
"...How did you know?"
"Didn't I tell you? Men speak with their fists."
"......"
"While exchanging blows with you, I felt it clearly, Lion King."
The Lion King fell silent. He couldn't say anything. Part of him had perhaps wished for someone to notice, but now that the moment had arrived, he found himself unable to speak.
How ridiculous.
"Are you pitying me?"
"Yes."
"How foolish. I am the Lion King who has slaughtered countless humans. And yet you, a fellow human..."
"If you were truly a monster who enjoyed slaughter, the humans at Nemea Fortress would have been wiped out long ago."
The destructive power of their fight was enough to change the very terrain. With that kind of strength, was it really possible that the Lion King couldn't conquer a single fortress? Isaac was saying that was obviously impossible.
"The result will not change."
"......"
"I have already taken countless lives with these hands. I have no intention of turning away from that sin. I will carry it all."
"With that life of yours?"
The Lion King nodded heavily. He would never avoid it. He would never hide. Whether he wanted to or not, he would carry every one of his sins to the end. By being killed by a hero.
The will that had wavered for a moment hardened once more. Sensing this, Isaac closed his mouth as well.
At last, the Lion King and Isaac clashed again. A struggle that left nothing in reserve, a fight to the very end.
They struck. They swept through like a storm. They did not dodge. They took everything head-on. An endless close-quarters battle. Their momentum did not falter. Instead, it burned even hotter.
Their legs staggered. Yet they grit their teeth and counterattacked. They did not stop. They could not stop. They struck. They shattered. They countered. They closed in. They kicked. They broke. A battle where neither gave even an inch.
The struggle that had seemed like it would never end finally began to show its conclusion.
In a vision blurred by sweat and blood, it was Isaac who first showed signs of reaching his limit. Blood flowed from his mouth. Had he reached his limit? No. It wasn't that.
He took a stance. A crude, unrefined posture far removed from any martial art. Yet simply by clenching his fist, the very heavens began to tremble.
The Lion King instinctively understood what it meant.
全心全力 — Whole heart, whole strength.
The meaning was clear. Let us see the end of this fight.
The Lion King gladly accepted. He even felt gratitude toward Isaac. To be given such a magnificent ending.
With joy and gratitude in his heart, the Lion King spoke from the bottom of his soul.
"Thank you, hero."
Strangely enough, he was thinking of the past. Of the meeting with her that had come like a miracle sixty years ago. Could he meet her again? No, that was impossible. His end was hell itself.
'If I have any lingering regret... I wanted to see her one last time.'
But the Lion King soon shook his head, casting the thought aside. Any further sentiment was meaningless. All that remained was to see the end of this battle.
Yes. A monster must die by the hand of a hero.
He set down all his lingering regrets and endless remorse, if only for this moment. And simply gave it his all.