The match between Liam and Wing was the most anticipated fight of the season.
By 1:40 PM, the largest fighting venue on the 229th floor was packed to capacity. Thousands of spectators filled every seat. Even though people were just chatting quietly and laughing while waiting for the match to start, their combined voices formed a massive wave of noise. The roar of the crowd spoke for itself.
Over the past three months, the fourteen fighters who'd lost to Wing and Liam also showed up in twos and threes. They occasionally made eye contact with each other, then awkwardly looked away, pretending they hadn't noticed.
Liam and Wing had both won nine out of nine matches. The reason only fourteen fighters had been defeated by the two of them was simple: several people had lost to both of them in succession.
Like Tetsuro.
Tetsuo glanced at his expressionless brother with concern. "Tetsuro-aniki, you don't need to watch this, you know? There's nothing to gain from seeing those two fight. You've got nine wins yourself. One more victory and you can challenge a Floor Master. No need to compete with those monsters."
If Tetsuro hadn't spent weeks recovering from his injuries after losing to Wing—and then focused on intensive training—he would've already reached ten wins by now.
"Lil bro, don't worry. I'm fine. I'm not here for revenge," Tetsuro said. "I just want to see with my own eyes which of them wins. That's all."
Tetsuo felt like something had changed in his younger brother ever since that loss to Liam.
Logically, his brother had been humiliated so badly that day. He'd had almost no power to fight back against Liam. Shouldn't he be holding a grudge? Feeling deeply ashamed?
What the hell did Liam say to him?
"If you fly around one more time, I'm stewing you in a pot," Liam said at the contestant tunnel exit, catching Jaku and rubbing the restless bird's head roughly.
"Chi-chi! Chi-chi!" Jaku chirped at him confidently.
Kurapika, who'd also come to watch, observed this and said, "The more serious the threat, the less deterrent it has when you don't follow through."
"Jiji?" Jaku squawked, glaring at Kurapika as if to say: What the hell? You, a human with thick eyebrows and big eyes, actually want to see me punished?
Liam smiled. "That's the whole point. If I just said it casually and the bird got so scared its feathers fell out, could we still joke around in a friendly way?"
Kurapika was speechless.
Shizuku made a circular gesture near her temple, as if asking Liam: Is Kurapika's head not working properly?
If Liam really wanted to command Jaku, he could just use the Star Mark to control it directly. Why bother being verbose?
At that moment, Wing emerged from the opposite contestant tunnel. He looked over at them and pushed his glasses up.
When their eyes met in mid-air, Liam felt the aura in his body beginning to boil.
Can I win?
Won't know until we fight.
Liam's fighting spirit ignited. "My hands are so itchy. Let's get this started!"
"Good luck," Shizuku said, taking Jaku from him and waving.
The moment the bird fell into her hands, it immediately stopped calling and became perfectly well-behaved.
As Liam and Wing entered the ring simultaneously, the cheers and applause from the already noisy venue climbed to an even higher crescendo.
"OOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"
The announcer didn't even need to hype up the crowd. The atmosphere was already threatening to blow off the 229th floor's ceiling.
"How much has his aura increased?" Kurapika asked.
Shizuku stroked the smooth, soft feathers of Jaku, who sat like a contented chicken in her palm. "About eighteen thousand."
Nearly twice as much as three months ago.
And this was with Liam splitting his time between the Four Major Principles training and developing new abilities.
"But it doesn't even seem to match his opponent's level from three months ago," Kurapika mused.
"Yeah, no," Shizuku agreed. "And the guy with glasses has gotten even stronger."
Just when Kurapika didn't know what to say, Shizuku spoke calmly. "The odds of winning aren't high."
She looked at Liam's figure in the ring. "But there's still a chance."
In the ring, white light flashed across Wing's glasses. He asked, "Your aura has improved significantly compared to three months ago."
Liam stood opposite him with the referee between them. He smiled. "Right back at you."
"Can I ask how much you've improved?" Wing said. "Your total aura capacity?"
Are all Enhancers this straightforward? Liam said casually, "No more, no less. Eighteen thousand. What about you?"
Wing replied elegantly, "Twenty-six thousand. It's also three months of practice, but my improvement isn't as good as yours."
In other words, Wing's total aura three months ago had already exceeded twenty thousand. Liam said, "My aura growth has started slowing down again recently. This happened before. Do you know what causes it?"
Wing smiled. "How about we have a nice chat after this fight?"
"Sounds good!" Liam readily agreed.
The referee sandwiched between them looked pained. This is a competition arena, not a chat room. Look around—thousands of pairs of eyes are staring at you expectantly.
"So, Fighter Smith, Fighter Wing..."
The referee looked left and right. Both fighters nodded at him.
The fight was about to begin.
The vast majority of the audience just enjoyed watching fights for entertainment. Only a handful in the crowd—fellow contestants from Heavens Arena, whether Nen users on the 200th floor or ordinary fighters from below who'd heard about this high-profile match—subconsciously tensed their nerves and stared at the ring without blinking.
After the referee gave the order to start, Wing and Liam stood opposite each other and assumed their opening stances.
Ordinary spectators and regular fighters didn't notice anything unusual.
But the fighters on the 200th floor and above were suddenly shocked, staring at the two in disbelief.
Both of them released all their aura simultaneously after taking their stances.
The rich white light—visible only to those who could also use aura—blazed fiercely around them both.
The sheer volume gave off an instinctive feeling of intimidation.
It was as if they, despite all their battle experience, had been reduced to innocent rabbits who'd accidentally wandered into the jungle and stumbled upon a confrontation between two apex predators. Every instinct screamed at them to turn and run.
They and those two fighters were never on the same level from the beginning.
The moment the match started, both Liam and Wing immediately released their full body aura, building thick Ken that served as both offense and defense.
Very solid fundamentals, both of them thought, observing each other's aura states. As solid as rock, yet flowing like water.
Liam took the initiative and vanished.
Where he'd been standing, a corner of the ring's bricks collapsed.
Wing punched at empty air beside him.
Liam's figure suddenly appeared directly in the path of his fist. Their fists collided with a dull roar.
The referee was secretly stunned. With just one punch, the air around them seemed to shake. The ring beneath his feet trembled.
How absurd!
This wasn't a competition between two flesh-and-blood humans. It was like two industrial cranes swinging massive hammers and colliding mid-air.
Liam's fist ached slightly. He grabbed Wing's wrist and kicked toward his face.
Wing leaned back, bending his waist to avoid the kick.
From the corner of his eye, he caught the flow of aura on Liam's body. Liam was concentrating aura in his other foot!
It's a spinning kick hidden in the blind spot.
Wing's aura distribution shifted instantly. A thicker barrier piled up on one side of his body. Almost simultaneously, Liam spun around in the blind angle and drove a spinning kick straight at him.
If Ken meant evenly distributing fifty percent of manifested aura across the body surface, then Liam's kick used Ryu to concentrate eighty percent of his manifested aura, dramatically increasing its power.
But Wing saw through it. Wing also used Ryu to mobilize eighty percent of his aura for defense.
And Wing's total capacity already surpassed Liam's.
Liam's kick didn't break through the defense. Instead, his own foot absorbed most of the shock.
The Star Mark on the back of Liam's neck activated like a seed, affecting the aura throughout his entire body.
Liam's eyes filled with sapphire-like light. His fists and feet became shadows, transforming into shooting stars as he engaged Wing in brutal close combat.
Bang bang bang bang bang!
Boom boom boom boom...
The two performed dazzling offensive and defensive exchanges in the small space of the ring. The referee stood frozen, gripping the microphone with no idea what to say.
Technically, an excellent attack was worth one point. A very good attack was worth two points.
But the two fighters' offense and defense were too fast. The referee couldn't see clearly enough to score!
Boom! Liam seemed to punch Wing.
The referee excitedly opened his mouth to award points, but the next second Wing slapped Liam on the head, pushing him backward.
Knocked down... The referee was about to change his announcement when Liam flipped upside down, crushing a corner of the ring's bricks, then rushed at Wing almost flying, seemingly unaffected.
Bang bang bang bang bang...
The referee gave up and continued watching the fierce battle that seemed to have reached a stalemate.
Even the referee, who was used to seeing gods fight above the 200th floor, was overwhelmed. The audience was even more dazzled and confused, yet they couldn't stop cheering and applauding.
You don't care whether you can see clearly or not. As long as it looks cool, that's enough!
Thunderous applause!
The fighters watching from below the 200th floor all transformed into Mr. Satan. Their jaws nearly dropped to the ground. Are these two people's technique, speed, and strength still human?
The fighters from the 200th floor all wore solemn expressions. Some who'd been beaten by the two on stage even had cold sweat on their foreheads. It seemed that when they'd fought, Liam and Wing hadn't used their true strength at all. They'd been holding back...
Tetsuo looked confused but was more worried about his brother's condition. Tetsuro stared straight at the two fighting in the ring without blinking. Had he gone stupid?
Kurapika activated Gyo and stared at Liam and Wing fighting fiercely in the ring.
Laymen see the excitement. Experts see the technique.
Kurapika was now considered an expert, and the more he watched, the more frightened he became.
Both of them controlled their aura so well. They used Ryu so proficiently that it perfectly fit the name of the technique—flowing smoothly. To them, aura didn't seem to be something that needed concentrated deliberate control, but rather a part of their body that moved like an arm according to their will.
The distribution of Ken across the body shifted from left to right, up and down. In the seemingly simple and direct fist-and-kick exchanges, every punch and kick represented countless psychological battles.
You had to accurately identify how much aura was allocated to the opponent's incoming strike, then use the same amount or more to defend.
If you predicted wrong and the opponent's heavier punch hit a weak point in your aura, even if your overall strength should be higher, your defense could break and you'd get injured.
What if the opponent was just feinting and hiding another killing move?
Therefore, you had to closely watch the flow of aura on the opponent's body. Your eyes had to remain in Gyo state at all times.
Gyo, Ken, Ryu...
In actual combat, proficient use of these fundamentals was top priority. If maintaining Ken during normal practice consumed one aura per second, then during combat like this moment, the consumption per second increased six to ten times.
During the fierce fight, Liam and Wing stared at each other simultaneously, found a rare opening, and punched each other without hesitation.
Wing punched Liam in the face. Liam's fist hit Wing's jaw.
Liam was knocked backward. After a few steps, he stomped his feet until they sank slightly into the ring's bricks before he stopped.
Wing just raised his head slightly and took half a step back with one foot.
It had only been three minutes, but it seemed to last as long as three hours. The entire audience seemed to fall silent for a moment, then erupted with a tsunami of applause, whistles, and cheers.
"Uh, excellent attack! Fighter Wing scores one point!" the referee said quickly. "The score is 1-0!"
There was no time limit for matches above the 200th floor. Whoever defeated their opponent first or got ten points first would win.
Liam wiped his nose, clearing away the nosebleed, and rubbed his face. Wing's punches and kicks were seriously heavy.
As expected of an Enhancer!
Compared to Liam, Wing looked much calmer and less disheveled. His shirt and hair were just messier, but he didn't look obviously injured.
But Wing was slightly surprised. He'd clearly seen that Liam's bleeding nose seemed to have stopped bleeding just seconds after his last punch.
Just a few seconds...
This kind of recovery speed was even better than his own Enhancement-type body.
"The opponent's an Enhancer. Why choose close combat?" Kurapika muttered from the stands. "What's more, the opponent is stronger in terms of total aura and aura output. There's no advantage to close combat at all."
"My total aura capacity is twenty-six thousand, and my current aura output can generally be maintained at twenty-four hundred," Wing said, repositioning his stance calmly. "And your total aura is eighteen thousand, with an output that seems to be..." He recalled briefly. "Seventeen hundred. But your actual power doesn't seem that strong." He looked at Liam. "So you're not an Enhancer."
"Correct answer! But there's no reward," Liam said, snapping his fingers and dusting himself off.
Wing spoke seriously. "Let me remind you—my philosophy is that as an Enhancer, I don't need flashy abilities. But that doesn't mean I don't have my own Nen ability."
"I can break boundaries, increase my physical strength, and enhance my offense and defense," he said. "Moreover, after I enter that state, the loss per second is further reduced. What about you? After that intense close combat for just three minutes, your aura's almost depleted, right?"
Liam shook his arms and legs, his eyes going dead. "You're so honest. Why are you telling me all this?"
Wing looked embarrassed and explained, "Because I feel you've chosen the wrong way to fight me, so you might continue making mistakes—"
"Are all Enhancers this straightforward?"
Liam said with a smile. To Kurapika watching, the smile seemed to have a treacherous edge.
"When did you get the illusion that I was just fighting close combat with you, an Enhancer?" Liam flipped his palms and shook them. White spheres of Nen popped out and floated quietly in mid-air above his hands. "My ability's conditions have already been met."
In the center of each Nen sphere, a series of numbers floated in the air.
This doesn't look like an ordinary Nen bullet...
Just as Wing stared at the sphere, Liam had already thrown the one with "100" inside at him.
Wing quickly dodged.
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