Chapter 228: Clear Mind
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 228: Clear Mind
Ivan's iron fist crashing into my face was excruciatingly painful.
It was a rude awakening, in the most literal sense.
I swear, this was the first time I had felt such intense pain since awakening my ki during Golden Week.
"Cough!"
My body shot back like a bullet and slammed into the cage's steel bars, and dark blood rose in my throat.
Thankfully, my teeth seemed to be intact, but the metallic taste of blood filled my mouth.
"Now, what are you going to do, Kim Yoo-Sung?"
Waaaaaah!
With the roar of the crowd at his back, Ivan spoke as he slowly approached.
His steps carried the leisure of the strong.
He must have taken some damage after I'd been wailing on him for a while, but from the outside, I was clearly the one in worse shape.
Hoo- hoo- hoo- hoo-
I took a series of quick, short breaths, trying to hold onto my rapidly fading Yang energy—a side effect of the Ghost Pill—and pushed myself up, grabbing the steel bars for support.
The blow to my jaw must have given me a mild concussion; my vision was blurry.
I forced strength into my trembling legs and managed to get to my feet, but honestly, I felt like I could collapse at any moment.
It seemed I wasn't the only one who thought so. Ivan, standing before me, sneered.
"What's wrong? You're staggering."
Instead of bothering to reply, I checked the Yang energy remaining in my body.
'About a fifth of my usual amount left, maybe?'
Frankly, I was grateful for even that.
Normally, I would have collapsed from exhaustion the moment the pill's effects wore off.
'At this rate, I won't even last a minute.'
The next attack would likely be the last.
'If I'd known this would happen, I would've taken the Ghost Pill later.'
I was filled with belated regret, but it wasn't like I could turn back time and reverse my decision.
Entering a state of resignation, I let the tension leave my body.
Seeing this, Ivan spoke.
"Kim Yoo-Sung, you are the greatest foe I have met in recent memory. Had I not met you, I would have remained mired in boredom until I found a trace of Fuma Kotaro. But thanks to you, I was able to become stronger once again. So, consider it an honor—the fact that you have become nourishment for Ivan Romanov."
Spoken like a character who would be cast as the final boss in a fighting manga, Ivan was disgustingly talkative.
If I were to say, "Did anyone ask?" right now, I could have instantly frozen the heated atmosphere in the club, but I read the room and kept my mouth shut.
I had no desire to provoke him and get hit with an even stronger finishing move.
But contrary to my wishes, Ivan extended both his hands, palms open.
"As a sign of respect, I will end you with the strongest martial art I know."
'Дракон императора'
The Emperor's Dragon.
The last of the five animals symbolizing the king.
It was a hidden ace that Ivan had never shown before.
Seeing the Thunder Energy gathering in his hands, I realized this was no ordinary technique and frantically began to scrape together my remaining ki.
'Move if you don't want to die!'
The Yang energy, which had felt like burnt-out embers just a moment ago, suddenly began to move with vigor in the face of a mortal threat.
Even I was surprised.
Perhaps having all the strength drain from my body due to the Ghost Pill's side effects was a blessing in disguise.
While I was wringing out the ki in my body, Ivan seemed to have finished his preparations. He pulled his hands, now brimming with a massive amount of Thunder Energy, to his waist.
'Crazy bastard!'
I knew that stance.
No, it would be stranger if I didn't.
It was a staple move that always appeared in fighting games.
A Ki Blast, a Wave Blast, or one of those spammable projectiles.
That's what they were usually called.
I never thought I'd see that technique in real life.
Even the crowd surrounding the battle cage seemed to have sensed the immense power emanating from Ivan's hands, falling silent in preemptive fear.
Finally, Ivan looked at me and said:
"This is the end, boy."
The tremendous amount of Thunder Energy gathered in his hands, seemingly mimicking a dragon's breath, became a single cannonball and shot toward me.
My vision was flooded with a blinding light.
The moment I closed my eyes, bracing for the immense pain that was about to come—
A flash of inspiration struck me.
*
They say your life flashes before your eyes when you're about to die.
I never thought I'd be the one to experience it, but faced with Ivan's monstrous attack, even I couldn't help but feel my life was in danger.
That's why I had closed my eyes without thinking.
And as a result, I belatedly understood what Fuma Kotaro had been so insistent about—the windless domain.
'Everything is silent.'
Aside from the 'wind' circulating within my body, my surroundings were deceptively quiet.
Wind, by its nature, blocks even sound.
Therefore, if any foreign object not permitted in the windless domain were to enter, I would notice it in an instant.
It was no different from a drop of water falling onto the calm surface of a lake.
'Clear your mind.'
Fuma Kotaro's advice suddenly surfaced in my thoughts.
And only now did I truly understand what it meant.
The final secret art of Hayate.
"Nagi."
KWAAAAAAA!!
*
The moment Ivan's energy blast struck Kim Yoo-Sung, Fuma Yukika, who had been watching the entire process from the VIP room, shot up from her seat.
"Kim Yoo-Sung!"
"Calm down, senpai."
It was Sasha, sitting beside her, who stopped Yukika from bolting out of the VIP room.
"But Kim Yoo-Sung!"
"My father isn't an idiot. He must have held back. He's not enough of a scumbag to kill someone in an exhibition match like this."
"But a blow like that would be fatal!"
At that moment, Li Meiling, who had been listening quietly, spoke up.
"Don't make such a fuss. Kim Yoo-Sung hasn't lost yet."
"...What?"
Just as Yukika was about to ask what she meant, someone suddenly shot out from the cloud of black smoke.
"What in the!"
It was Kim Yoo-Sung.
She was sure he had taken a direct hit from Ivan's blast, yet he hadn't fallen.
Bewilderment was felt not only by Yukika but by everyone else watching the match.
"How on earth!"
'The Champion' Lucio leaped to his feet.
"Hoh... He is indeed a remarkable young man."
'Dongfang Bubai' Li Senshun belatedly realized why his disciple had bet on him.
"This, too, must be the grace of God."
Even 'The Immortal' William calmly assessed the situation while making the sign of the cross.
In the midst of the pandemonium, the only one maintaining his composure was 'The Black Yaksha' Fuma Kotaro.
"That kid... he managed to learn Nagi in a situation like this."
"Nagi?"
Sasha was the first to show curiosity at his words.
"What do you mean by that?"
"Exactly what it sounds like. In a moment of life and death, Kim Yoo-Sung learned Nagi, the final secret art of Hayate that he couldn't master until now. That's why he can still stand after taking a direct hit from that attack."
"Stop talking in riddles and explain it so other people can understand."
When his own daughter, Fuma Yukika, glared daggers at him, Fuma Kotaro scratched his head and said:
"Simply put, Nagi is 'a technique for finding a path to victory'."
"...A technique for finding a path to victory?"
"Based on a state of extreme calm, it's a technique that finds a way to win no matter how disadvantageous the situation. That's Nagi. The strain on the brain is immense, so it can't be used for long, but if used at the right time, it's a technique that ensures you'll never lose, even if you were facing Ivan's grandfather, not just Ivan."
"...Sounds like some kind of superpower from a shonen manga."
"I suppose it might look that way to someone who doesn't know. But Nagi is a legitimate technique. Not that just anyone can learn it."
Fuma Kotaro crossed his arms and looked down at the still-unfinished fight between Kim Yoo-Sung and Ivan.
"But in his current state, he still has no chance. The final piece of the puzzle is missing."
Hearing this, Li Meiling shrugged and said:
"I don't think you need to worry about that."
"What?"
"Because Kim Yoo-Sung already has the final piece of the puzzle."
She remembered.
The move Kim Yoo-Sung had shown earlier.
'So he didn't neglect his training.'
If that was the case, then all the pieces of the puzzle were already in place.
All that was left was to joyfully await the news of victory.
"You speak in riddles, young lady."
When a clueless Fuma Kotaro said this, Li Meiling smiled faintly.
"I have a connection with Kim Yoo-Sung as well, you see."
"!!"
"!!"
Yukika and Sasha tensed at the sudden appearance of a new rival.
*
Nagi (凪) was definitely a broken technique.
I finally understood why Fuma Kotaro had been so obsessed with me learning it for the past week.
'It feels like a third eye has opened in my head.'
Even now, the 'wind inside my opponent's body,' caught in my domain, was feeding me a constant stream of information.
Ivan's habits, his dominant hand, his next move, how to counter his techniques, and more.
To use a gaming analogy, it was no different from fighting an enemy with a strategy guide open.
I'm not exaggerating; it was practically precognition.
By barely managing to learn Nagi the moment before Ivan's energy blast hit me, I had narrowly returned from the brink of death.
"Impossible! You countered my energy blast in an instant!"
It seemed Ivan was just as speechless at the sight. He was fighting recklessly, a vein popping on his forehead.
It was an act born half out of frustration, but its effect was immediate.
I relentlessly pushed back against the flustered Ivan.
I wasn't as strong as when I had taken the Ghost Pill, but I made up for my lack of power with speed.
After all, I had now reintegrated the two martial arts of Hayate and Jinrai into one.
"Tch! Your attacks have some sting, but it's useless to fight back now!"
He was right.
In this situation, no matter how well I fought, it would inevitably become a battle of attrition.
And if the scenario played out that way, the probability of me losing was 99%.
Therefore—
'I'll put everything into this one blow.'
I decided to deliver a true, final strike.
THUD!!
I stomped down hard with my left foot toward the startled Ivan, and my right foot and fist shot forward simultaneously.
The resulting twist of my waist and my arm, pulled back to its limit, were like a single spear,
one said to be capable of piercing any shield in the world.
"Fierce Tiger Piercing Spear."
The next moment, my fist pierced through Ivan's body.