Chapter 149: I Don’t Feel Like Losing

Normally, if you want to get stronger, you have to grit your teeth and spend a lot of time doing it.

Can you gain strength in a short time by trading it for severe pain?

It doesn’t matter which is harder, which is stronger, or which is right.

What is important is that Mr. Machio has become even stronger.

“【Great Demon Sonic Jab】!”

“Fufu, you’re currently unafraid, and would first try it out for yourself. As I’d come to expect.”

First of all, I fire a series of shockwaves from the left jab, focusing on speed.

And although the shockwave that I shot touched Mr. Machio’s body…

“Good left… but it can’t get through anymore, can it?”

“Heh~”

Hard. You can tell the difference without touching it.

The response to the shockwave is clearly different from before.

It means that the muscles have become harder and denser… but……

“【Great Demon Sonic Flicker】!”

What about attacks on the skin?

The shockwave that hits like a whip and cuts like a blade…

“【Arcane True Zenith Spear Tackle】!!”

However, Mr. Macho rushed into my barrage of fists regardless, pushed forward despite being hit, and tackled by extending both arms from a low posture to catch me.

Moreover, the dashing power is higher than before.

“Nuoo…”

I quickly stepped to the right to avoid it.

A while ago, I had met him head on, but now I involuntarily avoided the incoming tackle from Mr. Macho.

“Hmm, he’s quick. He’ll be a pain to catch, but!? Goa!?”

“【Great Demon Sonic One Two】!”

He’s certainly faster, but still didn’t have the legs to reach me.

I turned around and hit the left and right one-two directly on the face of Mr. Machio, who was full of gaps.

“Heh, even if your recovery is faster, it doesn’t mean that there is no pain, or that the vital points have changed, right?”

“Nu, guh”

“And how long can you stay conscious after continuous hits with punches that exceed the speed of sound?”

“Eh!?”

If he got stronger with damage, I can just stun him.

Mr. Machio’s legs were slightly swaying when his jaw struck by my one-two.

And now that he’s completely defenseless, so I’ll knock it in anyway.

“【Great Demon Sonic Rush】!!!!”

“No, oh, ooooooooh!?”

Consecutive sonic lefts and rights. I kept hitting Machio’s face constantly.

“【Great Demon Sonic Solar Plexus Blow】!!”

“Kuuh!?”

“【Great Demon Sonic Heartbreak Shot】!”

“Gaeh….. eh!?!”

After drawing his attention upward with a series of strikes to the face, his body became wide open… I slammed my fist at the speed of sound into his body, then punch out to the heart, completely stopping Mr. Machio’s movement.

“Fly to the end! 【Great Demon Sonic Smash】!”

“Eeeeeehh!!??”

Any living thing should lose consciousness when struck in the jaw.

With a perfect smash, the best angle, the best timing, and the best force, I launched Mr. Machio, not only his chin, but also his body, to the heavens.

[So fast! So, strong! that Machio, overwhelmed with random hits! This…… this is the Supernova, Earth! The strength of the rising star who finally got serious is beyond words!]

As the host said, just looking at the situation, it would seem like Mr. Machio was blown away hands and feet.

But there was a response, it wasn’t what I imagined.

It was harder than I imagined.

“Certainly… a tremendous rush… at the start of the match, I would have been completely unconscious…. but… I endured it!”

“Tch”

“Go, 【Arcane True Zenith Flying Body Attack】!!”

Even though he was blown into the air, he immediately readied himself, and Mr. Machio attacked while his body was falling upon me.

Even so, it’s also a slow attack for me.

Lightly backstep to avoid…… but……

“Whoa!?”

The moment Mr. Machio fell to the ground, a huge crack and hole was created in the center of the arena with a powerful ground tremor.

It was so destructive that a little cold sweat ran down my cheeks.

[This is astonishing! Mr. Machio should have suffered a lot of damage, but he recovered so soon and then counterattacked! Good thing Earth dodged. Such ridiculous power! 」

Certainly, it would be dangerous if I got hit straight.

However, the problem for me was that I could not render Mr. Machio unconscious with the rush just now, rather than the attack power of Mr. Machio’s counterattack.

“It’s not like he’s tougher or anything…”

All the same he can take a lot of punishment. It makes me want to doubt that he’s the same person.

『Tis certainly an attack with a certain swiftness… after all, I suppose he can endure the attacks he knows are coming.』

Just then, when Tre’ainar saw Mr. Machio endure my rush, he muttered.

『Perhaps, this man has rarely evaded or defended attacks in his life. Tis not so much his resilience… I believe he has mastered the timing of his …… resolve.』

「Timing of his resolve?」

『To respond at the instant an attack lands. He fiercely resolves himself to “absolutely stay conscious”, and though he appears to clench his teeth… tis merely a doctrine of willpower, that is to say, mentality… tis certainly that which sustains his body.』

Prepare and endure the moment of attack. Such a mentality…. while thinking, somehow I was convinced.

Be prepared to endure?

That’s the way I’ve trained so far, like in my fistfight with Mr. Aka.

Not toughness, but determination.

Moreover, if Mr. Machio had been fighting such battles all his life, it’s probably right.

「Then… how do I knock Mr. Machio unconscious…」

『First is to kill him. Gouda, the Titan God, was defeated by the hand of ‘your father’ with a single blow so powerful that regeneration and recovery were no match for it, leaving not a speck of dust in its wake. The technique that can be achieved that with your attack is…』

The only technique that has that much destructive power is… the 【Great Demon Spiral】. But…… that would…

『Otherwise, tis a matter of shifting the moment when the opponent is prepared… where the opponent’s consciousness is defenseless… an attack when he is neither vigilant nor conscious… an attack that pierces the blind spot of thought.』

「The blind spot of thought?」

『Yes. After all, such resolution is merely a matter of the mind and the brain. Then, the body cannot react to what the brain does not anticipate.』

When I heard Tre’ainar’s words, one punch came to my mind.

An attack that pierces the blind spot of thought.

In other words, an invisible punch.

The【Great Demon Phantom Punch】.

The problem is that Mr. Machio’s attacks are all big and rough.

However, on the contrary, the timing, angle, and speed of all attacks are different every time, making them difficult to counter.

If I fail, I will suffer great damage.

But mysteriously, I wasn’t scared.

「I wonder why. I don’t feel like I’m going to fail. I mean… I don’t feel like losing.」

Confidence filled me.

Probably because I had already succeeded once in an actual battle before this match.

The match against Wacha was not in vain.

Because of that, I’m confident enough to take on the challenge.

Besides……

「If my head had been clearer and… if I stay focused… I might have figured out… something.」

『Child?』

「Super Magic Recovery… surprisingly, also has many disadvantages.」

Even Tre’ainar was astonished by Mr. Machio’s ability. Is that his skill?

But even with that skill, I now saw more of a weakness than a threat.

「Maybe this too… if it weren’t for my days with you, I wouldn’t have thought so…」

『Is that so…』

“I’ll show you! Medicine, skills, talent… a simple mediocre ass kicking!”

And I “entered.’

With the breakthrough, into the zone state.

Author’s Note

Everyone, let’s cheer you on today.

Not for me, but for men who live in elliptical spheres, okay?