章 3: Rhythm Beat
Vincent rubbed the blood dripping from the corners of his lips onto his sleeves. The internal damage to his stomach forced it up, but he's fine now.
He'll always be fine.
"That was your best attack, right? I'm sure I'm right. You took a runner's start and sprinted like a madman."
Murobuchi glared at him. Vincent finally acquired a complete read on his opponent. Taking his attacks, understanding his style, getting a feel for his personality. Those were all parts of the fighter known as Murobuchi Gozo. It's his rhythm of battle.
Vincent has understood the rhythm. With his crooked glasses knocked cleanly off his face from the previous strike, Vincent can see his opponent clearly.
"So that's the most you got then." Vincent settled into a standard boxer stance, his dominant leg forward.
Murobuchi believed that Vincent was only standing from sheer willpower because of how much he was tottering. He wanted to believe that. He had to believe that.
He couldn't waste energy for another flying knee kick, so he decided to dash onto Vincent's location and use finish him off with another barrage of strikes.
However, Vincent's damage was mostly superficial. He was still a bit dizzy from having his brain rattled, yet he wasn't knocked out. He was still conscious and he was still alive. He could still fight.
'Samato hit harder.'
So when Vincent's opponent believed in his victory, he made a fatal mistake and got a little too complacent. Vincent shook off his dizziness the moment the athlete's large fist was casting a shadow over his face.
Two things happened.
Vincent dodged an attack for the first time and he sent an uppercut to the side of Murobuchi's chin. It was the stun that heralded his defeat. The larger man temporarily lost control over his body and began tottering, which gave Vincent the opportunity to deliver blows to the right spots. His striking power was low, so all he could do was focus on vitals.
After the uppercut to the side of his chin, a cross to the other side of his chin. After that, a roundhouse to his temple, and then finally lower roundhouse to Murobuchi's liver.
A veteran of the Kengan Matches fell to a newbie just like that.
"W-what?!" A large food chain owner in the crowd was thunderstruck by the quick reversal. One moment Murobuchi was charging at a weakened foe who was on the verge of falling over and the next moment Murobuchi fell to the man so quickly.
Common watchers only caught the last roundhouse to Murobuchi's liver.
"The winner is...Vincent Walker!!"
Once the referee handed down his decree, it signaled the crowd to accept the outcome. Veteran fighters mixed into the crowd began analyzing just how Murobuchi went down so quickly and they quickly realized how. Their kinetic vision born from experience and talent showed them just what happened.
It was a peerless combination attack that seemed to gained after many years of practicing, yet the truth to such a combo was truly simple.
After suffering so many attacks from the larger man, Vincent finally gained a read on Murobuchi's rhythm. He's a half assed martial artist, so he can't just rely on his own skill and strengths. He needs to rely on the weaknesses of his opponents and their natural rhythm. Combine that with his natural hardiness, his propensity to stay conscious from even the most powerful of attacks, and the foreign fighter's ability to excel in drawn out fights, and that just makes one hell of an annoying person to fight against.
The reactions in the crowd varied, but they were all loud and wild. Contrary to Vincent who was calming his breath, everyone that looked on at the fight were all surprised to varying degrees.
Ohta was overjoyed at Vincent's victory and chalked it up to his boss's good eyes and decision-making.
"I have to admit our loss here." The overweight CEO turned to his business opponent who had a hand held out. "You managed to get a better fighter even when the circumstances were against you and you came out victorious."
Ohta shook hands with the man, which capped off the fight.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah, how did he lose?! Shit I put a lot of money on him for a quick buck, but I lost it all?!"
"Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah, that's what I'm talking about! Always go for the risky options, that's what Ma always said!"
Other than the veteran fighters and the businessmen though, there were outliers that were still busy analyzing the fight and the fighter who put on a show. Since it was a newbie fighter coming in, some strong individuals came to check out if it would add any competition. Also, because of one of the fighters was Murobuchi Gozo, Wakatsuki Takeshi was one of these outliers who came to see the match.
Both him and his employer were intrigued by the outcome.
"Murobuchi Gozo has improved since we last fought and he was no pushover the last time," Wakatsuki started.
"The other opponent defeated him. Do you think you're capable of beating him?"
"...There's a chance that I might be able to do it, but there's no way to tell until the match begins."
"Now, now, there's no need to be so modest. Not only did Murobuchi get stronger, you've gotten stronger as well, haven't you?"
The pair of employer and boss, that had a relationship more akin to friends, walked off while discussing a new contender for a powerful fighter.
"Vincent Walker... What an odd fighter." Of course, there were other oddities in the encirclement that were judging the fight. "Most curious indeed. The best member of our clan to deal with him should be discussed."
Vincent has no idea just how strong Murobuchi Gozo truly was in the Kengan Matches. As this was his first time here, he viewed the man as an average fighter.
He couldn't be more wrong.
Murobuchi was a fearsome foe that once fought against Wakatsuki Takeshi, the man with the highest record of the Kengan Matches, and not only does he have that as his claim to fame, he also fought fifteen matches while only having a single loss to that Wild Tiger.
Defeating a powerhouse like that means Vincent has already stepped into a respectable bracket of strong fighters within the Kengan Matches. There are already more people eying him then he knows what to deal with. It's a good thing he's ignorant of this, otherwise he'd call it a pain and most likely bail. The excitement of fighting more dangerous foes who can push him right up to the border of death is also another big part of what's making him interested in staying.
Vincent pulled out another pair of glasses and donned it before lightly kicking his opponent awake. "Hey, get up." He knows his weak his strikes are, so it shouldn't put the athlete down for long.
"Ah!" The loser woke up in an instant and realized what happened. He drank in his defeat and sat still for a moment before standing up.
"I see, so it was your victory. That just means I need to train harder and come back for revenge! Just another person I need to defeat!"
"I'll hold you to that," Vincent approved of his spirit.
The two men shook hands and smiled at one another.
Ignoring everyone who participated in the fight and those who watched the fight, there was somebody who managed to get eyes on the fight from a location further away. Through the lens of a security camera connected to a computer, a man watched live footage of the result of his gamble. It paid successfully paid off.
The true boss of Under Mount corporation, Yamashita Kenzo, researched and had backup plans for when his fighter either bailed or went missing, so Vincent was just chosen as one of these backup plans. Naturally if it failed, he had a plan for that as well.
"Ohta will get him up to date. I'm not needed for anything now. Things are going well enough."
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