Chapter 135 - 131 : The Culprit

Despite seeing the approaching hulky figure of First Mu [1] Sato didn't get anxious or scared but instead dashed at him. As they say, the best defense is offense. Sato didn't have any plans on waiting for First Mu to approach him as that would make him stay on the defensive during the battle. It isn't bad, true, but considering that they were a few other guys on standby, Sato wanted to end this quickly.

When he was close to Sato, First Mu punched out with his right fist at a speed much more than the last one. Even so, Sato still reacted timely to the attack and hence tilted his head to the side, before countering with his right fist.

'You dare to use the same trick on me?!' First Mu's ferocious look seemed to transmit to Sato.

Instead of trying to block the strike like last time or even dodging it, First Mu used his last hand to punch at Sato from another angle, separate from Sato's approaching fist. He was going in for a blow for blow.

It might seem like his idea was dumb but First Mu had actually thought it out well. He believed that his physique could handle the force behind Sato's punch while Sato couldn't handle his. The reason was simple; Sato looked weak. Comparing the two would be like comparing a muscly giant to an average human adult; the difference was as clear as day and night. Sato's physique didn't stand a chance against his. As for the kick earlier that had made him bleed, First Mu believed that it was so only because Sato had caught him off guard and attacked his face. Unlike his face, his body was tough, a lot tougher than normal people.

'Let's see how you handle this.' Both First Mu and the young man watching, thought the exact same thing.

'If I retreat, he would force me back on the defensive. If I attack, I would get hit.' Sato thought.

Sato wanted to end this battle quickly in order to face the others and being on the defensive wouldn't help. This was because the others watching could get bored and interfere in the fight, after all, they never signed any official agreement not to do so. Yato and Seiichi wouldn't be able to handle 6 people (counting the young man) on their own. In the event that such happens, they would undoubtedly lose and would only be able to escape but the chances of succeeding would be very low. So facing the strike head on was Sato's only option because at such a distance, dodging would be easier said than done and it would affect Sato's attack. With a clear chance in front of him, Sato didn't want to lose it so soon.

'In that case...'

Sato clenched his left hand, moving it towards First Mu's left fist, with his two fingers: index and middle fingers, pointed outwards at First Mu's left wrist.

As First Mu's fist approached Sato with only a few centimetres between it and Sato, Sato fingers landed on First Mu's wrist but because the force propelling them was too little, First Mu's fist still landed on Sato. However, unlike what First Mu had expected, Sato only took a step backwards before standing still and firm against the attack.

'How?!'

Before First Mu could process the development that had just occurred, he felt a stifling feeling on his chest.

*Bang*

At the same time that First Mu's fist landed, Sato's punch also hit First Mu. But unlike what he had expected yet again, the force behind Sato's strike was no joke. It landed squarely on his chest, sending him staggering 5 steps backwards, almost falling on the ground.

Before First Mu could regain his composure both from the punch and the shock, Sato had appeared in front of him, sending a kick right at his face.

*Bang*

This time, it was a whole lot painful than the last strike Sato landed on his face. First Mu was sent flying backwards by 3 metres before crashing down heavily. With the effects of both the punch and the kick, Sato had successfully taken down the giant.

*Clap* *Clap* *Clap*

"Beautiful! Truly beautiful." The young man said as he walked over.

"I never ever thought I would see someone who isn't a grandmaster take down Little Mu that quickly. Or are you one?" The young man smiled at Sato.

In martial arts, there were students, masters and grandmasters. The categorization was a lot more complicated than these but this was the simplified edition. Since VR games mostly focus on one's abilities in real life, martial arts and hand-to-hand combat techniques became a necessity for gamers. So much so that, most of the players who are Expert class and above, have learnt a free or more martial arts moves. It is said that most of the Monster class and above experts are grandmasters. As for who a grandmaster was, this was someone at the pinnacle of martial arts and hand-to-hand combat. They were hailed as a one-man army, a hundred-in-one being, signifying that to these guys, numbers didn't matter. Size too didn't matter as no matter how big an opponent they faced, they would come out victorious. Even a giant such as First Mu could be taken down by these guys in one move and the legendary ones could even stop him from attacking with just a stare.

"Kidding. You're too young to be one." The young man grinned.

Almost all of the well known martial art grandmasters were above the age of 50 and even the prodigies were at least above 30; Sato was just 21 years old and so the young man didn't expect him to be a grandmaster.

"Do you want to retaliate on behalf of your companion?" Sato asked as he glanced at him.

"Boss!" Second Mu yelled.

The young man lifted his left hand up, signifying Second My to be quiet.

"You can't handle this one. In fact, no one else but me can. Well, maybe Little Sai can but it's just barely."

Little Sai was the man with a golden tongue who had suggested that the young man leave Sato's gang to a group of 3 from their side.

"That's..." Second My was surprised. Little Sai was the strongest of them all, second only to the boss. For him to say that the second strongest only had a small chance of coming out victorious against Sato, it proved to show that Sato was really strong.

"Why do you think so highly of me?" Sato smiled playfully at him.

"Huh? Don't group me with the rest. I'm a pro so I know what you did. Back then, the only reason that you were able to survive Little Mu's punch was because you mitigated a majority of the force with your fingers. Am I right? But your movements weren't perfect and fluid so it should have still hurt you a bit."

Sato frowned after seeing that the man had guessed it. Back then, the only reason he could stand against First Mu's fist was because he had mitigated the force with his finger strike. The assault with his fingers wasn't to direct First Mu's fist elsewhere but to intercept the force in it and attenuate the punch. It was successful but not so perfect, that was why Sato had taken a step backwards. If he hadn't done that, Sato would have been sent flying with at least 3 broken ribs.

'It seems he didn't notice it.' Staring at the young man, Sato sighed internally.

Sato guessed that that was all the young man knew and he felt safe because of that. In actuality, Sato had broken his left middle finger and also gotten a slight ache in his muscle because he didn't use the skill well. If the young man knew this, he might target his left arm once they begin fighting.

Seeing the young man stopping a few steps away from him, Sato readied himself for a fight.

"The fact that you can use that skill goes to show that you must have a backer and not one I can mess with. So, I apologise dearly for any problem we have caused." The young man bowed at Sato.

"..." Sato, Yato and Seiichi were shocked.

"Boss!" Everyone on the enemy team were stunned.

"Shut up and apologize." The young man said sternly.

"But..."

"No buts!"

With a little bit of hesitation, the remaining 5 who were capable of standing on their own bowed their heads low and yelled uniformly, "We are very sorry."

"... Seiichi, am I seeing things?" Yato asked with disbelief. Just a few minutes ago, these guys were trying to cripple them but now they were apologizing.

"I wish I could say so but it's obviously real." Seiichi nudged his glasses as he replied.

*Sigh* "It's all his doing."

Sato however stared at the group in front of him. He had recovered much quicker than Yato and Seiichi since back in his childhood he had much more servants than there are people here, awaiting his beck and call.

"Do you think I will just forgive you and forget everything because you apologised?" Sato asked with a plain expression, looking neither pleased nor bothered by the development taking place.

'It's as I expected...' The young man thought.

"I might have hoped for that but I know good things don't come easily. In exchange for your forgiveness, I will tell you our employer." The young man replied humbly.

"Go on."

"One name." The young man replied.

"Yamamoto Ichiro."