The Deceitful One

Bryan stepped inside the ring feeling slightly nervous. He walked toward the center of the ring and stood right opposite Henry.

Standing in front of the towering figure made Bryan's palms moisten. However, he took a few deep breaths and calmed himself down. His aura instantaneously became stable.

Noticing the change in Bryan, Henry lifted his eyebrow in slight surprise, 'He composed himself within a few moments? Looks like he's been in some real fights.'

"The rules are simple: no spiritual force, no weapons, only pure physical combat. You have to try and last a minute against me. Are we clear?" Henry explained.

'Last a minute, huh? Reminds me of the training with my teacher. I wonder how he is now, I wonder if his wife has given birth to their child safely...' Bryan thought inwardly as a faint smile formed on his lips.

Shaking his head and ridding himself of distracting thoughts, he replied, "Understood!"

Meanwhile, outside the ring, the rest of the members of the Strike Team were beginning to place their bets.

"5 pounds on Bryan not making it past 3 moves." Emma declared confidently.

Andrew responded, "More than 3 moves but less than 5."

Elijah and Olivia too placed their separate bets. Then the three of them looked at Ron.

"20 pounds on Bryan lasting the entire minute. Hehe, do you dare?" Ron said with a smug look on his face.

The three of them looked at Ron as if they were looking at a simpleton.

Emma laughed loudly, "Very well, Ron. Don't go back on your word later. This is easy money, hehe."

The quiet Olivia too nodded expressionlessly.

'Kekk, idiots! You guys have no idea what a monster Bryan is. It would be strange if he didn't even last a minute against Henry.' Ron thought to himself as his lips curled up into a smirk.

Other than him and Robert, no one else knew that Bryan had orchestrated the Damascus Massacre and had personally killed more than 40 people. This is where his confidence in Bryan stemmed from.

Inside the ring, Henry looked into Bryan's eyes with a domineering gaze and asked, "Ready?"

"Let's do this!" Bryan replied confidently.

Henry nodded his head, "Very well, you go first."

As soon as Henry finished speaking, Bryan had already rushed toward him, running with his back bent slightly lower than usual and both his hands guarding his front.

He raised his right hand, which was balled up into a fist, and swung it at Henry's nether region without any scruples.

Seeing Bryan trying to attack his genitalia, Henry raised his eyebrow in amusement as he thought, 'Oh? Playing dirty from the get-go, huh?'

He lifted his right leg and swung his knee in an upward motion as he aimed to hit Bryan's face.

Seeing the incoming knee only inches away from his face, Bryan did not panic. Instead, he leaned his upper body to the left and slid under Henry's knee, causing the latter to miss the attack.

Bryan then stood up from the ground, right behind Henry, and took a combat stance again, with his knees slightly bent and his fists and forearms guarding his face.

'Good response!' Henry nodded his head in approval as he turned around and faced Bryan again.

Bryan on the other hand was irked as he thought, 'Fuck, this guy's fast! Must I fight him head-on?'

He thought of various ways to gain an upper hand but before he could come to a solution, Henry had already rushed toward him.

Henry threw a left jab at Bryan as he grinned, "Show me what you got, boy!"

Bryan's eyes narrowed as he pushed the incoming jab with his right forearm and redirected it, causing the jab to barely graze past his right cheekbone. He then maneuvered his left arm and aimed to elbow Henry's solar plexus.

His elbow accurately struck the target, however, when he looked up to see Henry's face, all he saw was a wide grin. His elbow strike didn't do any damage at all!

Henry raised both his arms, clasped them together, and hammered it down right on Bryan's head.

Bryan's pupils dilated as he narrowly avoided the attack by quickly maneuvering his body to the right, at the same time landing a right uppercut on Henry's chin from underneath his thick arms.

Again, the strike landed on Henry's chin but it didn't do any damage. Bryan wisely jumped back about two meters away from Henry and got into a fighting stance again.

"Your strikes are accurate and the timing is impeccable. However, you'll need more than just precision to bypass my defenses!" Henry laughed.

At the same time, outside the ring, Emma screamed in exasperation, "Fuck! He made it past 3 moves!"

"Hehe, take out the money, Emma." Andrew chuckled in schadenfreude.

"Bryan is quite good at fighting, I must say. Although this is a sparring match, he lasted more than 3 moves against Henry and he's still an Apprentice!" Elijah nudged his round glasses with his finger as spoke in admiration.

Olivia simply nodded without speaking a word.

On the other hand, Ron was extremely confident in Bryan lasting an entire minute. He was already thinking about what gifts to buy for his fiancee with the money that he would win.

Inside the ring, Bryan stood up straight and let his arms fall to his side. His lips curled up into a mischievous smile as he replied, "That's where you are wrong, Henry. Precision beats power and timing beats speed."

He walked towards Henry with firm and steady steps. Except for the index finger, the middle finger, and the thumb, the rest of the fingers on both his hands were curled up.

Henry looked at the unusual way Bryan had curled his fingers. It looked exactly like how little kids made their hands curl into guns and pretended to shoot while playing.

Seeing Bryan enter just within his attack range, Henry rotated his waist slightly and launched a right hook toward the side of Bryan's head.

Bryan smirked at the coming right hook. He waited until the last moment and then suddenly crouched low, dodging Henry's attack narrowly, and rushed toward the right side of Henry.

Bryan grinned as he prepared to attack, "Allow me to demonstrate!"