Chapter 970 - 970: The Cruel King’s Trial

As the fight reaches the final minute of the first round, Ryoma is still standing in the exact same spot at the center of the ring.

Eager to finally get a reaction from Ryoma, Nikolai becomes much more aggressive. He steps deeper behind a sharp one-two and anchors his footing as he enters close range.

He throws a three-punch combination in the pocket: a left hook to the body, a right uppercut, and a left hook to the head, followed by a right cross through the middle.

That sequence finally forces Ryoma to move away from his spot. He lowers his right arm to absorb the first punch, catches the uppercut on the palm of his left glove, ducks beneath the third punch, then takes a step back and blocks the cross on a solid double guard.

Dug. Dp.

Dug. DUGH.

"Nikolai is picking up the pace here!"

"He's finally starting to put some real pressure on Ryoma!"

"And yet, Ryoma is nullifying everything completely!"

Nikolai even starts manipulating Ryoma's guard, punching both arms from the inside to create enough space for another cross through the middle.

And again, Ryoma is forced to move away. He dodges the cross before stepping toward the outside.

Nikolai keeps the pressure on, now adopting the peek-a-boo stance as he steps in. Then he sends a low-to-high lead hook combination.

This time, Ryoma decides to stop running, absorbing the first low hook on his right arm…

Dugh.

As the second hook swings toward his head, Ryoma tightens his neck, anchors his footing, and sends a sharp left hook of his own.

Ignoring the incoming punch, he smacks Nikolai's head first, before Nikolai's hook clips the side of his head.

BAM!!!

DSH!

"OH! WHAT A SHOT FROM RYOMA!"

"He took the hook just to land his own!"

Nikolai staggers to the side from the impact, while Ryoma remains on the spot, his head snapping only slightly to the left.

"Look at the impact!"

"They landed almost at the exact same time!"

"But Ryoma barely moved!"

"And look at Nikolai! He clearly looks hurt up there!"

Ryoma slowly turns toward Nikolai. The corner of his lips begins to curl upward, only slightly, while his eyes widen in a disturbing, almost unhinged stare.

<< So he wants to be like you? >>

For the first time tonight, there is something unmistakably different in his expression. He looks like a madman.

<< Then let's see if he has what it takes to be you. >>

When Nikolai sees that expression on Ryoma's face, something strange stirs inside him.

"This guy…?"

He cannot even explain what he is feeling. Yet somewhere deep in his instincts, something tells him that the man standing in front of him is no longer someone he should be playing with.

For the first time tonight, Ryoma takes the initiative. He surges forward with a brutal Mexican pressure, closing the distance and unleashing a compact barrage in the pocket; short hooks, tight uppercuts, and straight punches fired in rapid succession.

Nikolai reads the attack beautifully, blocking and parrying with precise movements.

Dug. Dp. Dug. Dug. Dp. DUGH.

Then he makes a subtle pendulum step to catch Ryoma with a switching-stance counter. For a brief moment, Ryoma looks exposed, and Nikolai's left cross shoots toward his face.

But Ryoma also switches his stance, tightening his neck and firing a more compact counter from underneath.

DHUACK!

DSH!

"OH!"

"THEY BOTH LANDED!"

But despite the glove hitting his face, Ryoma's eyes remain wide as he forces himself forward, sending a follow-up right hook.

BAM!!!

The punch smacks Nikolai's head hard from the outside. He staggers, his legs buckle, and he drops to one knee.

"DOWN GOES NIKOLAI!"

"WHAT A BRUTAL EXCHANGE!"

"I didn't expect the first round to get this intense!"

"Once again, Ryoma comes out on top!"

"And the Cruel King forces Nikolai to kneel before him!"

The referee immediately steps in, signals the knockdown, and orders Ryoma to the neutral corner.

Ryoma remains standing in front of his victim, staring down at him with that faint, contemptuous smile.

"Is that all the cruelty you've got?"

The referee steps toward Ryoma again, ordering him to the neutral corner.

"Neutral corner! Now!"

But Ryoma refuses to move. As though he has no intention of letting the referee end the fight with the count, he remains standing in front of Nikolai, gesturing with his glove for him to get back up.

"Come on, kid! Get up and show me how much cruelty you've got!"

The arena erupts. Ryoma's open taunt sends the crowd into a frenzy, the noise rising into a wild mixture of cheers, laughter, and shocked reactions.

There is something almost exhilarating about watching the champion openly challenge a fallen opponent to get back up rather than simply waiting for the count.

Even the commentators cannot hold back their laughter.

"Hahaha! I can't believe what I'm watching!"

"Ryoma is actually telling him to get back up!"

"This is absolutely wild!"

"He's not satisfied with knocking Nikolai down. He wants him standing so he can knock him down again!"

"And listen to this crowd! They are loving every second of it!"

Those few seconds give Nikolai enough time to recover. He gets back to his feet before the referee can even continue the count.

The referee turns toward him, only to find Nikolai staring back with a sharp, furious expression, his pride visibly wounded.

"You good to continue?" the referee asks.

Nikolai wipes at the corner of his mouth, his eyes still locked on Ryoma.

"I'm fine." His voice is low and angry. "Just let me fight."

The referee steps back and signals for the fight to continue.

"Box!"

In an instant, Ryoma's expression turns cold and detached again.

He claims the exact center of the ring once more, settling into the same textbook stance with his gloves held high, standing there like a king firmly holding his throne.

He makes no attempt to take advantage of Nikolai while the challenger is still hurt. Ryoma simply waits, standing firmly at the center of the ring as though he is granting Nikolai permission to challenge him again.

"You want to steal my identity? Then show me how much you're willing to put on the line."

For the first time, doubt creeps into Nikolai's mind. His stance stiffens slightly. His eyes flick toward Ryoma, then return to his guard, his expression becoming more guarded.

Copying his opponents has always been a mind game for him. He studies their mannerisms, imitates their techniques, borrows pieces of their identity, and uses the imitation to unsettle them. It is a psychological weapon, nothing more.

But Ryoma is treating it differently. He is not merely reacting to the provocation. He is opening a space for the two of them to defend the value of their own identities.

Nikolai had taken that identity as a provocation, something to mock and use against Ryoma. But Ryoma seems to have accepted the identity theft as an existential challenge.

***

Nikolai spends the remaining seconds moving from side to side, his feet shifting left and right as he catches his breath.

Whether he is simply buying himself time to recover or hesitating to initiate another attack, even Nikolai himself seems uncertain.

Then finally…

Ding!

The bell rings, ending the first round, and both fighters head toward their respective corners.

"That was one hell of a first round!"

"And somehow, I still don't know what to make of Ryoma Takeda!"

"He spent most of the round standing almost completely still, letting Nikolai dictate the pace and throw combinations at him."

"Yet Nikolai couldn't seem to break through that guard. And when Ryoma finally decided to exchange, we saw just how dangerous he can be."

"That knockdown came from an absolutely brutal exchange. Both men landed clean, but Ryoma was the one left standing while Nikolai ended up on one knee."

"And then there's the strangest part. Ryoma actually invited Nikolai to get back up!"

"Hahaha! I still can't believe he did that!"

In the blue corner, Nikolai's team immediately gets to work, tending to his face and checking the damage from the knockdown.

Victor, his chief second, is right there among them, barking angrily as he works, clearly furious over what has just happened.

"This is a disgrace. First, he abandoned us after the weigh-in, and now this. Deliberately dragging out the count after scoring a knockdown. This is more than just an insult now. They came to us smiling like angels. And now that we're here, they show us their real faces. Absolute fucking hypocrites."

"He's deliberately giving Nikolai time to recover," one of the seconds says. "He's looking down on us."

"At least that arrogance could work against him," another says.

"Exactly," Victor says, leaning closer to Nikolai. "Listen, Nikolai. The mind game got to him. Look at what he's doing. He keeps forcing those exchanges because he's lost his composure. You took a beating in that last one, but that doesn't change what I know you can do. Next round, punish him for it."

Nikolai' expression turns deadly serious. From that first round, he begins to understand something about his opponent.

Ryoma does not fight the way he normally does. Instead, he is using an approach Nikolai has seen from the opponents Ryoma has defeated before, forcing one dual exchange after another.

It feels as though Ryoma is putting him through a trial, testing the Cruel King persona that Nikolai had stolen.

Knowing exactly how to exploit that side of Ryoma, Nikolai shifts his gaze toward him with a calculated smile.

"Leave it to me. I'll make him pay for every mistake he's made in this fight."