RECAP: FINALLY, WE COULD MOVE ON TO THE ROUND OF 16 FINAL BATTLE: ONE vs AXEL
K2B caught his breath and yelled even louder.
— AND NOW, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THE MOST… ANTICIPATED FIGHT? THE MOST… WEIRD? THE MOST… HOW DO YOU SAY IT, AGAIN? THE MOST ONE! THE SANDWICH PHENOMENON VS. THE SCARRED COLOSSUS! OOOOOONE VERSUS AXEL!
One entered first.
He walked slowly, hands in the pockets of his threadbare tracksuit. He looked at the floor, the ceiling, the crowd, as if searching for something interesting. He found nothing.
He yawned.
The crowd, torn between laughter and applause, wasn't quite sure how to react.
" — Is he really going to fight?
— He's trolling, this guy.
— He took down Brick without touching him, remember?"
Axel entered.
The contrast was striking. Massive, scarred, muscles straining under his tank top, he radiated raw power. His gaze, fixed on One, was serious. He hadn't forgotten Grann's lesson: never underestimate an opponent.
"I saw your fight," Axel said, his voice deep. "Brick, that was funny. But me? I'm not Brick."
One looked at him. Then he looked at his shoes. Then at the ceiling.
"…Okay," he said.
— FIGHT!
Axel charged.
Not a blind charge – a calculated, powerful attack, covering all angles. His right fist, big as a sledgehammer, cut through the air towards One's head.
One ducked.
The fist passed over him.
Axel followed with a left hook. One stepped back half a step.
The hook passed in front of his nose.
Axel, frustrated, threw a low kick. One jumped.
A ridiculously small jump. Just enough to avoid the sweep. He landed exactly back in the same spot.
"BUT WHAT IS HE DOING?!" K2B screamed. "IS HE DANCING OR FIGHTING?!"
On Nano-Neko, comments flooded in:
" — He dodges without moving.
— It's creepy. He anticipates everything.
— Axel's gonna lose his mind."
Axel, indeed, was starting to get angry. He redoubled his efforts, unleashing a flurry of blows: jab, hook, uppercut, low-kick, high-kick.
One barely moved. A slight head movement here, a small step there, a lean of his torso. Each attack passed a hair's breadth from him, without ever landing.
"STOP MOVING, DAMN IT!" Axel roared.
One stopped.
Axel, surprised by the sudden obedience, hesitated for a second.
"…You want me not to move?" One asked.
"Well… yeah?"
"Okay."
One stood still.
Axel, wary, approached slowly. He raised his fist.
BANG.
The punch flew. Straight towards One's face.
At the last moment, the punch stopped dead, as if an invisible barrier held it back.
One approached him and touched his chest.
"Wow, you're muscular."
How is it possible that what you did? How!?
Axel shouted, blushing in an instant, boiling with rage and fear, and leaped backward.
He had never retreated before.
"I didn't move," One said. "I just… uuuh."
The crowd burst into laughter. Axel, red with frustration, roared and attacked again.
It was a carnage… for Axel.
He struck, struck, struck. One dodged, weaved, deflected. Not a single blow landed. Not a drop of sweat appeared on One's brow.
After three minutes, Axel stopped, out of breath, his fists bloody from hitting the walls too much (the ones he'd missed).
"You're… you're not human," he panted.
One looked at him. Then he looked around him.
"Yeah, I am," he said. "I'm just not in a hurry."
He took a step forward.
Axel, instinctively, stepped back.
Another step. Another step back.
A third step. Axel stepped back again, then felt emptiness under his heel. He looked behind him.
The white line. The arena exit.
He had retreated out of the ring without even realizing it.
The referee blew the whistle.
— ARENA EXIT! VICTOR: ONE!
Silence.
Then the Dome exploded with laughter, applause, cries of disbelief.
"HE MADE HIM LEAVE BY JUST WALKING TOWARDS HIM!" K2B screamed. "HE DIDN'T LAND A SINGLE BLOW! HE JUST WALKED! AXEL, THE COLOSSUS, GOT WALKED OUT OF THE ARENA BY A GUY WHO WALKS!"
Axel, outside the arena, stared at One, mouth agape. Then, slowly, a tired smile stretched his lips.
"…You're really something else, you know that?"
One nodded.
"Thanks."
He turned on his heel and left the arena, hands still in his pockets, to an endless ovation.
On Nano-Neko, #OneTheGhost exploded.
" — HE WON WITHOUT FIGHTING.
— That's the most absurd fight I've ever seen.
— Axel's gonna have nightmares about this guy.
— One world champion, I can't stop thinking about it."
A post went viral: a picture of One sleeping, with the caption: "Me during the fight."
Another: Axel chasing a shadow, with the words: "When you fight One."
Kotobe, in the stands, had only one thought crossing his mind.
ONE, you are magnificent. I absolutely want to fight him, to discover his secret, how he did it. I want to learn from him.
I MUST FIGHT HIM AT ALL COSTS!
---
TOWARDS THE END OF THE DAY
Lola, in the studio, was trying to find her voice.
"Ladies and gentlemen… we have just witnessed… something. One, our… walking enigma, has just qualified for the quarter-finals without landing a single blow."
Mecha Sulivan, who had watched the fight with a fascination mixed with concern, murmured:
"That boy… he doesn't expend energy. Maybe he doesn't need to. He just exists where the other person isn't. It's… it's the purest form I've seen, but it's certainly not what the public wants in the long run."
K2B, on his live stream, concluded by yelling:
— THE ROUND OF 16 IS OVER! WE HAVE OUR EIGHT QUALIFIERS FOR THE QUARTER-FINALS! GRANN, ORION, BO, LUNA, LENA, CHLOÉ, KOTOBE, ONE! EIGHT NAMES! EIGHT DESTINIES! EIGHT STYLES! AND A CROWD READY TO LOVE THEM OR DESTROY THEM AT THE SLIGHTEST MISTAKE!
On the giant screen, the portraits of the eight finalists appeared.
Grann – perfection.
Orion – the machine.
Vipers – patience.
Luna – the shadow.
Lena – the avenger.
Chloé – science.
Kotobe – adaptation.
One – the enigma.
The crowd roared. Social media exploded. Bets opened.
And in his private lounge, Tamura Seijin watched the eight names, a cold smile on his lips.