Maki wasted no more words. Her lips curled into a grin, and she threw herself back into battle with "herself."
She clenched her right fist and drove it straight at the phantom's face, the punch whistling through the air with the brute force unique to the "Heavenly Tyrant."
The phantom Maki moved.
Her movements mirrored Maki's exactly: turning sideways, dropping her shoulder, raising her arm, and driving her right fist forward to meet Maki's with pinpoint precision.
The two fists collided in midair.
Bam!
A dull boom exploded beside Maki's ears. A tremendous recoil shot from her knuckles all the way to her shoulder, leaving her entire arm numb for an instant.
Her body staggered backward against her will, while the phantom merely swayed slightly before lunging at her again.
"Damn, even the feedback feels this real!"
While Maki battled her imaginary self, several early-rising members of the Zenin Family were rubbing their eyes as they approached along the corridor outside the dojo.
Leading them was a young man in his early twenties named Ranta Zenin, who held a position in the Zenin Family's "Hei."
The "Hei" consisted of the Zenin Family's core members.
After taking over, Maki had carried out a sweeping purge of the Zenin Family. Ranta was honest and well regarded within the family, belonged to neither Jinichi Zenin's nor Ogi Zenin's inner circle, and had not opposed Maki when she seized power, so she had soon entrusted him with important duties.
Three others followed behind him, all ordinary members of the Zenin Family.
Many in the Zenin Family knew that Maki had a habit of training in the mornings, and her example had inspired quite a few of them to get up early and train as well.
As the first person Maki had promoted after coming