"You're asking for death!" Incensed, the King of Kicks finally decided to
give it his all. He leaped into the air and served multiple flying kicks
as he landed in Dustin's direction. This time, he did not only attack Du
stin point–to–point–
he was undiscerning in his moves, offering no escape for his opponent.
"You punk! Let's see how you're going to dodge this!" He laughed maniacal
ly as the number of kicks increased and covered a wider scope. Dustin, wh
o was targeted, stood there without fear.
"It's clear who's the winner here." Maximus shook his head and stood up t
o leave. He was initially surprised by Dustin's agility, but even that wa
s no match for the King of Kicks. No level of agility could save the youn
g man from the indiscriminate attacks by the King of Kicks. In the face
of actual talent, Dustin's tricks would be
of no use.
All of a sudden, they heard a deafening explosion from the ring. The kick
ing legs in the air were nowhere to be seen. Instead, The King of Kicks s
topped his leg right by Dustin's ear, but it wasn't an attempt to show me
rcy to Dustin. Unfortunately, his shin was locked in Dustin's grip, immob
ilizing him.
"Did I ever say I'd dodge your attacks?" Dustin grinned as he grabbed the
leg of the King of Kicks.
"Did he block the kick?" Maximus, who was ready to leave, stood still, lo
oking astonished. Not even he would think of blocking a full–
strength attack from the King of Kicks, but Dustin seemed to have grabbed
the opponent's leg with
much ease. Maximus wondered what had happened. Was the King of Kicks cons
erving his energy on purpose, or did he underestimate Dustin's capability
?
"H–
how is that possible? How did you block that move?" The old man widened h
is eyes in utter disbelief. knowing he had not held back on the attack. E
ven though
the kick wasn't his most fatal move, it was more than enough to fight aga
inst most martial artists in the field. Therefore, he was shocked to see
Dustin holding his powerful leg with one hand. It was too eerie a scene t
o make sense of.
"Is there even anything great about that kick of yours? It's so weak that
even a three–year–
old could block it," Dustin remarked, looking unbothered.
"Nonsense!" The old man was a ball of rage as he leaped into the air and
struck again with an earth- shattering force.
"Hey! You used up your three moves! You lost!" Ruth yelled at the old man
, but he ignored her reminder and capitalized on the force of gravity to
strike Dustin on the head. This time, he was confident that Dustin wouldn
't be able to fend it off.
"You never learn, do you?" Dustin snorted and lifted his arm to block the
kick without as much as moving aside. The collision between the leg and
arm resulted in an explosive sound. An invisible blast wave spread across
the space from the core of the collision while strong gusts of winds roa
red. Dustin stood on the ground without moving an inch. He looked poised
and unhurt, but multiple cracks had formed underneath his feet.
On the other hand, the old man had placed one leg on Dustin's arm as he m
ustered up all his energy in an attempt to press his opponent onto the gr
ound. No matter how much force he exerted, Dustin's arm remained motionle
ss, like it was made of metal.
"Is that all?" Dustin raised a brow, looking disdainful. "Is that all the
King of Kicks have to show?"
"No! This can't be! How could you possibly block that attack? You aren't
even tanked on The Hundred Immortals!" The old man had shock written all
across his lace. He was sure that Dustin wasn't ranked because he had fou
ght the top ten in the ranking.
"The Hundred Immortals?" Dustin chuckled and whispered, "Let me tell you
a secret: I made it to The Heavenly Immortals ten years ago."
"The Heavenly Immortals?" The old man was stunned by the revelation. The
Heavenly Immortals were levels above The Hundred Immortals, and those ran
ked on that list were the creme de la creme. It sounded impossible that a
twenty–
something like Dustin managed to make it to that list. One must know that
the martial
artists who made it to The Heavenly Immortals were the ones who achieved
divinity, at the very least!
"No! Impossible! You must be bluffing!" The old man refused to believe Du
stin's words. It was rare to run into martial artists ranked on The Heave
nly Immortals, and a ranked martial artist wouldn't have lived in a small
town like Swinton, to begin with.
"Look out for my Phoenix Kick!" The old man put a distance between them,
followed by kicking himself off the ground and launching himself into the
air. Through consecutive kicks that morphed into shadows, he initiated a
crazed attack on Dustin.
"All show and no go!" Dustin scoffed at the move and sent a punch into th
e sole of the old man's fool. Following another explosive sound, the old
man was sent flying across the air like a soccer ball. With another thud,
he collapsed underneath the ring, bleeding from the orifices on his face
and suffering from fractures in his legs.
The crowd went dead silent at the sight of the lifeless King of Kicks on
the ground. People were gaping with alarmed looks. They could not believe
that the King of Kicks, from the top ten of The Hundred Immortals, had l
ost a battle in record time and without warning. Some of the spectators h
ad not even recovered from the blow.
More importantly, Dustin seemed to have attacked only once throughout
the fight, apart from all the defensive
moves and the dodging. That was the scariest observation of the night. Ha
d the crowd not witnessed it with
their own eyes, they would have scoffed at the idea of the King of Kicks
losing to an obscure young man.
"Has the King of Kicks
lost?" Brody's mind went blank. He could not comprehend the situation and
even went as far as to suspect the King of Kicks of staging the loss.
"My lord! Where did that guy come from?" Otto swallowed
hard as his disrespect for Dustin was replaced by
shock and fear, Dustin defeating the King of Kicks was a testament to his
capability. At the thought of his previous provocations toward Dustin, O
tto suddenly felt a prick of fear. Thankfully, Dustin did not take the re
marks too seriously. Else, Otto might have ended up as dead meat.
"Im
—
impossible!" He's just a good–for–
nothing! Since when has he become a master? Julie was both dumbstruck and
doubtful. She refused to believe that Dustin was capable of such powerfu
l moves. The only
possible explanation was that the two men in the ring were putting on a s
how. The King of Kicks must have been bribed by Dustin and played out his
part as the loser. Right! That must be it!
"Haha! He won! We won!" Ruth squealed in excitement and showed off to the
others, "See that? That's my brother–in–
law in the ring! Isn't he amazing?"
"Wait, he won? How did he do it? Quentin stared on, eyes widened into sau
cers.
"Never have I thought that he was a hidden talent. Since he's beaten the
King of Kicks, I believe he is capable of being ranked within the top eig
ht in The Hundred Immortals, Jessica mused. She admitted that she had mis
sed the unpolished
gem. Dustin Rhys was more remarkable than she had assumed.
"He's my man! So impressive!" Natasha's lips curled into a dazzling smile
. Her lovely eyes were filled with
affection. Curiosity grew in her–she started wondering about
Dustin's real identity.