Martial Arts Worlds

"Void Step?"

Aoi and the rest frowned as they still didn't know what kind of technique that would be.

"The eyes of humans work in a way that you might not see the same things as the others do. In our eyes, Kiernan just circled behind Maximilian and flipped him over to his back.

"Nothing special about that, right?

"However, in the eyes of Maximilian, it must've looked like Kiernan never moved at all. It's what you would call Void Step, a technique that tricks the opponent into perceiving the user as standing still when they are actually moving.

"It's what you experienced, Aoi, didn't you?"

Master Arakawa turned to look at his granddaughter and saw her nod slightly.

"It's not as powerful as you described, though. I saw Kiernan move, and I am sure Maximilian did, but he looks like he is skipping, as if he is lagging in a video game.

"I am sure that Kiernan is still honing that technique, but once it is mastered, it will be an amazingly powerful technique."

Aoi said with a smile and felt her heart skip a beat about possibilities.

"A new move of mine that I've been trying to learn for a while. When I sailed through World Seas, I came across Sea Steps—a really powerful movement technique, but only in the sea.

"I thought it was a huge shame.

"If something like that worked in land, wow, I thought. Thus, Void Steps is my creation. I had to do a lot of research about human eyes to know how they work, and I must say, I was amazed at the complexity of it all."

Kiernan said with a chuckle.

"…Human eyes?"

Maximilian frowned.

He didn't know how the hell it was possible to trick the human eye that well that it could be fooled into seeing things that weren't really there.

"It's not just human eyes that you're tricking, correct? You're doing something to my brain, aren't you?"

He asked.

"A smart one. Yes, there are some other technicalities that I won't bother to explain right now, but I must say, creating this technique was one of the most annoying tasks I've ever done.

"It was worth it, though. You can't block any more of my attacks anymore."

Kiernan said.

"…Is that so? Bring it on."

Maximilian jumped ahead like a rocket and punched over to him, but Kiernan skipped past him with ease, almost looking like he was teleporting, and then delivered a powerful blow to Maximilian's side.

"Urgh!"

Gruber gritted his teeth, and swung his arm at Kiernan, but he backstepped to distance himself.

Without further ado, Maximilian chased after him and kept throwing punches, but Kiernan responded with Rendering Edge.

The two combating forces clashed repeatedly, each strike echoing through the night sky.

"If I limit your movement, you cannot use your Void Steps. Then I will have the upper hand."

Maximilian said in a serious tone.

"Bingo~ You quickly realized the small weakness of my Void Steps."

Kiernan said with a smile and didn't mind the fact that he was attacking him.

He kept his composure and kept defending with his Rendering Edge.

Parry! Block! Parry! Block!

Maximilian's fist came close to Kiernan's face, but he quickly slapped it away, and then a fist came from the right that Kiernan dodged by stepping to the left.

Gruber followed with his left hook. It got blocked. He stomped his foot down hard on Kiernan's foot and then punched with his right.

Kiernan smacked the right punch away and countered with a quick jab to Gruber's ribs.

Smack!

"Urgh!"

Maximilian's eyes shook as he realized that he was far too aggressive in attacking, which gave Kiernan a small opportunity for counterattack.

Ba-dump! Ba-dump! Ba-dump!

Maximilian's heart beat against his chest because his martial soul started to show signs of tear.

It wasn't looking too dangerous at the moment, but as the fight went on, the tear in his martial soul could become a serious issue.

The shade of his martial soul started to flicker and dim, and that also made his skin look a shade of gray.

"It's working!"

Master Arakawa cried out.

"I get it now. This is what Kiernan was planning from the start. Void Steps wasn't the means to defeat Maximilian. It was to force Maximilian to attack!

"He knew that Maximilian would find the small weakness in Void Steps, as it is kind of obvious, so with Maximilian attacking all the time, his martial soul is bound to suffer!"

Aoi said and trembled in excitement.

"Tch!"

Maximilian could feel his martial soul suffering, but without Void Steps, he could retreat for a while to rest his martial soul.

However, if he did that now, Kiernan would just attack with Void Steps, and there was nothing he could do defensively.

'He has backed me into a corner. There is nothing I can do, except attack!'

Maximilian gritted his teeth, and with blood rushing inside his body, he pumped more strength from his martial soul into his attacks.

He had no choice but to use the power of martial soul to finish the match as quickly as possible, because the longer it went on, the weaker he would become!

Recklessly, he threw a punch, and Kiernan quickly ducked under it, then slammed his elbow into Maximilian's stomach.

SMACK!

"Urgh!"

Maximilian stumbled back.

'Since I am also now attacking recklessly, it leaves me open for counterattacks, and of course he won't miss those chances!'

He thought with a pained grunt.

"Reigning Fallow!"

Kiernan unleashed a hellfire of punches that sent Maximilian flailing backwards, and he had no means to defend himself.

Thus, he just hid behind his guard while Reigning Fallow assaulted him relentlessly, and at that moment, as Maximilian took another step back, Kiernan unleashed his Void Steps!

He disappeared from the view, and at that moment, appeared behind Maximilian and smacked the side of his hand at the back of his head.

"Iron Style, Twisted Amnesia!"

Maximilian stumbled ahead with his eyes shaking, but he tanked the attack miraculously and turned back to Kiernan, but he had already disappeared.

"Iron Style, Krishna's Blast!"

Kiernan drove his elbow deep into Maximilian's back and sent him flying through the air, crashing at one of the walls of the temple.

"Huff…"

Kiernan stood straight, panting heavily and feeling the weight of the battle, but when he was ready to go after Maximilian, he felt a soft body hugging him from behind.

"You did it!"

Aoi screamed into his ear and hugged him warmly.

"Huh? But it's not…"

Kiernan thought, but when he turned back to Maximilian, his eyes looked white, and he wasn't moving an inch.

It took a while, but the blow of Twisted Amnesia was too much for him to bear, and it decided the match.

"Match is over!"