Sakigake!! Otoko Juku 163

Date has survived the first assault of Horus, the second of the Twin Sphinxes who has just cremated his own partner! But now the transvestite fighter is about to show why this Pharaoh Sphinx duo may have gotten their name...

Chp. 163: Riddle of the Sphinx

66.-67.
2ND CHARACTER POPULARITY POLL ANNOUNCEMENT!!
1ST PLACE: TSURUGI MOMOTAROU
2ND PLACE: HIEN
3RD PLACE: DATE OMITO
4TH PLACE: GEKKOU
5TH PLACE: TORAMARU RYUUJI
6TH PLACE: J
7TH PLACE: SENKUU
8TH PLACE: TOGASHI GENJI
9TH PLACE: AKASHI GOUJI
10TH PLACE: DAIGOUIN JAKI
(TN: It’s really hard to say at this point how much this poll was actually reflective of the readers’ perspective at this point and how much was reflective of current events around that polling. This is probably the point Hien’s popularity peaked considering his high positioning here, while characters like Senkuu and even Toramaru (heck even Akashi) was more reflecting the fights that had been going on around that point of the poll, which was probably around the Kokurenju battles. Gekkou being high on the list actually was surprising considering his last really major fight at that point was Centaur of Olympus…but it was such an epic fight that it made an impression)

68.
Horus: Hohhohho: do you know this legend? According to ancient Egyptian myth, the Sphinx of the desert spoke a riddle to travelers who passed through there and devoured them when they didn’t answer it.
Horus: I Horus, the Right Arm of the Twin Sphinxes, shall present a riddle to you here. If you answer this question, then you have a hcance of surviving……!!

69.
Horus: So, here we go.
Horus: He was bitten by the fangs of a poisonous snake that makes him struggle in pain to his death while hearing the preparation of his death that resounded within the terror of an eternal darkness where he couldn’t see the light of morning of the stars of night by a black devil who flew down from the darkness. Who~~is this person!?
Date: ………………!!
Toramaru: Wh…what is this guy: he suddenly said something where he can’t understand the meaning---!!
Togashi: That’s a riddle---!! This isn’t the place to let out a joke---! And yet with the point of being a man, what are you intending putting on makeup and lipstick---!!

70.
Horus: It seem you don’t have an answer. Fine: so then, I’ll give you the answer.
Date: !!

71.
Date: NU!!
Date: Ku!!
Toramaru: Wh…what~~~!?
Togashi: Th…that ball thrown by the crow e…exploded when struck by the spear---!!

72.
Horus: Hohhohho: this is the meaning of the “terror of darkness” mentioned in the riddle I gave earlier.
Horus: How is it: the feeling of not seeing with your eyes!? This blinding smoke paralyzed your optic nerve and, though it’s limited, you’re trapped in a sightless condition for an hour.
Date: Y…you………!!
Toramaru: Wh…what--!! Da…Date can’t see with his eyes~~~~!

73.
Crow: GYAPI—

74.
Date: Don’t mock me…………Do you think you can defeat me by taking my sight?
Toramaru: A…mazing, Date---!!
Togashi: He…is said to not see with his eyes, but he instantly knocked down a crow that was attacking him from behind---!!

75.
Horus: Hohhohho: I expected this. Yes, with skill of your extent, you can fight by sensing with your ears the indications of feint sounds, even if you can’t see.
Horus: However, this is your only means; what will come of it when I cut you off from your hearing?
Date: !!

76.
(Yeah…those are a lot of bells…but then again it’s a lot of crows)

77.
Toramaru: Wh…what~~~!! Lo…look, th…that’s~~~~!
Togashi: Th…the crows fl…fluttering in the sky are holding bells in their beaks and have started to ring them all at once---!!
Horus: Hohhohho: this is the meaning of “preparation of death that resounded” in the riddle…!! Now even your hearing has been disturbed by the sound of these bells and you’re trapped alone in a world of darkness.
Horus: And the finishing touch, the fangs of the poisonous snake, is this.
Horus: This deadly poison varnished on these nails will lead you instantly to the world of the dead with just merely a scratch.

78.
Horus: With this, I’ve already given the answer to the riddle. The answer is you yourself, Date Omito. Now die: it all ends with this blow.
Toramaru: Uoo: Th…this is a genuinely big crisis of desperation----!!
Togashi: He…can’t see and can’t use his ears. He can’t avoid those poison nails~~~~!!

79.
Togashi: He…hey, Mo…Momo, shouldn’t we do something---!!
Toramaru: Even if we instruct him the location of his opponent with a loud voice from here, it won’t reach Date’s ears with it erased by the sound of those bells!! As is, he’ll be completely killed---!!
Momotarou: There’s just one means to escape……Date should realize this too. But it’s a sink-or-swim dangerous gamble
Toramaru: Wh…what is th…that gamble---!!

80.-81.
Togashi: N…no. Date’s getting killed---!!
Horus: !!

82.
Horus: KUU!!
Horus: Y…you………!!

83.
Toramaru: He…dodged it~~~!! He…couldn’t see or use his ears, and yet Da…Date dodged Horus’ certain-kill blow~~~~!!
Horus: Y…you, ho…how exactly was I indicated……………!!
Date: Don’t you know? It’s your heavy make-up.
(TN: Date actually uses an expression here not just of “make-up” but “atsugeshou” which is “heavy make-up”)
Horus: Huh…!?
Date: With that much lipstick and perfume, it’s suitable to have a scent. Thus, naturally, I became aware through it. I’m certain you should have launched your attack from the leeward so you wouldn’t have inferred your position to me by your scent.
Horus: ……!!
Date: On top of knowing the direction you were commencing from, the rest was just dodging you by reading the flow of delicate air the moment you sent out your fist.
Horus: Understood. A person such as you is a dreadful man………………!!

84.
Horus: Ohhohho: but you won’t go with such next time. I’ll sprinkle this perfume on the crows, disturbing even your scent and sending you to oblivion.
Date: Let’s get this over with. Now I’ll be asking a question to you.
Horus: ………!?
Date: He can still win this without worrying that one of his poison nails broke off during the previous attack. Wh—o is this cross-dresser with heavy makeup!?
(TN: Date actually called Horus an “okama”, which could either be a transvestite or a gay man…I went with the former)
Horus: Um…!!
Horus: Huh!!

85.
Horus: Uh!!
Horus: Hi, no……!!
Date: The grand prize to the person who gives the correct answer is an eternal trip touring hell!!

TN: Well folks, I guess there's a moral to this story: never wear makeup on the battlefield, whether you love the stuff or not...especially if you're a cross-dresser. (or female) In some ways this actually felt like a more extreme and interesting ending compared to how Gekkou/Centaur went, particularly since I'm still a bit lost with some of that last manuever Gekkou used to accurately determine where Centaur was even with his blindness...while here at least Date just used his senses such as smell and touch when sight and hearing were taken away from him. It just felt more logical and a tad less absurd compared to his teammate's own blind maneuver which was all based on psychology of an opponent.