808 Celine 2 (1/2)
Garen felt a shiver in his heart.
The Shockwave Killing Fist, he had only heard of the name of this combat skill before. With every strike and blow, it could create a strong concussing effect on the opponent's willpower, and even those with willpower on par with her's would be affected by these blows, causing their reflexes to be slowed. Unless you had undergone training to strengthen and enhance the stability of your willpower, against this kind of opponent, even if you had a stronger willpower, you may still lose the battle in a David and Goliath fashion.
”Hahaha! How interesting! To think you managed to survive the first hit!” Celine's voice rang from the black mech opposite him. She lunged towards him once again. With her level 2 Dodging Techniques along with the effects of the concussive blow, Garen did not have even the slightest chance of getting his aim right.
On the other hand, close combat required that he get closer to the opponent, making him susceptible to even stronger concussions.
”What a terrifying bastard!” for the first time in his life, he felt a complete lack of confidence. He had always had the upper hand against his enemies, but this was the first time his abilities and strength were weaker than his opponents.
He saw his opponent dashing towards him.
”What can I do!?” Numerous possibilities of countermeasures flashed through Garen's mind, but even for a Master-level veteran with tons of combat experience, he was rendered helpless against this type technique that combines willpower. All the information he had gathered about Celine could be thrown out the window, as this bastard's hidden strength was too terrifying, its level was even comparable to Merseus' strength.
If only Garen wasn't piloting this mech, but rather fighting with his physical body, Garen would have countless methods to temporarily stimulate his potential as a countermeasure. However, when it came to piloting a mech, his options were very limited.
”I can't possibly be defeated here by a brat that's so much younger than me…” as Garen scanned over the Moonfang, he started to feel a sense of adrenaline he hadn't felt in decades. Only when backed into a corner could a situation be considered a difficult challenge! He hadn't felt this way in a very long time.
Maneuvering the mech to crouch down, he avoided the two flying fists piercing at his head. Then, with a fierce kick, he propelled himself upwards!
Whoosh! The flames from his thrusters were at maximum intensity!
In an instant, the white mech did an action completely out of anyone's imaginations.
From a crouching position, the mech's legs kicked upwards. The sharp bit of the leg's armor pierced into the cockpit where Celine was in.
”How could this be!!?” Celine started to panic. ”His willpower was definitely far weaker than mine! How could he possibly manage to counter-attack with such a swift movement without being affected by my strikes!?” She could not wrap her head around how this could've happened. Judging from their difference in willpower, her opponent should have at least a few seconds of input delay when it comes to maneuvering the mech. With that amount of delay, even she would be rendered helpless. However, this opponent she was facing right now managed to not just dodge her attack, but even successfully hit a counterattack of his own!?
”This has got to be a joke…”
From the stands, the two spectators from Blue Narcissus stood up in awe. It wasn't just them, almost the entire stadium stood up, giving him a standing ovation.
”Did this fellow not get affected?”
”Impossible! Based on his performance just now, he was definitely affected!”
The two stood there in shock over the scene that just presented itself in front of their eyes.
At the judge's seat floating at the top.
”This is…” Red-Eyed Medero was completely shell-shocked, her vision scanning through the tournament brackets, locating the finals for Grade C. ”Even under the suppression of his willpower, this guy managed to do all that…? This fellow…”
”What's wrong?” A guy by her side asked with a weird look. He seemed to have missed the key part of the battle.
”Nothing much, it's still too early for me to say anything.” Medero started to question what she just saw.
******
Clank!!
The black mech's arms collided with the legs, causing a loud crash.
Both parties were knocked back by the tremendous force of the impact, flying backward as they lost their balance.
After a couple of flips, Garen rapidly got back on his feet, whilst Celine, in the black mech, used a burst of her thrusters in an attempt to regain her balance.
Staring down her opponent, beads of sweat started dripping down Celine's forehead.
”You… didn't get suppressed?!”
”Who knows?” Garen's calm voice rang from inside the white mech.
He was undoubtedly being suppressed, but at that instant, he predicted his opponent's likely course of action from a combat standpoint, then input the actions beforehand. In other words, even before Celine did anything, he had already predicted her moves.
This was the fearsomeness of a Master-Level martial artist, he could completely see through his opponent's actions. Every one of his opponent's actions was within his calculations.
Even exceeding the Master-Level, Garen was at the level of King of the Century. At this level, they could completely see through all the tricks each other had up their sleeves, rendering all their special moves and secret techniques useless. The deciding factor in such a bout would be a clash of overbearing absolute force. At the level of King of the Century, they could achieve a level where they only needed to rely on open tactics, forcing their opponents to have no choice but to take the initiative and use their full potential in a burst to counter incoming attacks at any moment.
Hence, even though his abilities were restricted when piloting his mech, Garen was not a small fry that could easily be defeated.
”Come on!”
Celine refused to believe that he could completely counter her every move.
The black mech lunged forward once more, the two mechs exchanged blows. Almost as if two humans fighting, with a flurry of strikes and blocks from both sides.
As the fight went on, Celine started to feel worried. It felt almost as if the opposing white mech was covered with eyes on all corners, all of her hidden tricks were completely seen through. What's even weirder, she had multiple opportunities to deal the killing blow, but somehow in a swift move, the opponent managed to turn the situation around, forcing the battle back into a competition of pure strength.
She felt that her no matter what she did, she was completely seen through by her opponent, almost as if he was peering into the deepest parts of her mind, seeing all her secrets. This induced fear caused her reflexes to slow down, and her strikes were also getting meeker.