### Chapter 19: Garou Recognizes Reality
Kouki only felt a strong wind, like a hungry wolf choosing someone to devour, pouncing on him.
His expression remained calm, and his figure drifted back like a willow catkin in the wind, with a near-elegant composure.
Garou's offensive was as violent as a raging tide.
Every claw, every punch carried the power to split mountains and crack rocks.
The air was squeezed to produce piercing explosive sounds.
However, no matter how dense and fierce the claw shadows and fist winds were, they couldn't even touch the corner of Kouki's clothes.
He was like an elusive phantom, strolling leisurely in the storm of destruction.
*Boom!*
*Rumble—!*
In just a moment, the area within a radius of hundreds of meters was unrecognizable.
The solid ground was plowed into deep trenches, and broken walls turned to dust in the shockwaves.
Strong winds kicked up dust all over the sky.
Fubuki had to control her psychokinesis to hover high in the air just to barely avoid this inhuman battlefield.
She looked down with lingering fear at the two figures constantly crossing and tearing the earth apart.
"Heh, is this all you've got?"
Kouki's voice carried a trace of lazy amusement.
While effortlessly dodging fatal attacks, he even had the leisure to tease.
That posture of being able to handle things with ease deeply stung Garou's self-esteem.
Anger burned in Garou's eyes. He roared, his punching speed suddenly increasing by another thirty percent, creating a blur of afterimages!
But, useless.
That seemingly airtight attack net was still full of holes in front of Kouki.
"Boring. That's enough."
A trace of disinterest flashed in Kouki's eyes.
Before his voice faded, his figure approached Garou's chest as if teleporting. A simple, unadorned heavy punch condensed with terrifying power smashed ruthlessly into Garou's abdomen!
"Ugh— Blergh!!"
The violent impact made Garou's eyeballs bulge, and gastric juices mixed with blood foam spewed uncontrollably from his mouth.
It was as if all the strength in his body was drained by this punch.
His legs went soft, and like a broken dead tree, he knelt heavily on the ground, his knees smashing the ground beneath him.
However, Garou was Garou after all!
Beast-like will supported him to sway and stand up again.
His bloodshot eyes locked deadly onto Kouki, a low growl of unwillingness emitting from his throat, and he actually dragged his battered body to rush forward again!
"Oh? Still have strength to stand up?"
Kouki raised his eyebrows slightly.
The next second, his figure vanished into thin air in front of Garou like a ghost.
The warning of death instantly seized Garou's heart!
He twisted his body violently, but his pupils contracted to the extreme in an instant.
Kouki had appeared behind him at some point, a fist blasting towards his face at a speed that seemed slow but as if it froze space!
Can't dodge!
No matter how he urged his body, that fist seemed to possess magic that locked onto time and space, constantly enlarging in his vision, enlarging again...
The cold breath of death strangled his throat so realistically for the first time, crushing all his will to fight.
The shadow of despair descended, and the spirit in his eyes dissipated rapidly.
*BOOM—!!!!*
The fist wind was like a dragon, tearing through the sky.
That strike, capable of crushing stars, grazed Garou's ear at the last moment and blasted violently towards the horizon.
In an instant, the dark clouds shrouding the sky were forcibly blasted open with a huge hole by this irresistible power.
Dazzling sunlight pierced through the haze, pouring straight down.
Garou's knees went soft, and he knelt on the shattered earth.
Bathed in the blinding sunlight, his mind was blank, unable to recover from that suffocating feeling of impending death for a long time.
The sunlight outlined Kouki's tall and straight back.
In Garou's eyes at this moment, it was majestic as a mountain, lying across in front of him.
Emitting a desperate, insurmountable oppression.
"If you want to challenge me, you're welcome anytime." Kouki's voice sounded calmly, his emotions indistinguishable. "But, before you can truly defeat me..."
He turned his head slightly, the shadow cast making Garou feel as if he had fallen into an ice cave. "If you dare to attack innocent people again... don't expect me to show mercy anymore."
Leaving these cold words, Kouki didn't look at him again and waved to Fubuki not far away.
The figures of the two drifted away at the junction of ruins and sunlight.
Leaving only Garou alone, kneeling like a stone statue on the devastated earth.
Until twilight fell, completely swallowing his figure.
After a long time, when the last ray of skylight disappeared, Garou slowly raised his head.
The initial confusion and despair in his eyes had faded, replaced by a purer, hotter flame burning fiercely.
He clenched his fists, knuckles turning white from force, and roared with all his strength in the direction Kouki disappeared: "Senior Brother... I will never give up! One day, I will surpass you!"
The voice echoed in the empty ruins, carrying a resolute oath.
The next moment, Garou's figure, like a lone wolf merging into the night, quietly disappeared into the shadows of the broken walls.
Bang's Dojo.
"Grandpa, I've taught that kid a lesson." Kouki's tone was flat. "Three years of wild ways, his wings have hardened, and his heart has drifted. I set rules for him. If he dares to do evil again, there will be no next time."
"Mm..."
Bang nodded slowly. Listening to Kouki's brief account, besides relief on his face, he couldn't hide a trace of deep regret.
He had held onto a thread of hope, hoping this unruly disciple could find his way back and return to the gate of the Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist...
Now it seemed this hope was slim.
However, fate is always full of surprises.
Just early the next morning, the simple and ancient wooden door of the dojo was pulled open violently.
A figure, covered in dust and bruises that had not yet dissipated, appeared impressively in the courtyard in the faint morning light.
"Ga... Garou?!"
"It's Garou! He actually dares to come back?!"
"Quick! Go tell Senior Brother and Master!"
The dojo disciples exploded instantly, shock and anger interweaving.
Someone hurriedly ran to the inner courtyard to report.
Soon, amidst rapid footsteps, Bang, Bomb, Kouki, and Fubuki, who heard the news, gathered in the front courtyard of the dojo.
Everyone's eyes focused on that figure standing in the center of the courtyard, appearing somewhat out of place.
"Garou..."
Bang looked at this scarred but stubborn-eyed disciple in front of him, his feelings complex and hard to describe. Thousands of words finally turned into a low call.
"...Ma... Master."
Garou's lips moved a few times, as if using all his strength, before squeezing out these two long-lost words from his throat with difficulty.
His gaze dared not look directly at Bang, instead turning stubbornly to Kouki.
"Yo-ho?" Kouki crossed his arms, tilting his head, his face written with undisguised amazement. "What? Did my beating knock some sense into your brain?"
This script completely exceeded his expectations.
He thought this kid would find a deep mountain or old forest to bury his head in hard training, holding back his energy to come back for revenge.
...