Restraint could not kill Uvogin.
Big Bang Impact was not powerful enough to be unstoppable, either.
Great Serpent's restraint and Nue's attacks had both helped Qiao Lun work out the limits of Uvogin's defense and offense.
With that, close combat no longer seemed like a guaranteed loss.
And defeating an opponent in his strongest field was the way to gain the greatest sense of accomplishment.
So after the first stage of suppression came the second stage: crushing his opponent in the field where he held the advantage.
Qiao Lun bared his teeth in a somewhat crazed grin.
Great Serpent and Nue vanished simultaneously.
Facing the charging Uvogin, Qiao Lun neither dodged nor evaded, instead throwing a lethal punch of his own.
Their fists collided, and Qiao Lun was the one driven back. Blood dripped from his fist, but he did not even look at it. In a flash, he appeared beside Uvogin, sweeping a whip kick toward his head.
Although Uvogin did not understand what Qiao Lun was doing, without having to guard against Great Serpent's sudden appearances, he only needed to focus on close combat. This was entirely his area of expertise.
So even when he used "Gyo" to discover that Qiao Lun had concentrated more aura in his kicking leg, he felt no fear at all.
The two exchanged blows at tremendous speed, colliding several times in an instant.
As their fists and feet clashed, Uvogin found his opponent increasingly difficult to handle.
His opponent's way of attacking, almost entirely abandoning defense, was especially troublesome.
Qiao Lun was slowly adapting to the rhythm of Uvogin's attacks. After all, the people he had previously sparred with in hand-to-hand combat were Maki Zenin and Naoya Zenin.
The former was not particularly strong yet, since she had not awakened her Heavenly Restriction, but the latter's Projection Sorcery was absolutely a killing move.
That was a Cursed Technique that could set twenty-four frames of movement within a single second and execute them all.
Although Naoya Zenin was not yet a Cursed Spirit and could not raise his speed to Mach 3, his bursts of Projection Sorcery were still as fast as teleportation.
Uvogin's bursts of speed now fell far short of Naoya Zenin's, surpassing him only in strength. As Qiao Lun gradually adapted, his attacks began landing on Uvogin even more frequently.
But this was still a fight on a tightrope.
Because he had abandoned most of his defense, a single direct punch from Uvogin could potentially inflict serious injuries on Qiao Lun.
Both fighters understood this.
Uvogin was watching, and so was Qiao Lun.
After adapting to the rhythm of Uvogin's attacks, the next step was to find an opening and deliver the final, fatal blow.
That opportunity soon arrived.
Uvogin abruptly retreated, throwing a powerful uppercut as he pulled back.
As he swung that punch, the stones on the ground burst apart and scattered toward Qiao Lun.
Qiao Lun changed his pursuit, stepping straight into the shadow beneath his feet and disappearing.
The instant Uvogin landed, he concentrated more aura over the back of his heart to defend it.
A fist shot straight out of the shadow beneath Uvogin's feet, aimed precisely at the back of his heart.
With a thud, Uvogin pitched forward, but his raised fist slammed heavily into the ground.
Dust flew amid the roar, and Qiao Lun discovered that the shadow beneath his feet had changed. All he could see was a swath of gray-black.
Qiao Lun immediately grew wary. After seeing him use the Ten Shadows Technique several times, Uvogin had clearly figured out the key.
Without shadows, the Ten Shadows Technique and his shadow-related abilities would all become useless.
Moonlight could not penetrate the billowing dust, so no shadows could be cast on the ground.
Qiao Lun chose to retreat.
At that very instant, a massive fist appeared silently beside him.
Boom! Boom!
One sound came from Uvogin, who had approached through the dust using "In," then changed his aura to unleash Big Bang Impact, striking Qiao Lun directly in the arm.
The other was the boom of Qiao Lun's fist striking Uvogin over the heart while his guard was wide open.
Both flew backward at the same time.
As Qiao Lun hurtled backward, his left arm bent at an unnatural angle. Exposed shards of bone could even be seen amid the spraying blood.
Uvogin was no better off. As he landed, he spat out a great mouthful of blood, his face deathly pale.
By the time Qiao Lun landed, he was already outside the dust cloud, and he rolled several times across the ground.
But when he stopped rolling and stood up, a smile appeared on his face as he looked at Uvogin, who was still struggling to get up.
He forcibly straightened his broken arm, turning his left hand upward, then released it with his right hand and placed that hand beneath it.
Under the moonlight, his overlapping hands cast a shadow on the ground, forming the shape of a stag!
The very next second, as Cursed Energy poured wildly from Qiao Lun, a stag emerged directly from the shadow.
The towering Shikigami, Round Deer, stood behind Qiao Lun.
Round Deer looked much like an adult stag, except its muscles were more powerful and jewel-like markings adorned the sides of its neck.
Standing before Round Deer, Qiao Lun did not even seem as tall as its legs.
Vast Cursed Energy blossomed from Round Deer, but instead of attacking Uvogin, it lowered its head and touched Qiao Lun.
At that instant, Round Deer activated its ability: Reverse Cursed Technique.
The positive energy produced by multiplying negative by negative flowed into Qiao Lun's body, and his broken arm rapidly healed under its effects.
In just a few seconds, the shattered bone fragments disappeared. As Qiao Lun moved his arm, he was already as good as new, apart from the blood staining his body.
Aside from its combat capabilities, the Shikigami Round Deer's greatest strengths were its powerful healing and Cursed Energy neutralization abilities.
The former used the positive energy generated by Reverse Cursed Technique to accelerate the body's repair and achieve rapid healing.
The latter released positive energy to annihilate an enemy's Cursed Energy, directly nullifying their Cursed Technique.
It was precisely because he had Round Deer that Qiao Lun dared to let Uvogin get close without worry.
As long as Uvogin could not blow him apart instantly, once he summoned Round Deer, he could quickly receive the healing effects of Reverse Cursed Technique simply by touching it.
As for Uvogin's explosive attack, that too had been within Qiao Lun's calculations.
After all, it was a move Uvogin had used against Kurapika in the manga.
So when Uvogin kicked up dust to obscure his vision, he had already mobilized his aura and concentrated it in his eyes.
Under the scrutiny of "Gyo," every movement Uvogin made while concealed in the dust was laid bare.
All Qiao Lun needed to do was trade injury for injury when Uvogin unleashed his attack and exposed an opening.
With
A serious injury to his arm in exchange for severe damage to Uvogin's internal organs.
Then they would pit their healing abilities against each other, and the weaker one would only deserve to eat dirt.
Qiao Lun vanished from where he stood.
Uvogin struggled to his feet, his expression grave. Wanting to deliver a fatal blow, he had poured more aura into that earlier Big Bang Impact.
The more aura he unleashed in an attack, the less he had left for defense.
The only reason Qiao Lun had not smashed his heart apart with that punch was that he had cautiously refrained from using "Ko," a desperate technique that completely abandoned defense.
Now, with his heart injured and the circulation of blood and energy throughout his body impaired, Uvogin found himself unable to keep up with Qiao Lun's attacks.