Ryuugoroshi no Sugosuhibi Chapter 26

Chapter 26: UNLEASHED! RIDE KICK!

With an announcement, only two contestants who drew the first match slip were left on the arena.

Kousuke’s turn, even if the preceding matches were concluded quickly, wouldn’t begin until late afternoon.

Since he could watch the matches from his waiting room, he decided to go back. The tournament staff even had his meals prepared so he had no reason to stay anywhere else.

When he got back to the room, the first match had already began.

The two on stage was a tall man with a “Mana Absorption” gift and a limber individual with the “Greater Agility” gift.

The tall man’s gift allowed him to absorb mana around him, including other people’s when they try to utilize magic. However, to completely nullify another person’s magic, this gift needs to be trained up to at least the 3rd stage. Anything prior would simply reduce the effectiveness of the incoming spells.

The “Greater Agility” gift not only improves the user’s speed and reaction, but also their thought process speed. The 1st stage of this gift improves the physical agility of the user by 5% and they can think 3x faster than a normal person. In the final stages of this gift, the physical improvement jumps to 20% and the user can think 10x faster than a normal person.

The match quickly ended with the agility gift user’s win. He pressured his opponent heavily without using magic so it made his opponent’s gift useless.

In fact, another contributing factor to the agility gift user’s victory was the announcer’s previous divulging of the other contestants’ information.

 

The next set of matches proceeded smoothly and, with the end of the afternoon intermission, Kousuke’s turn approached.

Prior to the break was Borudosu’s match with Ritai, with Ritai as the victor. Borudosu was reckless throughout the match, constantly trying to land full powered blows against Ritai. In response, Ritai ignored Borudosu’s attacks and immediately crushed him.

The equipment Ritai wore was a steel breast plate and a leather glove and shin guard, plated with thin sheets of iron. Seeing how they weren’t even dented despite Borudosu’s onslaught, it was clear that Ritai is a gift user or the equipment’s were enchanted.

 

「Finally, the unveiling of this tournament’s mystery shall begin! Ride One and Shayden, ENTER!」(Announcer)

 

The two appeared onto the stage at the announcer’s call and faced each other.

The crowd was br.i.m.m.i.n.g with excitement. They can finally see the mysterious Ride One in action!

 

「I’ll be no better than a dog who wished to be a wolf if I lose this match. Henceforth, this wolf shall unveil how much of a dog you truly are」(Shayden)

 

With a snap Shayden arrogantly pointed at Kousuke and announced.

His voice didn’t reach the audience, but from his actions the audience knew he was goading Ride One. Many started to cheer for Shayden after this.

Compared to Shayden, Kousuke stayed silent and motioned his right hand in a “Bring IT” fashion.

 

「The fight hasn’t even started and the two are provoking each other already! I’m sure not just these two but the rest of us want this to start, so without further ado!!! Ride versus Shayden, ready… BEGIN!」(Announcer)

 

The first to move at the announcer’s signal was Kousuke.

『Let’s test him a bit with a light punch』(Kousuke)

The light punch of Kousuke’s was only in his perspective. In the eyes of the audience and other contestants, its speed and power was most likely the highest they’ve seen yet.

However, Shayden slightly shifted his body and dodged it. The follow-up kick was gracefully dodged with a back step as well.

 

「Striking at the speed of light, contestant Ride, and the man gracefully dodging them, contestant Shayden! Just how will things develop from here!!」(Announcer)

 

Ignoring the announcer’s sudden outburst, Kousuke continued his a.s.sault. The fruits of his labor, Kousuke was skillfully weaving direct and feinted attacks. But even those were being avoided by Shayden. It was unclear if that was all he could muster in this situation, but even now Shayden has never attacked.

Kousuke felt something was amiss and thought.

 

『Is this his gift of future prediction, his so called “Clairvoyance”?』(Kousuke)

 

This information was also divulged by the announcer.

However, the details of the gift were obscure so Kousuke did not slow down to gather more information.

What he figured out so far was that Shayden was dodging after seeing the incoming attack and was not dodging because he could see the future.

It was evident when Kousuke first attacked since Shayden was in motion the moment AFTER Kousuke took a step forward. He was responding to certain subtle motions, like line of sight, weight shifting, etc. before moving.

Taking the information received from his gift, processing it and responding in accordance to the results shown before him, this explained why Kousuke’s attacks and feints weren’t working.

There was one more crucial detail he found. From the audience and announcer’s perspective, Shayden looked calm and composed, but Kousuke who was closer could clearly see the strained look due to extreme concentration reflected on Shayden’s face.

 

『I’m sure if I go any faster he’ll be unable to dodge.. Let’s find out』(Kousuke)

 

Kousuke experimented with a slight increase in his speed and lo and behold, his punch left a scratch on Shayden’s armor.

Since his hypothesis was proven correct, Kousuke smiled and decided to proceed with his plan.

He stopped his onslaught and leapt away from Shayden. Unable to respond, Shayden could only watch Kousuke leap away.

If Shayden’s gift was a true clairvoyance then he might have been able to counterattack there, but the true nature of his gift was an improvement to his senses and reflexes which made it seem like he can see the future.  He predicted that Kousuke would back away, but could not understand the reason for it. This, in the end, just made him much more tense.

At this juncture, Shayden took this opportunity to gather as much information as possible.

Underneath his illusory mask, Kousuke’s mouth moved. He took an unusual pose, but small b.a.l.l.s of lights were gathering around his right leg.

The announcer did not overlook this.

 

「Light is gathering around Ride’s leg!! Is he about to unleash a big move?!」(Announcer)

 

The gathering light was, in fact, just an illusion and has absolutely zero combat use.

However, Shayden came to the same conclusion as the announcer and plunged toward Kousuke to stop him.

Kousuke leapt into the sky to avoid him. As he reached the peak of his jump, the light gathering around his leg began to shine brilliantly.

The blue b.a.l.l.s of light around his right leg began to swirl around him, making it seem like his move was about to be unleashed. In a daze, the audience was enthralled at the brilliance.

Upon landing, with the fastest speed yet, Kousuke launched a jump kick towards Shayden.

Underneath the illusory mask, Kousuke muttered “Ride Kick”.

Unable to dodge, Shayden cleanly took the kick to his chest.

At that moment, blinding light enveloped the entire arena, followed by a loud explosion and an enormous amount of smoke covered the two. All of this was just Kousuke’s SFX.

This caused the entire audience to become sullenly quiet.

Then suddenly, they saw Shayden fly out of the stage, clearly unconscious.

 

「Me.. MEDICAL TEAM! Confirm Shayden’s condition!」(Announcer)

 

First to snap back, the announcer immediately called to confirm Shayden’s wellbeing.

With the announcer’s shouting the audience also woke up and began to clamor more and more nervously.

With what Kousuke displayed, everyone thought he killed Shayden. Clearly.. He overdid his little “show”.

The medical team rushed over to Shayden. Confirming the presence of breathing and a pulse, the medical team gave the announcer the results.

Hearing them, the announcer’s sigh of relief resounded throughout the arena.

 

「I shall announce the results. Besides some signs of fractures in the ribs, Shayden’s condition is not life threatening! Therefore, the winner of this match is Ride!」(Announcer)

 

The audience went into a huge uproar of cheers and applause.

Everyone finally acknowledged the recommendation Kousuke received and were trembling in excitement.

Kousuke pumped his fist into the air in response to the avid cheering. He decided he’ll go with the Ride Punch in his next match as he walked back to his room.

The following matches proceeded smoothly and the official first round of the tournament ended.

The most memorable match of the day, was without a doubt, Kousuke’s match. There were other interesting matches with the elusive elf, Sylph, or beastmen vs lycanthropists, but the impact of Kousuke’s Ride Kick blew all of those out of the water.

Incidentally, Alice asked what kind of technique Kousuke used when he got back to the inn. When he explained that it was just a simple jump kick with some superficial effects, she rolled her eyes at him.

 

The following day was Kousuke’s 2nd and 3rd matches, but he claimed victory with absolute ease.

His second opponent had the gift “Physique Control” and the third opponent was a dual-wielding high goblin. Compared to the small statured goblins, the high goblin was two meters tall.

The “Physique Control” gift allowed the opponent to manipulate his body movement at will. As the gift is developed, the user is able to ignore the limitations caused by their joints, inertia and even gravity to a great extent. However, this gift doesn’t negate any bodily burdens so the wild, reckless use of it is equivalent to being suicidal.

This opponent attacked Kousuke with little regards to his own safety. On the other hand, as Kousuke observed this, he responded by mimicking, albeit not perfectly, the opponent’s reckless moves. With the match becoming an enticing acrobatic show, the audience were thoroughly enraptured.

The third match against the high goblin, Kousuke effortlessly dodged all of his attacks and when an opening presented itself, Kousuke charged in and threw the high goblin off stage with one hand.

At first glance, the third match was somewhat bland, but it showed that Kousuke was not only fast, but also wielded incredible strength.

 

The next day was the last day of the tournament.

Kousuke’s fourth match was against an Amasera swordsman with the “Simplicity” gift. He feinted with a Ride Kick before shrouding the stage with a smoke screen. While the opponent was blinded, he smashed the swordsman with a fist wrapped in illusion and launched him off stage with a Ride Punch.

The swordsman’s gift was an interesting one where it literally simplified certain actions. One use for it would be to negate the necessary incantations for spells. Unfortunately, there has been no records of anyone fully mastering this gift, so the exact details of it are obscure.

This swordsman did not fully master his gift, but he definitely had some great attainment in its use. Whenever he slashed, certain muscle motions were omitted and he was freely changing his defensive and offensive tempo.【TL: Basically, this swordsman is capable of acting without showing any signs of it, even if the opponent were able to see through to his muscle】

His skills could be considered high, but in front of Kousuke it presented little threat and all his attacks were not dodged, but directly blocked.

With the matches so far, Kousuke quickly became the crowd’s favorite for the championship as he held the trifecta of a warrior: Power to overturn all obstacles, speed to confront any situation, and the necessary steadfastness to endure all oppositions.

 

The Semifinal. The most antic.i.p.ated match of this tournament was about to begin:

Ride vs Ritai.

As both contestants entered the stage, the crowd fell silent, awaiting for the match to begin.

Ritai grinned devilishly as he stared at Kousuke. It couldn’t be helped, he was simply too excited about this match.

 

「The moment we have all been waiting for has arrived! Both the audience and I believe this match will exceed even the finals of this tournament!

I happened to overhear the bet ratio: it is close to 50/50. Though slight, the scale leans more towards Ritai becoming the champion once again!

Ladies and gentlemen of the audience, are you ready! Warriors, are you ready!

With this, I announce the start of the semi-final match, Ride vs Ritai…」(Announcer)

 

The announcer paused briefly as he took in a deep breath, filled with antic.i.p.ation.

 

「3! 2! 1! BEGIN!」(Announcer)

 

The first to move was Kousuke. Ritai stayed composedly in place, just like all his previous matches.

Kousuke’s fist plunged straight towards Ritai’s chest. Ritai immediately raised his arms in a cross-guard fashion. Learning from Borudosu’s match with Ritai, Kousuke did not hold back his punch.

The simple flesh on flesh impact of the punch released an unbelievable shockwave. To these two, that shockwave signaled the true start of the match.

After a brief pause, Kousuke resumed his offense with a flurry of punches. Ritai continued his defensive stance, blocking, dodging and parrying those blows. Under normal circ.u.mstances, even if none of the strikes were decisive, damage would pile up into something noticeable.

However, Ritai’s grinning complexion was unperturbed.

 

「You surprised me. I’m actually feeling a little pain for once」(Ritai)

 

In a serene voice, Ritai spoke indifferently.

 

『Does his gift negate physical based attacks on his body?』(Kousuke)

 

To test this, Kousuke leapt away in attempts to use magic.

Ritai gave no chase and resumed staying in place.

Feeling that a long-ranged attack was unsuitable as Ride One, Kousuke decided to use a little trick to smash some magic into Ritai. Despite being unlike his normal self, Kousuke was too excited to care about having any restraint.

He quickly gripped his right fist and pointed it to the sky. Using his left hand, he gripped over his right fist and slid the left hand down to the elbow to gesture that he’s about to use a special move. In a low voice, he completes the incantation for a fireball and evoked it around his right fist. His fire fist was complete! 【TL: HI ACE!】

He thought it would burn his hand, since it was his first time doing this, but it was just a bit hot instead, like an overheated bath. Contrary to his thoughts, the temperature of the fire was enough to burn people to a crisp, but his tolerance to the elements was simply too high.

 

『Here comes my blazing fist of justice, Burning Ride Punch!』(Kousuke)

【TL: Raw said Irregular Ride Punch.. but Burning sounded better