Overwhelming Firepower

The moment Lucen saw Faust raise his hands to fight, he knew that he had entered his second phase. Lucen knew that he needed to stop using Acting Adept since the character he was acting out as was not someone who could deal with Faust’s second phase. Yet the second he tried to do so, a thought came to his mind.

’Why should I stop? How am I not enough to defeat this old man?’

Lucen was surprised at himself. Those thoughts did not feel like it was his. Lucen knew that he had dived too deep into the Acting Adept, that the personality he was playing must be changing into something.

’Enough!’ Lucen screamed in his mind. He clenched his jaw. The persona didn’t want to let go. Lucen gritted his teeth and then punched himself in his face, making his nose bleed a little.

The audience and even Faust were bewildered by the bizarre actions of Lucen.

”Young master?! What are you doing, hitting yourself?!” Sir Thalos in the audience shouted filled with confusion.

”Little leader, have you gone crazy from the stress?” Mark questioned.

”Hey, little leader, your money and my money have all been placed on a bet. If you lose, then we both lose!” Harlik shouted.

***

Faust, who was standing in front of Lucen, was still trying to comprehend why Lucen would hit himself when he suddenly noticed that Lucen’s demeanor had changed again. The stance he had also changed back to the one who seemed like he knew nothing of unarmed combat, and instead was focused on swordsmanship.

”Sorry about that, I had to clear my head a bit.” Lucen’s voice carried over to those in the audience.

’This boy must be crazy!’ It was what most of them thought.

’How curious... The way this young one changes seems to be something different from simply changing his fighting stance.’ The right side of Faust’s lips curled upward.

”Are you ready, young one?”

”Sorry for making you wait,” Lucen said, getting into a basic fighting stance.

His right fist was near his face, and his left fist was slightly forward, his right leg pushing behind as support, and his left leg was placed forward, aligned with his fist.

”Then here I come, young one.” After saying those words, Faust disappeared from Lucen’s sight and reappeared just inches away from him.

’As expected, it’s a quick left jab.’

Lucen ducked low, his spine compressed tight as a spring. The rush of displaced air brushed against the crown of his head like a ghost’s hand, gentle, but laced with lethal promise.

His heart thundered once, then steadied. ’Next would be a knee kick.’

As he thought about it, the attack came as he expected, and Lucen blocked the strike with his palm.

Lucen twisted, palm catching Faust’s knee with a firm slap, redirecting it just enough to slide past his ribs. Even though it didn’t hit fully, the power from the knee strike was incredible and shook Lucen’s hand a little. Still, he continued towards the next move and used this opportunity to tackle Faust.

’Elbow from above.’

Lucen didn’t even need to wait for his skill Battle Instinct to tell him the danger was coming. The moves Faust was doing were the pattern he used in the game.

Lucen understood that even though this was reality, not a game, the unconscious choices Faust made would be similar or near enough to be predicted by him.

As he expected, the elbow strike aimed at his back arrived, but Lucen had already slipped through and slid to the back of Faust. As expected of a martial arts master of Faust’s caliber, he quickly reacted and spun around, attacking Lucen with a backfist.

Despite this move not being part of Faust’s pattern, Lucen was expecting that he would do something like this and blocked the backfist with his forearm. He then countered with a straight punch, which Faust redirected and countered with an elbow strike to the abdomen.

Lucen spun to the side, evading the strike, and then rolled forward to give the two space between them. Faust did not press his attack and instead spoke to Lucen.

”Young one, to be able to predict my attacks so accurately is incredible. It feels like you have fought me several dozen times before.”

”In another life, you and I might have fought hundreds of times,” Lucen said while wiping the sweat from his forehead. Despite only exchanging a few strikes, Lucen had drained more stamina than he expected.

”Is that so?...” Faust responded, deep in thought.

’Even though I already know what he’s going to do, the second I make a move, he reacts promptly. I need to do something even he would not expect.’

Lucen thought about it for a second, and a smile appeared on his face as he thought of a solution.

’When the opponent is leagues above you, the only way to get through is by doing things in a do-or-die manner!’

Lucen charged not with perfect form, not with the refined stance of a martial artist, but with the awkward, off-tempo rush of a brawler who had nothing to lose.

His feet kicked up dust. His arms swung wide. It wasn’t a technique. It was simply utter chaos. Faust’s brow furrowed as he was confused.

’What happened?’ Was the question in Faust’s mind as he sensed Lucen’s unrefined movement.

Still, despite it being unrefined and obvious with such a big swing, Faust’s body tightened a little, ready to intercept.

But Lucen wasn’t aiming to strike. He dropped at the last second, both palms slamming the ground.

’A feint or a tackle?’ Those were the two options in Faust’s mind, but Lucen did neither and instead backed away suddenly. Faust was very confused at this point. ’Is he baiting me to follow?’

Lucen’s footwork became erratic and unpredictable as he kept on going back and forth, side to side. He even started clapping loudly, making it a little difficult for the blindfolded Faust. Still, even with all that, Faust wasn’t perturbed.

Faust moved and became a blur. A roundhouse kick sliced the air, so fast it was barely visible. It was hard for Lucen to follow with his eyes, but this was a move Lucen had expected, so he quickly ducked.

Lucen then countered with an uppercut, which Faust evaded by swaying his body to the side. Faust then attacked with a right hook, it was then something unexpected happened. Faust and those who were watching the match were shocked.

Everyone, even Faust, expected that Lucen would evade once more, but this time he did not. The punch hit Lucen square in the face.

Using the momentary stunned reaction, Lucen countered with a punch of his own. Faust, who had reacted to everything, was a fraction of a second slower and barely evaded the strike, but it still slightly touched his cheek.

His knuckles brushed skin, not even a proper hit, but it counted. He’d touched the untouchable.

Lucen then felt an intense pressure coming from Faust, his entire body shook as if blood was being drained from him. He quickly backed away.

It was just a moment, but Lucen felt like someone had cut off his head. The feeling quickly disappeared, but Lucen was already sweating bullets as he touched his neck, his head still attached to his body.

Faust touched the cheek were Lucen’s fist grazed him, and a weird smile appeared on his face.

”Young one, to be able to graze me with an attack. It has been quite a long while since the last time that happened. I congratulate you, this is your victory.”

Everyone clearly heard what Faust said, and some of them had their mouths open. No one could understand why Faust would concede.

Gasps spread through the crowd like wildfire.

”What... did he say?” one noble whispered, nearly choking on his wine.

”He, he conceded?!”

Even the arena announcer fumbled as she did not know if she should end the fight and announce Lucen the winner.

***

Sir Thalos could not believe his ears. He had thought of many scenarios of how this fight would end, but even he, who believed in his young master, did not, could not imagine him winning this fight.

Mark, who also believed in Lucen one hundred percent, did not expect any outcome but Lucen’s victory.

This was the young man who fought a dragon and lived. He was the person who had spoken to a group of mercenaries that wanted to capture him, but instead made them change their minds and join him.

Harlik was in a state of shock. He did not move as he could not believe what he heard. Faust conceded, meaning Lucen had won. Almost everyone but he and Lucen himself bet on Lucen winning. After that realization sank in, Harlik couldn’t help but shout.

”I believed in you, little leader! I knew you would win! F*ck yes! You won! We won! So many coins!”

***

While everyone was shocked by the result, it was only Lucen who knew that this would happen the second he was able to touch Faust.

’It’s a good thing that this was still the same as the game.’