Editing City Series:Volume8a Chapter7 (section)

===Aoe’s Sight Mode: In East Detroit’s Eastpointe District===

'''<Aoe’s Over Reload>

After switching to Sight Mode, Aoe raised his head.

His vision was working fine.

<As for my hearing…>

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see a transparent circle indicating the progress of his auditory repairs. It had just filled up with red.

'''<Auditory Program: Right side damage has been repaired>

He took a breath and centered Myst and Mekton in his vision.

A moment later, he raised his right hand’s index finger.

He stuck that finger into his right ear.

He moved the finger in a circle so he could hear it rubbing against his ear hole.

It sounded like wood rubbing together. He smiled since he hadn’t been able to hear that sound earlier.

“Ha ha. Perfect.”

He slowly pulled the finger from his ear and raised the forearm.

“You will regret messing with me in another 5 seconds.”

After that casual announcement, he pointed toward the blue sky.

“Ooone.”

Myst responded by twisting her eyebrows quizzically.

But he ignored that and pointed his middle finger into the sky two.

“Twooo.”

He took a casual step forward, raising his ring finger at the same time.

“Threee.”

He also tilted his body forward and lowered his raised hand while also raising the little finger.

“Fourrr.”

He broke into a run. He first shrank down like a spring and kicked off the ground.

He sensed his foot kicking sand into the air behind him. The cloud of sand blinked before disappearing.

But that initial step also accelerated him forward.

Myst shouted out ahead of him.

“Mekton!”

Before that giant man could approach, Aoe kept his running feet going and spread all of his right hand’s fingers.

“Five!”

He clenched those fingers into a fist. Monkey reacted from within his tank top. The Mouse waved his front paw to directly install the attack program sent over by Fooblicky.

'''<nowiki><DT</nowiki> Yard→Aoe: Natural Lightning Strike Representation Device Targeting Program: Applying: Run>

'''<nowiki><DT</nowiki> Yard→Aoe: Natural Lightning Strike Representation Device Defense Program: Applying: Run>

'''<You will be able to launch Lightning Strike Representations once both programs have synced. Time limit: 10 seconds>

Gaining this power reminded him of when Yuo had been by his side during yesterday’s battle.

'''“I want to trust everything!”

He loudly Downloaded his right hand. A black spear Emblem appeared to perform the 50% Load.

Mekton stood in his way.

'''“Idiot go home.”

That Text was followed by a fist emitting bluish-white light. The speedy attack was aimed at Aoe’s face. However…

“Your aim is too precise!”

Aoe had moved his body before the artillery-like attack was even thrown.

He moved left, so Mekton’s fist flow past his left shoulder and behind him.

A shockwave hit him.

He slammed his fist into the wave of pressure from below.

The program installed in his fist confirmed the hit.

'''<Lightning Strike Representation>

Lightning dropped from the clear sky and toward Aoe’s fist above the road.



'''<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

A white light drowned out all else.

“Mh!”

A great heat and an atmosphere-shattering impact bathed the morning street in pure white.

The refreshing morning air exploded and a shockwave broke down.

At the center of the ruptured air, vacuum blades scattered in all directions from the end of Aoe’s fist.

His arm, shoulder, and cheek were lacerated, but he did not pull back. The damage that the defense program could not fully eliminate made the nerves bulge out on his upper arm.

<There may be hesitation in the power of my fist!>

'''“But feel no fear now!”

Shattering glass sounds rang from both his fists this time. The same black emblem appeared there.

Smoke drifted from them and the wind whipped up. He readied his noisy fists within that smokey wind.

Mekton had already raised his enormous fists.

A high-speed attack was coming.

But Aoe evaded that and made a strike to the bottom of Mekton’s arm.

“Oh!”

'''<Lightning Strike Representation>

A shockwave and light crashed into the arm, the sound from in front of him and the light from the sky above.

He made one, two, three strikes from the right, left, and left. Then another from the right.

Each strike whipped up the wind, sent out smoke, and scattered deafening roars like spray.

Mekton’s fist changed course. Instead of a straight-line punch, it curved down from above in a chopping strike that was harder to intercept from below.

But Aoe still struck Mekton’s fist.

He forcibly bent his body to unleash a barrage from below.

The clash of strength was broken by their movement choices, not their speed.

Aoe had thrown his fists before Mekton his, but not because he had predicted where the giant fist would be going. He had predicted when the fist would be thrown.

'''<Lightning Strike Representation>

Just as Mekton was about to send his right fist out from his shoulder, Aoe had moved forward and approached with efficient movements.

His fist, jaw, shoulder, gut, hips, knees, ankles, and feet drew out a flowing curve as he moved forward and focused on his left fist. He was targeting Mekton’s fist drawing out a chopping path in the air and his left fist struck from below just before Mekton’s fist broke the sound barrier.

He slammed his fist straight up into the thick tendon bulging out on the bottom of the wrist.

“…!”

Aoe’s blow did not send any kind of impact into his opponent. The program security was still active.

But a replacement power arrived from heaven.

'''<Lightning Strike Representation>

It tore into Mekton’s arm located between heaven and Aoe’s fist.

It sounded like a splitting tree.

Bluish-white lightning and smoke surrounded the giant bare hand that hadn’t even broken the sound barrier.

“Gah!” roared Mekton, holding his right fist and stepping back. “Damn…you.”

Aoe pulled back his fists and held them near his hips. Lightning crackled around his left fist. The blood vessels and nerves bulged out from both fists and a few of the blood vessels had ruptured through his skin.

But he still spoke.

“If there is any pride to be found in these fists of a Plus dropout, it comes from their long experience and from the pride of the people they have defeated. I do not sense any of that in your fists. Your conceited fists carry only power and speed!”

He spat the words onto the ground and pulled his fists back even further before raising them again.

Monkey moved inside his tank top.

'''<3 seconds remaining>

“Mh!”

He grunted and threw both fists upwards.

Mekton responded with his first defensive stance.

In front of him, Aoe struck his right fist with his left.

The sound of his fists colliding with each other repeated itself 8 times.

'''<Lightning Strike Representation>

Light dropped from all across the heavens to reach his raised right arm.

“Octuple power! Have a taste of the Thunderstorm Flower Fist!”

Aoe raced forward just before the lightning gathered.

Mekton abandoned his defensive stance and opened his mouth.

He roared loud and launched his right fist. He clenched the five scorched fingers and sent the fist flying.

He meant it as an interception.

It took a shallower course than before, curving rapidly down from above to catch Aoe in the chest.

Not even Aoe could duck below this attack.

Aoe’s response was simple: a toothy grin.

“Nothing reveals inexperience like a hastily thrown punch!”

Then he did something else entirely.

Instead of ducking down, he jumped up.

“…!”

He instantly cleared Mekton’s fist.

The low path of Mekton’s punch passed below the legs Aoe tucked up below him.

Mekton’s expression changed as his punch missed its mark: his narrowed eyes widened and his teeth clenched.

Aoe stopped smiling and spoke through his window.

<Every part of a battle is setup for what comes next.>

He twisted his airborne body and somewhat relaxed his fist for a half-clenched chop.

He aimed for the right side of Mekton’s neck.

The eight heavenly strikes reached him then.

He swung his chop, but it failed to find the NPC’s flesh.

Just before he completed the chop, a new color appeared in his way.

It was a transparent mass of blue.

<Ice!?>

'''<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

It was a massive ice spear. It had to be a yard in diameter and the icy tip was sharp.

His fist shattered the ice.

In that instant, the eight lightning strikes gathered on the ice fragments and vaporized them.

Eight times the previous wind, smoke, and noise erupted.

Mekton whipped up the wind and pushed aside the smoke as he fell back.

Aoe twisted his body into a landing pose.

'''<Aoe’s Sight Mode has ended>