The sorrowful cries rang on without end.
The girl's delicate body crashed to the ground, and she struggled back to her feet, re-assuming her fighting stance before the golden-haired man.
But the moment she threw a punch at the man, her vision spun and toppled in the next instant.
Fu Hua was thrown to the ground once again.
Her clothes in disarray, her fair skin flushed red from the intense exertion, she lay there gasping with mouth agape and eyes squeezed shut—clearly the throw had taken its toll.
Meanwhile, Otto squatted down in front of her and said with a beaming smile:
"Little Senior Sister, do you want to keep going?"
The "sparring match" between Otto and Fu Hua was a one-sided victory for Otto.
Fu Hua lay on the ground, opening her eyes and panting heavily, a light of disbelief shimmering in her beautiful eyes.
She looked at the still-smiling Otto and laboriously forced out a sentence:
"Did you come here to smash up my dojo?"
After saying this, Fu Hua grimaced again; she felt as if her body was about to be thrown apart.
This man was simply too bizarre.
At the very start of the spar, Fu Hua had seen that Otto stood with no proper stance, his whole body riddled with openings—clearly a complete layman who had never trained in martial arts.
She had originally planned to go easy on him; after all, a martial arts school couldn't afford to scare off its students.
Then, before Fu Hua had even touched Otto's body, she had been thrown to the ground by him.
At first she had thought she was simply being careless, but after being thrown more than a dozen times in a row, Fu Hua understood—this was a difference in true strength.
Over more than a dozen exchanges, Fu Hua's fingers had never once so much as grazed Otto.
Fu Hua felt as though she were trying to catch a loach in the water—slippery and impossible to grab.
Every time she reached out to seize Otto, all she managed to catch was a faint breeze.
And after each failed grab, Otto would simply, plainly seize the collar of Fu Hua's martial-arts uniform and throw her to the ground.
So I've run into a true master, she thought.
Fu Hua had the sense that whenever she was thrown, it felt as if the wind itself was dragging her down to the ground.
This must be some sort of cleverly applied force.
This is hardly the look of someone who needs to come to our school to learn!
Fu Hua had concluded that Otto was a wolf in sheep's clothing who had come to wreck her dojo.
"Hehe." Otto chuckled twice. "Little Senior Sister, don't go wronging an honest man now. Do I really look like someone who knows martial arts? What I just did was a piece of cake—anyone with hands could manage it."
Seeing that Fu Hua was no longer resisting, Otto released his Herrscher powers and said with a smile.
Honestly, Otto had the feeling he was bullying a child.
Though Fu Hua really was still a child right now.
And this "cheater" wielding the Authority of the Herrscher of Wind was an insurmountable mountain for the little girl.
The current Fu Hua was merely an ordinary person with decent martial skills, not even on par with a B-rank Valkyrie of Schicksal.
Hearing Otto's words, Fu Hua was so angry her teeth itched—if beating her up like this still didn't count as knowing martial arts, then wasn't she basically a cripple?
"Little Senior Sister, get up first."
Otto reached out a hand toward Fu Hua; he couldn't go too far.
Otherwise, he might face the reckoning later.
But seeing Otto's outstretched hand, a sly smile suddenly curved at the corner of Fu Hua's lips. She grabbed Otto's arm, and her slender, nimble legs slid up along it all the way, locking directly around his neck.
With her legs clamped around Otto's neck, Fu Hua arched her back, Otto's body toppled over, and Fu Hua's hands locked down the very arm Otto had just extended.
Finally caught him.
This was the first time Fu Hua had ever laid a hand on Otto.
Fu Hua was delighted—after all, a girl her age was just that easy to please.
"Hehe, in a match, until the referee calls it, it doesn't count as over," Fu Hua said with a smile.
"Hey now, where's your martial honor?" Otto said helplessly. The more the Immortal acted like this now, the more she would want to die of embarrassment once she recovered her memories.
"Well then, since it's not over yet..."
Feeling the astonishing springiness of the thighs pressing against either side of his cheeks, Otto inwardly praised the flexibility of Fu Hua's body.
If it were the Immortal, she would surely be able to help him unlock every pose in the full compendium.
Lost in such wild thoughts, Otto continued:
"The gods grant me chains, to punish filthy sins; I draw a prison upon the ground—King of Binding."
This time it was the Authority of the Herrscher of Binding.
The power of Binding bound Fu Hua's strength.
Fu Hua's eyes widened; she felt her body lose all strength, her limp form collapsing to the ground like a puddle of mud.
The legs that had been locking Otto down also turned soft and powerless.
Fu Hua tried to speak, but even the muscles of her mouth had gone soft, leaving her unable to form complete words.
Her body was limp and utterly unable to move.
Otto moved the legs draped over him aside, stood up, and looked down at Fu Hua sprawled on the ground with a smile on his face.
Were it not for the fact that there was no phone here to snap a photo as a memento, this scene would have become yet another addition to Otto's collection.
But after only a few seconds, Otto raised his hand and snapped his fingers, canceling the power of Binding.
"Referee, does this count as my win?"
Otto said teasingly, while Fu Hua felt her strength return, which only made her find it even more unbelievable.
Her eyes shining, she looked at Otto and said in astonishment:
"Was that just now some kind of pressure-point strike? But I didn't feel your fingers touch me at all—could it be the legendary long-range pressure-point strike?!"
Long-range pressure-point strike? Your imagination is quite something too, Immortal.
Otto was about to speak when, at that moment, a deep, resonant male voice rang out:
"You beast! What are you doing to my daughter?!"
Otto and Fu Hua both looked to the side, where a gray-haired man with a square-jawed face was glaring at them, his eyes bulging wide.
"Dad!?"
Fu Hua looked at the gray-haired man and cried out in surprise, then her pretty face turned pale.
There had previously been cases where a poorly trained student had accidentally beaten someone to death, so the dojo forbade private fights and unsanctioned sparring.
Oh no, I'm going to get scolded to death by Father.
Hearing how Fu Hua addressed this man, Otto was stunned as well.
Oh, so it's my father-in-law—my apologies, my apologies.
But why does his voice sound a bit angry?
As if realizing something, Otto looked down at Fu Hua, still lying on the ground.
Fu Hua's clothes were disheveled and her face flushed, while he stood over her like an assailant about to commit violence.
This...
Otto's eyelid twitched.
And it was precisely this scene that made Father Hua's hair stand on end, a ferocious Hannya apparition seeming to manifest behind him. Without waiting for Otto to speak, he threw a punch at the beast who appeared to be about to take liberties with his daughter.
This was not the sort of thing one could stay calm about.
Although all of this was an illusion, it was almost indistinguishable from reality.
As the force of the punch closed in, Otto could even hear the sharp whistle of the fist tearing through the air.
"The gods grant me authority, to command the endless storms; near at hand yet worlds apart—King of Longing!"
The words held no meaning—the Authority of the Herrscher of Wind descended.
His body moving with the wind, Otto easily dodged the punch.
Then, out of habit... he grabbed Father Hua by the collar.
"Thud!"
The broad back slammed against the ground.
Father Hua was thrown down beside Fu Hua, following in his own daughter's footsteps—mouth agape, eyes squeezed shut.
And Otto, looking at the two generations sprawled on the ground, smacked a palm against his forehead.
What on earth have I just done?