Chapter 413: Sight Within the Invisible
Shick-shick-shick-shick!
Kosho Shinogi's finger-blades and knife-hands carved through the air, slicing
into Ren Shiroki's frame at every angle. Lacerations opened across Ren's torso,
shoulders, and thighs, leaving him mapped in fresh "blade wounds."
Yet, not a single soul in the Arena questioned the lethality of the trade.
Because simultaneously, a series of bone-jarring, heavy thuds erupted across the
sand!
BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!
Ren Shiroki's heavy-chain barrage was hammering into Kosho like a pneumatic
drill. The Cord-Cutter's pupils were quivering from the cumulative shock, his
nose and mouth spraying even more blood than Ren's cuts.
In terms of pure physical carnage, Kosho was in a much worse state.
Is this a brawl? No! This is a war between "Steel" and "Blunt Force"!!
By the time the spectators found their breath, both men were saturated in
crimson. Droplets of blood flew from their silhouettes with every motion,
scattered across the Pit like falling petals from a dying flower.
—This is... exhilarating!!
Ren and Kosho shared the exact same thought.
Meeting a worthy rival, trading your soul in a high-torque exchange, using
everything you've ever learned to experience the other person's existence while
finding your own—it was the ultimate drug.
"Nice. That's perfect!"
BOOM!!
Ren fired a heavy cross, timing it to graze past Kosho's finger-blades. It
slammed into the center of the Cord-Cutter's face.
Kosho was forced back half a step, his head snapping back. He tried to reset the
distance with a high-line roundhouse kick, but Ren had already snapped into a
rigid guard.
[GUILE: DEFENSIVE POSTURE]!
THUD!
Ren absorbed the kick with his forearms. His eyes began to vibrate.
[ENGINE]—MAX OUTPUT!
His fighting spirit flooded his nervous system, purging every trace of
involuntary reflex. He had reached a state of total, manual command.
[SATSUI CHOICE]—PRE-READ!
Ren's right eye shimmered with a crimson light. He tracked the recovery frames
of Kosho's leg returning to the sand. The second he saw the "Startup" of the
next movement—
[FRAME PUNISH]!
BAM!
Ren unleashed a mid-section horizontal hook. Kosho's stomach caved in, his body
arching forward from the impact. Ren utilized [LINKED TIMING] to manage the
momentum; he stalled for exactly half a second before exploding into a flurry of
flicker-jabs aimed at Kosho's face.
Thud-thud-thud!
Kosho frantically batted the punches aside, his defense on the verge of
structural collapse.
[The VIP Stands]
The veins around Fusui Kure's eyes were bulging. Her [REMOVAL] was pushed to its
safety limit, allowing her to track the micro-frames of the struggle. She
whispered, her voice tight with worry, "Kureha-aniki... your brother is..."
Dr. Kureha Shinogi raised a hand, cutting her off.
"This is Kosho's battle."
Kureha's other hand was gripped so tight around the railing that the reinforced
steel pipe began to buckle and flatten. He was forcing his own medical instincts
down through sheer will.
"As long as he chooses to stay in those frames, I will not interfere!"
"And I'm certain Shiroki-kun feels the same way—!"
[LUKE: TRIPLE STRIKE]!
BOOM! BOOM! BAM!!!
Ren unleashed a dual-fist execution. Kosho was beaten into a bloody stagger, his
knees finally buckling. He collapsed onto the sand, his eyes rolling back as his
consciousness flickered on the edge of the void.
"Another monstrous barrage!!" Sayaka screamed, her hair disheveled and her face
slick with sweat. She didn't even have time to fix her microphone.
"Even the sharpest blade cannot withstand the weight of the hammer! Shiroki's
heavy impact is reaching terminal velocity! Kosho Shinogi is in absolute peril!
He's down on his knees!!"
Ren exhaled a cloud of hot steam.
His left eye was a dead socket of ink; his right eye remained focused on his
prey. He reflected on the feedback through his knuckles. He could feel the
fractures he had induced in Kosho's jaw, orbit, and cheekbones.
Those are my fists...
Being able to feel that 'Counter-Hit' land... that's all the reason I need for
this fight.
Ren looked down at the kneeling Kosho. The Cord-Cutter was trembling violently,
but his legs were still digging into the sand, coiling for a final, desperate
surge. He was refusing to let the match end.
Ren paused, asking with genuine curiosity, "Shinogi-kun... are we still going?"
Kosho let out a bloody roar. "YES!"
Ren nodded. "I hear you."
He stepped forward with his left leg, going up on his toes. He hoisted his left
leg high, his heel descending like a falling guillotine.
[RYU: HEEL DROP]!
Zip!
Facing the vertical axe-kick, Kosho didn't roll away. He dug his right toe into
the sand and lunged forward into a low, horizontal dive. He held the back of his
right palm against his own cheek.
THUD!
The heel-drop slammed into Kosho's shoulder.
Kosho accepted the structural damage to his joint as the "Price of Admission" to
clear the pocket and enter Ren's inner guard.
[THE CORD-CUTTER]—FINAL STRIKE!
Shick—!
Kosho's left arm rotated like a high-speed drill. His fingers pierced the skin
of Ren's right neck, find the line, and yanking with 100% of his remaining
torque.
The optic nerve snapped.
Ren's right pupil went dull. It was as if someone had cut the power to the
entire stadium. His world was plunged into a total, absolute darkness.
"REN-CHIN!!" Fusui shrieked.
Doppo Orochi leaned forward, his voice low. "He did it. He used the
perfect 360-degree rotation to cut the second line. Ren is blind."
Kureha Shinogi nodded. "Kosho's technique has surpassed my own expectations. He
is faster and smaller than ever. Shiroki-kun is now fighting in a total void."
The veterans—Katsumi and Shibukawa—shared a confused look. They were frowning at
the ring.
"So..." Katsumi muttered, scratching his head. "By all the laws of physics, a
blind man should be at the mercy of a specialist, right?"
"Then why is Kosho the one currently being murdered?"
"—"
The question silenced the stands.
In the center of the ring, Ren Shiroki was moving with a fluidity that defied
the reality of his blindness. He had caught Kosho in the massive recovery window
of the second Cord-Cut.
[SATSUI CHOICE—LINKED TIMING]!
Ren didn't need his eyes. He "Saw" the timing through the [FRAMES]. He had
realized the "Minimum Unit" of combat—the time it takes for an action to begin,
hit, and retract.
To a normal person, life is a mystery and the stars are a distant dream. To a
Combatant, the fight is that simple. A master doesn't need to memorize every
variable; they just need to know which move is faster, and which move leaves the
opponent open even after a block.
In the void of his darkness, Ren's understanding of the [FRAME] became a
physical map. He could see the entire fight interconnected in a single line of
logic.
For Ren Shiroki, the man who had touched the "Unit of the Frame," it didn't
matter if he could see. Within the advantage of his timing—his strikes must
land!
"HAH—!"
Ren's right arm coiled. He engaged his pectorals and core, his fist clenching as
he drove his weight forward.
Simultaneously, Kosho finally hit the ground. He had performed a technical
break-fall to maintain his balance, but his brain was rattling, and his vision
was smeared. He was stalled for a single micro-second.
The next second—Ren bared his teeth in a savage roar.
"DIE!"
Super Art: [ED: PSYCHO SPACE]!!
Ren's right fist buried itself into Kosho's chest. He controlled the output
perfectly, the blow acting as a "Capture" that stunned Kosho in place,
preventing him from flying backward.
Zip!
Ren pursued the frame instantly. He unleashed a high-volume dual-fist barrage,
targeting Kosho's liver and ribs in a high-frequency loop. He moved in an orbit
around the Cord-Cutter, his feet never stopping as he maintained the pressure.
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud!
Kosho was being hit by a dozen punches a second. He tried to guard, he tried to
counter, but there were no gaps. Ren's footwork had perfectly filled the
rhythmic voids of his breathing.
Kosho felt like a heavy bag being worked over by a god of war. He was suspended
in the center of the "Space" Ren had created.
BOOM!
Ren completed a full 360-degree orbit around Kosho and delivered a final, heavy
punch to his midsection. The impact doubled Kosho over, his jaw hanging wide
open in a massive opening.
"HAH!!"
Ren's right fist snapped into a rising uppercut.
But a millisecond before the knuckles crushed Kosho's chin, the punch stopped.
The faint, ghostly light of [RELAXATION] flickered around Ren's hand.
Ren stood there, panting heavily. His eyes were blank, seeing nothing. Yet his
fist was held steady millimeters from Kosho's jaw—he could feel the heat and the
fine hairs of Kosho's skin against his knuckles.
The Arena fell into a suffocating silence. Even Sayaka held her breath, waiting
for the end.
But the legends in the stands were already standing up, applauding.
First Shibukawa and Doppo. Then Katsumi and Agito. Then Kureha and Fusui.
Clap-clap-clap-clap!
"Magnificent performance from both men!" Doppo roared.
Thud.
Kosho Shinogi finally lost consciousness, collapsing face-first into the sand.
Sayaka took a deep, shaky breath, her voice booming through the B6 level.
"THE MATCH IS DECIDED—!!!"
☆☆☆
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