[The Japan Team's Side]
The first to step onto the field was Goro Daimon. Benimaru Nikaido's injuries were almost healed too, but probably because they wanted him to rest a bit longer, they sent out Goro Daimon, whose strength was in the mid-range.
And the Japan team had clearly studied the Psycho Soldiers team; they knew that when dealing with Sie Kensou and Athena, sending out Daimon, who was strong in both power and technique, had thick skin and tough flesh, and also possessed rich combat experience, would be better against fighters who excel at using all sorts of strange psychic abilities.
Next, under the cheers of the audience, the fight began.
Facing Goro Daimon, a powerful judo expert, Sie Kensou immediately made his judgment, he absolutely could not let him get close. So he opened with several continuous Choukyuudan projectiles.
But Daimon, seemingly aiming for a quick battle, actually chose to directly power up and take the hits head-on. With a loud roar, he stomped on the ground, and the entire ring shook. A layer of glowing aura, one that only appears during a power-up, rose over his body.
The Choukyuudan projectiles that could easily blast apart marble collided with the energy surrounding Daimon's body, and as soon as the two energies touched, they exploded.
But Daimon, whose body had literally been trained into steel and iron, didn't move an inch with the reinforcement of his energy, and instead strode straight toward Kensou.
The spots hit by the Choukyuudan did redden a bit, but for a fighter like him, that was basically a mosquito bite.
Seeing that the Choukyuudan had no effect at all, Kensou simply switched to guerrilla tactics, running while using psychic attacks at range, trying to chip away at Daimon's HP like in a fighting game.
Unfortunately, this wasn't a fighting game. And as a teenager barely in his early teens, Kensou had neither the experience nor stamina to match Japan's top judo master. When Daimon dodged his super move, Senki Explosion, Kensou was forced into a corner of the rectangular ring.
Seeing there was no way out, and that falling off the ring counted as losing, Kensou gritted his teeth and leapt up, using Dragon Talon Attack, planning to jump behind Daimon.
But for a judo expert, unless you can jump straight into the sky, any jumping motion only creates opportunities for your opponent.
Kensou had barely jumped before Daimon stepped in close and grabbed his ankle. After a full combo of throws plus the super move Heaven's Glorious Fall, Kensou was KO'd.
After taking down Kensou, Daimon let out a small breath, then returned to the center of the ring and closed his eyes to rest. Using moves while powered up consumed a lot of stamina, he had to recover quickly.
And after Kensou was carried off for the second time, Athena took the stage.
Facing this thick-skinned powerhouse, Athena chose the same strategy as Kensou, planning to use long-range psychic attacks. After all, she was a girl, her strength and stamina were far inferior to male fighters. And besides, her psychic abilities heavily countered close-combat specialists.
However, Daimon had already prepared countermeasures against her psychic attacks.
As soon as the announcer called for the match to begin, Athena raised both palms toward Daimon. At that moment, she saw Daimon suddenly slam both hands down onto the ground.
BOOM!
The entire ring violently shook.
This move was also one of those cheap tactics in the game, Earth Shaker, also known as the BUG Shake.
The vibrations made Athena lose her footing a bit, and the psychic power she had gathered shot into the sky because her center of gravity shifted. Although she quickly grounded her stance again, Daimon had already used that opening to lunge right in front of her.
Seeing this, Athena spun in place and instantly used Psychic Teleport, appearing behind Daimon. But unfortunately, she teleported onto the ground.
So Daimon used Earth Shaker again. And just after landing, Athena couldn't keep her balance this time and was shaken straight to the floor.
And once again, a fallen fighter facing a judo master only ever had one ending, defeat...
Fortunately, Daimon still had some pity for delicate beauties and only used a throw to send Athena flying out of the ring. He didn't go for anything harsh.
Coincidentally, Athena was thrown out in the direction of Aiden, and he caught her naturally in his arms. That gave him a big bonus, this "old woman's" figure was still pretty nice.
After putting down Athena, whose face had suddenly turned red, Aiden first received several disdainful looks, and then he heard Athena whisper, "Thank you, Junior Brother."
After hearing her call him "Junior Brother" every single day recently, Aiden had already become desensitized. He smiled and said, "Of course a Junior Brother should help his senior sister."
But as soon as he said that, Athena's eyes lit up. "Junior Brother, you agree to become a disciple?"
Aiden froze, then could only give a helpless smile at this idol girl's tendency to "take a mile when given an inch." He said, "Of course I didn't agree. 'Junior Brother' and 'senior sister'… let's just treat it as our own way of addressing each other."
A special form of address between two people serves mainly to make them feel closer. Just like Aiden and Bayonetta calling each other Mr. Cat and Miss Cat, it was the same idea.
Those other women calling him "Aiden" or "Aiden-kun" just felt too ordinary. Mainly, he just hadn't thought of a suitable nickname for them.
But putting nicknames aside for now, at this moment, the final member of the Psycho Soldiers team stepped onto the stage.
It was none other than the famed veteran of the fighting world, Chin Gentsai.
When Chin hopped onto the ring, even Goro Daimon, Japan's number one judo expert, immediately bowed deeply and respectfully to him.
"Master Chin, I'm afraid I'll be disrespectful next," Daimon said seriously, full of respect.
"You're too polite! Seeing young people like you with such strength makes me happy from the bottom of my heart." Chin waved dismissively. For an old man like him, nothing was more gratifying than seeing new talent rising in the fighting world.
At his level, he no longer cared about borders or nationality.
As for his two disciples getting defeated by Daimon, he didn't mind at all. Young people losing matches was the most normal thing in the world, otherwise how would they find motivation to improve?
"Young man, don't blame this old man later if I go a bit rough!" Chin laughed again and added casually, even hiccupping from alcohol, but with absolute confidence.
Daimon nodded firmly and bowed again. "Please instruct me!"
After a few brief courtesies, both men took their stances. With the announcer's signal, they moved at the same time.
Despite being over eighty, Chin's attacks were incredibly fierce. Using Drunken Moon Steps, he dodged Daimon's grip aimed at his shoulders and slammed directly into Daimon's chest.
Caught off guard, Daimon was shoulder-thrust seven or eight meters away. Before he could get up, Chin's figure flashed like a ghost overhead, elbow bent like a blade, dropping straight down.
BOOM!
A loud crash, another pit opened in the freshly repaired ring.
One had to admit, the old man who loved alcohol really did hit brutally hard.
Fortunately, the move didn't land. Daimon reacted quickly and rolled aside at the moment of impact.
As he got up, Daimon's usually narrow eyes were now wide open, staring at Chin as he staggered out of the smoke. Daimon took a deep breath and decided to use the same trick again, slamming both palms to the ground.
Earth Shaker.
But Chin had trained for decades. His stance work was older than Daimon himself. His base was solid as a tree; his center of gravity unmoving, like he had swallowed a weight. He continued advancing with his drunken steps, pressing Daimon relentlessly.
Seeing this, Daimon could only sigh inwardly and choose to fight him head-on.
He had no long-range attacks, and guerilla tactics wouldn't work. Rather than waste stamina, he might as well go all out. His body was tough enough to endure a few hits. As long as he could drain Chin's stamina, that was enough.
Besides, he had two teammates left, and Kyo Kusanagi hadn't even gone on yet. A fully fresh Kyo beating an eighty-plus-year-old man shouldn't be too hard, right?
With this mindset, Daimon began exchanging fierce blow-for-blow techniques with Chin…
A few minutes later, after taking a hard beating, Daimon finally chose to surrender.
And Chin, his opponent, let out a long breath, a faint layer of sweat forming on his forehead.
After all, he was in his eighties. His stamina just couldn't keep up. This fight consumed a great deal of energy for him as well.
The fighters in the audience saw everything clearly. Athena, worried, murmured, "Master used too much energy on Daimon… the next fight is going to be difficult. Sigh, I wonder who the Japan team will send out next."
"It's probably Kusanagi Kyo. Benimaru isn't fully healed yet, they definitely can't risk him getting hurt again," Aiden analyzed.
And just as he said that, Kyo jumped onto the ring.
What surprised everyone was that this high-schooler, who hated studying, actually knew how to respect his elders. After landing, he gestured at the announcer to pause the match, then bowed politely to Chin.
"Master, please rest a while longer. Once you recover, we can fight."
"No need," Chin replied, eyes full of appreciation. "Each era produces its own talents. Young man, I am not your match."
Chin and Kyo's father, Kusanagi Saisyu, were old acquaintances whose strengths were about the same. And Kyo had already surpassed his father. Just from that, Chin knew very well that even at his peak, his chances of beating Kyo were slim.
The three sacred families' bloodlines were some of the strongest "cheat-codes" and talents in this world.
So Chin took a swig of alcohol, waved toward the announcer…
He surrendered this round.
Just like that, the Japan team advanced successfully.
And next up would be the Kagura team vs. the Fatal Fury team…
———
[In the Audience]
"Mm, Aiden is going on soon. Yuri, King, hurry and raise the signs!" Mai Shiranui urged the two girls as soon as she heard the announcer call the next matchup.
She also raised her own sign high, with "Aiden Will Win" written boldly on it…
Fortunately, Aiden didn't look their way, otherwise he'd die of embarrassment.
At this moment, Helena nervously asked, "Can Aiden really defeat that Andy guy in one move?"
During the earlier meal with Mai, Yuri, and King, she and Shermie had heard Mai mention that Aiden and Andy had made a one-move-decides-the-winner bet.
Helena didn't really know Aiden's true strength, so she was inevitably anxious.
Even though Nyotengu insisted that Aiden could easily crush the Fatal Fury team, a one-move bet still made her uneasy.
"It's fine, it's fine. Aiden doesn't brag," Mai reassured her, though she herself didn't feel completely confident. Still, out of trust in her man, she forced herself to appear calm.
While the women in the audience talked, Aiden was speaking with the Kagura sisters.
"You two just sit here and watch me perform." Aiden pressed down lightly on their shoulders.
The sisters exchanged a look. Although reluctant, they still nodded.
"Be careful," Maki reminded him.
"Maybe big sister should go..."
But before Kagura Chizuru could finish her sentence, Aiden was already walking toward the ring.
[T/N: I have started doing another fanfic— "Frieren: A Journey of the Demon King". It is a quite relaxing and humorous read, give it a go. Have a great read~]