''Yawn...'' Xenor yawned and scratched his hair. He was sitting on a wooden bench that was located in the long hallway.
Every now and then, he heard a sound of screams in his ears, which came from Aether.
''Are you done yet? Isn't this getting boring?'' He asked from Adamas, who had a sickening grin on his face.
''Little bit more...'' Adamas whispered and grabbed Aether's head tighter like he was trying to crush a watermelon.
''ARGHHH!'' Aether's voice was already hoarse, and his pupils were becoming whiter as he was close to passing out.
His body was already drenched in sweat, but there weren't any obvious injuries in his body, but instead, all the damage was internal.
Xenor shrugged and once again yawned. He wiped the teardrops and closed his eyes in hopes of getting a short nap.
*SPURT!*
''Hmm?'' Xenor opened his left eye and perked up his ears. He thought he heard the sound of watermelon getting crushed, but he shrugged and thought it was his imagination because it seemed that Adamas didn't hear a single thing.
His sleepiness disappeared, and he looked outside the window, just in time to see his Supreme Leader slicing one of the Dragon's limbs off.
His eyes sparkled as the respect towards his Supreme Leader rose by another level.
Abyss in the air seemed both exhausted mentally and physically, but he was still managing to fight Supreme Leader, even though with each collision, more wounds appeared on his body.
A grin appeared on Xenor's face as he saw a world-changing event happening right in front of him.
''Whew.'' Adamas wiped his sweat and saw Aether's face turning almost emotionless-like; he became unconscious after being unable to endure any more pain.
''Hmm, boring.'' He stood and asked, ''Will we cut off his head and show it to Abyss? It might distract him enough for Supreme Leader to kill him.''
Xenor nodded and stood up with the help of a walking stick, ''Let's do that and don't make it too messy— his emotionless face is now great— it tells about the pain he suffered, kekeke.''
Adamas nodded and grabbed a not-so-long knife from his waist. He touched Aether's nape with it, and it was already sharp enough to make a cut on it.
He was about to start cutting, but then a streak of silver appeared on the corner of his eyes, and with slight surprise, he swung the knife in his hand towards the incoming object and collided with a spear.
''Hmm?'' Adamas deflected the spear away with confusion filling his face.
Xenor frowned and looked towards the direction where the spear came from, and they noticed a black-haired young man looking both enraged and pale.
''Hmm.'' He rubbed his chin and grinned, ''Wasn't he with Abyss?''
Adamas narrowed his eyes and thought that Ichiro looked slightly familiar but couldn't pinpoint where he had seen him before.
Ichiro grabbed the silver spear from the ground and aimed it towards Adamas, ''Hands off him!'' His voice was filled with venom, but he wasn't fool by threatening Adamas. He felt the terrifying power coming from both the old man and the cold-looking man.
But, if he ran away now, he would probably hear the sound of Aether dying, and no matter how thick his skin is, there is no way he could ever look Azura straight in the eye without feeling guilt.
Also, he is his brother-in-law, basically part of the same family.
Seeing Aether's face being pale and emotionless without any signs of life in him, Ichiro can already see how much torture he had to suffer.
''Hmph.'' Adamas walked over Aether's body and stopped about 10 meters away from Ichiro.
''Weak shit like you think that you can command me, eh?'' Adamas' face was morphed into extreme anger, and he felt humiliated, ''Garbage...''
''Alright, Adamas. I think our guest didn't mean to be rude.'' Xenor innocently smiled at Ichiro and asked, ''Isn't that right?''
''Fuck you old shit.'' Ichiro spat in the ground, and smoke started leaving his body, ''True Iron Style, Fifth Direction of Ultimatum, High Human!''
After reading the Eight Page, it told him instructions to create the Fifth Direction moves.
His enlightenment let Ichiro have full control of it, and he knew instantly what to do. He recreated his most powerful technique, High Human, and this time, he doesn't only have perfect control of his muscles, but also his bones!
He got an idea from his Suicide technique, and now his technique was much more powerful than before!
It can still be improved, but during that one week, he reached a level he can be proud of.
Xenor gritted his teeth after a sudden insult and his gentle look crumbled into pieces, ''What a rude young man, the younger generation these days has zero respect for elders.''
Ichiro chuckled, and his body started becoming taller and more muscular, ''Don't lie... I can tell from your breathing and how your muscles move... You are older than 40... But, not much.''
Xenor widened his eyes in shock, ''H-How...''
''You are arrogant for a weak piece of shit.'' Adamas said with a glow of green appearing around his fingertips, ''We two are Martial Kings, while you weakling are... Barely Martial General.''
''Nah, I am not Martial General.'' Ichiro chuckled with slight pain as he felt his bones moving around his body, going to the right positions, which allowed him to unleash the most amount of damage to his opponents, ''My rank is only around Martial Commander... At least, that's how far my Physique reaches...''
''Ptui!'' Adamas spat on the ground and aimed his green-colored finger at Ichiro's forehead, ''Death or eternal pain, choose?''
''Whew...'' Ichiro took a deep breath, and the smoke started leaving his body in greater intensity, making the hallway foggy.
''I am not far...'' He murmured silently while clenching his fists, trying to measure just how strong he was.
''I am... Almost as strong as I was in my previous life... I only need a small push, and I might know where I can get that push from...'' His grey eyes were locked with Adamas and Xenor.
To many, Martial Commander challenging two Martial Kings is suicide.
And they are right.
It is suicide.
