Even though the orc soldiers generally had higher average levels, when they faced the group of martial artists led by Domon, they were still faced with trouble. All the core members of Everlasting Heavenly Legends had been tutored by Domon to a certain degree. Even their guild soldiers knew how to fight with martial arts instead of their monotonous fighting style. Hence, the side that was guarded by Everlasting Heavenly Legends fared better compared to the rest.
Mohmed, Domon's cat folk companion, moved with an agility that was not normally seen in the seven main races, even the elves. His arms were also longer than the other races, allowing his punches to have a longer reach.
Mohmed already had basic martial art movements when he first met Domon during his journey to help Leavemealone claim the White Tiger form. Domon then gave him further tutelage after he became Domon's companion, bringing his martial expertise even further.
He was fighting beside Leavemealone. Being Domon's top disciples, the two had trained together a lot. Despite didn't talk much, the way the two fought synchronized with one another, covering each other's blind spots. Both also mostly used the same martial art style.
"Get out of my way, outworlder!" A level 65 special elite orc tried to force his way through. His twin axes alighted with Paladin's white flame as he cleaved at both Leavemealone and Mohmed.
Mohmed put himself forward, his two hands twisted in a circle, executing the martial art, Reversing Heaven and Earth. The special elite orc's fiery twin axes swerved off their paths due to Mohmed's art. While the orc lost his balance, Leavemealone slipped through Mohmed's side and punched the orc.
Leavemealone's fists were covered in fire. This was because he had used a fire seed to evolve his Ki-infused Fist. Now when he activated this skill, a scorching flame coated his hands. The evolved skill increased his damage even further and caused fire damage.
When Leavemealone made the punch using his flaming fist, the flame that followed formed the image of a tiger head. It even produced a roaring sound as the flaming tiger opened its maw and slammed into the orc at the same time Leavemealone's fist struck. The orc's armor caved in as he was blown away by the punch.
"Tiger Punch! For a second there, I thought it was a game skill because of that tiger head image," Jet, who was fighting nearby, said.
"I'm also surprised when it happened the first time," Domon said.
"That must be this world's system interpreting our martial arts and adding visual effects for a dramatic display," Jet said. "Well, that's what Jack told me when he saw my perfect execution of Seven Injuries Fists."
"Not every martial art produces that kind of visual effect," Domon said. "You said your Seven Injuries Fists produce one?"
"Yeah, let me show you," Jet said and started punching his target at certain spots. An arrow and fireball came at him as he was executing his martial art.
"Shit!" He jumped away, canceling his attack after four punches.
"I told you already. Even when that martial art is very powerful, it is too ineffective. It is difficult to land seven consecutive punches at particular spots without any pause in a high-intensity fight. It will only work on training dummy or slow opponents."
"Still like to lecture people, I see," A shadow burst through from among the enemies. It arrived before Domon and Jet in a blink of an eye. The shadow then spun at high speed. Domon ducked and dodged the spinning kick from the shadow. Jet was slightly slower, but he managed to put up his two arms and block the spinning kick. The force of the kick sent him skidding through the ground.
The one who did the kick then landed on the ground with one foot, the other foot was hanging in the air with balanced grace. It was an old orc woman using fist weapons.
"Spinning crane kick… Who are you?" Domon asked.
The orc woman frowned, seemingly offended. "Hmph! Watch my move, you senile old man!"
Her hands turned into five, and then ten, and then fifteen. They came with a variety of attack styles. Fist, palm, one-finger poke, four-finger stab, claw, middle knuckle punch, and many others. With each movement, her attacks became even more numerous and rapid.
"This…!"
"Holy shit, it's her!" Jet, who was more familiar with this game world system had used his Inspect skill and read the orc woman's name when Domon was still using the old fashion way by asking for one.
Domon, however, knew who his opponent was after seeing the martial art the orc woman executed.
"Murong Shu, so you are still alive," Domon laughed as he backstepped to avoid the fists. "Your Fifty Shades of Death is becoming even more deadly now, but why have you become so ugly? Is it because of old age? You used to possess heavenly beauty."
"You…! Can't you see it is because I've been given an orc race!!" Murong was so pissed her movement paused for a bit.
"Ugh, I'm out of here…," Jet was just about to give Domon a hand. But after hearing Domon's remark, he chose to go fight some other place.
The Man, who saw Jet come to his side instead of aiding Domon, asked, "Master Jet, will master Domon be okay?"
The Man didn't think any player would be able to give Domon trouble, but seeing the ferocity of the orc woman's attacks and Domon could only dodge, he couldn't help but worry.
"Leave them be. You don't want to get into a lovers' quarrel," Jet replied.
"Lo… Lovers…?!" The revelation caused The Man to miss his swing and ended up getting counterattacked. Jet jumped over him and kicked his assailant.
"Hey, pay attention!" Jet reprimanded.
"So… Sorry. I… I simply cannot picture master Domon in a romantic relationship, with an enemy some more to add."
"Hey, man. We are all young once. But, well, it is more accurate to call her his ex-lover before he married Jack's grandma. Their relationship can be said to be anything but romantic. The two just danced around one another, which drove us all crazy. I can say that grandson of his inherit the same trait."
Domon wasn't aware of the two gossiping about him. He was too busy dealing with Murong Shu's Fifty Shades of Death. He had dealt with this martial art quite often in the past, but the one Murong was executing was a huge improvement compared to the last time he experienced it.
He couldn't just keep on dodging. With each step back, it was getting more difficult to dodge. His glaive was too cumbersome to parry the varied attacks. He stored his glaive and his two hands opened to palms. They then also multiplied. Both his hands were executing Eight Gates Illusory Palm. His multiplied palms smacked the most dangerous attacks from Murong's assault while he continued to dodge the rest.
All of a sudden, Murong's assault stopped abruptly. Her body had shifted next to Domon.
'Her ghost step had also improved!' Domon thought with surprise.
Murong's struck again from close range, this time with a two-finger poke. It was too close for Domon to dodge, so he used an arm to parry. The moment Murong's fingertip touched his arm, he knew something was wrong. He tilted his body to the side just as black light punctured through his arm. If he didn't tilt, that black light would have hit his heart.
Domon lost one-third of his HP from the attack. But he did not doubt that if the light had hit his heart as well, he would have received a second hit with a higher damage count.
"Nine yin abyssal finger. You have successfully learned it!" Domon exclaimed as he jumped away.
"Hmph, you are lucky this is a game world. Otherwise, that left arm of yours will not be usable again," Murong said.
"… You are right," Domon said. His glaive appeared again. He placed his left arm behind his back.
"What are you doing?" Murong asked after seeing Domon's pose.
"As you said, if this is our past world, I will only have one arm left. Let's treat it that way."
"… You will regret this!" Murong yelled as she lunged forward.
*
Not far away, Leavemealone was still fighting beside Mohmed. He had absolute confidence in Domon and never for a second thought that his master needed help. He just focused on dealing with the enemies that came his way.
He suddenly swiveled to the right when he sensed an invisible attack. Disco Rain appeared after her attack was parried. She wasn't surprised since Leavemealone had exhibited mana sense ability during the world tournament. Her Unblockable Stab came next. Leavemealone pumped mana into his fist and punched the phantom dagger. His fist destroyed the supposedly unblockable assault.
Disco Rain was also not surprised by this. She disappeared to Leavemealone's back while at the same time her combat clone appeared and struck from the other side. Leavemealone used his Cycle of Shade and Shadow, redirecting the attacks from two sides. Taking advantage when Disco Rain was unbalanced, Mohmed came and struck both Disco Rain's real body and clone.
Both Leavemealone and Mohmed sensed a strong attack coming then. They bolted to opposite sides as a large blue image of a sword came slashing down. The resulting force pushed the two away from one another.
Leavemealone then felt another assault come to his back. He whirled around and found starlight filling his view. Out of reflex, he used Battle Monk's Infinite Lightning Punches. His fiery fists clashed with the starlight. Rapid impact sounds were heard each time the fist and starlight collided.
When the exchange ended, Leavemealone found it was Four Winds who was in front of him.
"I am genuinely impressed. Everlasting Heavenly Legends is truly filled with experts," Four Winds said.
