“Hmmm!?”
When Elphabelle saw this, she grew confused, and for quite an obvious reason. Up until that point, Wataru had been relentless in his attacks, but now he had for some reason left his battle stance. He’d lowered his fists and was now casually leaning to one side, completely defenseless.
Was he surrendering? No.
He may have appeared to lower his guard, but in truth, the bloodthirsty gleam in his eyes had not yet disappeared.
“What’s he thinkin’......?”
Confused she may have been, but Elphabelle wasn’t going to stop her attack. She swung her axe with great speed, aiming right at Wataru. He dodged her slash without so much as blinking. Just moments ago he’d been displaying the Nio face that he had when he was brutally attacking her, but now...
Damn... This is difficult...!
There is a tactic in martial arts that involves suddenly changing one’s attack style in the midst of battle. It’s actually extremely effective when put into practice!
If you’ve been thrusting your blade, switch to throwing it.
If you’ve been using two swords, toss one and attack with a single blade.
You must suddenly and without warning change the style of your approach. Whether it’s karate, judo, sumo, or kendo, this tactic has been used often throughout history.
There was, of course, one person who had transformed this “tactic” into a “technique.” His name was Renchi Chou*. He was a great man in the world of Chinese martial arts in the 1870s.
(*Renchi Chou: A martial artist born in 1842 in the Wuhan region of China. He was a practitioner of martial arts from an early age, but his arrogance made him a target of much criticism, most notably from his former masters who had abandoned him, one after the other. By the time he reached adulthood, he had already mastered Tai Chi, Liang Yi Quan, and Wing Chun, but no one would take him on as an apprentice. On his own, he came up with the method of switching between the various battle styles he knew and using their most powerful moves. Later on, this way of fighting became known as the famous “Renchi Style.” [3])
Wataru was, of course, a complete master of “Renchi Style.”
By throwing away even that core part of his identity, his hot-bloodedness, and adopting this non-aggressive fighting style, he was able to interrupt the rhythm of Elphabelle’s attacks.
This “interruption” was, of course, an opening for Wataru to attack.
Wataru had made his presence as faint as could be, and like a shadow he slipped slowly towards Elphabelle. Before she realized what was happening, he slammed his fist into her solar plexus, whispering a single word just at the edge of her hearing:
“Power.”
The tone of his voice was unlike anything we have heard from Wataru thus far in our story! With that single blow, however, he brought his enormous strength to bear against the girl.
“!?!?!?”
Pure pain raced through Elphabelle’s body. Dumbfounded, she wheezed in reaction to his blow.
I... I didn’t even see that one coming!
The force of his strike sent her flying backwards. She expertly twisted in midair to land on her feet, just like a cat. Cold sweat beaded down her cheeks.
This guy... All of a sudden, he’s completely changed...!
“As if I’m going to lose...!!”
She shoved off hard from the floor, diving through the air directly at Wataru.
“AHHHHHHHHH!”
With all her strength, she brought the axe down upon him...
And missed.
Wataru had shuffled ever so slightly to the side, just out of range of her axe. It was the smallest movement he could have made to avoid it. Then, without a moment’s delay, he rammed his elbow straight into Elphabelle’s face.
“Ngh!” Dizzied, Elphabelle stepped backwards to avoid the follow-up attack. But Wataru moved, with only the minimum amount of effort necessary, to ram his elbow into her face again and again and again.
Try as she might, Elphabelle was unable to avoid all of his attacks, let alone parry them. Some landed right on her, and in spite of all her efforts to resist, Elphabelle found herself bent over backwards as she tried to escape his elbow.
I can’t... take this anymore...!
Compared with Wataru’s previous attacks, which had been showy, full-body attacks like uppercuts and kicks to the face, this new technique was much more efficient. His feet were now always on the ground, and he left no openings for her axe. With how little energy the elbow jabs required, he was able to repeat them over and over at a higher rate of attack. For what each individual jab lacked in attack power, it was made up for by the smaller range of motion of the attacks giving him a better defense.
“This... relentless idiot—!!”
She took her axe and again swung it with all her might and then some, as if to declare Wataru’s newest fighting style to be nothing more than an irritation.
The amount of power she put into her swing was more than enough to cut the man clean in two.
“I’ll freakin’ destroy you!!!”
This, however, was just the opportunity Wataru had been waiting for. When Elphabelle lifted her axe high above her head, her upper torso had been left completely unprotected. He locked his aim, lifted both fists, and punched with all his might using both his arms:
“Obliterate.”
His voice was softer than a whisper, but his strength was absolute.
Allow me to explain. He was using a technique that had been invented by an American martial artist, the “Two-Fisted Thrust of Aeolus*.”
(*The Two-Fisted Thrust of Aeolus: A technique invented by an African-American master of karate, Chad Gastin. Storing power in both fists, the fighter quickly punches at the enemy’s midsection. It is said he was inspired by the sight of someone beating a “wataiko,” a traditional Japanese drum, with two sticks at the same time. This extremely extreme attack, when executed properly, causes a blast of air as if the fighter is Aeolus, the God of Wind himself. [4])
BAMMM!!
“Ngh... Urgh...!”
Wataru had punched his fists deep into Elphabelle’s midsection. All the air was driven from her lungs, and she was unable to draw another breath. Every muscle in her body began to quiver, and the axe in her hands fell to the floor.
What she felt, right then, was not the pain of the punch—but a light, refreshing breeze blowing all around her.
Wataru... I’m so sorry... you are... stronger... than me......
And so again Elphabelle was blasted off the floor. She flew through the air, unmoving, and shot straight into the wall of the great hall. The pain of the impact was enough to banish every last bit of her will to fight.
Not a single person could say otherwise: the winner of this fight was none other than Wataru Ito.