Long Tianho moved forward and thrust at Baki's heart. Baki sidestepped and the tip sliced across his chest. The second thrust came at his throat and Baki leaned away from it. The third came immediately and Baki grabbed the shaft with both hands.
Long Tianho rotated the spear. The scales carved into Baki's palms as it spun. Baki held on while blood ran down his wrists. Long Tianho yanked him forward and drove his knee into his stomach. Baki let go. The spear swept low and Baki jumped, but Long Tianho reversed the motion and the shaft drove into his chest while he was still in the air.
CRACK!
Baki crashed through a wooden pillar and rolled clear. He pushed himself up. His chest was bleeding. His palms were shredded. Every breath hurt.
Long Tianho walked toward him and said, "A weapon changes everything, doesn't it."
Baki wiped blood from his mouth. "We'll see."
He charged. A thrust came at his face and he ducked and closed the distance. Long Tianho blocked his hook with the shaft and drove the butt end into his stomach, then swung the shaft hard into the side of his head.
Baki's vision went white. The spear thrust at his chest.
He read the tension in Long Tianho's hands, the shift in the grip, the tip beginning its path. He moved in the gap.
He appeared to the side with his fist already buried in Long Tianho's ribs before the thrust could land.
CRACK!
Two ribs broke. Long Tianho stumbled back gasping and looked at Baki with something close to delight. "How are you doing it? How can control your strength so precisely every time? It's truly baffling."
Baki had almost nothing left.
Long Tianho recovered fast and thrust at Baki's legs. Baki jumped back but the tip cut deep through his thigh. His leg nearly buckled. He grabbed the shaft anyway and stepped in close and headbutted Long Tianho.
CRACK!
Long Tianho's nose burst with blood. He drove his knee into Baki's wounded thigh and yanked the spear free. He thrust at Baki's throat. Baki leaned back, grabbed the wrist, and twisted hard. Long Tianho kicked him in the chest.
Baki hit a stone fountain.
BOOM!
The fountain shattered and water sprayed out across the blood on the ground. Baki got up slowly. His thigh was bleeding heavily. His hands were ruined. His vision was starting to blur.
Long Tianho approached, spear at the ready. With genuine satisfaction, he said, "You've entertained me long enough. You can stay down now. I'll spare your life."
Baki looked at him and grinned, "I could say the same to you."
Long Tianho grinned and charged.
He feinted high. Baki raised his arms. The shaft swept low and dropped him to one knee. Long Tianho brought the spear up for a downward thrust at his skull. Baki rolled and the tip drove into the stone where his head had been.
CRACK!
Fissures spread across the ground in every direction.
Baki charged again. Long Tianho jabbed once to open the guard and the real thrust punched through into Baki's shoulder. Baki grabbed the shaft and held it, then stepped forward and drove himself further onto the spear to close the distance.
Long Tianho's eyes lit up. "You are completely insane," he said, and he sounded like he meant it as a compliment.
Baki drove his knee into Long Tianho's stomach three times. Long Tianho grunted and held his grip. Baki pulled himself off the spear and blood poured from the wound. His hook caught Long Tianho in the face. Long Tianho swung the shaft in a tight arc to intercept the next punch, redirected the force, and thrust immediately at Baki's gut. Baki twisted and the tip passed close enough to feel. He grabbed Long Tianho's arm and threw him.
Long Tianho hit the ground and rolled and swept the spear low as he rose. Baki tried to jump but his wounded leg had nothing and the shaft took his legs out.
He fell.
Long Tianho moved on him immediately and drove the spear down at his heart.
Baki was gone from beneath it. The tip sank two inches into stone. Long Tianho's jaw snapped back from an uppercut that came from underneath.
CRACK!
Blood filled Long Tianho's mouth. He stumbled but kept his grip. He looked at Baki, eyes wide, and said, "Your strength is one thing. But your will is on a whole other level."
Long Tianho moved in short explosive bursts with no warning between them. The tip caught Baki in the ribs. Another burst and it punched into his thigh. He dropped to one knee with blood running freely down his leg.
Long Tianho stood a few feet away and looked at him with the spear ready. He was breathing hard himself. His ribs were broken, his nose was smashed, and blood covered his face, but he was grinning. "Don't stop now," he said. "We're not done yet."
Baki pushed himself up. His legs shook but he found his stance. "Agreed," he said.
Long Tianho charged and the spear came in a continuous sequence with each thrust adjusting to track Baki's movement. Baki swatted two aside with his shredded hands. The others found their marks. One cut his forearm. Another cut the other arm. The next punched into his stomach.
Baki grabbed the shaft and stopped it from going deeper. He pulled himself forward along it until he was close enough. His hook caught Long Tianho on the temple. Long Tianho's grip loosened. Baki pulled the spear from his stomach and shoved him back.
They stood apart and breathed. Long Tianho was battered and bleeding. Baki had stab wounds across his body, shredded hands, and a hole in his stomach.
Long Tianho lowered his stance. He read Baki's weight shift, the position of his hands, the slight forward lean, and he loaded everything into his hips and shoulders and compressed it into one line. The grin faded. His eyes locked onto Baki with total focus.
He launched forward with three-stage acceleration and drove the spear at Baki's heart.
Baki stepped into it. His joints locked one by one. His entire frame aligned from foot through spine to fist. At the last instant Long Tianho saw what was coming and something screamed at him from deep in his gut. He pulled the spear back and threw it horizontal across his chest as a block.
Baki's fist hit the shaft.
The metal bent. The dragon metalwork cracked down the middle and pieces of it broke off and scattered across the ground. The force drove through the shaft and hit Long Tianho in the chest.
BOOM!
He left the ground. He flew backward through a stone wall and the wall caved in around him. He hit the ground hard on the other side and skidded another ten feet before stopping.
The compound went quiet.
The spear lay on the ground between them, bent and broken but still in one piece. The dragon along the shaft was cracked and missing chunks. It would never be used again.
Baki stood with his fist still extended. The skin on his knuckles had burned away to exposed muscle and bone. Blood dripped steadily from the wound. His right arm hung useless at his side.
He looked at the ruined spear and smiled.
At the edge of the courtyard, Hou Qing stood frozen. He stayed that way for a long moment and then said quietly, "Impossible. Brother. How could this happen?"
Long Tianho lay still in the rubble and did not answer.