Chapter 62: Takeo, Aren’t You Being Too Careless?

With Gyosuke Harada’s tacit approval, the spar between Takeo Kobayashi and Quillan naturally became a foregone conclusion.

Takeo had long assumed a fighting stance while waiting for Quillan’s agreement. Now that Quillan accepted, Takeo couldn’t wait to clench his fists. Even in the heat of anger, Takeo didn’t forget the manners and cultivation of a karate practitioner, bowing his head slightly as he said to Quillan, "Then please give me your guidance!"

"Please give me your guidance!"

Quillan nodded, stepping to the middle of the carpet opposite Takeo. However, Quillan didn’t assume any fighting stance; his hands hung down naturally, and unlike Takeo, he hadn’t stripped off his clothes, remaining in his suit with no severe "facing a formidable enemy" expression on his face.

All he displayed was pure relaxation!

Seeing Quillan accept the challenge without a second thought, Norika Harada snapped back to her senses, turning to look at Gyosuke Harada and crying out in a pleading tone, "Father!"

Quillan might have been relaxed, but Norika certainly wasn’t!

The moment Quillan walked into the center of the carpet without hesitation, Norika grew frantic.

Although Quillan’s choice allowed the ideal scenario in Norika’s heart to come true—giving her a taste of what it felt like to have a man stand up for her—in Norika’s eyes, how could Quillan possibly be a match for Takeo Kobayashi?

To Norika’s disappointment, however, Gyosuke Harada showed no reaction at all. Originally, Norika had hoped her father would step forward to put a stop to the conflict between Quillan and Takeo!

Among everyone present, Gyosuke was likely the only one who could stop the two from fighting on the carpet, yet Gyosuke remained entirely unmoved!

The living room of this express hotel suite was quite large. While the open area on the carpet wasn’t as expansive as a boxing ring, it wasn’t much smaller either—certainly offering enough space for two people to exchange blows.

When Gyosuke didn’t move, Takeo took action!

With a loud shout, Takeo raised his leg directly above his head and kicked down fiercely toward Quillan’s forehead!

Such a leg technique was actually rare among standard karate forms; usually, it was a move used only after completely overpowering an opponent to secure a victory. Generally speaking, if an opponent hadn’t already been knocked to the ground, very few people would ever use this move!

Because this move left far too many openings! First of all, the preparation time was quite long, as one had to raise their leg above their head. Furthermore, executing it left the user standing on only one supporting foot—a massive flaw!

It was obvious that Takeo used this move on Quillan right from the start because he didn’t take Quillan seriously at all!

Additionally, Takeo enjoyed a physical size advantage when facing Quillan, and he possessed the confidence to believe that his strength would easily surpass that of a teenage boy!

What was the reality, though?

Facing Takeo’s high leg kick, Quillan didn’t retreat at all. Instead, he reached out with both arms to wrap directly around Takeo’s raised leg, saying as he did so, "Cousin Takeo, aren’t you being a bit too careless, or perhaps a bit too overconfident? If I had kicked you in the groin just now, wouldn’t your outcome... have been quite miserable?"

The moment he finished speaking, Quillan had already caught Takeo’s leg and slammed forcefully into Takeo’s body!

Following the heavy impact, Takeo—standing on only one supporting leg—couldn’t maintain his balance at all. He could only hop back two steps on one foot before losing his center of gravity completely and crashing down onto the floor.

In contrast, Quillan remained completely unscathed, standing in place with a calm smile.

That smile carried an undeniable feeling of effortless ease!

Watching from the side, Gyosuke Harada’s eyes lit up, and he nodded approvingly at Quillan.

Meanwhile, Kaori Harada and Norika Harada—mother and daughter—were stunned. After looking at Takeo, who had fallen to the ground, they both stared at Quillan in utter astonishment.

Complete silence fell over the suite. Takeo’s face flushed bright red; he had never expected that this teenage youth before him possessed such incredible power hidden beneath his seemingly slender body!

In fact, his physical strength was not a single bit inferior to a grown adult’s.

Naturally, Takeo didn’t consider being knocked down as a defeat. He didn’t possess that kind of self-awareness; even now, Takeo merely assumed that he had been careless, allowing Quillan to exploit an opening and get lucky by knocking him down!

"Bastard!"

Takeo cursed loudly, stood up in a rage, let out a fierce roar, and charged at Quillan once again!

This time, Takeo wasn’t careless. Swinging a knife-hand, he chopped straight toward Quillan’s neck.

Takeo’s knife-hand strike was fierce and menacing, even whipping up a gust of wind, demonstrating its sheer speed and power!

If Quillan’s neck were hit by Takeo’s knife-hand strike, he would likely be knocked out cold, if not killed!

Takeo was clearly aiming for a lethal blow, prompting even Norika to call out in alarm, "Quillan-kun, watch out for Cousin’s stance!"

Quillan had already noticed that Takeo’s stance was a posture known as Sanchin Dachi. It seemed Norika was quite knowledgeable about karate as well!

With Norika’s warning, Quillan paid extra attention. While blocking Takeo’s knife-hand, he caught the right moment just as Takeo threw a low kick toward his groin. Sneering coldly, Quillan threw out his right leg—striking later but arriving first—and kicked Takeo squarely in the shinbone!

"Ow..."

Takeo let out a blood-curdling scream. He had put all his strength into that kick—although his initial knife-hand chop had looked powerful, it had merely been a feint! The move that truly gathered all of Takeo’s strength was that low kick!

Unfortunately, Quillan had been keeping an eye on his lower stance all along. Furthermore, Quillan’s kicking speed was faster and carried far greater freedom, requiring no rigid stance to generate force. Compared to Takeo’s rigid, traditional kicking style, Quillan held the advantage in speed, allowing him to strike second yet hit first!

Moreover, Quillan didn’t need to intentionally generate immense power, because when Takeo delivered that kick, he had already come at full momentum. By leveraging the principle of equal and opposite forces, all of Takeo’s impact force was bounced right back onto himself through Quillan’s leg!

Having suffered a massive blow, Takeo could now only clutch his heavily struck shin, rolling continuously on the carpet in pain!