Chapter Twenty-Nine: Combat Techniques

Page (1/3)

The staff once again cleared the arena with brisk efficiency.

The announcer spoke up. “All right! The match continues. We’re now moving on to the third round. Let’s welcome Diaz from the Monglego Empire! Though we have no idea what remarkable exploits this fighter may have accomplished, several of our employees were injured simply trying to capture him! Can he truly pose a threat to Kizi? Let’s wait and see!”

Amid the cheers, a man with short brown hair stepped into the arena. His eyes were deeply sunken, and he looked utterly listless.

When Diaz appeared before the audience, wearing a blue-and-white headscarf and a worn white shirt, everyone was bitterly disappointed. Boos erupted from all sides. Even Lermontov, who was built like a bear, had been no match for Kizi. No one believed that this thin man, who looked to be only about five feet nine, could put on any kind of impressive performance.

“That guy?” Colin stared wide-eyed. “Are you sure he isn’t from the next round?”

“Waiter.” Verak sounded somewhat hurried as he called one over. “How much would it cost to buy him?”

“You… want to buy him?” The waiter looked surprised.

It was actually quite common for spectators at the underground boxing arena to take a liking to a fighter and buy him for a high price. But they generally bought fighters with outstanding records, and only after the match was over. Someone like Verak, who wanted to buy an unfavored fighter before the match had even begun, was a first.

“Mr. Colin wants to buy him. Name your price,” Verak said.

Buying him before the match was naturally the best option. Once Diaz obliterated Kizi, acquiring him would cost dozens of times more than it did now. Even betting five hundred gold coins would be unlikely to multiply the money dozens of times, so buying him at this moment was the most profitable choice.

“Five hundred gold coins will do. But, Mr. Colin, are you certain you want to buy him now? Even if you purchase him at this point, regulations require him to finish today’s match. His opponent is Kizi, and I’m afraid…”

“Take it.” Verak handed the waiter all the money they had just won back from the table and made the decision for Colin. “Put the rest of the money on Diaz.”

The waiter had worked here for many years, but this was the first time he had encountered anything like this. He froze for a moment before taking the money and leaving.

“I was just about to praise you for having such good judgment tonight, and now you’re acting like you have too much money and nowhere to spend it?” Colin stared in disbelief as he watched the entire exchange. “Forget Kizi—I could knock this guy down with one punch. And you bought him in my name, too. No matter what happens tonight, I’m the one who has to take responsibility?”

“Just watch.” Verak paid no attention to Colin’s complaints. His eyes were filled with admiration as he looked toward Diaz.

This ordinary-looking young man was about to astound everyone in the arena.

“I’m done arguing with you. At least I won’t lose anything. No matter what happens, I’ll end up with ten thousand gold coins. Just don’t turn around and deny the debt later.” Colin had spent the entire evening worrying himself sick over Verak’s various defiance-of-common-sense decisions.

“Relax.” Verak smiled confidently and raised his glass. “Let’s celebrate our big win in advance.”

“I’ve lost my appetite.” Colin clinked glasses with him but did not drink. “By the way, why did you buy him? Just look at him. There’s no way he’ll make it through this match. Won’t those five hundred gold coins be wasted?”

“Why are you so annoying?” Verak said helplessly to the chatterbox.

“All right, all right. I won’t say anything else. We’ll see who cries after the match. Don’t say I didn’t warn you not to do something foolish.”

Page (1/3)

Page (2/3)

“Watch the match.”

“…Chris, are you sure you didn’t mistake him for someone else? Are you certain he isn’t a fighter from the next round? I’ve looked at him from every direction, and he really doesn’t seem like much.”

“…What happened to you shutting up?”

The betting for the third round ended.

The announcer announced the odds.

Kizi’s share of the support was as high as ninety-three percent, while Diaz had only seven percent.

Everyone was confident of victory, leaving Verak with a huge opening to exploit.

After learning the odds, Verak poured himself another glass of wine to celebrate. At the current rate, after deducting the fees and the cost of buying Diaz, the final return would be approximately one hundred and forty-eight thousand gold coins. After repaying Colin ten thousand, he would still have one hundred and thirty-eight thousand gold coins left.

What did one hundred and thirty-eight thousand gold coins represent? It was enough to cover more than six thousand years of meals in the poor district, or to buy seven top-of-the-line new cars from Laizein.

After calculating the figures, Verak began to waver. He felt an impulse to take the money and flee that very night.

This was already enough to support him in luxury for the rest of his life. Why remain in this turbulent, dangerous Laizein?

“I did the math,” Colin said casually. “If you win, you’ll have spending money for quite some time.”

“Spending… money…” Verak felt as though a bucket of cold water had been thrown over him, and his restless heart gradually quieted.

To him, one hundred and forty thousand gold coins was an astronomical sum—a fortune large enough to drive everyone in the poor district insane. But to the wealthy young men seated around him, it was nothing more than pocket money for a few months.

It was not enough. Still not enough.

Twenty-six years of poverty had confined Verak’s thinking. He realized that he needed to broaden his horizons and reshape his values. He was capable of earning far more money. This one hundred and forty thousand gold coins was merely the beginning—a negligible beginning.

“That’s right.” Verak’s eyes grew sharper and brighter. “It’s just a game.”

At the same time that Verak’s values underwent a profound change, Kizi and Diaz began their fight in the arena.

The unfavored Diaz actually seized the initiative, charging straight at Kizi with remarkable boldness.

Page (2/3)

Page (3/3)

Seeing this, Kizi met him with a vicious grin and threw a punch.

With an impassive expression, Diaz slipped lightly to the side, evading the punch and closing in on Kizi.

“Crack!”

The clear sound of bone striking bone rang through the arena. Diaz drove an elbow into Kizi’s face, breaking his nose.

“Ugh!” Kizi groaned in pain and instinctively staggered backward.

Diaz flashed around him. Before Kizi could react, Diaz was behind him, hooking his left arm beneath Kizi’s chin and tightening it into a V-shaped choke. He then laid his right arm across the back of Kizi’s head, gripped the joint of his right arm with his left hand from below, and pressed his right palm against the back of Kizi’s head, forcing it forward.

“What is that?” Colin had never seen a technique like it.

“A neck choke.” Verak watched as Diaz bent his body like a bow and clamped Kizi in an unyielding hold. His voice was low.

“What the hell is that?”

Colin was not the only one dumbfounded. Kizi, still fighting in the arena, had never encountered anything like this either. All he could feel was that his neck was about to be snapped.

A sense of crisis washed over him, and Kizi no longer dared to take the situation lightly. He tried to pry Diaz’s arms apart, but Diaz’s limbs were like iron locks. No matter how desperately Kizi struggled, they did not budge.

The suffocation and the sensation of his neck being twisted apart made sweat break out on the brow of the previously arrogant Kizi. He let out a hoarse roar and hurled himself forward, trying to throw Diaz over his back and smash him into the ground.

“Crash!”

Kizi flung Diaz from behind to in front of him, sending him crashing to the floor. At the same time, Kizi fell forward onto Diaz.

The entire arena descended into deathly silence. Everyone held their breath, staring unblinkingly at the two motionless figures lying on the ground.

After several seconds, Diaz shoved Kizi off him with force and climbed to his feet.

“No way…” Colin was stunned.

Diaz gripped one arm with the other hand and reset his own dislocated bone. Then he looked coldly at Kizi, who lay sprawled on the ground, his neck broken when Diaz had twisted him over during the fall. Diaz wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.

Page (3/3)