Luan turned her head back as Ron was making fun of her "Yi Yang Finger". Ryo had been free from her immobilizing technique; his internal energy was still weak, however it could flow naturally within his body again. "The Invincible Dragon" stood at the door behind the Deva of South Emperor sect and took a better look at the people invading his dojo.
Ron was standing at a distance around 5 meters from Ryo and Luan, he was wearing black clothes, a black mask and shoulder pads, pieces of metal protecting his shins and forearms, and metal plate covering his Middle and Low Tanden.
"You are really aware of "Yi Yang Finger", aren't you?", Ryo tried to act tough with a light-hearted remark. A battle does not start at the first punch, an experience fighter would impose his will to the opponent before engaging physically. Making the enemy worried, making them over-confident, all those mind games is part of a fight.
"Obviously, "Yi Yang Finger" of South Emperor sect is the kryptonite of West Venom's martial arts.", Ron said. "One strike of her neutralized the result from 10 years of martial art training and Qi cultivation of mine. If she is with you people, I need a throughout plan to deal with her. However, I did not expect our Deva of South Emperor to succumb to her desire and get rid of her most fearsome weapon herself."
"Aren't you underestimating me too much?", Ryo said. "What is your plan against me?"
"The poison "Fire Phoenix" was my plan against you.", Ron replied. "Your Karate is physical and ferocious. The best way to neutralize it is to exhaust you, Even if you are "The Invincible Dragon", you cannot maintain your top form after 2 weeks of continuously draining your own energy."
Ron then pointed to the man standing next to him. That was a big muscular man wearing thin, teared and dirty clothes. He must be the loud man who was laughing earlier.
"This fellow here, A Song, was a high-ranked member of North Beggar sect.", Ron said. "He is one of the only 7 living Hizoku assassins that have mastered all "18 Dragons Subduing Palms". This martial art is pretty similar to your Kyokugen-ryu Karate, both are rigid fighting styles, both ultilize fierce strikes to overwhelm their opponents."
Ryo had received a strike from this martial art once 2 weeks earlier. He had to agree that "18 Dragon Subduing Palms" strikes were ferocious, and judging from how muscular that man was, it looked like in melee combat he would use very physical techniques. That was very similar to his "Tiger style" of Kyokugen-ryu Karate.
"With how physically demanded your styles are, the one who is physically stronger and possesses more powerful Qi would prevail.", Ron continued. "In your current state, you are physically weaker and your internal energy is exhausted. You will not be able to withstand the destructive power of "18 Dragon Subduing Palms" of North Beggar sect."
"You can have the child, just leave!", Luan interrupted the conversation.
"We certainly will take the child and leave.", Ron said. "But what makes you think I will allow you people to live? You swore to kill me, and the people of Kyokugen-ryu Karate and Gang-il's Taekwondo would definitely hunt me down after this humiliation. Gang-il is nowhere as competent as his disciples, Takuma Sakazaki is old while Yuri Sakazaki and Marco Rodriguez have not really matured as martial artists. Why should I spare the lives of the most powerful living Kyokugen-ryu Karate and Taekwondo fighters?"
Ryo placed his left hand on Luan's shoulder and gently pulled her back. The Karateka said: "I don't need your mercy. Come, let us have a wonderful battle!"
"As you wish!", A Song let out a roar. He pulled his right palm back, the right palm drew an imaginary circle in the air. The muscular man suddenly exhaled violently, his right palm thrusted forward, creating a wave of energy attacking Ryo fiercely.
"Move away! You cannot take "Mighty Dragon Has Regret" in your state!", Luan shouted in a hurry.
This strike was sudden, however the Karateka should be able to evade. But his exhausted state had dulled his sense and weakened his limbs, the only thing Ryo could do was to tighten his body and raised his arms to cover himself.
The wave of energy had reached Ryo's guard. "The Invincible Dragon" sensed the crushing power from the technique pushing him away, he felt numb in his forearms, pain in his internal organs and the shaking in his legs. It was the same feeling as that time he took the strike 2 weeks earlier. At his current state, the Karateka did not have the physical prowess of their first encounter, however he somehow was able to withstand the strike with his remaining strength and willpower.
The tremendeous power pushing Ryo suddenly stopped, and "The Invincible Dragon" felt another force going the opposite direction crushing him. Ryo was using his entire strength to withstand the first wave of energy, he could not maintain his defense against this one which was even more fierce than the first one, it attacked at the most unexpected moment through an unexpected direction. The second wave of energy immediately broke his guard and started crushing his unprotected body. Ryo had been fighting against formidable martial artists and some superpower warriors, but this was the first time he faced such danger.
However, before this second hit completely destroyed Ryo's body, Luan had threw the dart on one of her whip toward A Song. As a Hizoku assassin, she knew "Mighty Dragon Has Regret" was the most powerful technique of "18 Dragon Subduing Palms", the martial artist fiercely thrusted their palm forward, creating a powerful flow of energy, and while retreating their strike, creating another one going the opposite direction, crushing the victim in between. The key to "Mighty Dragon Has Regret" was in the word "Regret", the regretting dragon returned with a powerful force attacking the opponent trying to defend against the first attack.
A Song saw Luan's attack, he could not commited to the "Regret" strike and had to cancel the technique to evade the assault. "Mighty Dragon Has Regret" was broken, Ryo was saved from a certain death. However, he did not escaped unharmed. Ryo came to this fight in his weakened state and was struck by one of the most devastating strike in the martial art world, blood spilled out of his mouth, noses, eyes and ears and he felt pains in his heart and gut. However, his muscles seemed to be fine, the Karateka tried to maintain his stance.
"Impressive, Karateka.", A Song said. "You are the first one in 2 centuries that could survive "Mighty Dragon Has Regret" twice."
"Thank you.", Ryo channeled his strength to reply. "North Beggar's "18 Dragon Subduing Palms" are formidable. The first time you attacked me with this technique, it was a meant to escape, the second time you were interrupted. If you had the intention and chance to commit to the retreating force, I would have been defeated."
A Song was amazed of his opponent's knowledge. The Hizoku ask: "How do you know about "Mighty Dragon Has Regret" of the Hizoku? Did that woman tell you?"
Ryo let out a laugh, but was interrupted by his wounds. "The Invincible Dragon" replied: "You used this technique on me twice now. If I can't even figure out what is the principles of your technique, this "Invincible Dragon" title should not belong to me anymore."
"I like your spirit!", A Song laughed loudly. "But you should not feel so down. After all, it's reasonable for a "Dragon" to be defeated by "Dragon Subduing Palms". You don't have to renounce that alias even if you are defeated by me."
As he finished the sentence, the Hizoku assassin slightly lowered his left arm while drawing an imaginary circle with his right hand. Ryo knew this movement, he was about to attack with another "Mighty Dragon Has Regret". This technique was more devastating than "Kou-ou Ken" and faster than "Haoh Shoukou Ken"; if A Song was the one initiating the exchange, Ryo could not trade blows with him, especially when he was exhausted and short of internal energy. The Karateka jumped to the side and evaded the attack. "Mighty Dragon Has Regret" missed its target, it created a big hole on the wall of the Sakazaki's Kyokugen-ryu dojo.
Ryo suddenly saw Ron walking away. The assassin was probably trying to capture Kensou while he was busy fighting with A Song. The Karateka tried to chase after him, however another "Might Dragon Has Regret" prevented him to do so. Desperated, he called out to Luan: "Stop him while I fight with this guy!"
Ron let out a laughter. He said: "Are you sure this woman is still your ally, Sakazaki? That woman now knows that I want the boy alive, don't you think she would try to kill the kid to spoil my plan?"
Ryo gritted his teeth in anger, at this moment everyone was an enemy of his.
"Good!", Ryo roared. "Today I'm going to beat all of you Hizoku people!"
Under Ryo's foot, there was a piece of wood felt out from the hole created by A Song's previous strike. "The Invincibe Dragon" suddenly kicked it toward Ron. Compared to a hidden weapon thrown by a master, this piece of wood flew at a pretty moderate speed, Ron easily swept it away with his forearm that was covered in metal.
Ryo's assault was easy to defend against, but it was not pointless. Ryo knew a sudden attack from a distance would never work on experienced assassins like Ron, Luan or A Song. However, that move was never intended to inflict damage on Ron, all Ryo wanted to distract the Hizoku members. These people did not expect someone like Ryo would attempt the move, although they would never allow themselves to be hit with that kind of attack, it still surprised them enough to take their eyes off "The Invincible Dragon" for a moment.
In that brief moment, Ryo rolled toward A Song's position. If he was healthy, the Karateka could easily close the distance with a quick hop, however at that moment his physical condition was not as it usually was. Although a roll may not give him the most convenient posture when he approached the enemy, ultilizing his own weight for the roll was his best chance to reach the position without using his usual speed and strength.
A Song moved his attention back to Ryo, who was kneeling right by his left foot. At that position, Ryo did not pose much immediate threat to the Hizoku, however the assassin's right palm could not reach him either. The Karateka knew this, and before A Song could re-position himself, Ryo swung his right hand that was in blade-form, a Shuto Uchi, to A Song's left heel, attempting to sweep him off balance. This attack was low and from outside of the reach of his palms, the assassin could not block the strike or trade blow with Ryo, instead he jumped up to evade Ryo's chop.
Ryo's strike missed its target. "The Invincible Dragon" chased his opponent with his glance, trying to capture the right moment for a "Kou Hou", a technique specialized in attacking airborne enemies. However, before the Karateka could initiate his attack, A Song had already made his move. He channeled an enormous amount of Qi into his Tandens, routed it to his palms and struck Ryo's head from above. This technique was "Flying Dragon on The Heaven", a powerful double palm strike that ultilized an massive amount of internal energy for the most devastating effect.
Ryo could not trade blow with this strike either. Once again, all he could do was evade the attack. The Karateka put his entire strength into the legs to quickly jump away.
A Song's strike did not connect, however he was able to force his opponent away. As he landed on the ground, the assassin attacked Ryo with another "Mighty Dragon Has Regret", this time at melee combat distance.
Ryo had experienced the devastating power of "Mighty Dragon Has Regret" before, however those strikes were from long-ranged distance. The techniques of "18 Dragon Subduing Palms" had simple motions, however their brilliance lied in the way they generated a massive amount of force for these strikes, by ultilizing both physical strength (in the muscles, tendons and bones) and internal energy. At long-ranged, the power of the strikes in those moment, although ferocious, was merely the power from A Song's internal energy. However, as Ryo was too weakened to put himself at a safer distance with a jump, A Song was in range to land a direct hit on the Karateka, a "Mighty Dragon Has Regret" at this range was the most lethal palm strike in the martial art world.
Ryo had not encountered such powerful strike, not even his "Tenchi Haoh Ken", Krauser's "Kaiser Wave" or Geese's "Raging Storm" had this destructive power. However, he had fought enough to realize just how deadly this attack was and that he could not take it head-on. And even if he moved backward and the palm did not connect, the wave of energy created from the strike would catch him on his way out.
The Karateka quickly dragged his right foot to the right while lowering his stance, narrowly escaped the line of destruction from "Mighty Dragon Has Regret". After evading the attack, Ryo made his own strike. He re-positioned his left foot to move his body forward, into a Zenkutsu-dachi facing the left side of A Song's body while thrusting his left fist toward the assassin's ear. A Song moved his left foot to the side so that he could face the opponent directly, his right palm retreated to the forehead while his left palm pointed toward Ryo's torso. The movement looked unimpressive, however Ryo could sense a significant rise in power from A Song's aura. Indeed, this technique was "Conveniently Crossing The River", a strike for defensive situations; despite its mediorce appeareance, the palm strike was actually more ferocious than it looked, ferocious enough to force Ryo to cancel his attack and retreat.
"Let's speed things up, shall we?", A Song said while chasing the Karateka.
The assassin did not allow his opponent to ininitate an attack, his right palm thrusted toward the face. This strike was not as fierce as "Mighty Dragon Has Regret" or "Flying Dragon on The Heaven", but it was much faster. Ryo used his left arm to swept it away with a Shuto Uke. As his right palm was parried, A Song immediately swung his left palm toward Ryo's Low Tanden. The Karateka dragged his right foot a step backward immediately after his left foot had made half a step away from the assassin, meanwhile his left arm swung down, performing a Gedan Barai to push the strike off its target. Despite his left palm whiffed, A Song ultilized the momentum of that Gedan Barai to twist his body, raise his right palm up and swing it down, attacking the top of the opponent's head. By quickly dragging his right foot to the side, Ryo moved slightly away from the palm strike's path, he swung his left arm up, pushing the attack even further away with an Age Uke. A Song continued his offense, he swung his left hand fiercely like swinging a saber toward Ryo's neck. "The Invincible Dragon" also stopped this strike with a Soto Uke using his left arm.
The Karateka and the Hizoku assassin had exchanged another 10 moves. Although Ryo had no problem defend himself against these ferocious strikes, he did not have a chance to initiate his own attack as the quick and varied attacks from left to right was pushing him to his limit. The moves used by A Song was within combinations of "Dragon Fighting In The Wild", it was the most illusive technique of "18 Dragon Subduing Palms" that overwhelmed its opponent by unending wave of different strikes.
Ron was watching his man fighting against "The Invincible Dragon" of Kyokugen-ryu Karate. He had witnessed "Mighty Dragon Has Regret" and "Flying Dragon on The Heaven" pushing Ryo away, and Ryo was currently stuck in the barrage of strikes from "Dragon Fighting In The Wild". The former leader of Hizoku clan was satisfied that he brought an expert of "18 Dragon Subduing Palms" to help him fight with the fierce Karateka, he intended to continue his quest to capture Sie Kensou, the Psycho Soldier possessing the Dragon Spirit's power.
Ron suddenly sensed a small yet heavy object launching at him. It was Luan who attacked him with her rope. However, the rogue Hizoku easily dodged that attack by slightly leaning his head to the side.
"You cannot use "Yi Yang Finger" on me tonight, little girl.", Ron said as the woman retrieved her weapon.
"Before training in "Yi Yang Finger", I was under Lin's guidance.", Luan said. "Don't forget that I had mastered the arts of West Venom sect and techniques of Ancient Tomb sect as well."
As if to prove her claim, Luan suddenly swung her rope toward Ron's legs, which the rogue Hizoku also easily evaded by jumping up.
"It seems you want to challenge me in West Venom's martial arts.", Ron said. "Let me entertain my former surbodinate then."
Ryo did not need to use his right hand to defend against A Song's "Dragon Fighting In The Wild". However, it's not like using one more arm could help him get away from this barrage of palm strikes. Using the right hand would certainly give him more room to breath, but "Dragon Fighting In The Wild" was the most illusive technique of "18 Dragon Subduing Palms", feints mixed in with fierce strikes left no opening for the opponent to initiate a counter attack.
Normally, if he was under aggression that was too great to strike backer a block, Ryo would take a big step back and perform a "Kohou Shippuu Ken" to counter the aggressor who just missed their attack. However, as he was not at his usual physical condition, for every step backward Ryo made, A Song quickly occupied that space using the palm combinations of "Dragon Fighting In The Wild" as the lead. The Karateka knew that if he took such a wide step and switched his stance, the assassin would take over the fight. Ryo also knew that if this stalemate continued, A Song was the fresher, healthier fighter, "18 Dragon Subduing Palms" would eventually overwhelm the exhausted, weakened "Invincible Dragon".
Ryo had no choice but taking risks. As A Song thrusted his right palm forward, the Karateka moved his right foot to the right, slipping away from the strike and circling to the assassin's left side. The "18 Dragon Subduing Palms" martial artist was surprised for a moment as he expected his opponent to continue parrying and moving backward, not to the side. However, as an elite assassin, he quickly thrusted his left palm to his left, cutting off Ryo's escaping route. A Song continued his offense on the Karateka who had stopped his movement, a right palm swung fiercely to Ryo's head.
"The Invincible Dragon" could not continue circling to the assassin's side, and he was being chased by a "Dragon Subduing Palm". He could have parried that strike like he did to the previous ones, however he knew that would lead to the stalemate he tried to escape. So, instead of tightening his defense, the Karateka made use of the remaining momentum of his prior movement to quickly shift his weight on the right leg, while the left leg sneaked under the trajectory of A Song's right palm, a Chudan Mawashi-geri. A Song may be the healthier and faster fighter at that moment, but his strikes were 3 separated palm strikes, meanwhile Ryo moving to the side and throwing the kick were 2 movements of the same sequence. The kick was hidden from A Song's vision as he was fixated on his own target and landed on the liver before the right palm connected.
For explosive martial arts like Kyokugen-ryu Karate and "18 Dragon Subduing Palms", breathing is important. While throwing a strike, the martial artist tighten the muscles of their core and hold their breathe, as if to store their energy; and when the strike connects, they squeeze every fiber of their body with a fierce exhale, as if to release the entirety of their power to the attack. By this method of breathing, the martial artist can generate a massive amount of force by ultilizing the power of their entire body and internal energy. If someone can interrupt this breathing process by attacking at the right spot at the right moment, they can turn the most ferocious of strikes into the sloppiest of attacks.
Ryo's kick landed on A Song's liver, a sensitive and vulnerable spot that located near the diaphragm that was supporting the breathing process, and at a brief the moment before A Song exhaled. Because of the kick, the assassin unintentionally released all the air and energy that he had stored for the palm strike, just a moment too early. And yet it was the most crucial moment, as the fierce palm strike was no longer fierce when it landed on Ryo's head, it could not even shake the Karateka off balance.
A Song felt pain in his torso, he knew that his breathing was interrupted and his attack was useless, however he was still confused about what strike landed on his liver just then and how did Ryo land it. Ultilizing that moment of confusion, Ryo quickly shifted his weight forward as he lowered the left foot, and a right cross launched towards A Song's face. The assassin was still in shock and pain, he managed to cover his face just in time and could not prepare for his own counter. Ryo took advantage of his opponent's high guard to throw a left uppercut to the injured liver of A Song.
The assassin of North Beggar sect had taken 2 strikes into the liver. He should have collapsed by then, however the weakened Ryo could not inflict enough damage to shut A Song down for good. The assassin felt the urge to push his opponent away, being hit in the liver was not a comfortable experience. In that moment, the point and middle fingers of his right hand bended like how they formed a fist while the other fingers stretched out like a palm, with such a weird hand form, A Song thrusted his right palm toward Ryo's right rib along with a left hook. This technique was "Hidden Dragon", despite its sloppy look, its power was devastating, the right palm stopped the opponent's advance and the left fist prevented the Karateka from moving to the left. Ryo could neither continue his offense nor move to the sides, his only option was to retreat backward. "Hidden Dragon" was indeed a brilliant defensive technique, A Song was able to force Ryo away with a single move.
Although the Karateka had stopped his offense, A Song still felt a bit worried as the pain in his liver had not ceased. He threw another ferocious "Mighty Dragon Has Regret" in order to push Ryo even further away. Facing formidable opponent, firstly use "Mighty Dragon Has Regret" - that had been the motto of "18 Dragon Subduing Palms" martial artists since the former Beggar Clan leader Qiao Feng. Indeed, this technique was so powerful that even the most skillful of fighters would have to retreat once the strike was launched. Furthermore, A Song's current opponent was not in his best condition, the Karateka would have no choice but move away and give him some distance to recover.
Ryo hopped backward and slightly to the left, evading the fierce strike. His legs suddenly lost their strength when he landed on the ground, making him lose his balance. This should not have happened if he was healthy, but the Karateka had spent 2 weeks exhausting himself to save his companions. As Ryo was trying to reclaim his footing, A Song took advantage of that moment to attack with another "Mighty Dragon Has Regret".
The assassin suddenly felt immense pain at the right side of his body. Although A Song was the healthier fighter, while constantly using fierce strikes from "18 Dragon Subduing Palms", he had been continuously squeezing the muscles around his core and chest as well as letting a huge amount of Qi running fiercely between the meridians across his body. These action quickly escalated the injury of his liver that was struck by Ryo twice. The wound was not lethal yet, however it was still painful enough to stop A Song's movement for a brief moment. And in battles between skilled martial artists, such brief moment could change the tide of a fight.
Ryo was the one at constant disadvantages, he would not let this chance slip away. With a quick roll, "The Invincible Dragon" had closed the distance. A Song had lost his initiative, his priority at the moment turned into putting an immdediate space between them. Ryo was in a low gesture as he just completed the roll, the assassin attacked him with a right knee. The technique was not one of "18 Dragon Subduing Palms" and was not as powerful, however a knee strike did not need such extreme breathing method to deal notable damage. This simple, quick and powerful strike should be enough to push Ryo away.
The Karateka was able to pull his hands up to cover himself from the knee, however its power was still enough to push him backward. A Song was satisfied with this outcome, he immediately lowered his right foot for a stable stance before hopping back and creating some distance. But before that foot landed on the ground, something had grabbed his right ankle and forcefully dragged that leg forward and to his left side. It was Ryo's left foot: as the Karateka was moving away, he extended his left leg and used the foot as a hook to pull A Song off his balance.
The pulling force of Ryo was not enough to force the assassin down on his back, however it was enough to take away A Song's ideal stance. The rogue Hizoku extended his legs too widely, making it impossible for him to generate power for his offense, defense or moving around, and his back was exposed.
A Song sensed Ryo's heavy foot steps as the Karateka tried to attack his back. In his awkward posture, the assassin swung his right palm backward. The strike was usually powerful considering that it was launched from such a disadvantageous stance, powerful enough to force Ryo to stop his offense. The techniche was "Divine Dragon Wages His Tail", a defensive technique to defend the back, it was especially useful to counter someone attacking from behind or to secure the user's escape route.
The backward strike was fierce enough to stop Ryo's advance, however the awkward stance made it impossible for A Song's palm to reach far enough to force the Karateka to retreat and he could not run away immediately either. Ryo was able to stop his movement before the strike landed, but his offense was not completely ended as the assassin could not push his counter strike any further, initiate an attack or move away. "The Invincible Dragon" was cautious of A Song's "Divine Dragon Wages His Tail", so instead of commiting to a strike, he quickly extended his left arm to grab the rogue Hizoku's collar and pulled it backward while his right leg swept the base. It was a Karate style Ashi Barai.
A Song was pushed into an unstable stance, he could not resist the takedown. The assassin fell on his back while the Karateka prepared for his finishing move. While A Song was still falling, Ryo's right hand was in blade form, he raised it above the top of his head and swung it down using his entire weight and the remaining of his strength. The technique was "Hyouchuu Wari", it connected at the same time as A Song's body contacted to the ground. The "18 Dragon Subduing Palms" martial artist had lost his stance and was trying to break the fall, he was incapable of defending against this attack. The impact of the fall from below and the Karate chop from above, immediately knocked him out.