Brimming with calmness, Yoichi took the challenge. His foot went forward, twisted his waist lightly, and tucked his arms below his shoulder, performing a loaded punch.
As both fists were thrown, the punches went literally face-to-face and traded blows with each other. The aggressive exchange made the crowd silent in an instant.
As a result, Yoichi wiped the blood off his nose and felt his head as if being assaulted by a wall. On the other hand, Kazuyori was disoriented from the exquisite punch Yoichi delivered on his face.
'How?! This is not real! I don't believe it. Move!'
Stunned by a powerful punch, Kazuyori's consciousness screamed yet his body was not responding to his command.
With an opportunity, Yoichi suddenly crouched down and turned 360 with his leg extended, accomplishing a sweep kick that threw his enemy back to the ground.
Then, Yoichi mounted on the opponent's torso and punched at his face repeatedly. Noticing his enemy's struggles, Yoichi correctly changed his balance over his hips, preventing Kazuyori from squirming his way out.
Although Kazuyori's incredible self-preservation helped him deflect attacks using his arms, Yoichi's fists were like a chisel, constantly chipping away at an obstinate rock slowly with remarkable precision and strength.
'No... No! He won't kill me! I refuse!'
As his stamina and defense felt slipping away, Kazuyori was terrified and gritted his teeth, defending with his forearms.
"Do you admit defeat?" A cold voice was heard from Yoichi.
"I won't! Fuck you!" Kazuyori vehemently cursed him.
At first, he was undecided about Kazuyori's verdict, an uncontrollable and unstable child was a threat to him and his friend. Now, Yoichi had decided to kill him.
Kazuyori was an extremely stubborn boy like an immovable boulder, however, his body wasn't as tenacious as he thought it would be.
In a slip of defense, a fist struck his skull and instantly made him unconscious from the multiple injuries he had accumulated.
Then, Yoichi bashed his opponent's skull endlessly as the blood splashed into his face, still beating Kazuyori to death. In a couple of seconds, Yoichi stopped and noticed no breathing signs, standing up with an apathetic expression on his blood-soaked face.
"Fuck! He killed him! Oh my god!"
"Likely! I mean the other guy who was beaten like this died earlier. Still, this new ruthless guy felt formidable and scary at the same time!"
"Hahaha, another pest away from the food! I hope this guy could be magnanimous with the meal..."
Seeing the situation, the audience left flabbergasted including the 7 remaining contestants. Looking at Yoichi, who was basking in rain and blood, the 7 children subconsciously swallowed their saliva and made a mental note in their minds.
'The only ones who should kill, are those who are prepared to be killed. For me, not now.'
In contrast, Yoichi felt reborn as if all the stress was released in one go. Due to the curse, his mentality became fearless and brutal, probably since being tortured to death by a curse felt like his one foot was six inches down to the grave.
A constant game of life and death.
"Are you alright?" Hikari rushed towards him, worried.
"Please, announce the winner." In his response, Yoichi nodded and asked the shinobi. Then, his eyes went over to his proficiency points and he was overjoyed inwardly.
「Heavenly Demon Posture EXP +7」
"Ahem... Winner: Yoichi!"
Even though he won, the atmosphere around him was gloomy and terrified as Yoichi took his time to recover some stamina, ignoring the crowd's eyes.
"Well, that is surely a good opening start for our 7 remaining players. What do you think, Hideaki?" On the stage, Motoyasu peeked at his assistant.
"Indeed, Motoyasu-sama. The display of such caliber was a good thing. That is truly exciting!" Hideaki replied with an unchanged face, still thinking about the earlier fight.
'What a child! He was in control of the fight from start to finish. Technically, he could definitely dodge the strike yet he didn't. Looks like he's gonna be the winner if the others remain stagnant.'
In a blink, Kazuyori's corpse was easily disposed of as another match had begun. Geniuses are always everywhere and there was no point trying to find faults in Yoichi's case.
As such, Kazuyori perished without a chance to regret and will be forgotten as the river of time only moves forward.
...
Soon, the trial of combat was done.
Yoichi was hailed as the winner. One by one, the 7 remaining children surrendered without fighting him.
In their minds, Yoichi was brazen and could do the unexpected they did not want to know. Being able to live and survive was the right decision.
As for Yoichi, he was merely admiring a child of his age, Haruhiko.
What Yoichi marveled at was Haruhiko's valiant attempt to be stronger than any children in the courtyard.
Haruhiko was a normal child, not skinny or gifted with a natural physique yet courageous. Even submission techniques, he dared and didn't admit defeat unlike the others.
Ultimately, he was defeated by Yoichi, who knocked Haruhiko despite his respect for him.
Hikari also surrendered, deeming the fight against Yoichi wasn't worth it.
"Uwaaahh... I feel so hungry."
"Yeah, same."
"I hope that guy shouldn't take too much or else we'll eat only a little!"
Afterwards, the children were sent into a large dining room with sufficient space for everyone as the scent of mouth-watering food wafted over the children's noses, making them gulp and feel super hungry.
"Yoichi, for over 1 month, you shall be the first child to take food. Be insatiable or be generous, do as you please." Hideaki oversaw the whole dining affair and told him.
The food was fixed and allocated in sufficient quantities, which meant that any child who took 1st place would have a chance to eat the food by a whole lot.
However, for the sake of getting along with the crowd, he simply took away enough meat and rice for three people and went on his way.
"Oh, thank god. He took simply a little for himself!"
"Yeah, that's fortunate."
"Bro, he grabbed his food but would the other 7 do the same? Next time, we should practice a lot and make our way to the top."
Seeing the other 7 secured all the good foods like meat such as chicken and pork, the other youngsters lamented at their helplessness.
As usual, survival of the fittest reigned deep within the children.
"Hey there!" Haruhiko sat down near Yoichi, who merely ate with a delightful expression on his face.
"Oh... Hikari, this is Haruhiko." Yoichi introduced him to his friend.
"Hello!" Haruhiko greeted.
"Hi, my name is Hikari, and one of the best friends of Yoichi. Nice to meet you." Hikari politely welcomed Haruhiko, who nodded in approval.
Later, Yoichi felt fulfilled and satiated with the food, blissful, and resting in the chair. Within him, he enjoyed the temporary peace while looking at Hikari and Haruhiko.
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(Current Progress)
[Heavenly Demon Posture: (Small Success) 149/300]
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Only two chapters should suffice. I mean not everyone has the guts to fight a killer like the MC. Now, on to the brutal grind!
Thanks for reading the chapters and bookmarking the novel. See ya! XDD!