Infinity, The Arcade Age-Chapter 375: Happy Birthday Song

Kyo Kusanagi's Crimson Blaze Bloodline was Grade A, and Qin Ming's White Flame Bloodline was also Grade A. Now that the two had collided, Qin Ming's flame was instantly devoured without resistance, a situation that was absolutely abnormal.

With a serious expression, Qin Ming's gaze finally fixed on Kyo's skill list, specifically on the power he had never heard of before—Power of Ame-no-Murakumo. His eyes narrowed sharply.

"One of the three Sacred Treasures... Ame-no-Murakumo Sword?"

Upon hearing this mutter, Kyo Kusanagi casually rested one hand on his waist, flames dancing on his fingers as he nonchalantly flicked them.

"That's right! It's the Ame-no-Murakumo Sword! The power of an ancient divine artifact! The strength passed down through generations in the Kusanagi family! It greatly enhances the power of the Kusanagi Flame!"

"Heh, no wonder you could swallow my fire in an instant. Turns out it's the power of a divine artifact. I thought it was your own strength," Qin Ming replied.

Upon hearing these words, Chizuru Kagura, who had already emerged from cover, immediately paled.

Realizing the situation was turning for the worse, she hurriedly turned to Kyo.

"Kyo Kusanagi! Don't listen to his nonsense! Let's team up to take him down!"

Though Chizuru Kagura reacted quickly, Kyo Kusanagi's reaction was even faster.

His smile instantly vanished. He raised a hand to stop her and turned his serious gaze toward Qin Ming.

"Trying to provoke me? Do you really think that without the divine artifact, some street-side punk like you could ever challenge me? Fine! You want to challenge the authority of the Kusanagi Flame? Bring it on! Chizuru, stay out of this—I'll handle him myself."

With that, Kyo Kusanagi took a step forward. freewebnøvel.coɱ

Chizuru Kagura, seeing this, slapped her forehead in despair, her face filled with helplessness.

This IQ! She truly had no words left!

But seeing his opponent fall for the bait, Qin Ming quickly smiled and stepped forward as well, cracking his shoulders and grinning maliciously.

"Kid! I'll make you burn with your own flames!"

Kyo Kusanagi assumed a fighting stance, his lips curling into a smirk.

"Are you just spouting the typical villainous last words before dying? Big dumb oaf!"

Boom!

With a roar, Kyo hurled a punch, flames swirling above him.

Skill! Wild Bite!

Qin Ming also threw a punch, mirroring the exact same motion.

Pseudo-Wild Bite!

With a loud crash, their fists collided, white flames and red-hot fire twisting and clashing together in an intense battle, neither side willing to yield.

The shockwave from their clash sent surrounding debris flying in all directions, clearing out a ten-meter-wide arena.

The first punch—draw!

The Crimson Blaze of the Kusanagi family is known for its high temperature. Even without the enhancement of the divine artifact, its heat was far superior to Qin Ming's White Flame.

However, although Qin Ming's flames couldn't match the temperature of the Kusanagi Flame, his fire had the ability to penetrate defenses, and the most important factor was his own terrifying resilience.

The Kusanagi Flames that pierced through his White Flame didn't burn him; at least, it didn't seem to.

But Kyo Kusanagi, who was suffering from the defense-lowering effect of the White Flame, was certainly feeling the pain.

Grimacing in pain, Kyo looked up to see Qin Ming's smirk and quickly forced his expression back into a neutral stance.

In the next moment, the combo began!

Wild Bite + Nine Wounds + Seven Streams!

A classic three-hit combo from the Kusanagi family!

With his hands engulfed in flames, Kyo immediately launched into his combo.

Seeing this, Qin Ming's pupils contracted, but without hesitation, he followed with the exact same combo!

Kyo used Wild Bite! Qin Ming used Wild Bite!Kyo used Koto Tsukuyomi! Qin Ming followed with Koto Tsukuyomi!Kyo used Orochinagi! Qin Ming mirrored it with his own Orochinagi!

What? Technique? Qin Ming had no technique! He was merely copying!

When going head-to-head with the protagonist of the fighting world, Qin Ming didn't believe he could win in terms of skill, so he stopped trying.

You use something, I use something! If you block, we'll clash! If you don't block, we'll each fight on our own!

After all, Qin Ming was tough and resilient, not afraid of taking hits. It was a matter of who could withstand longer.

The two continued to trade blows relentlessly, with more than thirty exchanges. What started as a battle of flames transformed into a full-on hand-to-hand clash, and ultimately, they were locked in a brutal leg sweep contest.

It all started with Kyo's instinctive low kick.

He swept his leg, and Qin Ming followed suit. The two slammed their shins together with a dull thud.

Unable to finish the fight with a single move, the two stared each other down and kicked out again. Then another kick, then another, all in rapid succession, hitting each other with full force over and over.

The first collision was accidental.

The second was instinctive.

But by the third clash, the meaning of this battle had completely shifted.

Neither of them was willing to back down, both throwing everything into the kick! They kept hitting the same spot, unwilling to give an inch!

After seventeen hard kicks, both finally staggered back, creating some distance between them.

Feeling the ache in his calves, Qin Ming maintained a stoic expression.

"How does it feel? That leg-burning pain, punk?"

Kyo Kusanagi, whose entire leg had gone numb from the kicking, fought hard to keep a straight face upon hearing the taunt. He gritted his teeth to endure the searing pain in his calf, but the corner of his eye twitched uncontrollably.

"Of course I'm fine! You muscle-brained mob villain!"

"Wanna go again?"

"Bring it on! Who's afraid of you?!"

"Come on, then!"

"Let's go!"

While exchanging words, the two once again got into fighting stances, glaring fiercely as they probed each other's defenses.

Watching these two who had basically crippled one leg each and were now hobbling awkwardly around, Chizuru Kagura—who'd been standing by and watching the whole time—wore a deeply conflicted expression.

"Kyo Kusanagi, why the hell are you still trying to prove something against him? If you and I just teamed up, we could—"

"Shut up! This has nothing to do with you! Back off! I'm gonna cripple him today!"

"Shut your mouth! Let me kill him first, then I'll deal with you!"

Before Chizuru Kagura could even finish her sentence, both voices cut in at the same time.

The two, who turned and snapped at her simultaneously, locked eyes again as their gazes met mid-turn.

Next second—Wild Bite vs Wild Bite!

BOOM!

With a thunderous crash, the two once again collided violently.

As the flames exploded before her, Chizuru Kagura stood by with a blank expression and an utterly disgusted look in her eyes.

She knew it. She never should've pinned her hopes on a high schooler to save the world.

The heir of the Kusanagi Sacred Treasure this generation... was way too unreliable!

Chizuru Kagura, now completely done with trying, simply stood there, expressionless, watching the circus.

Meanwhile, standing next to her was Kasamoto Eri —who was also just watching.

Seeing her boss engaged in an increasingly brutal brawl, Eri appeared overly excited, yelling and cheering nonstop.

That was, until she suddenly turned around—and her gaze locked with Chizuru Kagura's...

"What the hell are you all doing?!"

A startled shout rang out as the sound of approaching footsteps grew louder. Reinforcements had arrived after hearing the commotion.

And then—seeing the chaotic scene before them—everyone froze in disbelief.

The two groups locked in combat all turned toward the noise.

By this point, Qin Ming and Kyo Kusanagi had devolved from a martial arts battle to a full-on street fight, the level of combat dropping yet another tier.

Qin Ming was yanking on Kyo's hair with all his might, while Kyo had his arm wrapped around Qin Ming's neck in a chokehold, grinning wickedly.

Due to their difference in height, Kyo was basically hanging off Qin Ming's body entirely.

Off to the side, Chizuru Kagura and Kasamoto Eri had taken up firearms and were now in the middle of a samurai duel, Western-style—shooting at each other with deadly precision, neither side giving an inch.

When both sides noticed the arrival of backup, their eyes lit up, and they shouted at the same time—

"Mai! Quick, kill them!"

The moment the words fell, a sudden silence descended upon the battlefield.

Qin Ming and Chizuru Kagura, both having shouted the exact same thing, turned their heads toward each other in stunned disbelief.

The reinforcements who had arrived—Mai Shiranui, Blue Mary, and King—looked at each other with confused expressions, clearly lost.

Only Yuri Sakazaki, who didn't know who Qin Ming was, eagerly leapt into the fray, striking a combat pose and shouting:

"Chizuru! Who are we fighting? Kyo Kusanagi, right? I've been annoyed with that cocky kid for ages! Watch me bust out the Kyokugen ultimate technique—Tiger Dragon Chaos—ow!!"

Before she could finish her sentence, King reached over and silently dragged her back.

Meanwhile, Mai Shiranui stepped forward, her expression turning strange as she looked at the four locked in combat.

"Why are you guys fighting? And Qin Ming, what are you doing here?"

"Huh? Me?"

Qin Ming hadn't expected to run into Mai Shiranui here of all places and was completely bewildered.

Before he could process what was happening, Mai seemed to remember something. Her cheeks flushed slightly as she turned her back to him.

"Hmph! So what? You remembered it's my birthday today, huh? And you even tracked me down exactly? Not bad, but don't think that means I'll just forgive you!"

"Huh? Your birthday? Oh, uh... happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you...!"

Qin Ming reacted instantly. Realizing that if he explained himself now, it might escalate from a 2v2 to a 2v6, he quickly shoved Kyo off him, clapped his hands, and burst into an enthusiastic birthday song.

Eri Kasamoto, fully in sync, joined right in—she even pulled out a grenade and tossed it into the sky like a firework for celebration.

The sudden twist in the situation left both Kyo Kusanagi and Chizuru Kagura completely dumbfounded.

Only Mai Shiranui, hearing the birthday song, blushed and looked a little bashful.

"Hmph! You actually remembered your senior's birthday... and even found me. I guess you do have a sliver of conscience. Fine! I'll barely forgive you just this once! Hand it over!"

Saying that, Mai turned her back to Qin Ming and extended her delicate hand toward him.

Seeing the dainty hand in front of his face, Qin Ming was the one left confused this time.

"Hand over what?"

"What else? The birthday gift you carefully prepared!"

"A gift? Oh... uh... here!"

After patting himself down in a panic, Qin Ming quickly handed over the "present."

Mai, blushing slightly, shyly pulled her hand back and looked down at the item in her palm. Her smile froze instantly...

Three seconds later, Mai spun around and delivered a devastating high kick straight to Qin Ming's neck!

She no longer forgave him!

(End of Chapter)