From Bullets To Billions Chapter 634: A New Strength

Before the ultimate clash, Max verified that Aron was steady. With Aron still managing to stand by himself, Max felt secure enough to leave him in a protected spot inside the arena. Like a predator honing in, Max withdrew gradually, his stare fixed firmly on the pair of foes ready to dive into a massive, game-changing brawl. Creating space between them was crucial; the very last thing he desired was a battered Aron exploited as leverage or a ploy right in the heat of battle.

Gripping his side tightly, Aron observed Max pulling back, a blend of wonder and dread filling him. 'Max is gonna pull through, right? His expression... it screamed total assurance,' Aron mused inwardly, battling the panic swelling in his chest. 'That one minute I bought him must've let him uncover a key insight. He surely spotted a vulnerability or pulled off a trick to claim victory in this bout.' Aron needed that conviction, for his body had let him down once more; shielding Max wouldn't fall to him this round.

As Max strode to the stage's heart, an aura of newfound assurance emanated from his stance. To Ramon, though, this show felt nearly offensive. He struggled to accept that just a sixty-second pause—hardly long enough for a quick breath—could shift the battle's momentum in any real way.

"You should have taken me out when you had the chance, boy," Ramon remarked, his tone laced with mechanical distortion.

Bending his knees into a crouched, coiled stance like a sprinter at the line, he exploded forward in a flash. His leg hydraulics hissed sharply as the exoskeleton roared to full power. At the same moment, arm servos buzzed alive; he geared up for a suit-enhanced haymaker meant to wrap up the evening.

Soaring airborne, Ramon aimed to seal the deal in one strike. Shockingly, Max held his ground instead of evading. Launching upward too, Max intercepted mid-flight. With just a burst of powerful strides, he twisted his frame with impossible fluidity for a mortal. His foot's edge whipped out like lightning, crashing into Ramon's chest plate with wrecking-ball might.

Ramon hurtled rearward along his approach path from the collision. He slammed onto the glossy wooden surface, scraping meters across it until the suit's grip pads finally stopped him.

"Legs have longer reach than arms, you dumbass," Max declared, touching down softly. "And if you’re in the air, you can’t shift your weight, so I knew you couldn’t avoid my attacks."

Using one hand, Ramon sprang back up swiftly from the ground. His effortless rise highlighted the exoskeleton's lingering brute force from its motors. Despite the solid blow, he was largely unscathed; the armored chest had soaked up most of the impact's force, even if the jolt had shaken his jaw.

"I guess I was really careless with that one," Ramon conceded, brushing dust off his white coat. "I thought you might have been still hurt from the last scuffle we had, but as usual, you are tougher than you look."

Discarding the flashy jumps this round, Ramon charged directly on foot, bridging the gap swiftly. Upon closing in on Max, he unleashed a blistering fast punch. Max parried it with surgical accuracy, deflecting the cybernetic limb while dodging the trailing strike with his head. In that instant, Max fired back his own blow.

Ramon spotted the retaliation plainly. He thrust back hard with his boosted foot, retreating his frame. Overdoing the pull, he glided four meters distant, safely beyond Max's punching range.

"What’s wrong? Are we scared now?" Max queried, tone unwavering.

Ramon held off on replying at once. The suit's sensors revealed a grave shift in the skirmish's progression. It began with that initial parry. Max had sidestepped Ramon's assaults earlier, but this felt altered. Ramon moved far quicker now than at the night's outset; he'd adapted to the pace, wielding the suit's boosted reactions more adeptly.

Still, Max matched it perfectly. As Ramon surged in once more, raising his leg for a crushing kick to Max's side, Max timed his shift flawlessly. Sidestepping smoothly, he flicked the incoming foot aside with a light touch. That nudge packed hidden power, slamming Ramon's leg down and nearly whirling his body off-balance from the disrupted force.

Observing the unfolding action, Ramon chose to ride the momentum. He permitted his body to finish the rotation before launching a crisp back-fist strike, the metallic gauntlet slicing sharply through the air. This time around, Max got caught off guard briefly by the swift change, but he swiftly raised both hands beside his head to block.

A resounding metallic clang erupted as the exoskeleton slammed into his forearms. To Ramon's dismay, however, Max showed no reaction. His frame didn't budge even slightly from the force. He remained planted there, solid and immovable. Max countered by twisting his torso and firing off a punishing kick. Ramon scrambled to raise his defenses just in time. As he lifted his arms to shield his head, Max's kick smashed into his forearms with brutal power, driving Ramon's own hands crashing back against his face.

Ramon had no choice but to leap backward again, establishing a few meters of safe distance between them. He halted there, with the suit's internal diagnostics chirping alerts at him.

"What is going on? You weren’t this strong or fast before," Ramon demanded, his voice cracking. "You shouldn’t have even been able to take a hit like that standing up. A regular person would have fallen onto the ground or had their arms shattered."

Max grinned while replying, the enormous rush of funds from Aron’s transfer pulsing vividly through his body.

"I guess I’m not a regular person," Max said. He paused, his face easing briefly as he tallied the expense. "Although, I think this is going to cost me quite a bit in the long run."

Lurking in the shadows, Aron blinked in total shock. He witnessed Max's strength skyrocket in mere moments. He couldn't stop pondering: how? Just how was Max pulling this off?