Garen was still in his normal state. When Palosa’s initial attack hit him, he already understood the destructibility of it. It was strong, but Garen would still be fine without transforming.
Using his minimum power to fight the Holy Fist was one of his wishes before he departed to hone his skills.
Strike by strike, Palosa’s palm pressed on his torso. As Garen observed his fighting style, he noticed something.
Every time Palosa did a straight palm strike, he would push it upward slightly, his fist would be slightly crooked, that was so it would fit the way he uses his power. However, this would leave him with a slight opening beneath his palm.
Garen squinted, using conserving his full power waiting for the moment to counter his attack.
"Give up!" Palosa charged to the side and raised his arm, before striking the incoming Garen.
"There’s my chance!" Garen flipped aside mid-air and whipped his right arm toward Palosa’s underarm.
This strike is definitely Palosa’s weak spot. With Garen’s strength and Palosa’s age, if this strike connected, it would’ve been a decisive point for the battle!
At the same time, Palosa’s palm was quickly approaching Garen’s forehead.
Both of them were attacking each other’s underarm and head, respectively. Garen’s attack was clearly faster.
Right at that moment.
Fwoosh!
A solid state Bravery washed over Garen’s body, stunning him.
Thud!
A palm struck Garen’s forehead.
Garen’s legs stomped on the boulder and was shot backward. His feet slid over it, leaving two black lines on the boulder.
Everyone from afar was shocked.
"Gate Master is fine, right?" Jack swallowed out of concern. He saw Garen being hit on his head. That’s his head! Not any other body part!* Combined with Palosa’s incredible control over his Hidden Power…
"I’m not sure, but Gate Master is really strong too, how would he be hurt with only one strike?" Cynthia wasn’t even chewing her bubble gum anymore. She said that, but her face showed a hint of worry. "Lord Leo, you’re a high ranking Grandmaster of Combat, what do you think?"
Leo brows were also knitted tightly together.
"Hard to say, but since Gate Master has reached an exceptional height in his Body Hardening Technique, he might be okay."
"Might be?" Cynthia and Jack both understood, Leo was also not sure.
The Gate Master of the Southern Sky Holy Fist Gate was also closely following the happenings on the field below him. Not only him, the other man in white, the elder of his sect was stunned, like him.
From when they knew Palosa, anyone, any elites or Grandmasters of Combat, Palosa had never used a second round of attack before they were all heavily injured.
But now, Garen has already took countless hits, and they could tell Palosa was not holding back, he never would, but Garen didn’t even have a scratch on him.
"This White Cloud Gate Master is terrifyingly resilient! His Body Hardening Technique is beyond belief!" Southern Sky Holy Fist Gate Master looked at Garen on the boulder, his eyes sympathetic. "Grandpa Palosa’s fist technique deals damage to the inside with every attack, not even the giant alligators and giant rhinoceroses could withstand a second attack."
"Lord Palosa had apparently focused his Bravery onto Garen though," The elder said, "The situation’s a little complicated now."
Southern Sky Holy Fist Gate Master nodded without a sound.
When everyone was staring at the battlefield, Garen was standing still, indicating this battle was not over.
"White Bird Holy Fist! I don’t see any white birds in your fist technique." Garen waited until his breath returned to normal, and provoked. "Looks like I need to use my true power…"
Crack!
He left a crater where he stood with a stomp, charging toward Palosa as if becoming a black arrow.
"First stage!"
In m
id-air, he swelled up with a fierce roar, his shirt ripped into pieces and flew away, freeing him from the hold of the solid Bravery.
A hideous dark green hand as big as a basin clawed at Palosa’s face.
Palosa didn’t expect his strike to not be effective toward Garen. Having the ability to take his strike at a weak point with no injury, this opponent is more accomplished in Body Hardening Technique than he thought.
Seeing Garen charging toward him like a lightning, his strength, speed, and momentum all rolled into one giant, unavoidable wave, he could only take the hit.
Thud!
Garen was hit by a whip kick on his side, his blackened torso shot into a pile of rocks.
As he was using his power, the solid Bravery appeared out of thin air, suppressing his follow-up moves. He couldn’t even finish his moves before being blasted into the rock pile, crushing an uncountable number of rocks.
"Damn it, again!" Furious, Garen flipped himself back up and prepared to unleash his attacks before seeing a blur.
Thud thud thud!
A continuous string of strikes hit at the exact same spot on his chest.
Even with his first stage transformation, Garen felt his body hurt from the inside. He was being drilled further into the rock pile.
Palosa’s face glowed with a slight blush, his face contorting weirdly, slowly turning into the face on his Bravery.
"So disappointing! White Cloud Gate Master Garen, how dare you speak with such extravagance with that puny strength of yours! I am so sad on behalf of your parents and siblings. No one forced you to come, yet you seek death by yourself!"
He kept on striking Garen casually, but with every strike, they had brought Garen numbness. Including the suppression from his Bravery, he was not able to move at all.
Even with the first stage transformation and its heightened defense and power surge, Garen still wasn’t able to curb the incoming attacks. He could only take the hits.
As if a different person, Palosa was harsh and mean, nothing like the kind old man that he was.
Garen felt unusually smothered. Every time when he tried to attack, the Bravery would interrupt him, causing him to be hit. And the cycle repeats.
However, with every attack, Palosa would need to endure Garen’s incredible Counter Shockwave, stunning him just by a little. He wasn’t hurt, but the recoil was still annoying, to say the least.
Powerful strikes keep shaking up Garen’s insides. Even though Body Hardening Technique has absorbed most of the blows, he was still nauseated with the constant vibration quivering throughout his body, slowing his attacks further.
"Hit me back!" Palosa’s face darkened.
Both of them were still in the rock pile, their movements and strikes sputtering gravels at every direction. Their Bravery clashed with each other, causing the living beings nearby to stay away, even the worms in the pool congregated at the far end of the pool.
"You’re as weak as a baby, are you sure you didn’t come all the way here to be beaten up? I don’t get how you managed to defeat Duskdune Shura, did you spring a surprise attack on him while he’s not ready? Or did you challenge him when he’s hurt? Weaklings will always be weaklings, they would never be ready for anything." Palosa sneered.
"You…" Thud!
Garen had barely replied before he was rudely interrupted, his words buried with the palm strike he got hit with. Crushed sand were blown into his eyes, forcing him to close them.
"Too weak!" Palosa struck him with his right palm.
Garen flew sideways yet again with the hit, falling into the woods nearby.
"Why are you even alive, being such a weakling!" Palosa’s moved his arms in a circular motion, the darkening of his face getting more obvious as time goes by.
A sharp bird sound appeared out of nowhere. It’s like a hawk’s call, but at the same time similar to the cry of a crane.
Palosa blitzed forward, charging into the woods where Garen fell.
One following the other, the sound of their fist fight echoed through the woods like muted thunder.
Their audience chased after them into the woods, and saw Garen being pressed to defend against the attacks while retreating deeper into the forest.
"Skylark Finger Pierce!"
Palosa’s palms glowed white, he charged toward Garen, aiming at his throat, leaving two white flashes in his trail.
"Final attack, you deserved to die if you can’t block it!" Palosa’s face had already warped into cruelty, his index fingers jabbing forward.
Before anything else could happen, Garen’s eyes opened suddenly.
"Red Jade · Ten Thousand Mammoth Retrograde!"
His hands flared a bright scarlet to face the incoming piercing finger attack.
The fists and fingers connected.
Boom!
A liquid state Bravery broke through the suppression, forming a humongous white elephant at least a dozen meters tall behind Garen.
The elephant raised its front hooves and trumpeted. Its raised hooves correlated with Garen’s arm, projecting a giant stone pillar and falling toward Palosa.
The ground rumbled with a boom.
Palosa grunted, and flew backward, crushing two trees as thick as a treehugger’s arm length.
Leaves rained down by the pile.
Garen’s shirt has disappeared, leaving him bare-chested in the woods. His body had grown even more, making him as tall as two meters and a half, not even the fiercest hunters in the jungle would dare to come near.
"This is my final form." Garen’s calmed down, looking between the trees not far away. "Unfortunately, this world is no longer yours to dominate…"
Boom!
His figure disappeared in an instant and reappeared in front of Palosa almost immediately.
"Explosion of Heavenly Spirits*!" Garen roared and flexed, pumping his bulging arms even more, before he clawed at Palosa with an unmatched ferocity.
Slam!
Phwoosh!
A shockwave pulsed outward centering the two, fallen leaves showered them, surrounding them. It was nearly impossible to get a clear glimpse of the situation aside from gauging from the tremor.
Several trees nearby fell with crackles. These were the trees that were hit in the shockwave, countless branches poured down, causing the poisonous insects to flee their falling homes.
A dozen seconds later, only after the leaves had stopped falling that the others who were spectating the fight were able to see what happened clearly.
Garen’s hands clawed at Palosa’s face, but was stopped and constricted by Palosa’s arms.
Both the fighters froze in place. A black human-like Bravery and a white mammoth Bravery tugged at each other, trying to gain an upper hand against the other.
A drop of blood trailed down Palosa’s brow bone.
"Palosa… is hurt!"
Southern Sky Holy Fist Gate Master and the others felt a chill run up their spines.