“I will finish this quickly!” Ixel promised as he turned into his human form straight away and pounded his fist together while walking straight into the hallway of Anger.
“We are all betting on it.” Rex gave him an approving nod as he closed the elevator with four more foxes inside it. The moment the door lift closed, the entire backdrop of the hallway immediately went into flames, changing the environment of the Prison Core to how a burning rioted place was usually portrayed.
Ixel casually tried to touch the wall and true enough, it was burning his fingertips away before he even touched the surface. But to the strong willed Ixel, it was nothing but a small scratch to his current mental and physical constitution.
“So, you are my opponent for this stage? I did not expect the person who blasted an entire hole through ninety-eight floors would come to this stage.” A rather small build figure talked to Ixel. He couldn’t see what the person looked like underneath because the hooded cape was blocking any distinct features.
“Neither did I expect a scrawny boss for the floor of Anger. I pictured you looking more green, muscular and probably always angry. I am standing right in front you, yet I do not feel your anger at all. If someone were to see us, they could mistake me for the boss of this stage.” Ixel pointed out as he took out his leather jacket and flexed his arms to show off his muscles like they were his prized items.
“Heh! Well, I guess that’s one less thing to be angry about. You must be the first to actually acknowledge me as the boss of this stage. Most people just assume that I am merely some kind of pawn for another boss.” The hooded cape figure replied, and Ixel shook his head.
“Then they were all fools! Despite the lack of anger, I can already size you up to be quite a capable fighter. The sad reality is just that I am better than you, especially when it comes to strength and anger. My sisters never like me when I become angry because I do not think straight.”
“Do continue, I would like to hear more of it.” The figure finally unveiled a hooded cape. It was actually a girl dressed in a grey sports singlet and short black elastic pants. Her arms were already bandaged up, and there was dried blood all over it. She was also wearing nothing but bandages on her legs, indicating that she used her whole body as her weapon of choice.
“I doubt you could comprehend it. Being born into a clan of muscles, I was supposed to become the next chief for the clan. Only to be outdone by my sisters, I could rely on nothing but anger to go through life. Angry at how weak I am regardless of the amount of time I train.”
“Especially the youngest one always managed to overwhelm me easily. For example, I took four weeks to break and cut a hundred-year-old tree in half. After I’d been gone for nearly a month, she visited me to check on me based on my parent’s orders. Seeing what I had become, she considered it to be interesting and tried it herself. Unlike me, she managed to get it down… in 40 seconds.” Recalling those past events made Ixel slightly irritated, and he quickly went into a fighting stance.
“Oh but do not mistake this, I loved them and cherished them with all my heart, but I am angry-” Ixel realised the opponent was already yawning with all his self monologue.
“Sorry. I’d love to continue this conversation but looks like you are not interested despite your initial interest. Oh well, I did promise our boss I would finish this quickly. Don’t be frustrated if I win against you.” Ixel apologised, but the girl tied her long hair and readied her stance as well.
“Don’t worry, I am confident that my skills can win against you. You will actually become the one that turns angry again after the fight is done. Just like how you were outdone by your sister” The girl lifted her palm out, and Ixel thought he was seeing things.
Her stance was quite familiar. It belonged to a certain eastern martial art, Wing Chun. He vaguely recalled that a Minotaur under Moloch’s command also had utilised such martial arts… Maybe they came from the same master?
“Ixel is my name. A pleasure to meet you.”
“Nameless.” The girl ‘introduced herself’ as she nodded her head back to Ixel. It’s been an eternity since someone had entered the Circle of Anger who actually still had any sense of manners. Nameless had only ever fought against senseless demons, pouring their rage without any control, thinking that they could win over her with blind anger. That was why she courteously returned the respect to Ixel.
Immediately, the two flew towards each other and exchanged their blows. Without a doubt, Ixel could already feel the similarity to Wing Chun as his mighty blows were easily deflected with agile techniques, and Nameless counterattacked with much ease. Although Ixel managed to block her attacks, she managed to slip in a few more blows in total compared to him.
That brief exchange of punches allowed both duelists to learn more about each other and they stepped back after they finally found themselves at an impasse. “Not bad, you are the first in many decades who has managed to hold on for more than ten seconds.”
“I just needed some warm-up.” Ixel said. Until now he too was using some basic moves from Wing Chun in his fight to gauge the level of skill of Nameless. Now it begged the question whether the duelist was a seasoned martial artist or if Nameless was just at the level of an advanced practitioner of that particular martial art.
Ixel might have studied the Grizzly Bear Style, but to be worthy of becoming the leader of his clan, he had been forced to learn a myriad of skills because the elders of the clan knew that strength was nothing without skill and technique. One could cultivate strength easily but to polish a technique? It might possibly take a lifetime to do so.
Between the trio, he might be considered to be the weakest in terms of strength and always got angry easily. But his devotion to martial techniques was second to none among his siblings. If Itori and Ixa fought at the same strength level as their brother, they would be out of the ring in a matter of seconds.
“Let’s do it!” Nameless, who was now pumped up that her new opponent not only possessed manners but also managed to withstand her flurry of punches. But this adrenaline rush proved to be a double edged sword as Nameless began to show some slight openings in her attacks. The more they exchanged blows, the more she found that Ixel’s attacks were even harsher than before and her defences were unable to withstand his attacks.
“This is impossible!” She thought to herself as she desperately tried to withdraw her offence and return back to counter his strikes, only to get surprised by Ixel lowering his body and rushing in with a bull charge to pin her down.
Nameless was subsequently grappled, causing her to panic. This was the first time someone had mercilessly pinned her to the ground despite fierce resistance from her end.
“Heh! One’s grappling skill is proportional to one’s effort. An amateur boxer might land a lucky punch against a pro, but there is no such thing as luck when it comes to grappling! This is the only thing I know that Itori could never win me against!” Ixel grinned as he talked while performing an armbar on Nameless when she was on the ground, causing her to lose her ability to even fight properly.
“WHY?! How could this happen?!” Nameless’ thoughts were flying all over the place, and her anger continued to accumulate, providing her strength while she raged. Thus, her increased frustration somehow managed to allow her to get out of the current grapple situation she was in.
But, Ixel was not done with her. He simply changed his technique and switched to a scarf hold and locked her back. Ixel sighed as he had discovered the current zenith of his opponent’s ability. “You are no fun anymore, join Jin and learn more about martial arts before challenging me again,” Ixel told her while squeezing the life out of her neck from his grapple.
For the first time, Nameless locked into submission, learnt how helpless she was despite her ever increasing strength from anger and the numerous victories against demons for the past decade. For a short while, she perhaps understood what Ixel meant when he was frustrated in himself for working so hard and got trounced by a new challenger.
Her legs were kicking, trying to push herself out of the grapple but it got even tighter instead. Her hands were flailing around to the point she resorted to scratching Ixel, but he was not letting go a single bit. Soon, she could feel her consciousness fading out.
With mixed martial arts experience he accumulated through gruesome training, Ixel believed most, if not every true blue martial artist, would not be able to win him. Thousands of years worth of original martial arts lay in his brain and body. After ensuring that her life was properly snuffed out, Ixel proceeded to find the important puzzle piece in the circle of burning anger.
