"It seems that landing that blow hurt Rin more than Kelly."
Izuru spoke while closely watching the exchange of strikes between Kelly and Rin.
Now at her ideal distance, Kelly threw a right punch that Rin managed to block and counter with the same right punch to the solar plexus he had been using. However, Kelly blocked and deflected it, immediately countering with a kick to the calf, which Rin managed to block.
"What a nuisance. She's doing so well, and even though I'm pressuring her to retreat, she refuses to back down,"
Rin thought as he continued throwing punches: first a left jab to measure distance, then a straight right to force her back. However, Kelly dodged the jab and effortlessly blocked the straight, but blocking it turned out to be a grave mistake; that punch forced her to retreat several meters, allowing Rin to resume using the hitman style he'd seen Pyo Wol use.
"Not bad for an imitation, but no matter how much of a prodigy you are, you can't copy someone else's physical condition while fighting,"
Pyo Wol remarked as he watched Kelly weave through all of Rin's flicker-style jabs. It was clear that Rin's performance had diminished after Kelly's blows, particularly that right to the solar plexus.
Again, Kelly found herself at striking distance. After taking a deep breath, she launched a quick punch as fast as she could, but it wasn't enough.
Rin dodged the blow and immediately retaliated with a right punch aimed at her abdomen. However, just as that punch was coming at her, Kelly was readying her left to counter and her right to deflect. She narrowly managed to do so, and Rin's punch only grazed her abdomen.
Before Kelly's counter could connect, Rin stepped back using footwork and quickly prepared his flicker as Kelly closed in swiftly.
"My legs... they burn so much. My arms feel heavy. I can't keep deflecting those hits. The only thing left is to force him into a counter that gets him disqualified,"
Kelly thought as she braced for the oncoming rain of flickers.
Kelly once again moved in through the barrage of punches, and Rin was ready with another right to the abdomen. This time, Kelly dodged it and landed a hook on Rin's guard that forced him to step back.
"What a bother. Even though I've slowed her down significantly, she still moves fast enough to dodge my rights. If this keeps up, I'll run out of options against her," Rin thought.
Kelly prepared her left, prompting Rin to respond with Pyo Wol's chopping right. However, Kelly managed to move her head just in time to let Rin's strike pass by, and Rin deflected Kelly's left without issue.
Rin took his distance again, but Kelly approached almost immediately. Ready to dodge Rin's blow, she did so as his right punch targeted her solar plexus. Kelly stepped back and set up an uppercut to punish Rin's overuse of that right. However, Rin saw the upward strike coming and stepped back to make it miss, only to realize too late that the uppercut had been a feint. By the time he saw Kelly's right coming, it was too late.
Kelly's right connected with Rin's cheek. When Rin tried to strike back, Kelly was already out of range.
Meanwhile, in the stands, an interesting conversation unfolded between Izuru and Robert.
"So that's my sister's strategy... hit and retreat, switching from defense to offense."
"Right now, I can't tell who has the advantage, but from this exchange alone, I'd say Kelly is winning, don't you think, Robert?"
"Shouldn't you be the one to know? Aren't you supposed to be some kind of combat genius like Rin, but smaller?"
"In what way are Rin and I alike?" Izuru asked, unable to see the similarity between them.
"Uh, copying techniques just by watching? You did it with that move Kaina used during the first trial," Robert said, recalling the moment Izuru scored 131 points in the first test.
"Actually... well, never mind."
"Aren't you supposed to be good at fighting? Isn't that where your copying skill comes from?"
"Of course not. I've only fought once in my entire life, and that was yesterday," Izuru said, not realizing the predicament he'd just gotten himself into. The walls have ears, and the 20 remaining contenders had overheard him.
Back on the platform:
Rin dodged a gazelle punch from Kelly and immediately countered with a chopping right, which Kelly dodged and countered with the same body shot Rin had been using against her. But Rin sidestepped to avoid it.
"Why are they fighting like boxers? Especially Kelly—doesn't fighting this way put her at a disadvantage? She's smaller but faster. If she took Rin to the ground and used a jiu-jitsu hold, she'd win more easily. Or even if she fought mixed style, using calf kicks to weaken Rin's legs and then finishing him with a jaw strike to knock him down. If Kelly has done enough damage, Rin wouldn't be able to get up, and Instructor Kaina would stop the fight," Hyu speculated aloud.
"It's not as simple as you think. Maybe you don't know because you're not from here, but the Ikari are experts in jiu-jitsu, judo, and Muay Thai," Manabu Kanemochi said, his eyes never leaving the fight between Kelly and Rin.
"I even heard they're trained from a very young age to master those martial arts. Their training is said to be among the most rigorous," Ryuen added with a grin.
"So the real question is, why isn't Rin using his advantage in the other martial arts?" Hyu asked again, watching as Rin pressured Kelly with flicker jabs that she managed to withstand.
"Why he isn't using Muay Thai is pretty obvious after the warning the instructor gave for excessive force. But as for why he's not using a judo throw or taking the fight to the ground with jiu-jitsu, I have no idea," Pyo Wol added.
Back on the platform, Kelly was steadily gaining ground on Rin. With each successful hit, Rin was forced to step back. Kelly had definitely made things difficult for him, but Rin knew he only needed one good hit to end the fight, and Kelly was well aware of this.
"Just keep pushing forward, and you'll definitely throw that right at him," Kelly thought as she continued dodging Rin's flickers.
"After that left, in the opening between his right, take this, prodigy," Kelly thought as she prepared a counterattack that would end the battle. It would have ended the battle had it connected... Rin saw it coming at the last moment and leaned his head back, making Kelly's counter miss. He seized the opportunity to strike her abdomen with a right that twisted her insides and made her step back.
"Damn it, just when everything was going well... No, don't hesitate, do it again, as many times as necessary! Do it for your younger brother. In the end, I'll achieve it, and no one will stand against Robert. Our lives were worth nothing after our parents' betrayal. Only our fists never abandoned us, and it stayed that way until Uncle Joseph came into our lives. For him, for all he sacrificed for us, I won't give up," Kelly thought as she launched herself into the attack again. However, her speed had decreased significantly; it was no longer as easy to move in, but she could still get close.
"I'll make it," Kelly thought as she threw her right.
"Right there, I'll show you what it's like to face an unbeatable opponent," Rin thought, readying a right aimed at Kelly's solar plexus, which would land cleanly.
"Oh! Rin managed to land it first," Izuru exclaimed in astonishment.
"Damn it, I was too slow. I'll make him use that right again, and this time I'll be faster, more precise," Kelly thought as she prepared for another attack.
She caught the counter coming out of the corner of her eye. She had lost the battle.
At the moment of impact, blood and sweat sprayed into the air. Kelly's face twisted from the blow, her teeth clenched, and the light in her eyes dimmed as she felt Rin's fist sink into her cheek. For a moment, her body seemed to break like a shattered doll, her legs wobbling and her arms flailing in a desperate attempt to stay upright proof of the destructive power behind that counter.
Kelly might have lost the battle, but
"Damn it, Rin Ikari, I warned you what would happen if you used such a dangerous counterattack again!"
Kaina shouted angrily. She picked up an unconscious Kelly in her arms and immediately carried her to the infirmary on the second mountain, making it clear that Rin Ikari had been disqualified for excessive force during the trial.
Kelly had won the war.