Vasco charged in first.
His knee drove straight at Jaegyeon Na's jaw.
Jaegyeon Na tilted his head and caught it on his elbow, bleeding off most of the force. He kicked out and pushed Vasco back, then smiled.
"What? You can still move?"
Vin Jin came in from the side and grabbed Jaegyeon Na's wrist.
Jaegyeon Na felt the grip and his brow twitched. 'Interesting.' He twisted his torso and wrenched free, driving his elbow back into Vin Jin's shoulder on the way out. "I was wondering where have I met you before. You're his student, right? The Six King's student. What are you doing all the way here at Busan?"
Vin Jin took half a step back, wiping the blood from his lips. "I also remember now. You're there that day. I saw you with my teacher."
Zack cut in from the other side, a straight right aimed at Jaegyeon Na's temple. "What's this? Getting distracted in the middle of a fight?"
Jaegyeon Na leaned back and let it sail past his face. He used the momentum to slide around behind Zack, raised his leg and aimed a kick at the back of Zack's neck.
Daniel was already there.
His hand blade came in at an angle and caught Jaegyeon Na's shin, knocking the kick wide.
Jaegyeon Na landed and looked at Daniel. "Hoh."
Daniel didn't acknowledge it. He lifted his left leg and swept it toward Jaegyeon Na's flank. Jaegyeon Na stepped back and opened up the distance.
All four closed in.
'Four on one,' Jaegyeon Na thought. 'Should I retreat? Hmm... Maybe not yet. Let's see more of them. Maybe I can recruit them into the speed circle?'
He moved.
He slipped through the gaps between all four of them, his leg sweeping across Zack's ribs. Zack twisted and partially deflected it, but the force was enough to push him back three steps. Vasco came in hard with a knee to the chest. Jaegyeon Na sidestepped it, redirected the knee with his palm, and used the push to put distance between himself and the group.
Vin Jin didn't chase. He just stood there waiting.
Jaegyeon Na glanced at him. 'What's he holding for?'
Daniel came again, but this time it wasn't a hand blade. It was a low sweep aimed at Jaegyeon Na's shin. Jaegyeon Na jumped over it. The moment he landed, Vin Jin was already in front of him.
Both hands closed around his shoulder bone.
Jaegyeon Na felt a weight that was completely wrong, like something was trying to pull his skeleton out through his skin. His eyes changed. 'This grip—'
"Let go!"
He spun hard, kicking at Vin Jin's stomach while simultaneously driving his elbow into Vin Jin's wrist. It took both hits at once to break free.
Vin Jin's fingers slid off his shoulder.
Jaegyeon Na backed up two steps and looked down at his shoulder.
No fracture. But the dull ache from where those fingers had been was still sitting there.
'Second generation...'
Vasco didn't give him time to think. A flying knee came straight at his face. Jaegyeon Na dodged and deflected with his hand, but Vasco's other leg came sweeping around and connected with the outside of his thigh.
Thud.
Jaegyeon Na stumbled half a step to the right.
It was the first time all night he'd been moved.
Zack followed immediately, footwork sharp, a left jab and a right hook landing on Jaegyeon Na's shoulder and collarbone in quick succession. Jaegyeon Na blocked the second, but the first landed clean.
Jaegyeon Na stopped and rolled his collarbone, then looked at all four of them again.
'Something's wrong.' The thought in his head had shifted. 'I thought I was testing them, but I am also being pushed to my edge.'
---
Daniel raised his forearm and blocked Jaegyeon Na's incoming side kick, then stepped forward and brought his hand blade down vertically toward the side of Jaegyeon Na's neck.
Jaegyeon Na turned his head and let most of it miss, but the blade still grazed his neck muscle, leaving a red line across the skin.
'Perfect Copy.' Jaegyeon Na thought. 'The 1st generation didn't have anyone who could do it. Could Baki Hanma do it? Again, he is too prideful to actually use a copied move.'
He didn't retreat. Instead he stepped in, right foot sweeping across Daniel's flank. Daniel leaned back to dodge and sent a kick back at Jaegyeon Na's knee at the same time.
Both of them connected and both bounced off each other.
Zack came in from an angle, footwork fast, a sudden step closing the gap. His right fist drove at Jaegyeon Na's chin. Jaegyeon Na pulled his head back and let it go past, then redirected Zack's wrist with a push to break his balance.
Zack took a step back.
Jaegyeon Na went after him, kicking at Zack's outer thigh.
But Vin Jin was already beside him, and both hands were locking around his waist.
Jaegyeon Na felt it and his expression changed. 'Again—'
"Hah!"
Vin Jin exploded with force. He lifted Jaegyeon Na off the ground and threw him sideways.
Jaegyeon Na twisted his body in the air, adjusted his angle, and rolled to the side on landing, catching himself on one hand to absorb the impact. His shoulder still slammed hard into the ground.
He stood up and worked his shoulder.
The whole arena went quiet for a moment.
Jinrang stood against a pillar, unlit cigarette still between his fingers, expression unreadable.
Sang Baek stood beside him and kept his voice low. "Jinrang-hyung, that was..."
"Yes," Jinrang said. "The second generation has caught up with the first generation."
Jaegyeon Na brushed the dust off his shoulder and lifted his head, looking at the four of them. His eyes were different from before.
"Alright," he said. "I underestimated you."
"Just figuring that out?" Zack said, the corner of his mouth pulling up. "Too late."
Jaegyeon Na smiled once, and then he moved.
This time was different.
His speed went up.
His figure flickered and he was already in front of Daniel, right foot sweeping at the side of his neck, so fast the motion of his leg was barely visible.
Daniel raised his arm to block. The impact pushed him back two full steps, his heels dragging lines into the ground.
'This speed...' Daniel's arm was still numb. 'Completely different from a moment ago.'
Jaegyeon Na didn't stop. His silhouette shifted toward Vin Jin, a kick aimed at his ribs. Vin Jin spread his arms to grab. Jaegyeon Na pulled the kick back at the last instant before Vin Jin's fingers made contact, redirected it, and sent it into the side of Vin Jin's knee instead.
Thud.
Vin Jin's body lurched sideways.
Jaegyeon Na turned to Vasco, a roundhouse kick landing on Vasco's raised forearm with enough force to knock his whole arm outward. Then immediately a knee drove into Vasco's stomach.
Vasco bent at the waist and took three steps back.
Zack came forward, footwork urgent, a quick step to close in, three punches aimed at Jaegyeon Na's head. Jaegyeon Na deflected two and the third grazed his cheekbone. He turned and sent his foot into Zack's side.
Zack was knocked sideways and stumbled two steps before catching himself.
All four had been moved.
Jaegyeon Na straightened his collar and stood in the middle of the arena. 'This is the right distance. This is stable.'
But the way he looked at them had changed again.
'Jinrang had already pushed these four to the wall before I got here. They should have had nothing left.' He rolled his neck. 'But they pushed me this far. Even in the entire first generation... there were very few to do this.'