Satoshi dodged the blow leaning forward into a crouch. Tightening his core, he brought his feet to the side as he lashed out at Yun Zhe's blind spot.
Before his attack connected, though, the giant steel ring on Yun Zhe's back blocked the attack, and Yun Zhe was alerted of it without receiving any damage. Because of his excellent control over all his individual tamed beasts, Yun Zhe had constructed the perfect defense. If Satoshi wanted to breach through it, he had to use more of his tamed beasts and integrate with them— that was the only choice.
Somehow, even with his beast integration deactivated, he could still keep up with Yun Zhe's normal attack. The audience screamed in delight as Satoshi gave them an overwhelming performance. As for Yun Zhe, he suffered a significant blow to his pride.
"Who would've thought deactivating your beast integration would throw me off my game? You're pretty slippery, Satoshi, real slippery." Yun Zhe commented. Even though he was embarrassed in front of the crowd, he didn't feel all that bad. It just meant that he had to take this fight seriously, or he would lose big time.
"Are you planning on fighting me without your beast integration? You do know that that's plain suicide, right?" Yun Zhe stated the obvious as he disappeared from view.
No matter Satoshi's response, Yun Zhe had decided to give him everything he's got. Whether or not he integrates with his tamed beast in the last second, it's not his problem. He would obliterate Satoshi without mercy and win the match.
Unbeknownst to him, though, this was what exactly Satoshi was waiting for. It was at this moment Satoshi knew... that Yun Zhe had messed up.
As soon as Yun Zhe charged at Satoshi, Satoshi instantly integrated with one of his most overpowered tamed beasts. It was none other than Amy, also known by her Representative alias, Copycat.
"I'm leaving it to you, Copycat," Satoshi said in his mind as his entire body grew in size. Before he knew it, he was blocking Yun Zhe's attack with the same greatsword he was using.
With a resounding clang, Yun Zhe's attack was deflected, and he flew a couple of feet from the point of impact. Because Satoshi had integrated at the last second, Yun Zhe had no idea what had happened at all.
He shook his head as he tried to get rid of the ringing in his ears. When he finally returned to his senses, he noticed something oddly familiar on the other side of the grand stage.
It was a mecha, as tall as him, holding a greatsword and a shield. Confused, Yun Zhe rubbed his eyes, thinking that he was dreaming. Somehow, an entity that looked like a mirror image of him was standing right there. "What on actual— Satoshi?! Is that you?!" Yun Zhe almost screamed his lungs out as he finally solved the mystery.
Staggering, Yun Zhe steadied himself with his greatsword while taking another look at Satoshi. He looked just like him. And judging from the impact earlier, it was apparent that their power level was more or less the same.
"What is going on?" Yun Zhe asked.
"Well, don't get convinced yet," Satoshi commented, stepping forward while pointing the greatsword upward. It was undoubtedly a heavy greatsword, and Satoshi failed to comprehend how Yun Zhe could swing it so effortlessly. Nevertheless, he decided to try it out, imitating Yun Zhe's movements as he did so.
To Satoshi's surprise, his body moved pretty well despite its size. When his acceleration finally stopped, He was right in front of Yun Zhe, bringing down the greatsword at his head, leaving him no choice but to block the attack.
Their speed was now on par with each other, so there was no way Yun Zhe could've dodged the attack, even though he had already seen it coming. Left with no choice, he brought his greatsword up and shielded himself to block the attack. He also propped his monumental shield, just in case the attack went through, and he needed an extra layer of blocking.
Satoshi grunted as the entire weight of the greatsword shifted him forward. Using his momentum, he unleashed the attack without reprieve. At the very least, Satoshi hoped that he would leave a chink on the blade of Yun Zhe's greatsword.
KABOOM!
An intense wind pressure rose from where the attack connected, blowing against the barrier and making it rattle, much to the audience's sheer terror. Despite the powerful attack, both Satoshi and Yun Zhe were left unscathed. They were surviving each other's attacks like champs.
In retrospect, this much was to be expected from a fight between two evenly-matched opponents. If the two of them gave their all in a single blow and landed it simultaneously, there was a great chance that the attack would nullify each other. That's just how it is when both attacks are more or less identical to each other.
Once again, Satoshi and Yun Zhe flew in the air. It wasn't the attack that sent them flying, but the wind pressure from their connected attacks.
Fortunately, the two of them were still on the grand stage. If one of them had flown right outside it, it would've been an immediate disqualification— that would have been devastating if it were to happen. After all, Satoshi and Yun Zhe were already in the finals. Losing because the other party sent you out of bounds is probably the worst experience a beast tamer could ever have.
The attack was not for nothing, however.
Satoshi learned the secret behind Yun Zhe's power in that single attack. He had also understood why he could freely move despite the weight of his armor and equipment.
With his adept fighting ability, Satoshi had finally learned the secret. "So it was all about using my momentum and fluidly connecting my attacks, right?" He muttered to himself. His years of experience fighting those with superpowers while he was unawakened slowly returned to him. His fighting instinct, honed to perfection throughout his early teenage years, now resurfaced in his mind.
Satoshi felt the clench on his wrist and the fiber on his forearms leading to his biceps. His lats contracted and expanded as he breathed, and his core tightened at his will. His legs were ready to burst with power, and his feet were firmly planted on the ground with no strike putting him out of balance.
Leaning his back, Satoshi activated his muscles to bring the greatsword up. He then constricted his obliques as he brought the greatsword sideways, intending to strike Yun Zhe to the side.
As for Yun Zhe, he stepped back and stomped his right foot on the ground, bringing down the greatsword and aiming at the top of Satoshi's head. At the same time, he placed his shield to the side, blocking Satoshi's attack while he counterattacked.
'Here we go; I hope it works.' Satoshi prayed as he twisted his ankle, causing his obliques to cramp and stop short.
With the uneven momentum of the greatsword, Satoshi struck with a wave-like motion on his hand. He didn't intend to dodge Yun Zhe's attack on the head. He had seen it, but he had decided to take a risk and not avoid it. He was confident that his attack would connect before Yun Zhe landed his blow.
To everyone's surprise, Satoshi's greatsword seemed to wave as he struck it sideways. Because of its weird motion, the greatsword managed to steer clear of the shield and hit Yun Zhe to the side.
Yun Zhe's face puffed up as he held his breath. Since he couldn't do anything but tank the hit with his entire body, he just let it happen.
Another wind pressure rose in the air as the strike connected Yun Zhe was sent skittering to the side, bouncing a couple of times on the ground before he regained his balance. Without a second to spare, Yun Zhe brought down his greatsword to the ground. Somehow, he was able to stop himself from flying out of bounds. Had it not been for his quick thinking, it would have ended differently for him— or rather, the finals would have ended for him.
Whoo~~~
The screams of the audience filled the air as the match momentarily stopped.
"That was a good match." Satoshi bowed toward Yun Zhe before he deactivated his beast integration. He then walked towards his tamed beasts as if the match was already over.
"W-what are you saying? I'm still standing, Satoshi. This fight is not yet over!" Yun Zhe called out as he slung the greatsword on his shoulder. "I'm not going to give up, not until I win. "
Without saying another word, Satoshi pointed at Yun Zhe's feet. He then proceeded to recall his tamed beasts one by one, much to Yun Zhe's surprise.
It took him another second before he finally looked at his feet. His eyes widened in utter shock.
Yun Zhe... he had crossed over the line. What he feared the most had happened— he had lost the finals match after being sent out of bounds.
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