Chapter 45: Vajra Yaksha
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 45: Vajra Yaksha
The pain was momentary.
The instant something that had been boiling inside my body was completely unleashed, I felt a strange sensation.
Was it like a third eye had opened?
A flood of information I couldn't perceive just moments ago poured into my brain through my expanded senses and vision.
Was this the 'unused power' Fuma-senpai had mentioned?
I clenched and unclenched my orange-glowing fists, checking my body's overall condition.
I felt like I could do anything right now.
As if noticing this dramatic change in me, Ivan, who stood opposite, muttered with amusement.
"Is this what they call the mystery of the East? To think a mere fledgling who knows nothing could handle this much Ki just by taking one little pill."
I slowly approached Ivan, who was covered in scrapes from his fight with Fuma-senpai.
"Ivan Romanov, I don't know why you took a liking to me. And frankly, I don't care to know. But if there's one thing that became certain after seeing you lay a hand on your own daughter…"
I pointed a finger at his face and declared.
"It's the fact that you're an irredeemable villain."
Becoming the disciple of a man like this would lead to nothing great.
Especially not in the world of a shonen manga that emphasizes friendship, effort, and victory.
"Heh, heheh…"
But upon hearing my words, Ivan's shoulders shook as if he'd heard a funny joke, and he let out a dry laugh.
"Khahahahahahahahaha!"
Soon, he was clutching his stomach, roaring with laughter like a madman.
"You make such a serious face just to call me a villain? How cliché! It couldn't be more cliché!"
After saying that, his expression suddenly turned serious as he stared at me.
"Kid. Words like that are just excuses for the weak. The strong can do whatever they want. This world has operated on the principle of the strong preying on the weak for a very, very long time."
Ivan growled like a beast.
"It is the natural order and law of the world for the weak to have all their rights and freedoms taken by the strong. So, if you truly want to persuade me, you only need to do one thing."
Ivan pointed to himself as he spoke.
"Defeat me, right here, right now."
*
'What in the world is happening?'
Fuma Yukika was inwardly stunned by the Ghost Pill's effectiveness, which far exceeded her expectations.
'Was it always this much of a cheat item?' The thought crossed her mind automatically.
Originally, the Ghost Pill worked by stimulating the latent True Ki within the body to momentarily amplify the total amount of Ki one could use.
Because it literally sucked out the Ki down to the marrow, the user would be left with less stamina than an ordinary person for several days after the pill's effects wore off. However, it could serve as a hidden card in a crisis, so it was an elixir that every ninja of the Fuma clan carried with them.
But when Kim Yoo-Sung took this elixir, it produced a completely unexpected effect.
It was because seventeen years' worth of his latent Extreme Yang True Ki had erupted with tremendous force, like Mentos dropped in a Coke.
Checking with her Spiritual Eyes just in case, she saw that all the Ki pathways in Kim Yoo-Sung's body had been cleared at once, as if he had undergone a procedure like Pushing Palace and Passing Acupoints.
Despite that, an immense amount of True Ki that had yet to find a place to go was shimmering off Kim Yoo-Sung's entire body like a heat haze.
'As he is now, Kim Yoo-Sung might actually be able to defeat Ivan.'
The Ghost Pill's effect lasted for about five minutes.
It seemed absurdly short, but in the world of masters, that was more than enough time to settle a fight.
Fuma Yukika swallowed dryly as the battle of the century was about to begin right before her eyes.
*
The first one to move was Kim Yoo-Sung.
His movements were incomparably lighter than before.
His legs, wreathed in an orange glow, looked as if they were on fire.
He kicked off the ground, launching a high kick toward Ivan's solid torso.
BOOM!!!
Ivan countered with a high kick of his own, but when their legs clashed in mid-air, it was Ivan's, surprisingly, that was sent reeling.
'What is this power...!'
Ivan's eyes widened.
It was an absurd amount of strength.
Ivan was clearly superior in terms of muscle mass and weight class, and just moments ago, Kim Yoo-Sung's physical abilities had been about equal to or slightly less than his own.
But now, the power balance had not just been reversed; he was being completely overwhelmed.
His leg knocked back, he immediately corrected his posture and changed his form.
'Lev imperatora.'
The Emperor's Lion.
Of the five martial arts forms he had taught himself, this one possessed the greatest killing power.
Ivan shaped his hands into claws.
He was recreating the claws of a lion, backed by his powerful grip strength.
"Hup!"
Compared to that ridiculously immense power, his opponent's speed was relatively lacking. He would exploit that.
With that thought, Ivan kicked off the ground and swung both hands at a speed Kim Yoo-Sung couldn't possibly react to.
Crunch!
'What!'
But in the end, the one who was injured was not Kim Yoo-Sung, but Ivan's fingers.
A compound fracture, most likely.
It was clearly human flesh, yet Kim Yoo-Sung's skin was as hard as diamond.
It seemed to be a phenomenon caused by the massive amount of Yang energy shimmering off his skin like a heat haze.
While he was frozen in shock, Kim Yoo-Sung slammed his forehead into Ivan's face.
"Kuhak!"
His nose bone broke, and blood splattered.
Having misjudged, he hastily tried to retreat, but Kim Yoo-Sung was no fool to let an enemy who had entered his range simply leave.
"Grit your teeth."
If you don't want them knocked out.
"Uwooooooooh!!"
A punch rush began with a kiai that seemed to erupt from the depths of his lungs.
Unable to properly form a fist due to his fractured fingers, Ivan was left defenseless as he was hammered by the insane barrage of blows, a belated regret washing over him.
'Da-mn it! If only I had used my Ki from the start!'
He had been too careless.
If he had just fought seriously from the beginning, he wouldn't be losing in such a pathetic way.
And then, a chill ran down his spine at his own thought.
'Losing? Me? Not to my lifelong rival, Fuma Kotaro, but to a mere high school student?'
There was no greater humiliation.
As his consciousness faded under the relentless assault, Ivan gritted his teeth.
If you don't have teeth, use your gums. If he couldn't make a fist, he would use the edge of his hand.
He summoned blue martial Ki from both hands.
'Grifon imperatora.'
The Emperor's Griffin.
A mythical beast that symbolized the king, a fusion of the lion, king of the land, and the eagle, king of the sky.
He swung both arms with all his might.
Whap!
But Kim Yoo-Sung, whose senses were sharpened by the Ki radiating from his entire body, parried the desperate attack with absurd ease.
As Ivan, his body covered in bruises from the endless punch rush, glared at him with venomous eyes, Kim Yoo-Sung spoke with a cold gaze.
"The fight is over."
He tightened his grip, crushing the bones in Ivan's wrists.
"Kraaaaaaaahk!"
The immense pain from having the bones in both arms shattered sent Ivan screaming to the ground.
"Me! I! Ivan, the strongest in the world! To a mere Japanese high school student!"
As he writhed on the ground, shouting in a voice filled with rage, Kim Yoo-Sung kicked him in the jaw to put the man out of his misery and said:
"I'm Korean."
*
One of the legendary Seven Fist Masters!
The head of the mega-corporation Easter Egg Company and the champion of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd GOF tournaments, the God of Destruction, Ivan!
The aftermath of his humiliating defeat sent massive shockwaves through the underworld!
The fall of a living legend and the equally momentous arrival of a new star (新星)!
The fact that he was a high school student, only seventeen years old, made it an even hotter topic!
Those who saw the footage of the bloody battle in Ueno Park, secretly filmed and uploaded by someone, struggled to come up with a fitting moniker for the one who had defeated a legend to become a new one!
A body as hard as diamond!
Monstrous strength rivaling that of the mythological Heracles!
The fighting spirit of a Yaksha, yet the mercy to not take the life of his enemy, Ivan!
People, knowing that the God of Destruction Ivan had mistaken him for the Black Yaksha, gave Kim Yoo-Sung a new moniker: the Vajra Yaksha (金剛夜叉)!
Even if his monstrous combat prowess was just a one-time fluke!
The world's masters, unaware of this fact, began to pay close attention to the monstrous Japanese high school student who had defeated one of the underworld's giants, the God of Destruction Ivan, in his very first appearance!
However, the subject of all these rumors, Kim Yoo-Sung himself, had no way of knowing the gazes now fixed upon him!
Because he was just a perfectly ordinary high school student... who just happened to be a little more muscular than others!