Chapter 11: Demolished
The cheers of the human crowd were deafening. It was strange, almost incomprehensible. Not even Crowley, who was easily the most popular witch in the entire Boiling Isles right after Belos himself, ever elicited such insane elation and joy by his mere existence.
"Revival"
Apparently, Alai had been afflicted by some sort of disease that prevented him from fighting ever again. But thanks to Healing magic combined with human science, he had made a full recovery everyone believed would never be possible.
Sure, it's normal for people to be happy when someone they care about gets better after a bad disease, but this… this was beyond words. I mean, it was as if the whole of humanity itself was unspeakably relived by his recovery.
And as much as Darius wanted to mock this whole charade, he couldn't.
"Victory"
The human standing in front of him irradiated victory. Darius didn't even know what the titan that meant, but he knew from the depths of his soul that it was true. Mohammed Alai was the living visage of "victory". Darius felt like he had no chance of winning.
But he wanted to try anyway.
The proud and arrogant Darius hated this feeling, but could not get away from it. The thought of "I cannot win, but I want to see what happens anyway!" is not the thought of someone who stands above everyone else, but the thought of an excited fan who just wants some taste of their favorite superstar.
Yujiro Hanma approached the champion.
"YO! Champion. How ya doin'? Looking good! Even better than when we first met. Have you been working out?"
Alai let out a small chuckle. Was there anyone alive that Yujiro would talk to like a friend other than him? Not even his own son had that much respect from him.
"Heh heh! Oh yeah! I've been busy working all right! Working on it that is."
"IT? …. HOOOOOHHH… you mean to say …. It's complete?"
Alai simply smiled in response.
"hmhmhmhmh! HMHMHMHMHM! ZEHAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA! ALRIGHT THEN CHAMPION! Show us what your dream looks like, finally after all these years of waiting! DON'T BLUE BALL US NOW BASTARD! ZEHAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAA!"
After his insane ramblings, Yujiro retreated from the arena and went back to his seat.
"… well, after that, perhaps it's proper manners to introduce each other. I shall start: My name is Mohammed Alai. I am a former professional heavy-weight boxer from the human world. I have held the title of "world champion" for a long time, and many even say I still am. Myself included of course. It is very nice to meet you, and I'm sorry I have to show my great return to our world by humiliating and demolishing you. And with that said, may I know your name?"
…
Darius did not speak. Why? He wanted to say :"YOU FOOLISH HUMAN! I STAND ABOVE YOU!" like he would have normally done, but it felt…. Like a lie.
Darius decided there was only one way to settle his mind. So he attacked without saying a word.
He conjured an abomination spike from the ground that went flying straight for Alai's right eye, which missed.
Wait, what?
It missed? But it was going straight for it! Darius casted another one, this one went for the left eye… and it also missed. What? No, no, it was going directly to- nevermind, Darius made another one that this time went for the center of Alai's chest, surely there was no way this one would- and it went too HIGH?! What the hell is happening?! Alai was not moving, right?! Was Darius…. Too scared to actually attack him?!
In his confusion turned to rage, Darius Decided to go ballistic and turned into his massive abomination form. It was an excessively draining spell that he could not hold for more than a minute at a time, which is why he tended to be conservative with it. But facing Alai made him too confused, scared, intimidated, and angry to consider moderation.
With his final form revealed, he went completely nuts and started attacking Alain in a million different ways. From above, below, left, right, front, behind, with spikes, with hands, fists, blades, jaws, etc. Any form imaginable was made and used to attack Alai mercilessly. Darius was out of his mind and he didn't even understand why. And to make matters worse:
All of his attacks were missing their target.
Not one of the attacks in his insane flurry was making contact with Alai. It was as if Darius was actively trying to miss him completely, but he wasn't… was he?
As soon as Darius was forced to stop attacking out of exhaustion, Alai decided to explain what was happening.
"… *sigh*, Mr. Darius, as funny as it is to watch you flail uselessly at me, at some point it stops being entertaining and it starts to get sad. You are like an enraged ape, mindlessly swinging his arms in a vague hope of hitting something. That may work on a lesser opponent, but against one such as myself, it will do nothing more than help humiliate you further. So to end this charade, allow me to illuminate you."
Alai then pointed towards the ground. Darius, still dazed, looked down without thinking. But once he saw what Alai had to show him, his mind cleared up in an instant. He almost wanted to laugh, it was so stupid. But so obvious at the same time.
There were track marks on the ground beneath Alai's feet.
He WAS dodging every attack; his movements were just so minimal that it looked like he wasn't moving. The marks did not extend away from his feet for any farther than 25 cm.
"That is my dream come true."
Darius was taken aback by the comment, but having heard so much of this so called "dream", he couldn't help but be curious, so he kept silent.
"Several years ago, I had a dream. I have always been a huge fan of martial arts. They have been my life and passion since as far as I can remember. In fact, I became a boxer in part due to my love of them. But over time, I was forced to come to terms with a harsh reality: boxing is just too simplified to be called a "martial art". Martial arts are styles of fighting that were made to give power to the "weak", they exist to allow people to overcome the monstrous obstacles their own body does not allow them to overcome. A style that is enclosed in a ring, only made for one-on-one fights, that was never made to work on the streets, and that never expects to encounter a weapon of any kind… such a thing cannot be called a "martial art"."
"So I set myself to turn boxing into a martial art. That was my dream. I would take the principles of boxing: the code which I call the "fists of honor", and evolve it into a style that can handle any opponent. Over and over again I found hurdles to this philosophy, but eventually I overcame most of them… I once face a hurdle so big, I thought it killed my dream. But I stand here now, and after so many years, my dream, the boxing martial art: "The art of Alai" is finally completed!"
"In my youth, I encapsulated the fundamental principles of my art with a simple phrase. Most people think it was about my boxing, but this is above boxing now: Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. Footwork and fast strikes are the name of the game for the art of Alai. You do not guard, you dodge. You do not destroy, you demolish. My art is made to dismantle the opponent with quick and direct strikes, precise and targeted to the enemy's weakest points. For a long time, I found myself being forced to choose one or the other, but I could not do both at the same time. But now, I have found the solution."
"Mr. Darius, attack me once more, and I shall show you what the truly completed Art of Alai is. What lies above Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. This shall be fade like a ghost, strike with lighting."
Darius had already faded out of his abomination form, in between the exhaustion and the stress, he just couldn't hold it anymore.
"…. Why?"
Darius asked mindlessly, speaking for the very first time since he saw Alai enter.
His pride was gone.
His ego was in the dust.
His status was a joke.
Darius was now little more than a curious fanatic of Mohammed Alai, and he only wanted to know why was he so passionate about something so… pointless.
Weren't humans living in times of peace? Were their wars not something where soldiers didn't need physical prowess to take down their enemy?
Why dedicate himself with such passion?
Why were humans like this?
"… Because… I am a human."
Somehow.
That was enough for Darius.
"Glory"
The image before him was one of glory.
Darius then thought:
"I cannot win,
but
I want to see what happens anyway!"
Darius rolled his hands into fists and put them in front of his face, so close that, had he worn boxing gloves, they would have marks of his chin on them.
He knew very little of human boxing, but he did know Iron Michael's peek-a-boo style, even if just a bit.
"Interesting, you won't use magic? Very well then."
"Ready"
Alai looked ready, he always did.
The completed form of the art of Alai was different from the one others knew before, the one devised by Alai's own son. There was no bouncing, no stance, no gloves even. A true Alai style is formless, like water.
Alai dreamed of a style that could answer any other style, but he realized that such a thing was not possible.
To have a "style" means to have "constraints", or "rules" you must follow. There are things you must do and things you must never do. Something that is "chained" like that cannot answer all situations.
The completed form of the art of Alai was formless. It was simply made to do 2 things:
Dodge
Punch
When Darius threw the first punch of his entire life, Alai shifted to his right side slightly, while he threw a right jab at Darius' cheek.
That's it.
That's all that happened.
Everything went black for Darius.
"Demolished"
Darius has been demolished.
"FIGHT OVER! THE WINNER IS FIGHTER #16, MOHAMMAD ALAI FOR THE HUMANS!"
To fight like Mohammad Alai is truly a simple art.