Recognizing Jonathan's face, Yun Zhe now completely understood why Satoshi was acting that way. Then again, that didn't mean the audience understood Satoshi's actions. To them, Satoshi was merely going berserk and attacking a person in the audience.
After Dex integrated with him, Satoshi could feel the overwhelming power that resided within Jonathan. It was an instantaneous realization so there was nothing he could do but continue on with the attack. He had already grabbed Jonathan by the throat which marked the commencement of a fight. There was no way he could retreat, not after he put on quite a show in front of thousands of spectators.
Without a shred of hesitation, Satoshi made full use of his thrusters and rolled in the air, smashing Jonathan towards the grand stage so they won't have to fight near the spectators. While he was uncertain whether he could defeat Jonathan or not, Satoshi still went on with the attack.
"Ah, nice to meet you as well." Jonathan stood up from the crater that formed after he was thrown to the ground. He dusted himself, unscathed.
Turning around, Jonathan realized that there was another person on the grand stage. "Yun Zhe, long time no see." He greeted before forcing his palm right on Yun Zhe's chest. He completely caught him off-guard.
Just when Yun Zhe came back to his senses, a powerful force palm hit him squarely on the chest, and he flew straight to the other side of the grand stage. The wall that separated the audience from the stage broke in an instant, and Yun Zhe spat out blood as he felt all of his ribs break. He gasped for air, but his lungs had been ruptured. As he slumped to the ground, Yun Zhe started losing consciousness.
While most of the audience was frozen in place, Midori jumped into the fray to rescue Yun Zhe. Fortunately, he was sent to his side of the American Dome, and Midori didn't have to go the long way to get to Yun Zhe.
"You're not going to die." He muttered to himself as he extended his hand to Yun Zhe's chest. Slowly, Midori could feel Yun Zhe's ribs slowly returning to place. The only thing he needed to watch out for were the ruptures in Yun Zhe's lungs. Aside from that, he was confident that Yun Zhe wouldn't die on his watch.
BAM!
Jonathan jumped from where he was, charging at Satoshi who was still in mid-air. As soon as he was within arm's reach, he threw a punch, aiming at Satoshi's lower jaw so he could knock him in an instant. Even with his beast integration, Jonathan was positive that he'd be able to knock Satoshi with enough strength.
Besides, he could fight head-to-head with Satoshi. He's got a powerful superpower after all.
Before Jonathan could reach him, however, he clenched his chest and a powerful beam of light shot from his chest. Without thinking twice, Jonathan continued his advance and he tanked the beam of light with his bare body.
To everyone's surprise, Jonathan didn't receive any damage from the attack. Furthermore, he was able to approach Satoshi, unleashing a punch at his jaw.
Satoshi dodged the attack by a hair's breadth. At the same time, he reeled in his leg and struck Jonathan with a kick. Jonathan completely blocked it, and he grabbed Satoshi's legs and threw him onto the grand stage.
...
Meanwhile,
It took all of Grado's patience to stop himself from butting in on the fight. Just like his son, Midoriyama Tatsuki, he badly wanted to fight with Satoshi but they knew it would just mess up everyone's timing if they jumped in without a plan. Adding to that, there was no way that their wives would just let them go. After all, they were more aware of the situation than the two of them.
"Do you know who it is, Tatsuki?" Grado asked his son, nudging him with his shoulder as the two of them peered from the edge of the audience's section.
"No, I haven't met him before. Perhaps an old rival? Or maybe... no, that couldn't be possible." Tatsuki muttered to himself while shaking his head. For a moment back there, the thought occurred to him that Jonathan was probably the person who killed the participant named Jana. But after thinking about it a little bit more, he felt bad that he assumed something so evil, and as such, he put the thought at the back of his mind.
To him, Jonathan looked like a young kid in his late teens, nothing more nothing less. He would be surprised to know that he was actually the person who killed the girl.
The clash between Jonathan and Satoshi continued in the middle of the grand stage and at this point, Luke Skyrunner was sensible enough to erect another barrier. That's the least he could do regarding the unpredictable situation.
Seeing that the barrier was up for the second time, the audience returned to their seats so they could enjoy the match. This was like the desert of the Official Beast Tournament— a bonus fight/performance exclusive to those who were present in the American Dome. The official live stream for the Official Beast Tournament had ended rather prematurely, that's why some of the audience decided to live stream it themselves.
"Is that everything you got? You won't defeat me if you keep on eating dirt like that." Jonathan chuckled, adding salt to the wound that he inflicted upon Hajime.
For some reason, Jonathan was able to negate Satoshi's attacks despite how powerful he was. At this point, Satoshi still only had one tamed beast in his beast integration (Dex) because he saw no point in adding more. After all, Jonathan didn't even use any of his superpowers. He just fought with Satoshi using his raw power.
Even with such a huge advantage, Satoshi found himself being backed into a corner. Somehow, Jonathan was pushing him back, knocking him off his feet every single time he tried to attack or counter. Not only was he well-versed in close combat like Satoshi, but he was also way better than him— which was surprising, considering that Satoshi was considered by most as a pretty talented martial artist even before he awakened his superpower.
But now it was different. Satoshi was the one using his superpower while his opponent was keeping him at bay despite not activating any of his skills.
"Kono~!" Satoshi exclaimed, adjusting his thrusters at maximum output. He began darting around in the air like a stinging bee, moving here and there in an erratic manner.
Still, Jonathan could keep up with his attack. He even countered a couple of times while parrying all of Satoshi's attacks. A smile appeared on his face as he knocked Satoshi to the ground for the third time.
"You can do better than that. Get up. Aren't you a Disciple?" Jonathan continued. "I thought Disciples are meant to be stronger than the regular human. Even without using superpowers, you should be able to go toe to toe with me, you know."
Gritting his teeth, Satoshi unleashed a kick, using his hand as leverage so he could unleash another pair of leg strikes while spinning in the air. One of his attacks landed directly on Jonathan's face, and a clean cut run across his cheek. Blood slowly flowed out of it, and Satoshi felt a sense of accomplishment after landing the attack.
'Now I just have to push forward.' Satoshi said to himself.
This time, it was Jonathan who unleashed the kick, but Satoshi was expecting it. Even though his movement was faster than sight, Satoshi was able to dodge his kick by crouching to the ground. At the same time, Satoshi crunched his abdomen before springing upward. He brought his fist up, targeting Jonathan's third leg.
The attack connected, and Jonathan hmph'ed in suffering as he fell on his knees. Quite frankly, he was never expecting Satoshi to attack him over there since that should be considered a literal low blow. However, Satoshi couldn't care less and attacked it anyways.
"That's unfair." Jonathan mumbled as he looked up at Satoshi.
As for Satoshi, he intended to get rid of Jonathan once and for all, aiming his palm at his face while charging a powerful beam.
"Not happening." Jonathan smiled before he snapped his finger.
Next moment, Satoshi felt a cool breeze all over his body. It took him a second to realize that Jonathan had forced him out of his beast integration.
"How did you d—" Satoshi didn't even finish his question. Before he knew it, Jonathan had kicked him straight at the chest, sending him flying right beside Yun Zhe. He coughed up blood in that instant, and he clutched his broken ribs as he winced in pain.
"Well, I guess it's time for me to escape. That was a good fight, Satoshi, almost made me want to spare you." Jonathan turned around as he waved his hand. "See you in the First Selection."
And just like that, Jonathan constructed a portal and stepped inside.
The sourc𝗲 of this content is free(w)ebnov(𝒆)l