The Healing Solaris Cleric
Chapter 343: The Four Heavenly Kings (3)

Chapter 343: The Four Heavenly Kings (3)

Nest quickly scanned Banish’s entire body.

He’s sloppy. Definitely sloppy. His stance is incredibly unpolished.

Of course, it wasn’t to the point where it was unbearable to watch. But if his Strength stat was higher than his own, that also meant his level was higher. However, the quality of his opponent’s gear looked pathetic.

In short, while his stance isn’t completely terrible, it’s way too lacking for someone whose level should be higher than mine.

With a smirk, Nest contemplated for a moment and laughed. "But then again, since when did I start worrying about stuff like this? I’ll find out soon enough."

He would indeed find out whether there was an error in the stat window, or whether the opponent was hiding his true abilities.

"The crowd seems to be waiting too. Let’s get started."

With those words, Nest put a helmet onto his head. With the helmet in place, his entire body was tightly protected by armor that gleamed a dark red. Standing at 192 centimeters tall, he looked more like a giant robot than a human.

His defense looks high.

Compared to Kai’s own shabby gear, Nest’s armor looked incomparably solid. To Kai, it seemed like it was at least a Unique-grade set.

"If you won’t come, I’ll go to you."

Finishing his words, Nest raised both of his fists up to his chin. In that stance, his upper body began swaying side to side like a horizontal eight.

Kai immediately recognized the familiar posture and asked, "Boxing?"

"That's right. But it’s probably a little different from the boxing you know." Nest pounded his chest armor. "That’s what’s great about MID Online. No matter how heavy the equipment is, if you invest enough in Strength stats..."

Nest’s massive frame instantly closed the distance to right in front of Kai’s nose.

Facing Kai without even blinking, he grinned. "You can unleash speed and destructive power you could never dream of in real life."

In the next moment, a massive fist as big as a cauldron lid, filled Kai’s vision. The shark-head-shaped gauntlets attached to Nest’s fists surged forward, radiating a sharp aura.

He’s fast.

Despite his mountainous size, his speed was very quick, likely due to his high Strength stat. But that wasn’t all.

Even though Kai had perfectly defended with a sword parry, his whole arm became tingly.

Boxing, huh. This really is the first time I’ve faced a style like this in MID Online.

Boxing was a popular martial art that had continuously evolved from the past to the present. Especially when it came to fist-based fighting, it was unparalleled. There were plenty of people who practiced martial arts in real life who wished to slay monsters with their skills in games. For those people, there was a class called the Martial Artist.

A class that, while lacking in active skills, excels at raising attack power, speed, and stamina through passive skills.

In fact, Goliath of the Titan guild was also a Martial Artist class player, and he was also a former professional fighter who had trained in MMA in the real world.

"Pfft, are you sure you’re going to be okay even while zoning out like that?!"

Nest’s fist came flying at Kai again. This time it was a sharp hook thrown from his right blind spot.

Boom!

"Hm."

Even though Kai had used sword parrying to disperse the impact as much as possible, his body was pushed straight back. Nest immediately closed the distance again and unleashed another punch as Kai was being pushed.

If I'm taking this much damage even after blocking, it means parrying alone isn’t enough.

The moment he came to that conclusion, Kai’s movements changed.

"Are you just going to keep running? Disappointing for someone called a super rookie!"

Nest’s brutal fist flew at Kai’s head again. Of course, Kai calmly swung his sword to deflect it.

Then, perhaps dissatisfied about something, Nest suddenly stopped and squinted as he looked down at his fist.

What the? The sensation on my fingers is different.

Even though he was delivering the same attacks as before, something felt off, which meant the opponent was doing something different.

Boom! Boom!

After two more rapid attacks, Nest finally realized what Banish was doing.

"You’re deflecting my attacks to disperse the force. Did you learn that from your match with that Haroro guy?"

"Exactly."

Adapting his fighting style based on his opponent’s characteristics and situation was the greatest gain Kai had acquired from the Duel Arena.

The thing to watch closely is... his feet.

Kai didn’t let his gaze be distracted by the dazzling punches in front of him. Instead, he stayed calm and focused on Nest’s lower body. It was footwork that made even out-of-reach attacks connect. That was the power of a boxer’s footwork.

Swaying side to side, Nest quickly approached Kai again, leaving afterimages behind.

Left jab.

Bang!

This time, left uppercut.

Boom!

Right straight!

Boom!

Each time Nest’s fists struck Kai’s sword, explosive sounds echoed across the arena. Kai’s body kept getting pushed back, but his expression only grew brighter as if he were enjoying this moment.

"You're smiling? Why're you smiling, you bastard?"

"Because it’s fun."

Hearing Kai’s answer, Nest unconsciously nodded.

Yeah. It has been a long time since someone blocked my fists this well.

Aside from Katherine and the three other Heavenly Kings, no one had ever withstood his attacks like this.

"Fun, huh. But for me, a fight where I just beat someone one-sidedly isn’t all that fun."

"Then wait. I’ll make it fun for you soon."

"Pfft! Stop bluffing."

However, Kai’s words were no bluff.

I think I’m starting to get it.

Kai had identified two key points about Nest so far. One was his footwork, and the other was his fast, unpredictable attacks.

At least there’s no accumulated damage yet.

To the spectators, it might have looked like Kai was getting pummeled one-sidedly, but that wasn’t the case. Kai’s deflection techniques were rapidly improving as he received Nest’s attacks. Thanks to that, he hadn't suffered any significant damage yet.

Martial Artist class. I’ve fought Goliath before too, and it’s a class with very clear strengths and weaknesses.

Being able to use real-world martial arts inside the game was definitely a major advantage. It would naturally feel easier than using an unfamiliar sword or bow, and of course, raising proficiency was faster. But flipping that around, it also became a weakness.

It’s too familiar.

Boxing, MMA, Muay Thai, and so on. Even if someone had never formally trained, they could often see these styles in movies and media.

Additionally, the limitations were obvious too.

The Martial Artist class concept requires extreme dedication to training.

Unlike other classes, it lacked active skills that could create unexpected variables. Thus, as the battle dragged on and the opponent found time to breathe—right, just like now...

The flow of the fight starts to change.

Kai didn’t deflect Nest’s sharp punch this time.

"Huh?!"

It was Nest who was caught off guard. He had anticipated that Banish would parry with his sword and was already preparing a follow-up attack. However, Kai ignored the punch that grazed past his earlobe and dove straight into Nest’s guard.

"Shit!"

Nest hastily stepped backward to widen the distance.

"You’ve shown me too clearly how you close the distance," Kai said in response.

Kai perfectly recreated Nest’s footwork. Boxing footwork was simple enough for anyone with a trained body and a bit of sense to imitate.

"Argh!"

That was the reason Nest couldn’t shake Kai off easily. In fact, the distance between them only kept getting smaller.

I got in.

The moment Kai judged he had closed in far enough, he raised his sword.

Thunk!

The sword’s hilt smashed into Nest’s jaw, easily breaking through his guard. An uppercut. It was the same move Nest had used exactly twenty-six times, now delivered back at him through Kai’s sword.

"Urgh...!"

Though Nest’s body staggered from dizziness, he was still a part of the Four Heavenly Kings. Even in that state, he swung both fists like sharp hooks. Of course, they didn’t land though.

They couldn’t even hit me when he was fully conscious.

Kai calmly walked forward, sometimes deflecting and dodging Nest’s attacks as he approached.

"Ahhhhh!"

Cornered at the edge of the arena, Nest had no other choices left.

I guess there’s no other choice.

As if he had made up his mind, Nest’s eyes gleamed. In the next moment, he lowered his stance and tightly wrapped his arms around Kai’s waist.

The spectators screamed at the sight.

"A t-tackle?!"

"Clean form!"

"Nest’s using other martial arts techniques besides boxing?!"

Until now, he had fought all his matches using only boxing techniques. Even during his ten losses against Katherine.

"I was planning to save this move for the Undefeated Empress after defeating you... but I guess I have no choice."

Nest’s arms swelled as if they would burst as he began squeezing Kai’s body. Kai, wrapped up like prey caught by an anaconda, couldn’t move at all.

The spectators let out sighs of despair.

"Once Nest grabs you with that monstrous strength, there’s no escaping."

"Damn it, Banish was doing so well, and now he’s going down in one move."

"The Four Heavenly Kings are the Four Heavenly Kings for a reason..."

Even at that moment, Kai simply looked down calmly at Nest, who was squeezing his waist.

***

Strength, Intelligence, Agility, Stamina, and Holiness. These five main stats that existed in MID Online were all important, but most players agreed that Strength had the highest versatility.

Strength boosted all aspects of physical ability overall. Physical attack power, speed, inventory carry weight—it was a stat that wasn’t just necessary for close-combat classes. Therefore, players were always curious.

What would happen if you raised only the Strength stat to an extreme level?

Nest had been curious too, and he heavily invested in Strength to find out. Ever since then, Nest had been openly boasting.

No one can survive a direct contest of strength with me. Not even the Undefeated Empress!

What he was most confident in was pure strength contests. Where no fancy techniques mattered, and he could simply crush his opponent with brute force. He was confident he could make anyone scream within three seconds.

However, the spectators watching Banish and Nest’s match fell silent. The packed stadium, once so loud, had turned as quiet as a library. They were speechless, witnessing such raw, primal violence.

"Argh...!"

Of course, that wasn’t the only reason. The real reason they were silent was because they didn’t know what to say about the scene unfolding before their eyes.

"Didn’t you say it yourself before the match?"

Crack.

"That because you invested enough in Strength..."

Craack!

"You could do things that aren’t possible in reality. Right?"

"Kuugh!Kugh!"

Kai grabbed Nest, who was squeezing his waist, by the throat and slowly lifted him up. His voice was calm, as if he were out for a casual stroll, even as he lifted an opponent three times his size.

"Grghrk..."

Kai stared up at Nest, who looked down at him with disbelief in his eyes, and said, "Good match."

Thud.

At the same time, Nest’s body fell outside the arena.

The match ended but not a single spectator let out a sound.

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