Chapter 323 Overwhelming Victory

"Sweet~" Satoshi muttered under his breath, still tasting the residue of the blood he had coughed up a few moments ago.

WHOAAAAHHH!

Exhilarating and intense cheers could be heard coming from the audience as they realized the upset that had just happened. A couple of seconds ago, Satoshi was lying down on the ground on the verge of death. No, he was supposed to be dead by now. But before anyone could stop the match, before anyone could forfeit, and before Hero Disciple brought down his finishing blow, Satoshi summoned a weird-looking tamed beast that looked like a cute octopus.

That octopus then integrated with Satoshi. Right before another blow was dealt by the invisible praying mantis, Satoshi arose as if from the grave. His body was clad with black strips of cloth that tightly wrapped all over his body. A stylish skirt wrapped around his legs, and tentacles could be seen growing from his lower back. His left eye turned a lovely red and black color, and red veins could be seen growing on the edges of his eyes. His hair also turned a pleasing shade of white and black, and he smiled a sinister smile as if he was possessed by something other than the cute octopus. (To anyone who still didn't get the reference, he looks like someone with a 'kagune' right now.)

"What is this power?" Satoshi asked himself in wonderment. His body felt much lighter than usual, as if he'd grown wings on his feet. His breathing evened out, and the bloodthirst that emanated from deep within escaped all at once, causing Satoshi to feel like an apex predator.

Quite frankly, Satoshi felt stark naked right now since the black strips of cloth that covered his entire body felt weightless. It was uncomfortable, but in a way, it gave Satoshi the freedom he needed to optimize his speed and agility to inhuman levels.

"A cute octopus like that... it didn't seem that strong. But can you rival a representative right now? After losing a lot of blood?" Hero Disciple asked as if he still had the edge in the fight. He didn't want to show Satoshi that he felt rather nervous. He was too afraid that he even integrated with Sinister Zither before he knew it.

"You're calling this cute?" Satoshi said, licking his lips. He then crouched low, feeling every tentacle that grew behind him. Weirdly enough, he could feel every part of it. He could tell that each tentacle contained an immeasurable amount of pure power.

"Let's try one tentacle right now," Satoshi said, slamming one of the eight tentacles on the ground.

BOOM!

A sizeable crater appeared where Satoshi was standing a split second ago. Satoshi disappeared, reappearing in front of Hero Disciple, accelerating in an abnormal manner and unleashing an attack with another tentacle.

Satoshi had to react with a snap of a finger. When he hit one tentacle on the ground with a hundred percent of its power, he zoomed in the air faster than the speed of sound. If it weren't for the black strips of cloth that protected his body, he would've snapped on all the wrong joints due to the whiplash.

Still, even with such an insane acceleration, Satoshi managed to react on time, thanks to his reaction speed. Tightening his core, he accessed another tentacle behind him, whipping it towards the Hero Disciple.

Even after all that, Hero Disciple still saw through Satoshi's attack, blocking the tentacle with one of the jackknife claws of his praying mantis tamed beast.

The attack connected, but the tentacle Satoshi used for his attack was cut cleanly in half. He flinched as the pain shot to his head. He didn't stop his relentless attack, however. The moment he landed, he accelerated towards Hero Disciple without reprieve. The thought of backing down never occurred in Satoshi's mind. He just kept charging and attacking with his tentacle.

As for the Hero Disciple, he kept on blocking and cutting Satoshi's tentacles. Thanks to integrating with his representative, he could keep up with Satoshi's fast-paced attack. He was even laughing under his breath since he had already cut Satoshi's tentacles more than twenty times.

He could tell that Satoshi had a vast pool of pure energy, but at the rate, he was going, it would get depleted soon. Regeneration expends much energy, after all, and Satoshi had been regenerating his tentacles as soon as it was cut.

"Faster! FASTER! FASTER! IS THAT ALL YOU CAN DO, BEAST MASTER?!" Hero Disciple screamed at the top of his lungs as he sidestepped the moment Satoshi unleashed another attack. Because of Satoshi's miscalculation, the Hero Disciple managed to get around him, cutting all his tentacles instantly.

"Gah~!" Satoshi let out a painful interjection as he collapsed on the ground. Blood poured forth from his mouth, black blood in the color of octopus ink. This didn't stop him from regenerating all his tentacles, though.

Satoshi collapsed, not because he was running out of energy, but because he felt more rejuvenated the more damage was inflicted upon him. Even with black ink coming out of his mouth, he smiled, wiped the black juice which smeared his face, and stood up as if nothing had happened.

The tentacles protruding from his lower back felt more sinister than usual, more powerful. And for the first time during the entire fight, Satoshi remembered that the small octopus was actually a gift from his grandfather. He then recalled the bandages that were wrapped all over his grandfather's body. If the mini octopus could injure his grandfather, whom he couldn't defeat in a single practice match, it just goes to show that it was far more formidable than it seemed.

"I hope you're prepared to lose, Hero Disciple. I don't know what underhanded tricks you have under your sleeves, but I'm sure I could defeat you with one tamed beast." Satoshi declared.

"Then don't mind me for going all out." The Hero Disciple said, summoning another tamed beast. Satoshi had no idea what kind of tamed beast he summoned since he immediately integrated with it.

Satoshi could more or less tell that the tamed beast was an Unearthly Type, though, based on its emitted dark energy.

[Satoshi, we're back. I'm sorry. I didn't expect the Sinister Zither to cut off our mind links. If it were any ordinary people, they'd have fainted from shock. It truly is an underhanded attack.] Dex announced.

"Dex! I'm glad you're back. I thought I lost all of you..." Satoshi gleefully exclaimed as he heard Dex's voice in his head. In that instant, he also gained access to all his familiars. Satoshi was surprised that the Statue of Captivity was actually right behind him, and he didn't even sense it. It just goes to show that the Statue of Captivity was that powerful. It could even mask its presence despite its sheer size.

[Looks like we didn't have to swoop in, Satoshi. We'll watch by the sidelines while you take care of that guy. We know for a fact that you can take him down. We'll just have to wait for our turn during the second round.] Dex continued while all the other familiars nodded behind him in agreement.

In any case, they were glad that nothing bad happened to their master while they were gone. They did feel a tad bit guilty since they allowed such a thing to happen, but there was nothing they could do about it. Sinister Zither is a Representative, after all. Without Satoshi with them, they don't stand a chance against it.

"Right, I won't let you down, guys." Satoshi rubbed his nose. "Let's go, Octo."

"Now we're talking." Hero Disciple said. He was well aware that Satoshi had regained his mind link to his other familiars. That's why he was expecting Satoshi to unleash his full power.

By now, Hero Disciple had already accepted his defeat. He knew that if he fought against Satoshi fair and square, he wouldn't stand a chance of winning.

Before Satoshi could charge toward Hero Disciple, something in his mind clicked, and it seemed like his new familiar, Octo, was telling him something. He felt the tentacles behind him stretch and unstretch. "Right, why didn't I think of that?" Satoshi muttered to himself as he took a step back.

The audience watched in anticipation as Satoshi continued retreating. They had no idea why Satoshi was backing down instead of charging at the Hero Disciple. Nevertheless, they couldn't take their eyes off Satoshi.

That's when some sort of black wings appeared behind Satoshi, and they started shooting black blobs of ink toward the Hero Disciple. Countless tentacles also grew behind Satoshi's back. These tentacles shot towards the Hero Disciple, stretching indefinitely as they pummelled and harassed the Hero Disciple like a vague representation of a questionable anime genre. It didn't take long before Hero Disciple was 'overwhelmed' by the tentacles, and he was powerlessly pushed out of bounds.

"AND THE WINNER FOR THE FIRST MATCH IS—" The referee yelled out.

"MIDORIYAMA SATOSHIIIII!"