Chapter 38: The Art of Fighting (2)

With her legs slightly apart to maintain balance, both hands raised in guard, she held a posture perfectly balanced between offense and defense.

Jan d’Arc was adopting a boxing stance so flawless it looked like a painting.

…It was worth handing over those martial arts manuals.

A Knight aspiring to become Jan d’Arc was no different from a soldier in the Reality world.

Military combat training focuses on mastering weapon handling, but alongside that, soldiers are also taught hand-to-hand combat.

This is because there could be situations where one loses their weapon or must subdue an opponent with bare hands.

For the same reason, I had given Jan d’Arc several practical modern martial arts manuals.

Without a doubt, Jan d’Arc had an exceptional aptitude.

She hadn’t mastered every technique, but she had definitely made some her own.

Among them, Jan d’Arc picked up boxing the fastest.

The foundation of boxing is the punch.

Across all cultures and times, it has been the most familiar, intuitive, and efficient means of attack.

Slowly, I pulled the smartphone from my pocket.

It was the latest model sent by the acting manager of MonsterBox—no, rather, the team leader.

I had hinted that I needed equipment for outdoor live broadcasts, and in response, they sent a brand-new smartphone that had been released less than a week ago.

“Alright… shall we start the monumental first live broadcast on Creator TV?”

I had already used a smartphone several times in the Small World.

Each time, it connected flawlessly via the Wi-Fi installed in my room in the Reality.

With that in mind, I vigorously tapped the ‘Live Broadcast’ button on Mutube.

Suddenly, a System Window popped up right before my eyes.

—Ding!

[System]

• Warning: Penalty will be applied to the Creator due to the influence of the Small World.

※ Creator! Because of the gap between the Reality and the Small World, a dreadful penalty has occurred! Ah, scary! But it can’t be helped! You must endure it!

“…A dreadful penalty?!”

At that moment, a dazzling light enveloped the smartphone in my hand, and in an instant, it disappeared.

Flash!

When I opened my eyes slowly, I immediately understood what the penalty the System Window mentioned was.

“Th-this is…?!”

[Wi-Fi: ●●●0]

A truly dreadful penalty indeed.

The Wi-Fi signal showed only three bars.

For a modern person—especially a Korean—a slow Wi-Fi speed was almost a disaster.

“Well, it should still be fine for broadcasting.”

I immediately started the Mutube live broadcast.

[Saint, Jan d’Arc. Challenges Mixed Martial Arts (MMA)! 【LIVE】 . Creator TV]

…Ding! …Ding! …Ding! …Ding! …Ding! …Ding! …Ding! …Ding!

Soon, notification sounds began ringing incessantly on the smartphone—viewers entering the stream.

[Viewer count: 100… 300… 800… 1,500… 3,000]

Viewers flooded in like a tidal wave.

Within less than a minute, over three thousand viewers had gathered, filling the chat with noise.

• Ahhh, I can’t resist live streams~
• Creator TV is doing live broadcasts now??
• Wow! Jan d’Arc!! Now doing MMA too?!
• She’s insane~ After mastering Hae-dong Swordsmanship, now MMA too~
• Sis, I’m dead~~
• Guard stance is perfect. Did Jan d’Arc have boxing experience?
• Of course, boxing is the foundation of MMA. She really knows her stuff. lol

The chat moved so fast it was impossible to keep up.

Meanwhile, at Rivera Arena, the duel was about to begin.

The Deputy Commander and Jan d’Arc slowly circled the arena, gradually closing the distance between them.

‘The only concern is the reach difference…’

The inevitable reach gap stemming from their weight class difference was significant.

But the words the Deputy Commander soon uttered dispelled all such worries.

“Haha, maybe because you’re a Farmer’s Daughter, there’s no foundation at all, from A to Z! You want to face a Knight who hones practical combat every day with those cheap street brawling grappling tricks? LF?!”

The Deputy Commander had no knowledge of boxing.

Naturally, he was unaware of boxing’s attack range and was even underestimating Jan d’Arc.

Just as expected.

Ta-at!

The Deputy Commander dashed in a straight line without even raising his guard properly.

With his arms stretched out in an aggressive tackling posture, it looked like a wrestling technique.

Knights learned martial arts to subdue opponents without weapons.

Presumably, these techniques were for efficiently handling drunks or thieves.

But—

Ta-ang! Tang!

Boxing was not about subduing but about knocking the opponent out completely.

Two punches struck the Deputy Commander’s face at lightning speed.

They were lightning-fast jabs from Jan d’Arc’s left hand.

The Deputy Commander looked stunned, as if struck by lightning.

But standing there blankly in front of a boxer was a suicidal act asking to be killed.

Then, Jan’s right arm shot out like a tightly compressed spring.

Smash!

“Ku, kuagh!”

A clean straight punch landed on the Deputy Commander’s face.

The chat exploded like a volcano watching that moment.

• What was that punch just now? I didn’t even see it!
• Insane! Two jabs and a straight punch, all clean!
• Giving distance to a boxer just like that? What’s with the opponent?
• Jan d’Arc..! She’s a goddess..!
• Saint Punch! Saint Punch! Saint Punch! Saint Punch!

A stream of blood ran down the Deputy Commander’s philtrum.

After staggering for a while, it seemed he had realized something.

‘…If I approach without guarding, I’m defenseless against punches like that!’

Thinking so, he crossed his hands in an X to defend his face as he advanced.

But that was one of the dumbest moves he’d made all day.

Because the excessive guard inevitably created blind spots.

Jan did not miss this flaw for a single second.

Shasik!

With swift footwork, Jan slipped behind her opponent and wrapped her arms around his waist.

Slowly, steadily.

Gaining momentum, the Deputy Commander’s body lifted off the ground.

“Uh, uhh?!”

Jan d’Arc’s bridge stance formed a clean, beautiful curve.

Meanwhile, the Deputy Commander fell clumsily, slammed against the ground.

Boom!

Jan stood up calmly and got into stance, while the Deputy Commander struggled to rise, panting heavily.

“Those cheap tricks…! Maybe they worked on street brawlers, but… kuah, guh… for an honorable Knight…”

He groaned, struggling for words.

‘Those lowly attacks won’t work on a Knight!’

Yet judging by his condition, it seemed they had worked plenty.

Soon, the Deputy Commander recklessly swung his fists and charged wildly.

He must have been blinded by the fact that the opponent he so despised had toyed with him.

Watching this, I couldn’t help but think.

‘…A moth flying into the flame.’

The more he lost composure, the more his weaknesses showed.

Pweeeak!

Jan d’Arc’s middle kick landed deep into the Deputy Commander’s side.

“…Ugh?!”

The Deputy Commander doubled over in pain, and Jan’s blue eyes sparkled with fierce light.

In a flash, Jan closed in, locking her arms around his neck and underarms like a vice.

Then—

Paaak!

She kicked hard with her heel to his lower body and slammed the Deputy Commander down.

Kuuuung!

The Deputy Commander collapsed backward, landing heavily.

It was his second knockdown.

• Woah, was that a Muay Thai technique just now?
• Yep, the middle kick landed perfectly on the ribs.
• Then immediately tossed him down with Jiu-Jitsu, wow…
• Info) That was a Standing Arm Triangle Takedown.
• Thanks, Speedwagon!
• But who’s the opponent? This is starting to look pitiful lol
• The weight difference is huge, but she’s just playing with him…
• That just means she’s that strong~

Jan d’Arc got up effortlessly and took her stance again, but the Deputy Commander couldn’t stand for quite a while.

‘…Is he done?’

Just as I thought that in my head—

—Bolteok!

The Deputy Commander, pretending to be down, suddenly sprang up and launched a surprise kick.

“You let your guard down, Farmer’s Daughter! …Huh?!”

Whoosh!

But his heel only cut through empty air.

Jan d’Arc was nowhere to be found.

“What?! Where did she go so fast…?”

Flustered and panicked, the Deputy Commander looked around.

But from the omniscient Creator viewpoint, a smile crept across my lips.

Because I could clearly see her.

Jan d’Arc’s elegant figure spinning high in the air.

The Deputy Commander noticed a little too late.

Zcheoak!

The sound of a giant wave crashing filled the arena.

In an instant, a 1080-degree spinning kick slammed into the back of his neck.

Come to think of it, I vaguely remembered there was a Taekwondo manual among the martial arts books I had given her.

…Ding! …Ding! …Ding! …Ding! …Ding! …Ding! …Ding! …Ding!

Meanwhile, Creator TV’s chat was updating so fast it had triggered slow chat mode.

• What was that? Wasn’t that Taekwondo just now?
• Who saw how many spins she did in midair? ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
• Didn’t she spin like 4 times in one second?
• Yep, exactly 4 rotations. That was like a top blade. lol
• Top blade? Dude, you’re so old…
• I’m an active Taekwondo athlete. That was a flawless 100-point 1080-degree spinning kick.
• Boxing, wrestling, Muay Thai, Jiu-Jitsu… and now Taekwondo too? Sis! I’m dead!!!
• Bartender, another round!! Bring all the national pride~~@@
• Jan d’Arc to the National Assembly~!!

The more rotations, the more mass and acceleration the kick gained.

Jan d’Arc spun fiercely in midair, maximizing the kick’s destructive power.

Yet, despite being hit directly by Jan’s kick, the Deputy Commander stood firm without flinching.

‘…He’s tough as nails to withstand a direct hit like that.’

His face was blazing red as if seared by fire.

Veins stood out on his forehead, yet a confident smile remained on his lips.

Jan d’Arc calmly caught her breath and readied herself again.

Then—

The Deputy Commander’s eyes rolled back as he slowly collapsed.

Kuuuung!

A silence so deep that not even a breath could be heard swallowed the arena.

Among the Knights watching, no one dared to speak first.

Baron Gilbert smiled gently as he looked at Jan d’Arc.

Then, the solemn voice of the Commander rang through the quiet arena.

“…Duel over! Winner, Janette!”