“I... I wouldn’t say that, exactly...” Yuichi stammered. He hadn’t expected this to happen, and as a result, he was finding it hard to find words.
“This is pathetic,” Yuri said in a scathing tone. “Stop mumbling and assert yourself.”
“But...” Yuichi didn’t know how to respond.
If the man had been clearly hostile, he’d be able to fight him, but what was he supposed to do about being pleasantly addressed? He couldn’t just call someone evil and pick a fight with them when they weren’t actually doing anything wrong.
“Aw, darn!” Mutsuko cried. “He’s really got you stuck, huh? Hey, could you do us a favor and say or do something evil?”
They didn’t have any particular business with this man right now. Even if the man was evil, they couldn’t really condemn him when he wasn’t doing anything.
“Something evil, eh?” the man said. “I’m not sure that I can... You don’t have a Divine Vessel in you, so I see no reason to test you... and if you have no business with me, I should probably be on my way.”
As the man turned to go, Yuichi opened his mouth to call him back.
If he didn’t want to fight, he thought, maybe he could tell him something useful about the war. But he wouldn’t get the chance as he was interrupted by the sound of a gunshot.
The young man dodged the attack effortlessly.
“How violent,” the man said. “You know it’s not polite to surprise people like that.”
The man was looking at a girl who had the label “Hero” over her head. Her right hand, holding a gun, was wreathed in black flame.
Yuichi recognized her. It was the girl he’d met in these same back alleys during summer vacation. She’d appeared during his battle with the “Immortal” giant, been killed, then disappeared. As a result, he hadn’t learned much about her except that a Divine Vessel had found a host in her right arm.
In other words, she was a participant in the war. She was their enemy.
“Where’s Natsuki? What did you do to Natsuki?!” the girl shouted.
“Natsuki, eh?” the man asked. “I have an idea of where she went off to. I was just thinking about going to see her.”
The “Hero” girl fired her gun a few more times. The man dodged each shot effortlessly, but he seemed rather indignant about it.
“Could you please restrict your fights to other Divine Vessel hosts? Fighting me won’t get you anywhere.”
Concerned about stray fire, Yuichi moved Mutsuko and Yuri to the wall, then watched things develop, wide-eyed.
Why had the girl ignored Yuichi, who had a Divine Vessel, in order to fight the young man who didn’t? That was what he didn’t understand.
The man seemed content to remain on the defensive, so it must have been true that he had no intention of fighting.
With an air of frustration, the man leaped into the air. He kicked off the wall of a nearby building, then off the wall opposite it. He repeated the process until it carried him to the roof in a flash.
“See you around. You’re both Divine Vessel holders, so why don’t you stay there and settle things?” With that, the man disappeared.
They were now alone with the Hero, so Yuichi decided to talk to her. “You’re Maruyama from the next class over, right?”
Her name was Yurika Maruyama. He’d investigated a few things about her after the incident over summer vacation, but he hadn’t learned much beyond that.
“Sakaki! Have you seen Natsuki?” Yurika burst out as she ran up to him, looking distressed. It looked like she really didn’t intend to fight him.
“Takeuchi? What about her?” Yuichi asked.
“She saw him and ran, and I’ve been searching for her! I saw her and she was injured but then I lost them! They were running from something together, I think!” She seemed to be so flustered, it was hard to understand what she was saying. He wasn’t sure of the connection between them, but it did sound like Natsuki was involved in some kind of trouble.
“How hurt was she? What happened?”
“Hey! Will you persist in ignoring me?” a voice from the phone shouted. “I can hear through the phone that there’s some sort of fight going on, and I’m feeling very left out at the moment!”
Yuichi suddenly realized he’d forgotten to hang up the phone. “Oh, sorry. We’ve just got a lot to deal with, you know?”
“True as that may be, it appears quite a few have gathered there. Are you well?” Chiharu spoke about the same time as it arrived.
Someone had just dropped down from the sky.
“No, we’re not well at all,” said Yuichi.
The resonance could tell hosts where other hosts were. Some used this as a chance to be cautious, but apparently this person was using it as an opportunity.
It was a boy about Monika’s age. He was wearing a small black cap, a white kimono, and a brocade stole, the outfit of a mountain monk. On top of that, he also had black wings like a crow’s sprouting from his back, and wore high-platformed geta sandals. He certainly seemed superhuman.
“It’s a tengu, right? A tengu did it, right?” Mutsuko asked excitedly.
“I think you just wanted to say that line,” said Yuichi. “He hasn’t done anything except land in front of us.”
If he was here, that certainly suggested he was a Divine Vessel host. He was clearly raring to fight.
“I don’t have time for this! I’ve gotta go!” Yurika ignored the tengu and broke into a run.
The tengu didn’t pursue Yurika, but remained right where it was, looking down its nose at Yuichi.
The tengu seemed to want to fight him.
Yuichi steeled himself for the fight. He needed to pursue Yurika to find out more about what was going on with Natsuki, and right now, the tengu was in the way. Which meant he’d just have to get him out of the way.
The tengu was standing at the center of a crossroads, about five meters away from Yuichi.
“I’ll start with you. I am—”
The tengu boy was probably about to introduce himself, but he didn’t get to finish. Instead, he just went flying to the side at great speed.
A man dressed in black vestments was standing where the boy had been. He looked like a priest. His hips were lowered and he held a fist thrust to one side.
“For heaven’s sake... one thing after another. It’s just impossible to follow,” Yuri said, agape.
Yuichi felt the same way.
Not a moment after the tengu had appeared, the priest had punched him out. It was hard to keep up with these rapid-fire developments.
“That’s chongchui! It’s Bajiquan!” Mutsuko shouted delightedly.
Bajiquan was known from manga and games, but there weren’t many people who were willing to put the training in to learn it. It couldn’t really be used in street fights, for one thing, so you didn’t see it very often.
“Why would a priest know Chinese kung fu?” Yuichi wondered. There was nothing wrong with it, of course, but it didn’t seem to fit, somehow.
“What are you saying? Bajiquan is a priest’s best friend! Everybody knows that!”
“I don’t think anybody knows that...”
While they were talking, the priest approached the tengu boy and took his Divine Vessel. It looked like a bat’s wing. The priest put it in his pocket.
Even with the Divine Vessel stolen, the boy’s crow-like wings remained, suggesting that they belonged to him.
“I don’t suppose you intend to give me your Evil God part, do you?” the priest asked calmly.
“No. Also, get out of my way.”
“If your intent is to pursue Yurimaru, I shall not permit it.”
Yurimaru? It took him a moment to realize that he was referring to Yurika Maruyama.
“You’re with Maruyama?” Yuichi asked.
“How troublesome... there was an Evil God part right in front of her, yet she’s preoccupied with something else. Therefore, I shall have to retrieve it in her stead.”
The
priest had a placid demeanor, but he seemed to have nerves of steel. A fight was looking inevitable.
“Hey! Wouldn’t it be funny if another enemy appeared and punched him out right now?” Mutsuko asked.
“Shut up! We’ve had too much of that twist already!” Yuichi snapped.
It was a troubling situation, but Mutsuko was acting as airheaded as ever.
“Bwahaha! I was just thinking the same thing!” a voice called from the phone.
Yuichi, suddenly realizing Chiharu had been listening in to the entire conversation, hung up the cell phone and put it in his pocket.
Suddenly, the priest’s fist was in front of his eyes.
He had caught Yuichi completely flat-footed.
It was chongchui, a Bajiquan move that consisted of nothing more than a mid-level punch aimed at the throat. But the fist was already too close for him to dodge.
Yuichi drove the blow off course by directing the priest’s hand down with his left arm. At the same time, he tried to counter with a right jab, but he then realized the first strike had only been groundwork.
Yuichi forced his furukami to activate.
He expelled a breath of explosive power and kicked off the ground, propelling himself backwards while protecting his heart with his right hand.
A shockwave.
Yuichi was blown back with force greater than that which he’d applied. He just barely managed to block the priest’s right elbow.
It was true that he’d left an opening. But he’d also thought he was far enough away to work things out. That distance, though, had been closed in an instant.
The priest’s movements were strange, seeming to ignore gravity and inertia.
He dropped his hips low and struck out with his right elbow from horse stance.
Yuichi was blown back to where the girls were standing, and landed. He had probably been thrown back about five meters in all. The man’s power was unbelievable.
Yuichi steadied his breathing. No damage had been done. The shockwave, which he hadn’t been able to offset entirely, even with his backwards jump, he now dispersed with the release of internal power in his chest.
“What in the world just happened?!” Yuri shouted. To her, it had probably looked like Yuichi had just suddenly jumped back.
“I think he tried to block a Bajiquan menghu yi pashan with a Bajiquan jianglong, but he failed and had to run away?” Mutsuko replied. While didn’t she seem to be able to parse the instantaneous exchange of blows either, she did have an exceptional memory. Even if she couldn’t parse it in the moment, she’d be able to replay the exchange in slow motion in her mind.
“Oh? You are quite formidable. To be able to block my magically-enhanced strike...” The priest looked genuinely surprised; he must not have expected him to be able to block it.
“Are you a Hero, too?” Yuichi asked. “There was something weird about the way you moved just now...”
Yuichi was taking new stock of his opponent. This guy was some kind of monster; he’d have to fight him like one.
“I am no Hero,” said the man confidently. “I am merely a member of a Hero’s party. I am a Mage.”
“You look more like a Monk in that outfit!” Yuichi shouted. But the moves he’d pulled off would make sense if they had been enhanced through magic.
As if reevaluating Yuichi as a strong opponent, the priest adjusted his stance. He spread his legs in front of and behind him and dropped his hips. His weight was shifted slightly behind him, to his right leg. His upper body was facing forward and tilted slightly.
His left arm was bent slightly in front of his face. His right arm was positioned to protect his solar plexus. His palm was turned towards Yuichi. It was a traditional defensive martial arts stance, protecting one’s core.
“Is it Wei Su style?” Mutsuko wondered aloud. “Wu Tan Bajiquan, then? But it seems pretty upright... and he said he uses magic, so... oh, I’ve heard of this! This is Magical Bajiquan!”
“What in the world is that?” Yuri couldn’t help but inquire about the odd-sounding phrase.
“It’s Bajiquan that incorporates magic! You use magic to enhance less-than-perfect Bajiquan moves! Look, that stance he’s using isn’t the proper style; it’s totally improvised! By the way, I don’t think people know a lot about Bajiquan stances, but each branch has its own recognizable stance. Wu Tan uses Wei Su, or crouching posture. Northwest Ma style uses Qi Gu Shi, flag and drum posture, for its Tongbei Fanzi. Changchun style uses Shaoma Bu, pony posture. But what do you think about the Magical Bajiquan name? What about Jiangmo, or demon-conquering Bajiquan? That sounds cool! Yeah! Let’s use that!”
Ignoring Mutsuko as she babbled on and on about his opponent’s style, Yuichi began walking towards the priest. He already had furukami activated. It seemed a bit excessive to use against a human, but he had abandoned any intention of treating this priest like a human right now.
“Listen, you’d better win with Bajiquan!” Mutsuko called. “If you lose to that lukewarm Bajiquan, I’m apprenticing you to Nihao the China!”
“Don’t treat Nihao the China like punishment!” Yuichi found himself on the verge of losing his enthusiasm, but re-steeled himself and started walking.
He struck no particular stance.
He was just walking with his hands hanging naturally by his side: li shen zhong zheng, a centered upright stance. Without favoring back, front, or either side, he just walked straight forward.
The moment he was within range, the priest moved. With a powerful zhen jiao propelling him off the ground, he thrust his right fist straight at Yuichi’s face.
It was a superhuman motion, a kung fu strike with more than enough training behind it. On top of that, it was enhanced with magic.
It was likely that nobody could see the back-and-forth that ensued. Even the combatants involved were not relying on their vision, but only on ting jin — listening energy.
The battle was over in the blink of an eye.
Yuichi had stepped in and struck out with his right elbow, which had then made contact with the priest’s chest. The priest had collapsed.
Just looking at the result, it had seemed like an easy win.
But in that instant, a complicated back-and-forth had ensued that the eye could not catch.
“Exactly what just happened there?” Yuri asked, confused.
Probably the only people who understood what had happened in that instant were the two people who had fought.
“Looks like the priest went from tan ma zhang to menghu yi pashan!” Mutsuko cried. “This is the version of menghu yi pashan that the famous Li Shuwan pioneered! Yuichi fought back with ba wang dingmen and ba wang kinke, in that order!”
Yuichi had blocked the priest’s right punch with his left forearm, deflecting it, while forming his right hand into a blade and stabbing it at the priest’s face.
The priest, in a similar way, had blocked that strike with his left forearm, but Yuichi had applied downward pressure to that in an instant. And through that point of contact, he had upset the priest’s center of balance. The priest’s movements had stopped for an instant, and in that brief opening, Yuichi had lashed out with three attacks almost simultaneously.
Pushing off with a zhen jiao with his right foot, he’d brought his left leg down on the priest’s skull. His right hand, still in contact with the priest’s arm, had slid over to crush the priest’s fingertips and pull. Then he’d raised his left elbow up to hit the priest in the solar plexus.
Normally, this would have been the end of it. No one could react after having multiple parts of their body hit simultaneously. They’d be confused and unable to defend.
But the priest had abandoned his left hand and leg to respond only to the attack on his solar plexus.
Using a projection of energy from his chest, the priest had propelled Yuichi’s left elbow back.
It would normally have been a powerful enough counter to take out the attacker, but Yuichi’s attack hadn’t been finished.
He had dropped his hips low to assume a horse stance, then slid his right elbow along the priest’s left arm to strike it into his heart.
“It’s also called chain elbow because it’s multiple strikes with the elbow!” Mutsuko declared. “Naturally, the thing to watch is the familiar chuangbu stepping style often seen in Bajiquan. Drop your hips low, pivot on the ball of the fore-leg’s big toe, slide the heel forward, and open the legs wide. In other words, you spin while in a horse stance! But as a single move, it’s called nian yao qie kua!” Mutsuko sounded very smug.
“Incidentally, I did have a question,” Yuri asked, curiosity in her voice. “You called the move that Yuichi Sakaki blocked at first a menghu yi pashan, and you called the latest move by that name, as well. But weren’t they both different?”
“Oh, Konishi, you know menghu yi pashan?” Mutsuko asked.
“Despite the way I look, I have quite a taste for video games. I believe that in fighting games, the menghu yi pashan is a palm strike.” Yuri performed the move, mimicking what she’d seen in a game.
“Menghu yi pashan can change quite a lot depending on the school,” Mutsuko explained. “But since the name of the move comes from the way in which it mimics a wild tiger climbing a mountain, I believe the clawing motion is the most important part. Like you’re pushing aside the enemy attacks. But there are lots of ways to end it, with a palm or an elbow or all kinds of things!”
“Stop waxing poetic about the moves and get out of here!” Yuichi shouted. He’d realized that if he let her keep going, it would never end.
“But what about the... ‘Divine Vessel’?” Yuri asked hesitantly.
“Leave it! Let the guy who wants it take it!” Yuichi shot back. If any new enemies tried to come, maybe they’d go after the priest instead. It was only a possibility, but he had to bank on it.
✽✽✽✽✽
Yuichi’s team moved in a hurry, but they didn’t know where they were actually going.
They tried going in the direction Yurika had, but she hadn’t left any footprints, which made it hard to follow her path any further.
Humanity's Extinction Actually Happens This Time With the Evil God's Revival?! Page 13
