25 Muscle Vs Muscle (5)

Back to his wits, Muscular sneered lightly.

"Heh, it's worthy of being called 'Elegant Swan'."

He barely stood up. His sense of balance was greatly damaged. It was worse than the time I lost my sense of balance while fighting Stendhal.

I glanced at the direction where someone's presence was felt.

'Is that... Vampire?'

Her side-buns were clearly seen through the corner.

"Hey, where are you looking!? Let's fight!"

Muscular dashed out of the store, forcing his body through his lack of balance.

"Ha~ I don't usually say the names of my moves. But it's damn cool so... Elegant Swan."

- Boom!

When he tried to attack me, he got kneed in the nose. The huge man flew in the air for a few seconds before gravity crashed down on him.

I kicked the fist with a slightly-bent leg. As the punch came closer, I got propelled forward because of the bent knee, throwing me against his face. That slightly bent knee struck his face.

- Thud!

Feeling the cold ground again didn't deter Muscular's enthusiam one bit. His nose bled as he tried to get up.

'There's no need to use my hands against him.'

Pocketing my hands, I glanced at the man coldly. It took only 3 gates to take him down. Not 5 or 4. But a mere 3.

Sure, the force of those 3 gates are twice as strong as the time they were released against Stendhal. But it was just a bit unfulfilling.

'Honestly, I wanted to open 4 gates to be safe but...'

'Hachimon Tonkou' was very dependant on the state of one's body. If one was badly injured, he couldn't even open the third gate. Taking the first attack made it impossible to open more than 3 gates at once.

"Maybe 4 is possible if I push my body."

'Nope~ The pain is crushing my insides. I can't push it harder.'

The only reason I could stand was because of [Gate of Healing], which temporarily re-energized the body and [Gate of Life], which increased blood flow. Among all 8 gates, these two were the most useful gates in making a body survive. That's why there was no great jump in abilities after opening first gate.

The second reinforcements began from the 4th gate, [Gate of Pain]. And that's when the body started to break apart. One could just tear his muscles by kicking in this state.

"YOU!! HAHAHAHA!"

Muscular burst out laughing for no particular reason. He just found it incomprehensible. He was losing, beaten one-sidely. Yet he was feeling a strange sense of satisfaction.

"MORE! Let's go at it!!"

- Boom!

He dashed forwards and I followed. [Elegant Swan] was good but it was more of a specific counter, not a strike. So it couldn't be used against all moves.

Dodging the punch, I jumped up and twisted my body midair to kick his shoulder.

"Diligent Ant!"

- Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

5 consecutive hits struck his shoulder in under a second. All of them striking the exact same spot, showing the diligence of a weak ant.

"ACGH!"

Apparently, his shoulder dislocated because of the attack. As it dangled in the air, Muscular reinforced it with more muscles. Using those muscles to control the arm.

He had only two moves. Tackle and Punch. Even level 10 po*emon had more moves.

- Whish!

It was a kick.

"Woah, did he learn that move midfight?"

A fake praise flowed through the bored words. It was easy to dodge the kick by leaning backwards.

"Ha! Got you!"

- Stomp!

The kick turned into a stomp that shook the ground. Pieces of broken tiles flew up in the air. Muscular only searched for the boy within the debris.

"Looking for me? Sorry, I'm not into men!"

Muscular looked above, in the direction of the sound, only to receive an overhead kick. His hands weren't fast enough to block it so it ended up smashing his head in.

Because of his training with Stendhal, even the smallest of objects could be used as a footing. Perfect control over one's body, that was Stendhal's true power.

- Bang!

Crashing against the ground, blood splattered all over the place. It wasn't because of hit crushed his head. The debris had some sharp objects in them, slashing Muscular's face as he fell down.

'.... What is he?... How is he so.... Strong?'

Dissonance rose up in his heart. From the age of 4, he had reigned undefeated. Now, he couldn't even strike back.

This difference in experience wasn't pretty.

"But... This is so DAMN FUNNN!!"

His lips were torn, scratches made it hard for anyone to guess his original appearance. But he stood up and gave out a blood smile. Thick, warm crimson slid off his face, not hindering his enjoyment.

"HahahaHAHAHAHA!"

"Shut up already!"

I reached before him and leaned forward. My leg was pulled back, creating an arch of my slanted body.

- Boom!

Muscular felt a heavy blow on his chin. The ground disconnected with his legs while angels were taking him away.

While in air, he saw someone above him, like an angel.

'Is this heave-'

- Thud! Crash!

Sadly, it wasn't an angel. But a boy with his leg raised.

I kicked him down, slamming him unconscious.

"Hah! Hah! Hah!"

The slightly red skin returned back to a fair hue, looking more pale than before.

- Tak! Tak! Tak!

Because of the alert senses, it was easy to hear someone step closer.

"Yo, Himiko."

She just glared at me, without saying anything.

"Why so silent? Do I look that handsome?"

"You look prettier. The blood has a healthy hue, meaning plenty amount of hemaeglobin and iron in it. But I don't like it."

Himiko didn't forget to praise the blood as she pouted. Perhaps she was changing. Blood was still important to her but the importance of my life probably surpassed blood in her mind.

After being alone for so long, she probably didn't want to go back to that state of solitude. Though that wouldn't be possible since two girls stood behind her.

They were not afraid of the guy, who defeated the strongest villain alone. She was truly blessed to meet such friends.

And yet, she dared to be more greedy. When Kaito and I split up, she chose my side. Nobody explained anything but she decided to believe in us, our decision.

No matter how much she tries to pry in that secret, she had never contacted Kaito again, afraid of hurting me and my trust. I had only one thought for such a naive and kind girl.

- She chose the wrong side.

Kaito, empty and broken, was fully capable of caring for others. He would probably even give his own life to protect the smile of his friends. On the other hand...

"What did I tell you? Not to fight, not to come. I distinctly remember telling you to call heroes, Masato!! Give me your blood!"

Perhaps trying to check the state of the body, she walked forward fearlessly and used a finger to gather some blood.

- Lick!

As she licked her finger, her quirk [Transform] activated, only slightly transforming her into me because of the lack of blood intake. Only her hair had changed color, along with her face becoming more masculine.

My pain also decreased as an effect of her quirk [Transform]. Her face twitched and twisted but she didn't show anything else.

'.... Is her quirk really pain reduction? Why did she seem to be in pain?'

Before my thoughts could be completed, she parted her lips and let it rip.

"You! How are you even alive!? 13 lacerations, 3 broken ribs, a cracked shoulder, ripped blood vessels and a concussion!"

There was no blood loss or punctured organs in there. [Blood Recovery] for the win! Because of that, her lecture would probably be shorter.

"Don't smile in this situation! I can tell what you're thinking, Masato!! You should have just listened for once! And if you could beat him easily, why the hell would you even take a punch like that!?...."

She kept speaking something but the sounds started to erase itself. Like my mind was automatically blocking those words.

'Huh? Mom, is that you?'

Unlike dads, mothers didn't care about place or time, scolding the child anywhere. It was embarrassing to be scolded before her two new friends but she didn't seem to care, exactly like a mother wouldn't.

"Hey, hey, Himiko-chan, we should probably take him to the hospital first. He's barely standing and the villains might come here any time. It's amazing that they aren't here yet."

Ashido Mina interfered in this 'family' dispute and calmed her friend down.

I thanked her in my heart. A pink angel, who saves kids from scoldings.

As for the other friend, she ignored the drama and entered the control room. Her face was pale as she came out, probably noticing the dead body.

"... Hamada-chan, can you get him out of here? Mina and I will bring the hero before the villains show up."

Himiko spoke with a calm mind. She didn't have the luxury to care about the rest of the hostages.

The way things were going, I could easily survive this situation.

'Wait.... Survive? SURVIVE!? I'm here to die!!'

"Don't listen to pinky here. I already rescued the hostages. The fact that villains aren't here yet means that they either ran away or are busy dealing with heroes. That guy's Muscular, the boss of the villains. Fainted. Since everything's fine, you can continue scolding me."

That statement gave me mixed looks of awe and disgust. On one hand, it made me look heroic, dealing with everything. On the other, it made me seem like a pervert, wanting harsh critisisms.

Mina was leaning more towards awe, not offended by the nickname 'pinky' while Hamada was falling in disgust. 

Hey, don't make a face like that!!

Hamada scooched away while slightly tugging at Himiko's sleeves, warning her.

"Ha~ Since everything's alright. We should send you to the hospital. After-MASATO!"

Huh? Did the sound stop? Who the hell closed the lights?

- Thud!

'Oh~ I'm fainting.... I really hope I die here.'

- Ding!

[A part of the Hero Special: Continuous Chain Quest has been completed! Would you like to collect rewards?]

System spat on that small dream and gave the quest completion message, as if saying that the suffering hadn't ended yet.

.....

Remaining Time: [4 Months]