Keep Acting for Five More Minutes

Going all out was impossible. Broly had no intention of destroying this world, and his opponent simply could not withstand even a slightly serious attack from him.

However, he could go all out with the acting skills he had developed during the past two days of special training—putting on the appearance of having gone all out.

Once the match began, Broly fulfilled the judgment of most of the spectators in the arena that he was weak, falling into a disadvantage as soon as the fight started.

Under the fierce boxing style of the eighth group's contestant, said to have been honed by defeating countless Danger Beasts in the wilderness, he struggled to hold on and defend himself.

"Kid, I admit you're quite tough, but on the Martial Arts Tournament stage, toughness alone isn't enough. You need strength to keep going. Give up. If you jump off the ring now, you won't have to suffer this physical pain."

After unleashing a flurry of attacks, Alec took the chance to catch his breath and recover his stamina to advise Broly, who had been knocked flying.

But the truth was that he was getting tired. His continuous barrage had consumed a great deal of stamina.

It was not as though he had not wanted to knock Broly straight off the ring or beat him until he could no longer rise.

Yet no matter how he displayed his martial arts, the kid before him clung to the ring like taffy.

No matter how he struck, Broly could barely defend himself and stay standing. No matter how he kicked, Broly always remained some distance from the edge of the ring.

"I won't give up, because I have a family behind me that needs to eat. I have to beat you here."

Broly spoke with some difficulty. The sweetness in his mouth made him want to suck the juice-blood back in, but with so many people watching, he could not do anything that would expose him.

"Then I won't hold back any longer. Five minutes. If I can't knock you down within five minutes, I'll admit defeat myself."

Feeling his stamina dwindling, Alec said so.

"Only five minutes?"

Broly froze at those words, unable to stop himself from showing a relieved expression.

He only had to keep acting for another five minutes, and his opponent would surrender. That was truly wonderful.

"There's an opening!"

Seeing the momentary lapse in the boy's guard, Alec's eyes lit up as he launched a sneak attack without a shred of martial virtue.

Broly could have defended himself, but he did not. A thought appeared in his mind: return courtesy with courtesy.

This opponent was a good person. He only wanted Broly to keep acting for five more minutes.

Naturally, Broly had to give him the chance to show off his fists and feet during those final five minutes.

Alec burst forward in front of Broly. With the boy seemingly completely defenseless, his fist slammed into the boy's little belly.

Broly cooperatively hunched over, his body lifting off the ground. The next moment, a fierce Elbow Strike smashed toward his temple.

"Ah, contestant Broly's defense has been broken! He has been sent flying by contestant Alec, but contestant Alec has no intention of letting him go and is continuing his pursuit. A Whip Leg to the waist, a flying Knee Strike to the stomach, then a charged punch straight at contestant Broly's face! Contestant Broly has thrown his head back and spat blood again! He seems to have lost his ability to fight and has fallen! Oh no, he's gotten back up! This strong boy has risen again, but he can no longer stand steadily. Contestant Broly, do you surrender? If you surrender, then..."

Before the Host Referee could finish commentating, Alec, the eighth group's contestant, kicked again and sent Broly flying once more.

"Contestant Alec, contestant Broly appears unable to continue fighting. Will you stop so that he can surrender?"

"Hah, let him surrender? Are you kidding me? This little bastard refused to surrender sooner and instead wasted so much of my stamina here. Now that he can't fight anymore, you want me to let him surrender so easily?"

Alec bared his teeth in a savage grin.

"How can there be so many good things in this world? I'm going to cripple him now!"

Alec was not a broad-minded man. He had told Broly to surrender earlier only because Broly's defensive ability was good enough that continuing would turn the fight into a prolonged battle of attrition. That was why he had not fussed over it and only wanted the victory. But now that he had broken through Broly's defense and was about to win through his own true skill, how could he let his opponent surrender so easily?

The martial arts talent of such a gifted child was truly enough to inspire jealousy, yet he intended to cripple this little genius.

"Ah, contestant Alec has declared that he intends to cripple contestant Broly!"

The Host Referee cried out in alarm, his voice carrying through the microphone for the spectators watching the match in the arena to hear.

"What? That guy has already won, and he still wants to cripple that child?"

Most of the spectators were fairly sympathetic. Especially after hearing Broly say when he stepped onto the stage that he was continuing to compete for his family, they now began condemning the eighth group's contestant.

Even some spectators who had bet on him to win felt the same. They all thought it was far too cruel to attack a child who no longer had the strength to fight back.

The competing Martial Artists also frowned. Victory was victory; there was no need to cripple a child with such good martial arts talent.

"Alec, you bastard! If you cripple that child, then if I meet you later, I'll cripple you!"

Sambasan was also angered, shouting toward the ring from the contestants' area.

"Hmph, Sambasan, do you think I'm afraid of you?"

Alec did not care about Sambasan's threat. He and Sambasan had participated in the same Martial Arts Tournament, and in their last encounter, he had come out on top.

Not far away, Merraid's expression darkened. She had only just noticed a promising prospect worthy of taking in as a subordinate, and now he was going to be crippled?

That bastard named Alec—if she met him tomorrow, she would definitely kill him!

Merraid was not angry over Broly's impending crippling. She merely believed that Alec, the eighth group's contestant, had provoked her.

When an assassin was provoked, they took the provocateur's life to defend the dignity of Olborg's name as the Reaper.

3, 2, 1... Time's up!

Broly counted the time Crystal Palace had given him while taking the beating. Once five minutes had passed, he immediately put on a show of struggling to lift his head.

Looking at Alec, who had once again exhausted himself and was catching his breath nearby, he reminded him seriously in a weak voice, "The five minutes are up. It's time for you to admit defeat."

Alec had assumed that Boy, whom he had been hitting at will, should have completely lost consciousness by now. He hadn't expected his opponent to suddenly raise his head and say that the five minutes were up and Alec should surrender.

Alec, who had already been wantonly brutalizing Boy against the audience's wishes and savoring the thrill of defying the crowd, immediately sneered. "Ha, surrender? What nonsense are you talking about?"

"Huh? Wasn't that what you said just now?"

Broly asked, somewhat confused.

"That was just something to fool children with. I didn't expect you to actually believe it. Then again, you're just a stupid kid."

"You lied to me?"

Broly's eyes widened.

"Of course. I just didn't expect you to still be conscious after I beat you up this badly. But that's fine. Now everyone can hear your cries of pain..."

Alec spoke with a vicious grin, failing to notice that Broly, deceived and lying on the ground, had already dug his little hand into the arena floor.

Under his small hand, the hard martial arts arena seemed like nothing more than an oversized block of tofu.

"Honestly, hitting you just now was like hitting a corpse. There wasn't any excitement in it at all..."

Alec kept babbling, mainly because he was genuinely tired from all the fighting.

And because going against the crowd's wishes gave his brain such a rush.

It kept the trash talk flowing.

"You..."

Stone crumbled effortlessly into powder beneath his small hand as Broly climbed to his feet.

Alec's deception had made the somewhat innocent Broly angry.

Do you really want me to kill you?

Those words naturally Appeared in angry Broly's mind, along with unfamiliar fragments of memory involving all kinds of cruel killings.

They came from bloody movies and game CGs. In the end, the scattered memories froze on an image of a Predator brutally dealing with a prey's corpse.

Just as Broly was about to put the bloody scenes in his mind into action, he saw Akame, Kurome, and the others in the audience not far away, all shouting together for him to kill his opponent.

The Bastard on the stage was being far too arrogant. Though Akame, Kurome, and the other children knew Broly Big Brother couldn't possibly lose, and that the weakly taking-a-beating act was all staged, they were still furious. They no longer cared about manipulating the Odds; they only wanted Big Brother to beat that arrogant Bastard to death.

Well, if they hadn't shouted, Broly might really have torn the guy across from him apart in his anger. But upon seeing them, Broly quickly calmed down.

He was here to make money. If he instantly took out the guy across from him, how were they supposed to make a fortune through betting afterward?

"What? You said you'd kill me? Hahaha, did I beat you senseless already?"

Broly really did look miserable right now. Every Bursting Gummy Candy in his mouth had burst, leaving fruit juice and blood all over his mouth and chest.

And because he had repeatedly been thrown to the ground, kicked, and stomped on, he was filthy all over. Together with the injury makeup applied before he came out, no one would have doubted it if he collapsed right then.

"I'm going to defeat you..."

With that, Broly shouted in a low voice and staggered toward his opponent.

"I'm right here. Come on, defeat me—if you can!"

Alec felt more thrilled than ever. The feeling of publicly destroying a Genius was simply incredible.

Smack~

The next instant, he doubled over, clutched his ruptured groin, and went limp.

The punch Broly suddenly threw after closing in was far too fast—so fast that Alec hadn't anticipated it or reacted at all.

Of course, he understood now. He realized that Broly, who could throw such a punch, was no ordinary opponent. But it was already too late. Without saying another word, he passed out from the pain.

At the same time, Broly also slumped onto the ground, as though that strike had exhausted all his strength.

"This is truly shocking! Contestant Broly actually mounted a desperate counterattack and defeated contestant Alec! Contestant Alec was careless..."

After the lightning-fast reversal, the arena fell briefly silent. Only after a moment did the host referee come to his senses and loudly announce, "Round of 16 Qualifying Round, Match Four—contestant Broly wins!"