Uesugi Ryu's eyes instantly turned a dark shade of gold. Within those strange vertical pupils, Kamishiro Matasaka's every movement was laid bare, down to the tiniest muscular twitch.
These golden eyes weren't merely decorative, they could detect even the slightest ripple of muscle fiber.
A straight punch carrying a violent gust of wind shot toward Uesugi Ryu. He tilted his body ever so slightly, avoiding the blow with absolute precision. The force of the punch whipped his black trench coat into a frenzied flutter.
Kamishiro Matasaka wasn't surprised at all. Uesugi Ryu had already demonstrated his speed earlier. It would've been a joke if an attack like that had landed. To fight an enemy focused on speed, the best strategy was to lock them down.
From their brief clash back in Cochlea, Kamishiro Matasaka could already tell that while Uesugi Ryu was powerful, his close-combat techniques were still a bit rough around the edges.
His body spun suddenly into a bizarre posture, his knuckles raised and curved into a shape eerily reminiscent of a king cobra's hood. Despite his burly build, Kamishiro Matasaka displayed an astonishing flexibility.
With a snap of his waist, he twisted and swept his arm out horizontally, his hardened knuckles smashing straight toward Uesugi Ryu's cheek.
Uesugi Ryu turned and raised his long blade to parry. The blade clashed directly with Kamishiro's fist, sending a violent shockwave through the steel. A deep, metallic hum rang out from the trembling weapon.
Expressionless, Uesugi Ryu gripped the hilt tightly, calming the trembling blade in his hands. His strength was no longer weak, only his constitution was a bit inferior.
In a purely physical bout, he couldn't go head-to-head with someone like Kamishiro Matasaka; a weaker body meant a greater chance of injury from forceful clashes.
Still, a blow of this level posed no real problem for him now.
Utilizing the recoil from the impact, Uesugi Ryu kicked backward to create distance. He suddenly crouched low, both legs tensing. In the next moment, he unleashed a sweeping leg strike toward Kamishiro Matasaka's lower body.
Kamishiro's feet tapped lightly against the floor as his massive body lifted easily into the air, dodging the kick with impressive agility.
At the same time, his fists crossed and locked together. The thick muscles in his arms swelled grotesquely, growing a full size larger in a flash, brimming with explosive power.
Seeing this, Uesugi Ryu vanished with a speed burst, his figure blurring as he dodged to the side.
Kamishiro Matasaka's Kagune twisted leftward like the tail of a feline, allowing him to pivot midair with abnormal dexterity. His clenched fists swept downward at a diagonal angle, shattering the air with their sheer momentum and letting out deafening shockwaves.
This strike was nearly unavoidable.
Uesugi Ryu's figure seemed to vanish into the overwhelming force of the blow.
Boom!
The white floor tiles erupted as though struck by a cannon. Cement and rebar from beneath exploded outward, and the ground collapsed into a deep, jagged crater.
But, just as Kamishiro Matasaka's blow connected, Uesugi Ryu's figure flickered like a phantom, completely vanishing from sight.
A sudden windstorm ripped through the air, his movement too fast for the eye to follow.
Kamishiro's eyes widened. His honed senses picked up the incoming gale in an instant. He turned with blinding speed, arms raised instinctively to protect himself.
And just then, Uesugi Ryu struck like a fastball flung by a professional pitcher, soaring from above in a straight line.
CRACK.
His black leather boot smashed down on Kamishiro's crossed arms. A string of sickening crunches followed as the pressure forced Kamishiro's muscled arms into his own chest. His ulna and radius shattered on impact.
The boot didn't stop there. It crushed into Kamishiro's cheek, smashing his head sideways. The nearly two-meter-tall hulk of a man was flung backward like a tree snapped in a storm.
His twisted neck dangled grotesquely, the entire right side of his face collapsed inward. Blood sprayed into the air. His features now resembled those of a zombie, distorted, bloodied, a boot print clearly visible across his shattered visage.
Uesugi Ryu flipped and landed gracefully. The violet-colored long blade reappeared in his hand.
He had deliberately chosen to go hand-to-hand with Kamishiro Matasaka, using the battle to sharpen his Hand-to-Hand Combat Mastery skill. Otherwise, he would've driven the blade through the man's skull, giving him the same clean death he'd given his adopted daughter, Kamishiro Rize.
Watching silently from the shadows, Yoshimura Eto wore a strange device on her head. Through its precise lens, Uesugi Ryu's red-hot silhouette was vividly visible.
This was a high-precision thermal imaging visor, and the heat radiating from Uesugi Ryu's body was astonishing. He blazed like the sun in the screen's dim field of view.
Eto's lips curled slightly.
"So that's how it is..."
"The phantom clones have no heat signature."
"All that invisibility nonsense, turns out it's just visual trickery."
She began to hum cheerfully, her body swaying to the tune.
"Uesugi Ryu... I'll be the one to kill you~"
Humming happily, she began to descend toward the battlefield below.
From the shadows nearby, Mephisto twitched its wings. A wave of silent exasperation washed over its crow-like face. Still, it followed Eto's footsteps down toward the arena.
Back on the battlefield,
Kamishiro Matasaka's head, once twisted sideways, abruptly jerked back into place with an unnatural snap. His arms dangled uselessly at his sides, shattered beyond repair.
His eyes, wide and bloodshot, were filled with a deep, sinking despair.
This, this wasn't what he'd imagined.
Uesugi Ryu's strength had nothing to do with that armor.
Even without it, he was at the pinnacle.
Even in hand-to-hand combat, he was not inferior.
"Could it be... I'm not even worthy of forcing him to draw his blade...?"
A bitter, tragic smile formed on his lips.
Kamishiro Matasaka's eyes suddenly reignited with fighting spirit.
He knew now: revenge was a fantasy. But he still had pride.
He took a deep breath and crouched forward slightly, like a leopard ready to pounce.
Suddenly, he stomped the ground and charged Uesugi Ryu once more.
His shattered arms flopped limply behind him, battered by momentum, but he didn't hesitate in the slightest. He still had his legs, and most importantly, his Kagune.