Chapter 31: No surrender #31
Climbing into the fighting ring, I kept a neutral expression as I looked at Hill, who still seemed calm. "What an idiot..." I mused, turning away from the imbecile as I watched the referee join us in the ring.
"Alright, gentlemen..." The referee, dressed in a black suit, said as he alternated his gaze between Hill and me. "This will be a duel to the death, but make no mistake; you are free to forfeit anytime during the fight..." He added as he turned to me, giving me a meaningful look.
"After all, it's just your honors that are on the line," The referee said with a chuckle before turning away from me. "Besides that, there are no rules. Now come here and greet each other..." He added, gesturing for us to come closer.
I merely shrugged as I approached the referee, and Hill did the same, stopping in front of me as he raised his fists and extended them toward me. "Let's have a fair fight, eh?" He said with a smug grin that instantly rubbed me the wrong way.
"Yeah.... let's do that..." I replied with a frown as I raised my fists and hit his with a bit more strength than I needed, causing his face to turn blue almost instantly from the pain.
"Great, now get back into your corners and get ready to fight it out," The referee said, clearing his throat to snap Hill out of his daze, and we both silently walked back to our corners.
"Are the contestants ready?" The referee exclaimed, and we nodded at his words, though I noticed Hill wasn't looking so calm anymore as he drew his katana. "Then let the fight begin!" He added, promptly jogging to the edge of the ring to get out of the way.
"You should have taken the chance to leave the island when you still had the chance.." I said as I stabbed my spear into the ring's floor and cracked my knuckles. "You only have yourself now to blame..." I added as I approached Hill, leaving the spear behind.
He merely grimaced at my words as he approached and swung his katana overhead as soon as I was within optimal swinging distance. I stepped aside to dodge before stepping forward and burying my fist into Hill's abdomen.
His body folded around my fist as his fists left the ground, and I was content to watch him fall on the ring in a fetal position, gripping his stomach with a stunned expression.
"W-wait..." Hill stutteringly said as he struggled to get up, still nursing his abdomen. "Did-didn't you hear what my teacher said...? You'll be done for if you don't let me win..." He added in a whispering voice as he quickly raised his hands in a defensive posture.
"I heard what he had to say loud and clear..." I blankly said, and Hill's expression instantly relaxed as he heaved a sigh of relief. "But I couldn't care less... you die here and now..." I added, and the man's face instantly sank.
"Ref I giv--" Hill said as he turned to the referee, and I cut him off halfway through his sentence with a straight jab to his jaw, instantly breaking it upon impact.
"Nah. You had your chance to call it quits..." I said, shaking my head and chuckling as I watched Hill frenziedly make grunting noises at the referee in an attempt to surrender. "Now quietly take the beating and die like a man, will you? You're embarrassing yourself..." I added as I approached Hill and kicked him in the crotch, causing him to fall.
"Actually... scratch that off..." I said, pausing as I delivered another kick to Hill's crotch and heard a sickening squelch.
"Just dying will be fine..."
...
'Hora... now where have I heard that name...' Having spent the last thirty minutes staring at Hora while trying to remember him, Liu Fan couldn't help but frown as he noticed two marine soldiers approach his alleged rival.
'Hora...? Marines...? Marine commanders...? Ah!' He mused, hitting his palm with a closed fist as realization dawned on him. He slowly turned to the ring where Cedric stood over the bloodied corpse of Hora's student.
The student and teacher's eyes met, and Liu Fan couldn't help but smile sheepishly. "I just realized, but you probably shouldn't have killed that Hill guy, kiddo..." He said, scratching his head, much to Cedric's confusion.
Liu Fan said nothing as he pointed at Hora. Cedric obliged, following his teacher's finger to see two marine captains holding back Hora as the latter angrily shouted obscenities while trying to get up and run to the ring.
The young man quickly connected the dots and couldn't help but palm his face as he turned to his teacher. "I take back what I said, old man. You don't even look remotely reliable..." He said, his eyes twitching in annoyance.
...
Later
The Shaolin Dojo
"So let me get this straight..." I blankly said as I looked at my teacher with a fed-up expression. "Those two marine captains used to be that Hora guy's students and Hill's seniors..." I added, and Liu Fan merely nodded.
"And this Hora guy used his connections with the Marines to frame some guy you used to know.." I added and got another nod of affirmation from my teacher, much to my bemusement. "And now, they might do the same to me, and there's nothing you can do about it..." I concluded, and to no one's surprise, Liu Fan merely shrugged, prompting me to sigh.
"Not if Hora and his students suddenly disappear..." Liu Fan said, casually picking his ear. "But one wrong move, and you might end up facing an entire marine branch's worth of marine soldiers..." He added, causing me to raise an eyebrow.
"I wasn't expecting your old ass to get involved, but you could have offered to, at least," I said, sighing and rolling my eyes at my teacher's words. "I'm starting to think you're not that good of a teacher, old man..." I added, bitterly chuckling as I shook my head.
"Shut it, kiddo..." Liu Fan said with a scoff at my words. "I'm way too old for this shit... you're on your own on this one..." He added, dismissively shaking his hand.
"Besides... I already taught you the basics. You'll have to figure out the rest on your own..." He concluded with a grin.
"Whatever..." I said, rolling my eyes as I stood up. "I might be able to do something about this... It's a long shot, but I think I know what needs to be done..." I added as I headed for the dojo's exit.
As I've said, I didn't expect Liu Fan to interfere, and even if he offered to, I would have refused his help. He was partly to blame for my current dilemma, but I was responsible for my actions.
The only thing I could do now was to try to solve the problem. And that's what I intended to do.
...
Kuraigana Island
"What a haunting place," Rear Admiral Sicily said as he looked around and saw nothing but weathered trees and the corpses of soldiers surrounding him and his subordinates.
The scene was frightening on its own. But the dark, gloomy atmosphere of Kuraigana Island seemed to make it that much more bizarre, haunting, and bone-chilling.
"Look out!" the rear admiral said, quickly pushing the soldier beside him out of the way as a sizable shadow emerged from the thicket and lunged at him. "Humandrill..." he muttered, frowning as he locked blades with the assailant and realized what he was dealing with.
"What a shame," Sicily regretfully said as he pushed back the Humandrill and slashed its chest. "The war must have driven them mad already," he muttered, shaking his head.
"There are bound to be more of these things," the rear admiral said as he turned to face his subordinate. "Let's retreat back to base and scout ahead before progressing deeper into the island," he added as he turned to leave, and the marine soldiers followed suit.
However, he only took several steps before stopping as the transponder snail in his pocket began ringing. "This is Rear Admiral Sicily," he said as he picked up the call, gesturing for his subordinates to keep marching.
"A civilian wants to speak with me? Who, and why...? Oh, that kid from the ship, huh?" Sicily said, raising an eyebrow as he momentarily paused to think it over.
"Why not? Connect him to me."
...
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