In a split second—
—Loki sees Nico's expression change completely.
Fear.
Loki furrows his face.
"Hmm?!" he mutters, confused.
His expression carries something mixed with the shape of deep old trauma.
Loki grins.
"Oh. The technique I am using…"
Very deep.
After evading—
gaps open everywhere in Nico's defense.
Nico changes his footing.
"I understand now," he says.
His left leg rises into the air. His right foot plants.
He knows what attack will follow.
"Right… I recognize all of these techniques."
His right leg is drawn swiftly upward.
His left foot replaces it on the ground.
Nico stands before him—
CTPKSHAAAAAAAHMN!
His head is struck cleanly—
and smashed into the ground.
Instantly.
"Emph!" Loki freezes.
"Again?!" he mutters, brow tightening.
Nico braces both hands beneath his face against the ground.
One leg draws back—
directly before Loki's face.
Loki locks in place.
—Instantly.
SKWHAAAAAAAHMN!
Loki evades the attack, recognizing the line of strike and forcing his body into extreme movement despite that frozen instant, guided by experience with the very same technique.
KTAAAAHM!
Nico's foot slams into the ground, driving himself far away.
Not enough time—
"All your techniques… are based on your experience."
Loki has already targeted one of Nico's feet as it nears the ground.
He pins Nico's foot to the earth—
—his own leg presses it down with force—
One of Loki's legs drives toward Nico's spleen.
KRTHAAAAAAAAAHMN!
The kick lands fully.
He retracts, ready to attack again.
Nico cannot evade. His foot remains trapped.
RKTHAAAAAAAAAHMN!
Loki smashes Nico's face.
"The Mad Fighter who possessed a wild connection…"
Nico staggers.
Loki draws back again.
PRKTHAAAAAAAHMN!
A kick crashes into his ribs.
"…dimmed nearly all of them…"
Again.
Again.
Again.
CKTHAAAAAAAAHMN!
A kick into his chest—
SCHWHAAAAAAHMN!
—Nico is blasted far away.
SHHHSHHSH—
His feet drag across the ground, yet he does not fall despite every strike landing cleanly.
DUK!
DAK!
DUK!
Loki walks forward.
"…merely to prevent loss…"
SHWAAAAHM—
—Loki suddenly charges.
Fast.
Very fast.
Too fast.
"…Surrounded by great fighters…"
He leaps briefly into the air, drawing one leg upward.
Technique—
—Nico freezes.
Loki smiles broadly. The technique he has just used contains deep calculations, steps meant to force the opponent into hesitation.
It strikes—
"…and the greatest of them is that man…"
—This time Nico's feet do not drag—
BRUK—
He crashes down harshly—
BRAK-BRUK—
Rolling several times far away.
HASHHHH!
Dust scatters.
"The kicking fighter with skillful yet brutal technique—Merpecho."
Loki steps forward.
DAK!
DUK!
DAK!
Nico exhales heavily.
Very heavily.
He feels himself losing control.
Blood drips from his nose.
His chest rises and falls without pause.
"So…"
Amid the still-rising dust—
Loki raises his eyebrows slightly. A faint smile forms at the corner of his lips.
"I understand now..."
He looks Nico over from head to toe.
The dust gradually settles.
"Hmphm!" He holds back a laugh.
"...why you fell—why they even say you died at the hands of the Mad Fighter!"
---
"Indeed, of course—they will not be triggered into freezing upon witnessing something familiar within their subconscious…" Johan explains, his brow furrowed with many thoughts.
He folds one leg over the other and crosses his arms.
"…However, a subconscious that harbors deep resentment—my magic is not profound enough to erase that weakness in battle…" Johan continues.
"Hmm?" Light murmurs, waiting for him to continue.
Johan lifts his head and closes his eyes.
He draws in a breath and exhales, lowers his head, opens his eyes, and looks directly at Light before him.
"…they will be triggered by resentment, then become fixated, and their emotions will ignite, causing them to move in a highly erratic manner," he adds.
"What nonsense, that is not a weakness, but an advantage!" Light replies.
"No. I do not distribute the magic that replaces their souls in a balanced manner. When their resentment is triggered by something their opponent does, the subconscious recognizes no limits of its host body—" Johan replies.
"—And if it exceeds those limits… that body will suffer extreme exhaustion, the soul magic I planted within them will continuously drain until depleted, and my agents will collapse on their own."
---
His foot plants.
BOOOOM—
Pressure slams into the ground.
—WHAAHMN!
His body launches forward.
"Reports say… a government envoy, including one genius fighter—" Loki says halfway through.
Fast.
The distance closes instantly.
A straight kick—
CTKHAAAAAAAHMN!
It strikes Nico's chest.
"—failed to bring him down before I arrived, and that report was buried immediately…" he continues.
Nico blocks with his arms, covering his chest.
But in doing so—another opening appears.
Another kick follows—
CKTHAAAAAAAAAAMN!
It strikes the side of his jaw.
The attack turns—
SHWKHAAAAAAAHMN!
It kicks him far beyond Loki's range.
"…So it was you—the genius fighter from the government who reached him before I did, eh?!" Loki asks.
SHHHSH—
Nico's feet and fingertips drag across the ground.
SKH!
Then stop.
Nico's face tightens hard, teeth gritted. His body lowers slightly, yet his face lifts, locking his gaze onto Loki.
BOOOOM—
Pressure strikes the ground.
—WHAAHMN!
Loki launches again.
Fast.
Very fast.
Too fast.
But this time—
the distance is closed by Nico instead.
"HUH—" Loki freezes.
A side kick—
CPTKHAAAAAAAHMN!
It lands fully on Loki's spleen.
Nico retracts his leg.
The next kick strikes Loki's face—
PCKHAAAAAAHMN!
Sending him flying.
BRAAAAAAAK!
Loki slams both feet into the ground.
SPLAAAAAAHM!
His momentum stops.
But he charges again immediately.
Very fast.
"I see now—" Loki mutters.
Too fast.
In the blink of an eye—
his knee is already before Nico's face.
PCKTHAAAAAAAAHMN!
It lands cleanly.
CKLHAAAHMN!
"—That expression of yours…" Loki says.
Nico is driven back half the distance.
BLAAAHMN!
Loki keeps pressing.
"You are provoked by hearing his name, aren't you?" he asks.
He leaps briefly—
but without realizing it—
Nico's foot is already aimed at his flank.
"Ehmph?!" Loki stiffens.
BLKTHAAAAAAAAHMN!
A direct hit.
"AAARGHTTH—" Loki hisses.
SHWAAAHMN!
Nico kicks him far away.
BRAAAK!
Nico drives both feet into the ground.
BRUUUK!
Loki also forces himself to stop.
They stare at each other.
Nico lowers himself, elbows resting on his thighs, breathing hard.
"Very well, very well—I will fight you like a man, then!" Loki says.