Chapter 518: Sibling Match Part 2

After the first exchange of blows Amy once again charged in but this time around she tried to use precise quick strikes as she darted in and out of Joshua's reach. Her speed and flexibility made this possible, but it wasn't really getting her anywhere. Although the force of all of her punches were strong enough to shake the arena whenever they were blocked by Joshua or kick up gust of wind whenever he avoided them, they weren't strong enough to break through his aura. Her soul beast abilities did allow her to ignore an opponent's armor for the most part, but Joshua's aura didn't work like armor. Instead it defused her own aura letting very little of the force from her powerful blows get through.

Joshua was keeping up with her movements and would block the blows that didn't have high concentration of aura in them while avoiding the ones with enough aura built up to actually hurt him even with his aura cloak on. Joshua could have used his aura hardening right away so that he could completely ignore such attacks all together, but that would slow his movements and he wouldn't have a chance of catching someone like Amy if he did such a thing. Even now he was constantly on the defensive with her speed growing as the match went on. It was clear that she had a drastic advantage in speed due to her soul beast and she knew exactly how to use it.

For a while it seemed like they were both testing each other out or if anything it looked almost as if Joshua was an instructor that was just allowing Amy to let lose as he stayed on the defensive. Eventually Amy decided to leave a small opening hoping to get Joshua to go for it. She tensed her muscles in preparation to barely avoid his incoming attack and deliver a powerful blow in return while he was off balance. For a moment it seemed like her plan was going to work, but she didn't expect for Joshua to go on the assault with such a devastating strike right away.

An aura blast was surging around Joshua's fist as he struck from above in a large swing that was aimed directly for Amy's shoulder that was currently out of position. Joshua wasn't a fool, he knew that Amy was baiting him into going on the attack at that moment. The only reason Joshua would really fall into a trap was if he had a way to completely render the trap useless. Just as Amy was getting ready to twist around and avoid the blow putting her in a position to the side of Joshua where she could take advantage she was suddenly hit with a wave of pressure from Joshua flaring his aura. The sudden surge caused her body to freeze up for a fraction of a second, but that was enough to force Amy to flash step out of the way as Joshua fist nearly landed.

Although Amy was able to avoid the blow she was still knocked back by the surge of aura that came from Joshua's fist slamming into the ground. The blow was strong enough create a large crater and fracture a large portion of the arena. Amy had to wait for the dust to clear knowing full well that she wouldn't be able to see in such an environment while Joshua would have no trouble finding her with his aura sense. She was annoyed that her brother seemed to be a step ahead in his planning, but she realized he wasn't going to come at her with overly measured strikes like she had been expecting. If she left an opening then he'd go for it with every intention of ending the match, but he wouldn't put himself in a bad position himself afterward. Even if he hadn't used his aura to pressure her and get her to back off the force of that blow slamming into the ground nearby would be more than enough to knock her away.

Amy got into a crouching position as she prepared to charge in once more. It was clear that she wasn't going to be able to bait the more experienced fighter and was going to have to create an opening to do some real damage through force. Her entire body started glowing faintly with inner aura as she prepared to go all out. She couldn't create a cloak like Joshua but as a martial artist she could use aura to strengthen her body for brief periods of time along with her attacks. The moment the dust cloud disappeared and Amy had a good line of sight on her brother she charged in once more. This time around she charged a powerful blow with her fist, but when her brother raised his hand to knock aside the strike she shot out her other hand catching his arm and used his bigger frame to swing around him to the side attempting to strike him in the neck.

Joshua realized what Amy was going for and tilted his head forward so that her strike would hit his now hunched up shoulder instead of his neck. Even if he had his aura cloak a powerful blow to the neck from someone with Amy's abilities could easily injure his spine and end the match. A blow to the shoulder however was something that aura regeneration could have fully healed in less than a minute. Joshua concentrated on the aura around the spot that Amy's attack was about to land. That portion of his aura cloak was slightly strengthened without having to use aura hardening and it cushioned the impact of the blow. The strike sent Joshua tumbling to the side, but he quickly popped back up with a slight bruise to the shoulder that was healing at a visible rate.

Amy was already charging in again attempting to press her advantage as she used a flash step to appear directly in front of Joshua and was preparing to unleash another similar strike to the last one. This time around she was aiming for Joshua's chin trying to hit him hard enough to knock him out, but Joshua wasn't going to continue to let her set the pace of the fight. This time around he covered his own hand with even more aura as he caught the incoming fist and held his ground as the floor beneath him cracked from the force of her punch. Joshua could feel his hand stinging from catching such a powerful blow even with aura usage.

Before Amy could try to back off Joshua leaned forward quickly catching one of her feet with his own and making sure she couldn't just easily leap away to keep up her in and out fighting style. It was a fighting style that he hadn't ever used against her in a fight before since he never really had to deal with all of her skills, but it was the best way to force her into trying to out power him with her quick aura enhanced strikes. Amy was surprised by this, she tried to back away, but not only did Joshua have her fist held in his hand, but also had her foot trapped beneath his own. The force he used to stomp her foot into the arena floor was strong enough to make her grimace while also digging into the ground. In this position Amy would have a hard time utilizing her reflexes and that was her greatest strength.

Joshua didn't stop his aggressive response to Amy's charge in as he prepared to pull her forward towards him. Joshua was going to slam into her with his free shoulder which would knock the air out of her lungs as if she was hit by a truck under the current circumstances, but Amy took notice of what he was doing and placed her free foot on top of Joshua's thigh so that she could push away if he tried to pull her in. She then coated her free arm in aura once more and prepared slam her elbow down on Joshua's arm in an attempt to break his hold. Joshua knew that with the force behind the blow it could end up fracturing his arm if he wasn't careful and instantly released the hand he was currently holding.

Amy grinned thinking she had forced Joshua to back off, but when she felt his aura surge forward once more she saw that instead of dodging her downward strike Joshua was bringing up his free knee in response. The collision between Joshua's aura clad knee and Amy's aura charged elbow was powerful enough to shake the entire arena as a loud cracking sound followed the initial collision. Amy had to hold back the urge to groan in pain as she could feel the pain in her arm as several of the bones cracked from the force of the collision. The only reason they hadn't completely broke was her aura holding them together and slowly healing them.

Joshua didn't come from the collision free of injuries either as he tentatively placed his foot down making sure not to put too much pressure on the leg right away. His aura was already quickly healing any injury that would have lingered and he could feel that he'd be back in top shape in a matter of seconds. His shoulder injury from earlier had already healed and it was a worse injury then the one he had just suffered. After all his aura had helped protect from most of the force of the exchange of blows. Joshua was preparing to go in for another attack while Amy would struggle to use her injured arm, but she seemed smart enough to avoid that situation as she used a skill with an open palm to knock Joshua backwards. The skill didn't injure him at all, but it did cause him to fall back and free up Amy so that she could move around again.

Before Amy could try to create any more space between them with her speed Joshua focused aura into his uninjured leg and kicked off the ground surging directly back towards her. She flash stepped away, but Joshua wasn't going to give her the chance to prolong the match as he blinked directly in front of her. She realized that she wasn't going to be able to escape the incoming attack with an injured arm and no movement skills available to get away so she decided to return the favor with an all in attack of her own. Joshua could see with his aura sense that all of the aura within Amy's body was concentrating on her right arm which was uninjured. It surged into her fist as she shouted and punched directly at Joshua's chest.

Not wanting to stall out the match and lose the chance Joshua concentrated on improving his aura defenses where her punch was going to land as he reached out for his sister preparing to put her in a hold she wouldn't be able to escape from once he got the chance. Once her fist landed on his armored chest Joshua could feel her soul beast ability taking effect as the force of the blow completely ignored his armor and was diving straight into his body. His aura dispersed half of the force on its own even redirected most of the rest since Joshua was concentrating on defending the spot where her attack landed, but the remaining force was still enough to rattle Joshua's insides for a moment causing him a ton of pain.

While the punch was landing Joshua grabbed hold of his sisters shoulders and pulled her forward as he added extra pressure on her injured arm as he kicked her legs from under her. He slammed her into the ground face first as he put his knee in her back and had her good arm restrained. He twisted it ready to break it any moment if his little sister didn't surrender. She grimaced in pain for a moment and glared at him for getting the better of her once again, but she eventually stopped struggling and surrendered. With that the match came to an end. Joshua smiled as they both vanished from the arena, he got to keep being her goal for a while longer.