Out on the street, the two bare-chested men finally broke apart after a prolonged clash.
"What kind of freaky martial arts is that... how did you blow my clothes apart...?" Louis panted. Despite the turmoil raging inside his body, he still found time to complain about his opponent's bizarre use of force.
It wasn't just his techniques. Shachi's control over his strength was beyond imagination.
Soft force, inch force, even hidden force-with every blow, it was impossible to predict where the power would erupt. Sometimes outside his body, sometimes within.
A ghoul who knew martial arts really was hard to handle.
"You do have some ability, if you can pierce this old man's body. But you don't seem to have fully mastered that strange power yet." Yoshimura Kuzen had several bloody holes radiating cold in his waist and limbs, but none were anywhere vital. Once the cold dissipated, they would quickly heal.
It wasn't that Louis didn't want to attack his vital points. His opponent simply never gave him the chance.
As time passed, the martial artist's advantages gradually became apparent. His offense and defense were balanced. Unlike other ghouls who unleashed their full power to crush their opponents through sheer strength, he advanced cautiously, steadily probing Louis's abilities while fighting conservatively, then countering after Louis struck. The longer they fought, the harder he became to deal with.
Although this wasn't the crushing defeat of their first encounter, Louis was still in rough shape. After several rounds, he had rarely managed to gain the upper hand.
He can block almost all my punches and kicks. He's probably close to figuring out my Crystallization attacks, too...
By now, Nashiro Yasuhisa had probably gotten far away. There was no point in continuing the fight.
Run?
Looking at Shachi, who had sustained some