Chapter 10: Revival

Things were already completely out of control. Amity now knew for sure this whole mess was a mistake. It had barely been a day and already they had lost 3 times, all of which put people in critical condition, including Willow; they had got 3 head witches out of commission, one of which wasn't even on an official fight, some random human had attacked Flora Park with a sword for whatever reason; AND someone had already died like Tokugawa warned. Apparently, one of the human competitors had killed Rasputin, the winner of the first fight, meaning not only was no one safe even if they won, they weren't even safe from their own teammates.

And now, Tokugawa was calling her to talk to someone out of the blue. Apparently, the last competitor of the human side had finally arrived, and they wanted to talk to Amity specifically for some reason. Considering everything that had happened so far, she had no qualms in saying that she was positively fucking terrified of whatever they might want.

She still went to the backrooms of the stadium. If Tokugawa was there, then it would at least be a formal match rather than a brutal throw down (as if that has been any better). She arrived at the designated room, which weirdly enough had a golden star on it that had the word "Champion" inscribed in it. It was weird because it most definitely wasn't there the last time she came here.

She knocked on the door and Tokugawa opened it. She was greeted inside.

"Mrs. Blight! Thank you so much for coming so fast! I'm sorry if I Interrupted anything, but he wanted to ask you something for the tournament."

"It's fine, I wasn't really doing…."

For some reason, Amity was stunned.

She had never met this man before, but it was like his very existence was beyond her comprehension. She didn't even have words to describe it.

"Very nice to meet you, Amity Blight. I have been told quite a few things about you. I understand you are the one that out together the witch team, correct?"

He was relatively tall, but not THAT tall. He was really muscular, but not INSANELY so. His voice was calm and gentle, and his demeanor was respectful and polite.

So why did he feel so massive? Why did Amity feel so small in front of this man? What kind of person can just… defeat you by merely existing? Because Amity wasn't even fighting this guy and she already felt like she had lost. It was almost as if he was the very image of victory itself.

Just who the hell is he?

"Y-yes, I am… I am currently having doubts about it but… yes."

"Hmmm… well, casting those doubts aside for now, I simply wanted to ask you one thing: Who would you say is the strongest one among you?"

"Uhhhhhh…."

Amity had to think for a moment. Well it most definitely wasn't her. The team had 5 head witches (3 were already out, too), so the list was quite narrow. It would have to come down to the 2 remaining ones.

"….. I would have to say… Head witch Darius. He is at the front of the Abomination coven and has terrifying fighting capabilities, he can do incredible things like-"

The man held his hand in front of her, interrupting her.

"Please, do not tell me of his capabilities. I am sorry to be rude, but I would rather learn of him in the ring. I just wanted to know who I should challenge for my grand debut. Thank you very much."

Amity was shocked, but strangely enough, this didn't sound to her like an insane idea as it would if it came from literally anyone else.

Just who the hell is this guy?!

With nothing else to ask, the man thanked her for her time and she excused herself. She left not knowing how to even feel.

…

The stadium was packed once again.

Tokugawa had made the announcement that the final human fighter had publicly challenged Darius to a fight at noon in the grand stadium. And of course, everyone who hear came to watch.

Amity and the remaining fighters were seated in the VIP section, alongside some… interesting figures from the human world.

Tokugawa had connections all over the world with the people that were considered the "strongest alive", and it seemed like they were all there. Amity couldn't help but feel a bit intimidated by the lineup.

She hadn't heard any of these names before, but the way they were described and their very aura was more than enough to convince anyone that they were on another level. People like:

The "Divine fist", Doppo Orochi

The "lethal weapon of Karate" Katsumi Orochi

The "Strongest street brawler" Kaoru Hanayama

The "Super Soldier" Gaia

The "Unchained" Biscuit Oliva (TITAN HOW MUCH MUSCLE CAN A HUMAN HAVE?!)

The "Sea Emperor" Kaku

The "true Rikkishi" Nomi no Sukune (She had actually met him once before through Willow)

The "peerless under the heavens" Miyamoto Musashi (who apparently was the one that attacked Flora Park)

The "Primitive man" Pickle (Was that seriously a human?!)

And so on.

But the two people that stood out the most, for whatever reason were sitting side-by-side in the middle. They were both called "The strongest creature alive" (isn't that contradictory?).

The "Ogre" Yujiro Hanma (He looked FUCKING TERRYFYING, Amity was not going ANYWHERE near that… thing if she could help it)

And his son, Baki Hanma (no title? He looked like a nice, simple guy though. Was he seriously related to the monster siting right next to him?)

Again, who the hell was this guy, that could bring such a terrifying group of fighters to this place just by the mere prospect of him stepping on to the ring?

The person sitting right next to Amity was Katsumi Orochi, who seemed like a chill person. What was up with his right arm though? It was a whole shade darker than the rest of his body and had a huge, straight scar going through the middle of his middle finger.

She decided to keep her questions for herself for now. Tokugawa walked up to Darius, who was already in the grounds.

"Good day, mister darius! How are you feeling?"

"Hm. Like I'm wasting my time. Do you seriously think a mere human stands a chance against me? Honestly, the mere bravado of challenging me is almost admirable, if it wasn't so stupid."

Darius was smug and petulant as usual.

"…. Well, let's see you say that again after the fight, shall we?"

There it was, Tokugawa's signature shit-eating smile that always meant nothing good was coming.

Just as he picked up the microphone to introduce the human challenger, out of nowhere Yujiro Hanma appeared behind him, shocking everyone present. He grabbed the microphone off of Tokugawa's hands and turned to face the audience. Anyone who knew of Yujiro Hanma understood just how bizarre this was. He was not one to willingly step into the spotlight like this, he hated it to his core, in fact. But Tokugawa and the group of the strongest fighters had a look of understanding in their eyes. As if, for this one occasion, this was completely to be expected.

Everyone instinctively knew to shut up when he started speaking.

"….. First of all, I want to say one thing to the entire world of witches:"

"Thank you."

Everyone was shocked. Yujiro Hanma rarely ever thanked anyone for anything.

Ok, well, Baki wasn't surprised of it. He knew his father was very polite to the people he respected, it's just that he pretty much didn't respect anyone. So he was essentially a cataclysmic asshole to everyone. It was, however, surprising to the Ogre's son that he was being polite to an entire race.

"I suppose this really is THAT important to him."

"My name is Yujiro Hanma. To put it simply, I am the strongest creature alive. There is not human, witch, beast, or demon that could ever possibly defeat me in combat. If you think there is, you are wrong. I have lived my whole life knowing this fact. I have more power than anyone else, I am faster than anyone else, I am more intelligent than anyone else. There is just no thing in existence that can match me in any aspect. I am the strongest, I have always been the strongest, and I shall always be the strongest. This is no brag; this is a mere fact of life you should all come to terms with."

"But there is one thing I lack. One thing that has haunted me forever, and will forever continue to haunt me, until the end of my days and even after that."

"I cannot dream."

"To dream is to have an ultimate goal to strive towards, and to fight for it with all of your might. People of Earth and of the Boiling Isles: do you understand what it is have so much strength that it even steals your own dreams from you? No, you don't. Even my own sons have dreams to fight for. But I am so strong that any goal I have I can accomplish with ease in no time. I have no goal, I have no purpose, I have nothing to strive for. I was at the top from the day I was born, and there has never been anything coming next for me. I have made my peace with this."

"And then, there are people who are the complete opposite of me. People that have so little faith in their own strength that they refuse to dream. They give up before they even try to fight. Let me be clear: those creatures are not "people" to me. I refuse to give them ANY credit for ANYTHING they do. Those cowards have the entire world to walk forward into and they choose to stay put. They are little more than dirt in the ground for everyone else to walk over, and they can rot in hell for all I care."

"So, who then is left? In between the strongest that cannot dream and the weakest that refuse to do so, there is the people that dream of a brighter tomorrow. People that get up to fight for the future even if they are weak, even if they may fall down or even die in the process… People like my son, Baki, or the man that is about to step into this arena. Those people… I envy them… and I respect them more than I did even my own father."

"Several years ago, this man was at the top of the world. He was renowned and famous, he had everything anyone would love to have: money, fame, admiration, everything. But at the peak of his glory, he was forced to make a decision: Submit himself to the power of his own country, or fight against the injustice that oppressed his people and lose it all. He chose to fight, and lose it all he did. He lost his career, he lost his glory, and he even lost his dream that he worked his entire life to achieve. He tried to get it all back, but it was to no avail. His dreams were lost forever. And to make matters worse, he became afflicted by a debilitating disease that would forever stop him from getting his dream back. He tried to pass his dream on to his son, but that also failed."

Yujiro began to smile.

"Everyone! Today is a day of great joy for humanity! Thank you, people of the Boiling Isles! It Is because of your magic that that great man can finally step into the ring to see his dream become a reality once and for all! It is thanks to you that the greatest living treasure of humanity can finally shine in his full glory once more! His disease has been cured, his body has recovered, and he is here today to make his grand revival for all of us to see!"

The beaming smile in Yujiro's face was incredible. It was as if he hadn't been this happy in a very long time.

Now, this would be the part where I describe how he looked like when he entered the arena.

But let's be honest.

I don't need to do so.

You already know who he is, and how he looks like.

He is the champion after all, everyone knows him.

The humans in the arena started to cheer loudly, some in disbelief, some in raw excitement, most out of sheer joy and happiness. After so many years, the champion would finally show his glory to the world in the ring.

And when he finally stepped into view, the humans' cheers became so loud and roaring that it could be heard all over the isles.

"EVERYONE! WELCOME HIM BACK INTO GLORY! THE CHAMPION:"

"MOHAMMAD ALAI!"