Chapter 12: You cheated!!

Chapter 12: You cheated!!

On the side, Big Greg and the Bellevue High crowd were cheering for me at the top of their lungs. Meanwhile, Ethan’s followers looked completely torn.

Normally, they would have backed their gang leader without hesitation. But Ethan had been terrorizing students around Bellevue High for months, while I was standing up to his entire crew alone to protect my sister. Deep down, even those delinquents didn't want to root for a petty bully—yet they were too terrified of Ethan to say a word.

So they just stood there in tense silence.

The sharp rush of wind brought me back to hyper-focus. Even with fifty percent of the Aurelian Defensive Kata fused into my reflexes, I knew this wasn't going to be a breeze. Against ordinary street brawlers, my newly gained reflexes were a walk in the park. But against someone who had spent years conditioning his body for competitive combat, my half-baked muscle memory had its limits.

Ethan’s training was real, and his combat experience far outweighed mine.

If Chloe were standing here right now, I thought bitterly, with her full one-hundred-percent mastery, she’d have Ethan flat on his back in under ten moves.

I forced my mind to stay dead calm, trying to tune into the flow of the Kata. But Ethan’s relentless pressure was formidable. Even though my heightened perception allowed me to read his trajectory beforehand, every time I raised my forearms to deflect his heavy strikes, a wave of numbness rattled straight down to my bones.

The Aurelian Kata emphasized deflecting force rather than blocking it directly—using leverage and kinetic flow to redirect a thousand pounds. But because I was only at fifty percent synchronization, my body hadn't fully adapted to the sudden physical burden. I couldn't channel the true essence of the style yet.

Seeing me forced onto the defensive, Big Greg and the others stopped cheering, watching the exchange with anxious, sweat-slicked faces.

Ethan’s mouth curved into a triumphant sneer, as if the fight was already decided.

Suddenly, Ethan shifted his weight, exploding into a high-difficulty combination strike—the Twin Tempest Crescent Kicks. It was an advanced Vanguard technique, a rapid, alternating two-legged aerial assault that required insane core strength and balance.

Most Vanguard practitioners couldn't even execute it reliably under pressure.

Realizing the danger, I instinctively dropped into the Sealing Guard stance, crossing my forearms to shield my head.

BANG! BANG!

Ethan’s boots smashed into my forearms in rapid succession. The blinding pain felt as if the bones in my arms were about to snap. The sheer kinetic momentum forced me backward, my sneakers skidding helplessly across the gravel.

Ethan refused to give me a single second to recover. While still suspended midair, he whipped his body around and delivered a vicious, full-power side kick straight toward my temple!

I barely managed to throw my bruised arm up to block it.

The impact rattled my skull. Unable to absorb the massive kinetic force, my footing gave out, and I slammed hard onto the cold ground.

“Zach!” Sierra screamed, trying desperately to break free from the students holding her back.

Ethan stood over me, his eyes gleaming with cruel triumph. Instead of backing off now that I was down, a dark, malicious glint flashed in his eyes. He lifted his heavy boot high into the air, aiming a ruthless heel-drop straight for my face!

He didn't just want to win this fight. He wanted to humiliate me, crush me, and prove to everyone that no one crossed Ethan Drake.

His boot plummeted toward my head—only inches away.

The dull throbbing in my skull cleared in an instant. Driven by raw survival instinct, my hand swept wildly across the gravel, wrapping around something cold and metallic. I whipped it up horizontally across my face just as his foot came crashing down.

BANG!

A sickening, metallic crunch echoed through the air, instantly followed by a blood-curling scream.

Everyone froze in absolute shock.

This wasn't the sound they expected. Logically, I should have been the one with a shattered jaw. So why was Ethan the one clutching his foot, screaming in agony on the floor?

When their eyes adjusted, they saw the heavy, solid iron pipe I was holding over my chest.

Big Greg’s eyes went wide, a slow, massive grin spreading across his face as he gave me a silent thumbs-up.

I sneered, pushing myself up from the gravel. Looking down at the iron pipe in my hands, even I was secretly astonished. The heavy metal bar was distinctly bent right where his heel had struck it.

I actually felt a tiny flicker of respect for Ethan. I had no doubts about the hardness of an industrial iron pipe—yet his kick had been powerful enough to bend solid iron.

No wonder he was a Vanguard black belt. Too bad his foot was definitely shattered now.

The sudden reversal left the crowd in dead silence.

“Vanguard Striking really is impressive!” I taunted, standing tall over Ethan as he writhed on the pavement, clutching his mangled ankle.

I casually twirled the heavy iron pipe between my fingers, spinning it as smoothly as if it were a pen. Years of mindlessly spinning pens during class lectures turned out to have a surprisingly practical application.

“You... you cheated!” Ethan wheezed through gritted teeth, sweat pouring down his pale face as he glared up at me.

“Cheated?” I scoffed, shaking my head. “I’ll admit your physical conditioning is currently better than mine, but that doesn't mean your Vanguard style is superior to the Aurelian Kata! Your flashy aerial moves are useless if you just blindly stomp onto whatever's in front of you!”

Ethan turned his head away, his jaw clenched in furious, helpless indignation. He couldn't accept losing like this—defeated not by a superior technique, but by a cold piece of iron.

“Still not convinced?” I asked coldly, taking a slow step toward him.

“Hmph!” Ethan spat, refusing to look at me.

I didn't waste another word. I took two steps forward, raised the bent iron pipe high into the air, and slammed the flat side down right beside his head with a deafening CRACK against the pavement.

Ethan flinched violently, letting out another desperate gasp.