Although Nikaido Benimaru is also about 1.8 meters tall, standing before Chang Koehan, who is over 2.2 meters tall and weighs more than two hundred kilos, he looked small and skinny like a child.
"Not easy to deal with… If that giant iron ball hits you, a broken bone would probably be the lightest injury, right?"
Tilting his head back to look up at Chang Koehan, Benimaru swallowed hard. Even though he already had the Gold Team's information and had seen the man's display yesterday, being this close, he still felt an overwhelming pressure.
A physical pressure.
Especially from that huge iron ball.
'Can't the organizers set a rule that bans using weapons?'
'But actually, that iron ball might be to my advantage, right?'
Thinking this, Benimaru raised his guard.
"Hey, little guy, careful or I'll smash you into a meat patty!"
Chang Koehan looked down at Benimaru. His voice sounded a bit stupid and honest.
But appearances are deceiving, just like Choi Bounge, he was actually cunning.
"You'd better watch out you don't get fried into barbecue by my lightning."
Benimaru shot back, but his eyes were already full of caution.
The moment the announcer shouted for the fight to begin, Benimaru instantly dashed forward. Chang Koehan had a massive frame and clearly wasn't agile, and that iron ball on a chain allowed him to attack from range, so Benimaru chose to rush in and fight close.
And the result was exactly as Benimaru predicted. Seeing him close in so fast, Chang Koehan immediately tried to retreat, wanting to open distance and use his size and strength. But his speed obviously wasn't as good as Benimaru's, and in the blink of an eye, Benimaru was already right in front of him.
"Lightning Fist!"
Blinding sparks flashed. Benimaru unleashed the Lightning Fist without hesitation. At such close range, Chang Koehan couldn't dodge at all. With crackling sounds echoing around them, he shook violently as electricity ran through him, even smoking slightly.
But with several hundred pounds of weight behind him, Chang Koehan didn't fall. The moment the lightning faded, he grabbed Benimaru's arm with shocking speed, Benimaru's face showing surprise, and used a throw technique.
'Big Destruction Throw.'
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Benimaru, who weighed only eighty or ninety kilos, was light as straw in Chang Koehan's hands. Chen slammed him into the floor over and over, carving a crater into the solid marble tiles.
After smashing him more than ten times, Chang Koehan lifted Benimaru high, then slammed him down with his full strength before finally releasing his arm.
But fighters don't lose combat ability that easily. Benimaru was somehow still conscious, just sore all over from being slammed. As he struggled to get up, he suddenly saw Chang Koehan leap high into the air. And because of his nasty sense of humor, he came down with his butt first…
'Iron Ball Butt Crush!'
KO!
The temporarily incapacitated Benimaru was carried off by the medical team hired by the organizers.
"Benimaru…"
Kyo Kusanagi and Goro Daimon stopped the medics, looking at Benimaru lying on the stretcher with concern.
"I'm okay… After resting half a day, I should still be able to fight." His injuries weren't serious, and Chang Koehan hadn't intended to kill him, so with a fighter's physique, he'd recover most of his strength in a day at most.
"Now it's up to you two."
"Don't worry, I'll win it back for you." Daimon nodded, then pulled open his judo uniform, baring his upper body, and walked toward the ring.
———
In the fighters' rest area, watching Benimaru get carried away, almost everyone swallowed hard.
They weren't afraid of getting hurt, nor did they think the Big Destruction Throw was that scary. What really frightened them was the Iron Ball Butt Crush.
Just imagining what it would feel like to have a multi-hundred-pound fatty sit on your face made most fighters shiver.
"In that case, getting shocked doesn't seem so bad anymore."
A sweet voice sounded, Athena Asamiya speaking.
Then King said, "I just didn't expect such a fat guy to be that agile and cunning. At first, he pretended to be clumsy to lure that lightning guy into fighting him close."
"So it really is true, you can't judge a book by its cover… Not all fat guys are simple and honest."
"That guy definitely isn't honest. I checked his records, he used to be a criminal…" Kagura Chizuru whispered.
"A criminal… How did Master Kim, who claims to be the embodiment of justice, take in someone like him as a disciple…"
Amidst all the chatter, the third match on the stage had already begun.
Daimon Goro was slowly walking toward Chang Koehan. As Japan's number one judo master, he excelled at close combat, joint locks, ground techniques, and all varieties of throws.
Watching Daimon, Chang Koehan grew cautious. He felt this guy was much harder to deal with than the little one before.
So when Daimon was still four or five meters away, Chang Koehan went for a probing attack.
'Iron Fist Smash!'
The iron ball weighing over a hundred pounds came crashing toward Daimon. With Chen's strength plus the weight of the ball, even a car would be flattened like a tin plate.
But facing the incoming iron ball, Daimon did not dodge. He lifted his arms, fingers spread wide, and caught the iron ball with ease.
Still, the force traveled into his body, and he sank down noticeably.
From the big screen, spectators saw Daimon's feet sink into the marble platform, and his wooden clogs shattered under the weight.
But Daimon's face looked relaxed. The opponent's strength wasn't as overwhelming as he expected.
Seeing this, Chang Koehan tugged on the chain to pull the iron ball back, but realized it wasn't moving at all.
"This guy's physical strength is insane…"
Outside the ring, Aiden saw clearly, Daimon's ten fingers had already sunk deep into the metal surface of the iron ball the moment he caught it. His physical hardness had reached literal "iron body, copper skin" levels.
'If this guy showed up in the Resident Evil world, he'd probably one-punch every Tyrant… No, actually, all these fighters would be overpowered there. Zombie teeth wouldn't even break their skin…' Aiden thought, rubbing his chin.
———
"This guy's strength is huge!"
On the stage, when Chang Koehan found someone who could match him in raw strength, his face showed shock. But he was still an experienced fighter and reacted instantly.
'Rolling Escape!'
Even though it has "escape" in its name, it's actually a rushing attack. The giant fatty, weighing several hundred pounds, lunged forward with speed that didn't match his size, sliding under Daimon and reaching for his leg, trying to use Big Destruction Throw again.
But Daimon, being a judo expert, was best at ground techniques and throws. Of course he could read what Chen intended. Without hesitation, he tossed aside the iron ball.
As the heavy crash echoed, Daimon used a combination of advanced ukemi and counter-technique… rolling forward and hooking Chang Koehan's arm, which was thicker than a normal person's leg. In the instant he rose to his feet, he lifted Chang Koehan onto his back.
Then he stood and threw him down hard.
BOOM!
The several-hundred-pound Chang Koehan hit the floor, making the ground tremble.
But his thick skin and flesh took the hit with no real damage. He got up quickly and rushed toward his iron ball.
That was the weakness of fighters who relied too much on weapons, most of their combat performance was tied to the weapon.
But seeing Chen's actions, Daimon didn't try to stop him at all. He simply folded his arms and watched him retrieve his weapon, then stepped forward to close the distance.
'Then… Heaven and Earth Throw.'
Chang Koehan had barely held the iron ball for two seconds when Daimon, already up close, grabbed his leg and swung him up.
Daimon was true to his word, he was going to win this back for Benimaru.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Three consecutive throws carved several new craters into the ground. When the final Heaven and Earth Throw ended, Chang Koehan was tossed several meters away.
But Chen wasn't a pushover. As his body flew, he let go of the iron ball, sending it hurtling toward Daimon.
Bang!
Daimon punched the ball aside, but it blocked his view. When he regained sight, a huge shadow was already falling from above.
Chang Koehan's Iron Ball Crush.
But...
"MAX Hell's Paradise Drop!"
A low roar came from Daimon. Just as Chen was about to land on him, the floor beneath Daimon shattered with a bang. The released power turned broken marble into floating debris, a sign of an extreme burst state when energy leaks outward.
Daimon raised both arms and caught Chang Koehan. With a loud shout, he slammed him into the floor, then burst again, muscles swelling visibly, grabbed the dazed Chen, and carried out a series of throwing slams.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM…
Seven or eight in a row. Around Daimon, seven or eight new craters appeared. When the airborne Chang Koehan finally crashed down again, Daimon struck the ground with both hands, completing the final move of MAX Hell's Paradise Drop.
'Ground Quake!'
Another deafening boom echoed as dust shot up within ten-plus meters around him.