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Finding the registration and signing up, Ulv found herself in the ring pretty quickly. The Devil Bonds were forcefully restricting her down to a decent level of strength and speed, and so she didn't feel bad having a fight. These were spiritual beings as well as mundanes, after all. So she moved into combat range, and began the fight. Her opponent was not the most skilled of beings, as he started with a kick to the head. It was a simple matter for Ulv to follow the kick's trail and strike his jaw when the kick had reached the end of it's road.

The blow did not knock the man out, but it did shake his brain and send him stumbling to a point where here surrendered a few seconds later. Feeling like she should go talk to him about the fight, she went over and explained that while it was a great finisher, and a good intimidation tactic, a high kick was a poor opening move due to how easy it was for a fresh fighter to counter. The man seemed surprised she would share her secrets, but also happy that she did, and went off with a happy heart.

The next few fighters were of the same calibre, this being the crowd at the bottom to sort out who was going to be fighting in the proper matches. Ulv displayed her martial prowess and went through her opponents easily, getting herself a spot in one of the eight to fight in the true tournament. The guy she had saved also made it through, as well as a few others she did not recognise, and one that she did. It had been a year or two since the fight, but somehow, Ulv still felt like he possessed the title he had won in the fight against Mirja. The God Of Fists.

Waiting for the last to arrive, Ulv caught a quick break with the refreshments and talked to the people. Some had been doing this fighting a long time, and others were natural talents like Ulv who had taken the world by storm and found themselves here. While it was hardly a World Championship, it was still a good gathering of skilled fighters. A good place to test yourself against others who fought with their fists. With all his power, Henrex would be useless here, and would probably drop out before getting to the finals. He never was good with what his mother gave him. Maybe she'd drop down and teach him some time...

But that was for later. The eighth had come, the matches were done, and Ulv was ready to face off against her first opponent. Who it turned out, was the man she had saved earlier. Ulv commented on the hilarity of such a thing, made a quip about more work for her, and then they got down to the fight. His attack was a good one, a skilful melding of several styles into one that worked best for him, and was able to deliver precise but powerful blows. The first blow hit her guard but it hit with a surprising amount of force and opened her for the second blow to her torso. Reeling from the extreme combo, Ulv was only just able to dip and catch the elbow that had been in a path to smash her ribs in. This man - that the announcer referred to as Cyclops Hammer - was a man Ulv could really get along with!

Retreating from the man to get her bearings and to recover from the blows, she watched him stay where he was and not pursue her. Which was nice but also showed him as much smarter than she thought. The people here, really were good...

Observing him, and his stance, Ulv gave a smile. He was favouring his fists, using arm and back muscles to provide the force required for his blows. His stance wouldn't allow a kick worth a damn, and while he could change stance on the fly, she would be able to react to that before he had the time to throw a proper kick. Which meant Ulv would just have to meet him fist for fist to claim victory. Taking a deep breath, she returned to the fight, throwing a snap punch to his head that he parried, and then returned a punch.

Unlike the other time, Ulv threw a punch into the man's punch, truly feeling the force that he could send out through his style and physique. But Ulv, had the edge because of the way she threw punches. Not just focused on arm and back, she threw her entire body into each punch. Leaning shoulder and hip, and pushing with her feet. The jarring force of knuckle against knuckle, and the surprise of being pushed back made the man take a step back. Someone with those fists was probably used to overwhelming people with the force that he could deliver with them. And not used to being matched and pushed back by another.

Falling back on what he had trained years for, he threw more punches, that were matched by Ulv's punches, pushing him back and causing him to slowly collapse into panic. One last punch, filled with desperation and with the fangs of a cornered animal. But this time Ulv did not match it with her knuckles but instead threw it off entirely with a kick, rising cleanly from the ground to smash into his forearm. And then, as if her legs were attached to a pulley system, she snapped the kick downwards and used the momentum to bring a new one up, colliding with his chin and taking him off his feet. When he finally hit the ground, he did not get up.

Going to find the guy when he finally woke up from the blow, Ulv sat by him and talked. His powerful fists could - and did - take him far, but he needed to either master his fists, or gain some versatility to be able to compete with the upper class. Explosively powerful fists were good if your skill could cover everything else. He only lost today because his youth denied the required experience to cover the flaws of having just fists as your weapon. He seemed to take her words to heart, and the reinvigorated look on his face was nice to see.

There was a short break before she got to the second fight. A bare-chested man with a braided beard and a perpetually angry look on his face. Her assumptions were shown to be true when the fight started and he took off at her with a sprint, driving his shoulder into her guard and then savagely mauling her with fist after fist. Knees, Elbows, his head, and proper kicks were thrown in. The opposite of the last man in his technique, but certainly just as effective, if not more so. It was all Ulv could do to protect herself and not yield ground. The man was well and truly within the thrall of combat, something Ulv could really appreciate, as she could get like that. And that was exactly what she was going to need to do...

Waiting for an opening would have her waiting forever, and so she dropped her guard, took a clout from his blows, and then she rammed into him, using her entire body weight to push through his attempts to keep his footing. With a deep, powerful roar, she pushed as hard as she could and knocked him to the ground, chasing quickly and straddling the man.

Crashing into the ground, Ulv delivered a frenzied haymaker to his head, and then rolled off. She was in the perfect position to end this, but it was no fun if she just ended it in a simple move. Staying in a cat-like pose, she waited for the man to roll back into a standing position, and then threw herself forward onto her hands, moving forward and battering him with kicks, spinning on her hands to give them more momentum and power. Maybe it was a showy way of fighting, but it certainly worked. He didn't seem to keep his mind chained when he released his fury, so he was battered by blows outside of his reach.

Suddenly with a roar of fury, he launched himself at Ulv, and ran directly into a kick that took his temple, and his consciousness. Blasted off his feet, he slid across the ground, and Ulv flipped back onto her feet. Gasping softly, she took the victory, and then went to go sit down. These Devil Bonds were really putting a strain on her. Which was the point, sure, but that didn't make her any less strained. Taking a seat, she saw the opponent she was going to fight for the finals, was no other than the God himself.

She hadn't expected him to lose any of his fights, he truly earned the name he had. Years ago, he was skilled enough at the Leeching Fist to turn Mirja's punches into nothing, and in respect for his power and skill, Mirja had ceded the fight. And he had had years to perfect his art. How would Ulv, who focused on the force of a blow as much as the precision of it, be able to punch through the barrier he put up? That indeed, was a question....

Stepping out into the ring after a short rest, Ulv took her stance, and smiled. The man in front of her had evolved into a fine being. He was a young adult when Mirja had fought him, but he had since come into the full bloom of his physical maturity. His body was lean and honed, and she could feel the pressure that his overwhelming skill put on people without him making a single move. Waiting, and watching, Ulv and the man never got to their fight, as bangs and smoke emerged from the crowd. Black cloaked men jumped from it and set upon the wounded warriors. Ulv, to stoke her ego, got three, which one was immediately taken out with a Hwechook she prepared as they moved. The crunch of bone that she felt told him he was not going to be getting back up.

The other two, however, were quick and flexible, dodging the projectile that was their comrade and striking at her. The gauntlets they were wearing were sharpened, and she was cut by them as they sliced against her. The Devil Bonds didn't come off easily, so she had to just use her skill and smarts. Her eyes flashed a sulphur yellow and with it she slipped between the two creatures and grasped their heads, smashing them together into a grotesque show of skill and power. Skull and grey matter splattered across each of them, and then she turned to the man she was meant to fight. Unlike Ulv, who was bleeding from the hit they had given, he was unblemished. Each movement was perfect and redirected their force away from him, before being replied with a blow to weaken them.

As she watched, he took his foe down and made sure he stayed down, before nodding to Ulv and dashing into the crowd. From above, she heard a chopper coming in to deliver the manpower to do the heavy lifting. Ulv wasn't having that, and jumped up, smashing a hole in the Helicopter and ripping apart the rest of the crew. Fucking Caananites, really picked the wrong place to attack. Jumping out of the wreck and letting it crash and explode, she held up the hard-drive she had ripped from the navigator before jumping out. This, would lead her to where they came from. And what these new things where that had come for everyone...