Chapter 971 - 971: How It's Done

The second round begins with Ryoma calmly leaving his corner, his expression still detached. Before he gets far, however, he notices something unusual.

He stops near the center of the ring, his guard held high as before. And somehow, Nikolai stops as well, adopts the same posture, holding his guard in exactly the same way.

"Here we go! Round two is underway, and after that incredible opening round, both fighters are…" The commentator suddenly falls silent, blinking. "Wait…"

Another commentator sounds equally confused. "Hold on. Are you kidding me?"

Ryoma lowers his guard slightly, his expression remaining flat, though his brow twitches once with irritation.

Nikolai lowers his guard as well, but unlike Ryoma, a mischievous grin spreads across his face as he clearly enjoys the prank.

Just to make sure, Ryoma twitches his right shoulder, then gives a half-hearted jab without fully extending his left hand. And Nikolai does the same, his lips curl even wider.

"Oh, come on!" one commentator says. "Nikolai is not just stealing the Cruel King persona anymore. He's actually copying him his movement. He's mocking Ryoma right in the middle of the ring!"

"And look at that grin!" says the other one. "He knows exactly what he's doing!"

Confusion and intrigue spread through the arena. Spectators crane their heads toward the ring, eyebrows raised as they try to make sense of Nikolai's bizarre imitation.

But not everyone finds it funny. Several sections of the Cruel King Army erupt in anger.

"Stop playing around, brat!"

"Know your place!"

"Your skills aren't that good!"

"Stop mocking our king!"

"You little shit!"

Back in the ring, Ryoma exhales briefly before lowering his gloves to chest level. He begins building his swaying footwork, bouncing smoothly just outside punching range.

When he sees Nikolai imitate the same footwork, Ryoma simply uses the moment to assess him.

"Let's see how good he really is..."

He begins blending in small bursts of unorthodox movement without any consistent rhythm, deliberately making his actions appear random to see how far Nikolai can follow.

First, he suddenly disrupts his swaying rhythm with a sharp, hesitant movement, selling the impression that he is about to leap forward with a telegraphed punch. Then he suddenly ducks, side-steps, and returns to his swaying footwork.

And Nikolai imitates every movement, making it look like they are doing a rehearsed choreography.

"He's really doing this..."

"Right in front of the champion."

"That's unbelievable. The sheer audacity of this challenger!"

To an ordinary spectator, the two appear almost perfectly synchronized. But Ryoma notices the difference in their timing.

"How was it?"

<< The delay ranges from 600 to 700 milliseconds. Not bad at all. >>

Ryoma then strings together a longer, more complicated sequence. He rocks his upper body once, steps his lead foot wide, and initiates an overhand right before abruptly pulling it. He then dips into a bow, shakes his right glove, and pulls back into a Z-step, switching to southpaw. He bows again before flicking out a hesitant right jab, takes another Z-step, and resets.

"How was it?"

<< He's terrible. >>

<< I'll admit, he has good observation skills. He imitates you perfectly. >>

<< But the moment you start chaining those random movements together, his timing starts to fall apart. >>

"And he thinks I'd fall for this cheap imitation?"

<< Just be careful. He could be planning to trap you. >>

<< Considering how stubbornly you forced those dual exchanges in the previous round, I'd bet that's what he's waiting for. >>

"So the plan is working, hu?"

"Alright… let's have some fun with him."

Ryoma finally begins to attack. From long range, he keeps changing angles and flicking out a jab each time he settles into a new position.

For several exchanges, he allows Nikolai to imitate everything, knowing that the copied movements are still relatively harmless.

Then Ryoma steps in behind two straight punches. With Nikolai still matching the sequence with his own two shots, all four punches slam into their chests almost simultaneously.

Bugh! Bugh!

Bugh! Bugh!

Ryoma then sells a left hook toward the head. And Nikolai raises his left glove, still following the imitation.

But the moment Ryoma releases the hook, Nikolai stops copying. He dips underneath with perfect timing, rolling to the opposite side as he drives a body blow into Ryoma's midsection.

Thud!

Ryoma simply takes it, for now.

"He's good..."

He pivots and quickly attacks from the opposite side, chopping down with a right hand.

Nikolai pulls his head and upper body away, then immediately sends a left hook toward Ryoma's head.

Ryoma sees it coming, but there is no time to block or evade.

So he simply tightens his neck and takes the punch.

Dsh!

In the next split second, Ryoma drives a left uppercut upward.

Dhuack!

The punch catches Nikolai cleanly on the chin.

Nikolai is stunned for a moment, and Ryoma immediately follows with a few compact punches in the pocket.

Still, Nikolai reacts well enough to block the first two, ducking under the third, then changing angle to the outside and escaping the combination.

"That was an incredible exchange!"

"Nikolai wasn't simply copying Ryoma. He was using the imitation to set a trap, and it worked!"

"But Ryoma still found a way to answer back, and he forced the challenger out of the pocket."

"Even so, for once, it looks like Nikolai Dragunov has the upper hand."

"Just look at that reaction! Forget the uppercut for a moment… he looks like he's actually enjoying this!"

Ryoma suddenly launches an aggressive entry, leaping forward with both gloves open as though he has completely lost his mind.

Seeing the brutal, direct entry, Nikolai immediately stops copying. He steps back, preparing to fire a counter.

But the moment Ryoma plants his feet after the entry, he suddenly freezes, both gloves still hanging open.

For a split second, the sheer weirdness of it makes Nikolai question his decision. But he still commits to the counter anyway.

And this time, Ryoma copies him; timing the movement perfectly, driving his right hand forward at the exact moment Nikolai throws his own punch.

Both punches land cleanly.

BAAM!!!

The impact draws a collective gasp from the arena as both fighters are rocked, each momentarily stunned by the force of the collision.

"They both landed at the exact same moment!"

"But seriously, what is wrong with Ryoma tonight?"

"Since the first round, he's been unusually aggressive, forcing these dual exchanges with almost reckless determination."

"Could Nikolai Dragunov really be that good? Is he actually pushing Ryoma to the point of desperation?"

"Somehow, this reminds me of that brutal fight Ryoma had with Miguel Cabello."

Ryoma glares at Nikolai, his expression twisted with anger as he steadies himself after the exchange.

"You really piss me off now."

The irritation is convincing enough, even if every bit of it is carefully manufactured.

Across from him, Nikolai wipes at the blood on his face, but the grin remains.

"At least I can keep up with you."

Ryoma slightly raises an eyebrow.

"Keep up with me, huh?"

His expression turns cold and detached again.

"Let's see if you really can keep up with me."

Ryoma relaxes his posture, drawing his rear foot slightly farther back and settling into a more relaxed stance, his left glove slightly forward and his right glove tucked just below his chin.

He begins swaying his upper body slowly from side to side, the movement small and deliberate. The movement is not random. Using the Vision Grid to align an imaginary line with his shoulder and left glove, Ryoma gradually brings it into the same plane as Nikolai's line of sight.

Nikolai still copies him again, from the stance to the small sway, but he does not know what Ryoma is actually doing.

Then, when the alignment is perfect, Ryoma makes a tiny ghost step, no more than an inch, with his jab shooting forward in the same motion.

From Nikolai's perspective, the glove seems to suddenly swell into his field of vision.

And suddenly…

Dsh!

The jab clips his face clean.

There is no time to copy it, no time to react.

"Clean jab from Ryoma!"

"Nikolai didn't see that one coming at all!"

Nikolai's face winces in surprise, and he immediately steps away. He rubs his nose once, looking visibly annoyed.

"Damn, he got me with that phantom jab."

Soon, his amusement quickly returns as he bounces lightly on the balls of his feet, looking confident again.

"But you're not the only one who can do it."

Nikolai suddenly performs the same ghost step Ryoma just used, followed by what he believes is the same phantom jab.

"Oh! Nikolai's trying the same thing!"

Technically, the movement is identical. But the effect is completely different.

Ryoma can see the movement of Nikolai's shoulder and arm clearly. He simply pulls his head to the right, angles out, and resumes bouncing smoothly outside the range.

"Nope," he says, shaking his head. "That's not how you do it."

Nikolai blinks, looking bewildered. He rebuilds his pendulum footwork again, then suddenly repeats the same ghost step and phantom jab.

Again, Ryoma sees it coming with ease. He slips his head away from the jab, angles out, and shakes his head again.

The commentators and the entire arena burst into laughter at Nikolai's failed imitation.

"Hahaha! He really thought that was going to work!"

"Ryoma just denied him twice with the same move!"

Nikolai stares at Ryoma, his eyes widening in disbelief. The confidence in his expression begins to crack as he tries to understand what he is seeing.

"Now watch," Ryoma says, settling back into his relaxed posture. "Allow me to show you how it's done."