Ch.114Rise Up, Gambling God (11)

“Now!!! Shota!!! I’m curious to see how you’ll respond to this confession!!!”

The MC shouted excitedly.

I need to answer this carefully.

“I am a swordsman. Unfortunately, I can only respond with my sword.”

I immediately took my stance.

“If Tina defeats me in this match, I’ll accept her confession. That would show she has the resolve.”

“Ohhhhhhh!!!!! Deciding it with a heated battle!!!! A modern samurai through and through!!!!”

The MC jumped up and down as he shouted.

This guy… he was truly born to be an MC. The audio never went silent.

“Above all, I dislike women who are weaker than me and have nothing to teach me.”

I smiled as I raised my sword.

“That’s so like you, Shota!!! Bring it on!!!”

Tina smiled and raised her fists. Wait. Is that the model answer?

———

And so, the match began.

Whoosh-!!!

Tina took the initiative first. She immediately kicked off the ground and closed the distance between us.

Whooosh-!!!

After rotating her body once in mid-air, Tina immediately launched a kick.

Clang-!!!!

I blocked the kick with my sword.

Screech-!!!

It had almost the same power as a sword strike. My body was pushed back significantly.

Babababababat-!!

Right after, Tina pressed me with a flurry of punches. Her fists rained down like a storm.

Clang-! Clang-! Clang-! Clang-!!

I barely managed to block Tina’s punches. Her attack speed was overwhelming.

“Th-those are pork cutlet punches!!!!”

I roared loudly. This girl… she’s a Wind and Cloud monk!!!

Claaang-!!

While throwing punches, Tina rotated her body in mid-air and launched an upward kick.

A clean somersault kick was about to strike my chin.

Whoooosh-!!

I barely managed to create distance and avoid the critical kick.

For a moment, a chilling sensation settled on my chin. If I had been even slightly slower in dodging, she would have scored a point.

By the way… a somersault kick… so it’s actually a possible technique.

“Wow. You dodged that. You really are strong, Shota.”

Tina said as she regained her stance.

“Aren’t you going to use the Blazing Stance?”

Tina taunted me.

“If you don’t, you won’t be able to keep up with my speed, you know?”

Tina said.

That was true. I couldn’t keep up with Tina’s attack speed.

“Ahhh!!!! Contestant Shota!! He’s being pushed back by the overwhelming offensive!!!”

The MC seized the opportunity to shout.

“Shota… is that bastard deliberately losing? Because he’s fallen for Tina.”

Taiga looked at me with suspicious eyes.

“Shota!! You’re dead if you lose!!!!”

Umi roared loudly.

“Hey!!! Fight properly!!”

Eri also jeered at me.

This is bad… if I lose, I’ll definitely be accused of throwing the match. I was caught between a rock and a hard place. I’d be permanently banned from the stage of life due to match-fixing.

I calmly observed Tina.

‘The problem is that she’s a martial artist.’

The advantage of martial artists stems from not holding weapons. Without equipment, they have overwhelming speed.

But… I couldn’t just use Kiryu Second recklessly.

‘I can only use it for about 3 minutes at most…’

That was my limit since I learned it in such a rush.

A total of 3 minutes. I’ve already used about 1 minute while fighting. I got too excited during the fight with Nendo.

Tina wasn’t my only opponent. I still had to face Thumbs-up Man or Kana.

“Shota. I’m going to clash with my true self. You… clash with your true self too.”

At that moment, Tina awakened me.

“Heh. You’re right.”

I smiled and took my stance.

In the end, I had no choice but to test my new technique. Even though I’d never used it before, I had to use it to win cleanly.

About 1 minute against Tina, and allocating 1 minute for the opponent in the finals would be perfect.

“Haaaaaah….”

I immediately took a deep breath.

As if her goal was to face my full power, Tina waited while I charged my breathing.

“Blazing Stance… Form 1: Red Demon.”

I immediately raised my sword.

“Hey!! Call it Kiryu Second!!!”

Gonzaemon shouted angrily, but I ignored him. Why would I use a cheap name like ‘Kiryu Second’ when there’s already a cool name for it?

Hisssss-!!

Steam erupted from my body.

Everyone might have thought it was just the regular Kiryu Second, but soon everyone’s expressions hardened.

The same was true for Tina.

“Sh-Shota… what technique…”

Tina looked at me in confusion.

Hisssss-!!

The steam was coming only from one of my hands.

Due to the abnormally high temperature in my arm, it had turned red like a smoked sausage.

The weakness of Kiryu Second was its low efficiency. This was because the breathing spread throughout the entire body. The breathing flowed to parts of the body not needed for fighting, which was the cause of its poor efficiency.

Then… couldn’t I concentrate the breathing only on the parts I use for fighting? That’s what I focused on.

I concentrated my breathing solely on my arm. All the output was focused on my arm.

I pointed my sword at Tina with my reddened arm.

“Just 30 seconds. I’ll take you down in 30 seconds.”

That’s what I said. With this output, 30 seconds was more than enough.

“Hehehe. Finally… you’re taking me seriously?”

Tina seemed pleased that I was giving it my all.

“Then here I come!!!!”

Tina immediately rushed toward me. She seemed to be planning to score a point with a clean flying kick.

Whoooosh-!!!

Just as Tina was about to rush in, I swung my sword.

Swooosh-!!!!!!!!

A sword strike that was too fast even for my eyes to see plunged toward Tina’s head guard.

The speed was so fast that all I could see was the steam erupting from my arm and the red color.

Booooom-!!!!!!!

The red sword strike created ripples across the arena like a meteor.

“Gaaaah!!!”

Tina was slammed down along with my sword strike.

“Point!!!!!!”

The referee immediately declared a point.

“Wh-what is this…!”

Tina seemed not to even know what had happened to her. Only the certain fact that she had been hit on the head remained.

Hisssss-!!!

I took another stance with my steaming red arm.

“Is that all you’ve got, Tina?”

I said with a smile.

“Not yet.”

Tina chuckled and got up from her position. Tina hadn’t lost her fighting spirit yet.

She really is a good woman. Honestly, I could fall for her.

“I’ve already figured out how to counter it!!!!”

Tina shouted loudly and spun toward me.

Whoosh-!!!

Even with my new technique, the fact that Tina’s techniques were threatening remained unchanged.

Soon, I noticed the change in Tina’s body.

Hiss-!

Steam was also coming from Tina’s body. The output was low, but… the principle was identical to Kiryu Second.

“You showed me your technique!!! I’ve been waiting for this moment”

Tina said with a smile.

“…No way.”

“I can copy any technique to some extent once I’ve seen it!!!!”

Tina caught up to me with overwhelming speed.

“What the hell…!!”

She can copy just from seeing it once? She’s an insane talent.

“Whether it’s martial arts, swordsmanship, shooting, I can copy anything!! That’s who I am!!”

Whoosh-!!!!

Tina aimed a kick at my waist.

This is dangerous. I immediately took evasive action.

“That technique… it seems to strengthen your arm, but not other parts of your body. Right?”

Tina seemed to have immediately noticed the weakness of my new technique.

That’s right. Only my arm was strengthened. The rest was in a bare state.

“Then I just need to focus on your arm!!!!”

Tina launched a kick without hesitation.

“Ahhh!!!! Contestant Shota!!!!! Will he lose a point right away?!!”

The MC shouted loudly.

The referee also prepared to declare a point against me. He had raised his flag halfway.

Hiss!

However, I had one more ace up my sleeve. I couldn’t help but smile at the thought of tricking Tina.

Tina seemed startled by that smile.

“Do you think I wouldn’t have thought about that weakness of the new technique?”

I said with a smile.

“What…”

Tina tried to cancel her kick in panic. But it was already too late.

“Haaah…!!”

I ‘moved’ the breathing concentrated in my arm to another part of my body.

As long as I could control my breathing, it was possible to quickly move it to other parts of my body.

The part of my body I moved my breathing to was my leg.

Hisssss-!!

My leg began to glow red. I had temporarily strengthened my leg with Kiryu Second.

“Smoked Kick!!!!!!!!”

I immediately launched a kick toward Tina.

Boooom-!!!!!

The red flash that cut through the arena with steam directly hit Tina’s waist.

“Gaaaah!!!”

Tina rolled across the arena.

“……….!!”

Everyone, including the referee, stared at the arena with surprised eyes.

The referee, who had finally regained his senses, quickly raised his flag.

“Arigiri Shota!! Point!!! Winner!!! Arigiri Shota!!!!”

With the referee’s shout, cheers finally erupted from the stands.

Using a new technique to defeat an opponent was quite an entertaining development.

Leaving the cheers of the crowd behind, I approached the fallen Tina.

“I lost… I thought I’d win by copying your technique… but I guess I couldn’t match the original.”

Tina said as if relieved.

Tears were slightly welling up in her eyes. That’s right. By losing the match… she had been rejected by me. It must have been her first rejection.

I extended my hand toward Tina.

“……..!”

Tina looked at me with surprised eyes. Having been rejected, she must have thought our relationship was over. I could predict her thoughts.

After hesitating for a moment, Tina took my hand. I pulled her up.

“It was a fun match, Tina. You were strong.”

I wanted to say those words to Tina. She was strong enough that I had to use my new technique.

“Honestly, I almost fell for you.”

I wanted to be honest about that too. Tina was that strong an opponent, and I wanted to let her know she was an amazing woman.

I didn’t want her to lose her self-esteem over one rejection. That’s what I thought.

“…Really.”

At those words, Tina smiled as if relieved. She quietly wiped the tears that had welled up in her eyes.

“This makes it impossible for me to give up. Someone so kind and… cool.”

Tina said with a grin.

“…….?”

Huh? I had comforted her hoping she wouldn’t be hurt. Did I just give her hope?

“I’m never giving up.”

After saying those words, Tina immediately closed the distance between us.

Chu❤

Before I could react, Tina stole a kiss from my lips.

“I like you, Shota.”

Tina said those words to me. Afterward, as if feeling embarrassed belatedly, she hurried back to the waiting room with small steps.

Wait… what does she mean by not giving up? While I was confused, Umi’s shout reached my ears.

“You fucking idiot!!!!!! You shouldn’t give her hope like that!!!!!!!”

No, Umi. Why have you become so rough? I looked at Umi in confusion.