Dust exploded beneath Pico’s boots as he charged forward, his eyes narrowing into deadly slits on his target.
Toka watched as Pico planted his feet firmly against the stone floor, tracking him at full speed. Mid-sprint, Pico whipped his hands behind his back, drew two concealed throwing knives, and flicked them straight at Toka's face.
Toka jerked his head sharply left as the first blade whizzed past his ear, then snapped right to dodge the second by a hair's breadth.
In that fleeting microsecond, Pico closed the distance, breaking through Toka's guard. Anchoring his heels, he launched a vicious, explosive uppercut straight toward Toka’s exposed center.
Toka didn't panic. With a calm sweep of his left hand, he swatted Pico's wrist aside, throwing the punch completely off-target.
Pico's face was left wide open.
In that instant, Toka brought his right hand down in a sharp, clawed strike aimed straight at Pico's face.
Before the blow could land, Pico’s left hand shot out like a vise, clamping down around Toka’s wrist.
The two fighters locked into an intense mutual counter. Toka strained against the iron grip of Pico’s fingers, his breath hitching as he stared down his opponent. Pico offered only a cocky, unbothered smirk.
Recognizing he couldn't overpower the grip with raw strength, Toka acted instantly. Stepping into Pico's guard, he planted one foot against Pico’s knee and the other against his chest, vaulting backward in a fluid, acrobatic somersault. Using Pico's body as a springboard, he violently wrenched his arm free, sending Pico stumbling backward.
Pico caught his balance, rolling his shoulders with a grin. "Not bad... not bad at all."
Toka landed lightly on his feet, holding his ground as he flexed his right wrist, which still throbbed from Pico's crushing grip.
He's got strong hands, Toka thought, narrowing his eyes. An experienced opponent.
Taking a deep, steadying breath, Toka slid into a modified stance, raising his left palm toward Pico while keeping his right tucked close to his chest.
Pico tilted his head, watching with odd amusement. "Oh...?"
Toka’s eyes flashed with quiet confidence. He curled his fingers in a deliberate, mocking gesture, silently signaling his opponent to bring it on.
A dark edge flickered across Pico's face. "Don't get too cocky now, boy."
He exploded forward, unleashing a frenzied barrage of lefts and rights, lashing out like a rabid dog with zero restraint.
Toka remained still as a statue, effortlessly parrying each incoming punch sideways with minimal motion, deflecting the chaotic storm.
Growing impatient as his attacks were continually swatted aside, Pico altered his strategy. He lunged forward, grabbing Toka's extended left hand while simultaneously chambering his leg to drive a brutal kick into Toka's ribs.
As the leg whipped toward his side, Toka held his ground, deliberately wrapping his arm around Pico's incoming kick to trap it against his torso.
Pico smiled, assuming he had cornered him. But the moment his bare hands locked onto Toka's left palm, a sudden, scorching wave of heat radiated through his skin.
Pico’s triumphant expression faltered, horror dawning in his eyes as he felt the building pressure. "Wait... what is this?!"
It was already too late. Within a fraction of a second, Toka yanked his trapped hands forcefully toward his chest, throwing Pico off balance. Opening his palm directly against Pico's chest, Toka roared at the top of his lungs:
"MATSUKAZE SHIHAI!"
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A hyper-dense shockwave of kinetic energy erupted from Toka’s palm.
Pico's eyes blew wide. "What the…?!"
The point-blank impact released a wave of raw force. The shockwave hurled Pico backward through the air, sending him crashing into the towering, tree-trunk-thick roots of the underground forest.
CRASH-BOOM!
He plowed through giant root stems and stone barriers, burying himself in a massive crater as a thick, blinding cloud of splinters, dust, and shattered rock exploded into the cavern air.
Pulverized wood and gray dust slowly settled across the ruined cavern path. Toka stood still, his chest heaving slightly as he kept his eyes locked on the haze. A quiet confidence flickered in his expression. "That should do it..."
“Oh, how impressive... now that was quite unexpected!”
Toka’s eyes widened in shock as the smooth, cheerful voice cut through the dust.
Footsteps crunched against broken stone. Slowly, Pico emerged from the fading haze, casually brushing stray root fibers and debris off his shoulders with an easy grin.
"Now that's what I call a plot twist, wouldn't you agree, my friend?" Pico chuckled, tilting his head.
Toka stared, his jaw slack. "Impossible..." he breathed, watching Pico step into the open without a scratch. "But how...? I know my attack hit straight..."
"At my chest?" Pico interrupted, finishing the sentence with a smile. He gave a light shrug. "Yeah, right. I sure hope that wasn't all you've got, because it's going to take a lot more than that if you were hoping for an easy fight."
Toka’s eyes narrowed into a fierce glare. "Explain yourself, then. If you knew my blast hit you square in your vital point, how did you survive that?!"
Pico playfully wagged a finger back and forth, his grin turning teasing. "It's a secret!"
A sharp flinch crossed Toka’s face at the response. Without another word, he gritted his teeth, dropped his weight, and snapped back into his combat stance.
Pico blinked, feigning exaggerated surprise. "Oh? Taking your stance already?"
A bright, competitive gleam flashed in Pico's eyes as he dropped low into his own fighting form, his seikon flow flaring back to life. "Well then... here I come!"
He burst forward into a dead sprint straight at Toka, closing the distance with reckless momentum.
He's charging straight in again? Toka braced himself.
Just as he reached striking range, Pico pivoted, launching himself into a flying jump with his knee driving straight toward Toka’s head. Toka reacted instantly, bringing his hands down to deflect the incoming strike.
It was a feint. Suspended midair, Pico’s hand whipped forward in a vicious downward punch. Instinctively, Toka threw his arm up, raising his elbow into a guard.
SMACK.
Toka intercepted the fist, but the kinetic force behind the punch crushed through his guard, driving his own arm back and slamming knuckles across his cheek. He staggered backward, his head ringing.
Pico landed lightly on his feet, grinning as his seikon energy surged back through his veins. Without missing a beat, he unleashed a furious blur of high-speed swings.
Toka jerked his head back, dodging the strikes by millimeters as they whistled past his ears. "I need to find an opening..." He gritted his teeth, weaving left and right. "...But he's too fast!"
"Ahahaha!" Pico laughed, a gleeful sound echoing through the cavern as he kept up the barrage.
Toka tracked Pico’s grinning face. "Is he... is he enjoying this"
In that fleeting beat, the image of Cindy’s terrified face flashed in Toka's mind. "Cindy..."
The thought snapped something inside him. Toka ground his teeth, halting his retreat. He stood his ground just as Pico's heavy left hook came whistling straight toward his head.
Pico blinked, noticing the sudden shift. Time seemed to slow. Toka felt the violent rush of displaced air graze his skin. Closing his eyes, a massive surge of seikon energy exploded from his chest, flooding into both arms.
The exact microsecond Pico's fist grazed past his hair, Toka moved. Twisting his entire body in a fluid, rolling motion, he dived inside Pico's guard.
Pico’s eyes blew wide as Toka dropped his knees into a firm stance against the stone floor.
From point-blank range, Toka’s palm flew upward, driving square into Pico's lower torso as he screamed:
"MATSUKAZE SHIHAI!"
An explosive shockwave erupted directly from his palm.
BOOM!
The point-blank blast slammed into Pico’s abdomen. "AAAAARGH!" he shrieked as the force blew clean through him, creating a violent wind explosion that tore out his back, shattering the root stems standing behind him.
Yet Pico kept screaming, his voice maintaining a frantic, agonizing pitch as the energy passed through him. As the echoes began to clear, a strange realization hit Toka.
"Oh, oh, oh... ouch, that hurts, that hurts!"
“His voice..." Toka, his palm still pressed against Pico's lower torso, slowly opened his eyes. His breath caught in his throat.
Right before him, the flesh of Pico's abdomen had split open, stretching apart to form a clean, hollow opening straight through his torso. The shockwave had passed through an empty cavity, leaving his body unharmed. As the residual force cleared, Pico's flesh seamlessly flowed back together, snapping into its original shape. He was still faking exaggerated cries of agony, grinning down mockingly.
"Wha-what in the world...?" Toka breathed, staring through where the phantom hole had just been.
"Just kidding!" Pico giggled.
Before Toka could lift his head, a devastating flying knee launched straight into his face.
CRACK.
The impact sent him rocketing backward through the air, his body crashing through the towering root stems until he vanished into the rubble.