Chapter 688 - 20: The End (Part 2)
The slim figure of the Japanese Ninja, constantly crouching and maintaining light footsteps, clearly revealed his agility and specialized training for speed. Considering the Ninja’s usual proficiency in hidden weapons and body techniques, Paul’s chance of survival against him was extremely low, with the possibility of a swift lethal strike to his throat.
On the other hand, although Size 45 appeared to be battle-hardened, judging by his physique, he likely prioritized strength, lacking the agility to match the Ninja. In combat with him, Paul should have the upper hand.
It was with this thought that Chen Zhou assigned Size 45 to Paul.
However, visual observation alone couldn’t reveal what skills others might possess, nor could it indicate the depth of their combat experience.
Chen Zhou assumed that the overall abilities of all participants were similar, except that he was an anomaly who accidentally stumbled into the situation. He didn’t realize that Paul was specially designated as a "balance" to him.
Despite Paul’s tall stature and military training, he was, in fact, the only one among these two groups lacking any life-or-death combat experience.
While he received extensive training in the army, he possessed no expertise in any field or exceptional skill. At best, he was a well-rounded talent, or less flatteringly, an utterly unremarkable man.
...
Charging down the mound with great momentum, Paul’s several thrusts were ineffective.
To be precise, his long spear didn’t even graze the edge of the American soldier’s uniform, who instead used this opportunity to discern his tactics.
In modern times, not everyone excels in the use of cold weapons, and not all have been to war or killed and witnessed bloodshed.
An inexperienced individual in the eyes of a veteran adept in warfare is akin to a transparent blank slate.
Brandishing a hand axe, when the American soldier James started counterattacking, Paul’s predicament became precarious.
Paul awkwardly parried the sharp hand axe, the wooden spear’s tip was first chopped off, and soon after, it was cut into two pieces.
With only two "short sticks" left, Paul lost the longer-reach advantage, completely falling into passive defense.
And the wooden long spear was far from matching the metal hand axe in sturdiness, incapable of withstanding frontal attacks. Unlike Chen Zhou’s relentless approach, Paul retreated repeatedly.
Several times, James’s hand axe even breached the defense gap of the short stick, striking Paul’s arm armor.
If not for Chen Zhou crafting bone armor for Paul beforehand, those hits alone would have incapacitated Paul, leading to his demise.
...
Before the battle, Paul anticipated failing to swiftly defeat his opponent, even being suppressed. What he didn’t expect was to be overpowered so severely by this shorter American soldier.
Dueling humans differs greatly from battling beasts.
Beasts do not comprehend long spears; they simply see such things, capable of piercing them from afar, as human limbs, and recklessly launch counterattacks at the spears, naively believing they can thus harm humans.
Humans, however, are far more agile, more intelligent, and crucially, humans understand the might of long spears and know how to counter such weapons.
Especially someone like James, who has battled in the underworld, fought in illegal boxing, and engaged in life-or-death fights in private arenas.
If not for his caution towards Paul’s robust build, unable to find an opening to strike the Slavic man’s vital points through the armor, he would have ended this battle long ago.
Currently, he employs various feints to deceive Paul into blocking, thus depleting Paul’s strength. During this, he occasionally directs an axe blow to the arm or abdomen armor, not to cause harm, but to sever the vines securing the bone armor, laying groundwork for a killing blow.
...
Under mounting pressure, in the dim light of the bonfire, Paul was drenched in sweat.
Initially, he could discern his opponent’s attack trajectories, recalling the fighting techniques taught by the instructors for blocking. As time dragged on, and the short sticks grew even shorter from being whittled down, he forgot all techniques, reacting purely by instinct.
This frantic blocking was riddled with errors; every few seconds, Paul felt a jolt in his forearm—
resulting from the axe blade hitting the bone armor.
Had Paul the time to scrutinize, he would easily notice the bone armor on his forearm had a 1cm deep dent; a few more blows, and he would lose arm defense, unable to continue holding out.
Constantly reminding himself to stay calm, wielding the remaining 40cm or so short stick, Paul recalled the close-quarters combat techniques taught by his instructors.
With time critical, he couldn’t concoct any brilliant strategy, only knew that he must find a way to disarm the American soldier.
His arduous defense was primarily due to the quality disparity between the American’s hand axe and his long spear, as for fighting skills, they were secondary.
If he could dislodge or seize this Yankee’s weapon, relying on his larger stature and armor, he could at least fight to a draw until Chen Zhou took care of the Japanese Ninja.
But with the hand axe tightly clutched in his opponent’s hand, and the American soldier’s very agile footwork, he couldn’t even hit the opponent’s wrist, how could he dislodge the axe?
Paul desperately sought an opportunity.
But there was none.
The opponent was like a cat toying with a mouse, having read every move, dodging every swing of the short stick in advance.
As his stamina waned ever more, Paul realized he had few chances left, so he opted for a riskier approach.
Accompanied by a shout of "Ura!", Paul feigned a swing of the short stick, throwing it as a projectile when the American soldier dodged back, then recklessly lunged toward James with open arms.
James didn’t expect this clumsy giant to have such a move, and was caught off guard, allowing Paul to embrace him and capture the axe-wielding hand.
Paul clenched onto James’s wrist, straining to force it downward, controlling the American soldier to prevent further attacks, leveraging his forward momentum and bearing his full weight onto his opponent.
They say mass has its own power; although James had the upper hand in skill, at such close-range grappling and scuffling, even Boxing King Tyson would be helpless.
Clenching his left fist, James delivered two punches to Paul’s kidneys—
a boxer’s typical tactic to break an opponent’s hold, the punch force penetrating the skin to the organs causing sharp pain, making it hard to maintain a defensive stance.
However, Paul’s abdomen was protected by a layer of bone armor, rendering James’s punches ineffective and bringing Paul closer to him.
Paul was 40cm taller than James, with nearly twice his chest width.
With such proximity, James’s view was entirely blocked by Paul’s upper chest, and he could feel the intense force on his wrist, preventing him from raising his right hand.
"Fuck!"
Cursing inwardly, James resented his overly cautious combat style earlier, unable to swiftly dispatch this damned Slavic man, giving him the chance.
...
Close-quarters combat is a test of strength; dragged into this domain, James could no longer toy with Paul like before.
He tried lifting his knee to strike Paul’s groin, but was firmly blocked by Paul’s sturdier thigh, leading the two to topple into the muddy ground, fiercely wrestling.
But regardless of what techniques James used, however Paul countered them, he never released his grasp hand axe handle.
Similarly, Paul never loosened his grasp on James’s wrist, even as his stamina was running out.
...
After a few rolls, both were caked in mud, nearly resembling two mud people.
Thanks to a more foresighted combat strategy, James retained more strength, sensing that the Slavic man pressing on him was becoming increasingly powerless, and the chance for counterattack seemed imminent.
Yet Yokomae Sohaku’s scream shattered all his illusions.
Lying on the ground, James suddenly felt a massive force seize his back.
Then an incredible scene unfolded—
he, along with the Slavic man pinning him, was simultaneously lifted by this shorter, seemingly not strong enough Eastern man.
The sudden sense of weightlessness and surreal image left the battle-hardened James’s mind blank.
He truly couldn’t fathom, what kind of monster was this Eastern man, why he possessed such biologically defying, terrifying strength.