Whaam!
Garona’s punch fell down like lightning. His astral energy was spinning violently as it stormed at Raon.
“Haap.”
Once again, Raon didn’t withdraw. He stomped the ground to slam his feet into the completely destroyed arena, unleashing the maximum output of the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation’s fire and controlling the Spiral Power.
Baam!
The countless clashes between the violent astral energies created a red whirlwind that burst into a strange shape.
“Huff.”
The scent of blood was mixed into Raon’s breath as he exhaled. He looked at Garona, who was preparing his next punch in the midst of the vortex of astral energy that was capable of tearing the skin apart.
‘I’ve finished analyzing his martial art.’
He had already learned all of Garona’s martial arts during the head-on clashes. He was even confident that he could unleash the exact same punches as him.
‘However… That’s not what I want right now.’
No matter how good an imitation was, it couldn’t be better than the original. It could blow Garona’s mind for a moment, but winning like that was meaningless.
‘Because I’m not looking for a single victory.’
What he wanted was the foundation to reach an even higher realm.
His goal was to reach even higher by making Matisse, Borini Kitten, and Garona’s strengths into his own.
That was the only reason he was still standing there while enduring such headaches.
“You finally stopped smiling.”
The astral energy bursting from Garona’s fists became distorted as it compressed itself.
“You finally reached your limits. You are such a brute.”
Despite what he said, his lips were curved into a smile. It could’ve been Raon’s mistake, but he got the impression that Garona had taken a liking to him.
“Everything that has a beginning is bound to end eventually.”
“I’ve recognized you as a man and I’ll finish you off accordingly.”
Garona pulled his right fist behind his shoulder and grabbed the right wrist with his left hand. Raon could only see his back and his eyes, but the powerful pressure emanating from him almost reached the sky.
“I don’t need your recognition.”
Raon fixed his grip on Heavenly Drive. He got into the middle posture, which was the fundamental of swordsmanship, and unleashed the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation to the maximum.
Flames shimmered up from the destroyed floor of the arena and covered the entire space.
“I’ll finish you off with this one!”
Garona destroyed the arena as he charged at Raon. It only took an instant for his fist to reach close enough to cover Raon’s entire vision.
Rumble!
The punch was powerful enough to shatter the sky. It was going to crush all of the bones in Raon’s body if he failed to defend properly.
Whir!
Raon made the rings of fire resonate. The clear resonance coming from the seven rings increased his focus and the level of his existence.
Raon extended his left foot in the midst of the slowed flow of time. He rotated the joint and muscles of his ankle and stepped on the ground.
Cring!
He connected the rotation surging from the ground to his leg muscles before it passed through his arm to reach his wrist.
The rotation started as weakly as a breeze, but it had turned into a tornado as it burst from his blade.
Whaap!
Aura, joint, and muscle. Majestic flames burst out from the combination of the three spins that cycled in the same direction.
The extremely powerful Spiral Power created by the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation’s fire condensed around his blade’s tip, and it was different from the previous Revolving Sky.
“Is that…”
Garona’s eyes widened upon witnessing the sphere shining as brightly as the sun above the sword’s tip.
“Brace yourself if you don’t want to die.”
Raon clenched his back teeth and slammed Heavenly Drive down. The Revolving Sky of the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation fell upon Garona’s punch alongside a powerful rotation and explosive power.
“You are making this interesting until the end!”
Garona’s eyes flashed as he thrust his fist towards the Revolving Sky.
It was a fight between powers. Neither Raon nor Garona even tried to think about dodging their opponent’s attack just like they’d always done during the match, instead unleashing their attacks to the best of their abilities on their opponent.
Whaam!
The drastically improved Revolving Sky clashed against Garona’s all-out special technique. Their powers became condensed upon impact before exploding to spread shockwaves in all directions, crumbling the land and removing the clouds from the sky.
Cring!
Raon and Garona were still pushing each other with their sword and fist in the midst of that impact. Their sword and fist were equal in power, but Garona had one more weapon up his sleeve.
Rumble!
Garona strengthened his grip, which used to be weakly clenched. The second strike followed the first one. The powerful astral energy was assaulting Raon like a tidal wave.
“It’s over!”
Garona smiled a toothy smile. He seemed to be convinced of his victory.
Spark!
It was at that moment that Raon’s eyes glittered.
‘Of course, I didn’t forget about it.’
Raon smiled coldly and twisted Heavenly Drive. Since it was impossible to add extra impact to the sword by clenching it like a fist, he turned the blade to create the same result.
Whaam!
It was a clash between second strikes. However, there was a difference between them. Unlike Garona’s strike, which was only using his physical strength, Raon had rotated the joints and muscles of his wrist.
It was an extremely weak rotation because he couldn’t use the other joints and muscles, but that was enough to make the difference.
Crack!
The second spread of the Revolving Sky shattered Garona’s astral energy and slashed his chest.
Psssh!
Red blood gushed from the laceration on Garona’s chest. He couldn’t overcome the shock and fell to his hands and knees on the destroyed arena. Although his organs weren’t hurt, his body couldn’t withstand the tremendous power of the strike.
“Y-you bastard. That last attack… Did you replicate mine?”
“Yes.”
Raon nodded. After all, he did indeed come up with that attack after watching his punch. He didn’t mention the rotation of his muscles because Garona would be shocked if he said it.
“What a frightening talent you have.”
Garona breathed roughly as he raised his head. The blood gushing from the scar on his chest had already stopped.
‘He’s almost like the White Blood Religion…’
It was a frightening amount of regeneration and durability. He looked more like a troll than a human.
“Huff…”
Garona shook his head to come back to his senses and raised himself up.
“I lose.”
He grabbed Raon’s hand without any hesitation and raised it.
“You won! Raon Zieghart!”
Garona’s declaration made sound return to the silent arena.
“Woaaah!”
“Raon! Raon! Raon!”
“It was the best match of my life!”
“I’ve never seen such a passionate duel before!”
“Garona! You were really cool too!”
“It was a duel between true warriors!”
The voices they’d been suppressing so far exploded at once, and they kept cheering for them endlessly.
“Brother, I’m so glad that they are cheering for you.”
Garona smashed Raon’s back with a grin on his face.
“Brother?”
Raon’s lips parted. He couldn’t understand what that troll guy was even saying.
“It’s the Black Beast Tribe’s custom to recognize an opponent as a brother after fighting all-out with body and heart. Your full power reached my heart. That’s why we are brothers from now on! Raon Zieghart!”
Garona slammed his own chest with a smile. Raon’s jaw dropped because the chest he slammed was slashed a moment ago.
“I have no intention of being your brothe—”
“Don’t be like that! I’m sure my heart has also reached you! We will become even closer than real brothers who share the same blood running through their veins! The Black Beast Tribe never abandons a brother once it’s decided!”
He burst out into cheerful laughter and grabbed Raon’s shoulder.
“Brother! Since the match is over, let’s go eat togeth—”
“No thanks.”
“Brother!”
Raon sighed and shook his head as he left the arena.
“Everyone’s abnormal around here. There are no exceptions…”
* * *
“Kuhahahaha!”
Ogram started laughing like a madman while crushing the armrest of his chair.
“Great! This is great!”
Even though Garona had lost and Raon had copied the Black Beast Tribe’s special technique, he was still happy about it.
“He fought as good as our tribe! He deserves to be his brother!”
Ogram shook his hand. He looked satisfied with the fact that Garona and Raon had become brothers.
“Geezer, you’ve got a really nice grandson. He’s the first among the Ziegharts that I’ve taken a liking to.”
“Ahem, you are being too noisy. Shut your mouth already.”
Glenn shook his hand and turned his head to where no one was watching. His lips secretly curved into a smile.
“My heart is pounding from watching their match. I feel like I’ve gotten at least twenty years younger.”
King Lecross’s face had also flushed from the excitement as he nodded.
“The match indeed far surpassed my expectations. I’d like to watch it again if I could.”
Derus was smiling in surprise, but his eyes were still immobile.
“Is that what they call alpha male nowadays?”
Chamber swirled her finger while whistling.
“Mister, you must be so happy to have such a nice grandson. Everyone’s calling that pretty boy’s name!”
She smiled cheerfully as the spectators kept calling Raon’s name.
“Their praise is meaningless.”
Glenn snorted without turning his face around. Even the tip of his fingers were trembling because he was trying his best to stop the corners of his lips, which were trying to soar into the sky.
Roenn shook his head while watching Glenn’s shivering cheeks from behind.
‘He should just admit it at this point…’
* * *
* * *
Raon was treated at the medical center before returning to the arena. The second round of the semifinals was only getting started, probably because it took them a long time to fix the arena.
The arena was completely returned to its previous state, and Cadis and the Magician of Annihilating Strike, Ron, were facing each other on the stage.
Raon started by examining Ron, who was standing on the right.
‘Magician of Annihilating Strike, huh.’
Ron was also one of the Twelve Stars of the Continent, but he occupied one of the lower ranks since he was ranked ninth—unlike Cadis and Borini Kitten, who were ranked in the middle.
He was definitely an excellent magician, but he was also clearly less skilled than his opponent, and the match could only have one outcome.
‘It would be nice if Ron lost without doing anything.’
What did you say?
Wrath tilted his head at his ridiculous statement.
But he’s the son of your archenemy over the stew.
‘Yes, he is.’
Since you aren’t in a great condition right now, it would be better for you if he has a difficult fight right now before meeting you, wouldn’t it?
‘That’s not how it works.’
Raon shook his head.
‘I have to beat him when he is in the best condition both in terms of aura and body after easily defeating Ron for the best effect. He won’t even be able to raise his head from shame if I did that.’
A simple victory was meaningless. He wanted to defeat Cadis at his best while having spent lots of stamina and aura himself in order to crush his pride even further.
Seriously, your mindset isn’t human or demonic. It’s similar to those from that nasty heavenly realm…
Wrath’s shoulders were trembling in disgust.
“Hmm.”
Raon narrowed his eyes as he watched Cadis.
‘He looks upset.’
His expression was as cold as ice. His face was blatantly showing his displeasure at the situation.
‘I guess he would be.’
Cadis cared about reputation, loving it even more than Derus. He must’ve been extremely irritated because Raon and Garona took everyone’s attention just like the day before.
‘Don’t worry about it.’
Raon clenched his fist with a cold smile on his face.
‘Your irritation is soon going to turn into despair.’
He was already curious about what face he would make after losing to him in the finals.
“The second match of the Master division’s semifinals is starting now!”
The master of ceremonies left the stage and lowered his hand.
The Magician of Annihilating Strike, Ron, was the first one to move instead of Cadis. He opened his hands and orange-colored mana was unleashed.
Annihilating Strike signified that his strike could make things disappear. Ron’s orange mana of Annihilating Strike was a bloodline magic capable of annihilating objects and even auras.
Cring!
According to the movement of Ron’s hands, the mana of Annihilating Strike turned into a sharp spear and was fired at Cadis.
Cadis slashed downwards in a curve without showing any sign of surprise. The aura dwelling on his blade smoothly wavered to deflect the power of Annihilating Strike.
Whir!
It was House Robert’s pride, the Azure Clouds Flow of Stars swordsmanship, which was both a Slow Sword and a Soft Sword.
The astral energy swimming throughout the atmosphere looked like it was drawing a picture as it deflected each and every one of Ron’s attacks. In fact, it looked more like the power of Annihilating Strike was avoiding Cadis on their own.
‘He’s perfectly mastered the Azure Clouds Flow of Stars.’
Cadis was clearly more powerful than the other mid-ranked Twelve Stars of the Continents. The astral energy spreading like flowing water from his sword was heavy and soft at the same time.
“Haap!”
Ron chanted rapidly and opened his fingers from his gathered hands.
Whaap!
The orange mana that was scattered in all directions because of Cadis’s sword started to move at once.
“Huh!”
Raon licked his lips while watching the energy of Annihilating Strike that was moving on its own like a living creature.
‘Even though he’s at a low rank, he’s still one of the Twelve Stars of the Continent. Has he been planning this?’
He thought that the Annihilating Strike lost too easily against Cadis’s sword, but it must’ve been a preparation for that surprise attack.
The energies of the Annihilating Strike numbered over the hundreds, and they rained down on Cadis at the same time. It should’ve been difficult to fend off all of them, even for Cadis.
Thud!
Cadis lowered the tip of his sword and rotated his ankle to slash upwards. The swarming mana of the Annihilating Strike was dragged like magnets toward the flow of astral energy he created.
No matter how powerful a river’s stream was, it was bound to be engulfed by the ocean in the end. The energies of the Annihilating Strike were devoured by Cadis’s astral energy and returned right back at Ron as a tidal wave.
“H-how is this happening?!”
Ron tried to endure somehow, but there was no way he could defend against the crashing wave. He was sent flying from the stage violently and slammed onto the ground.
“Kuah…”
Ron shook his head while coughing up blood.
“I-I lost.”
“Th-the winner is the Blade of Shattering Wave, Cadis Robert!”
Cadis raised his hand upon hearing the master of ceremonies’ announcement. He left the stage and examined Ron’s condition as he bowed at him.
“Woaaah!”
“That was a landslide victory!”
“That’s the Twelve Stars of the Continent for you! He couldn’t overcome the difference in rank after all.”
“This match was pretty cool too. I expected nothing less from the upcoming sword saint.”
“Every single scene of this match was great.”
“Wow! It was also nice that he cared about the loser after winning!”
The spectators sent a round of applause to Cadis, who appeared to care about the loser after his crushing victory.
“Hmm?”
Raon was watching Cadis’s back, but he turned around and their eyes ended up meeting. Cadis was smiling just like Derus. It looked warm on the outside, but it was actually a sneer.
Raon returned the smile by rolling up his lips, and even his eyes were smiling, unlike Cadis’.
‘I’ll erase that smile from your face soon enough.’
* * *
After the participants finished resting, the spectators gathered in the arena once again. Even though the resting time lasted for four hours to give them time to recover from their injuries and aura, more than half of the spectators didn’t leave their seats in order to keep the nice spots they had.
The master of ceremonies thought that their passion was frightening as he entered the stage.
“Thank you for waiting!”
He spread his arms and bowed at the spectators.
“The final matches for the Six Kings tournament are starting now!”
“Woaaah!”
“I’ve been waiting for this!”
“I stayed here for four whole hours without even eating!”
“Start it already!”
The spectators violently waved their hands, pleading for him to start the match already. They looked like they were going to kill the master of ceremonies if he delayed it even further.
“Ahaha. This burning passion is scorching me. Alright.”
The master of ceremonies nodded while wiping the cold sweat from his face.
“We are going to start with the final match for the Expert division! Martha Zieghart versus Greer De Owen! Please enter the stage!”
“Woaaaah!”
“Marthaaaaaa!”
“Your Highness! Please win!”
The spectators cheered loudly once again upon hearing the announcement. There were bound to be many people cheering for the third prince, but just as many people were cheering for Martha.
“Haa…”
Martha entered the stage and clenched her fist.
‘This is enough.’
Her injury was still affecting her, but she was still able to fight. Considering the fact that she managed to get stronger thanks to Raon, she should’ve been able to display her usual performance at least.
She raised her head to look at Owen’s third prince in front of her. He was an annoying weasel when she first saw him, but he grew up to be a dignified man.
“I’ve always wanted to compete with you from the first time I saw you.”
The third prince smiled faintly and straightened his shoulders.
“I remember it. You told me you wanted to fight me after defeating Raon.”
When Owen’s envoys came to Zieghart, he underestimated Raon and designated her as his next opponent.
“Indeed. And I was thoroughly defeated by the swordsman Raon. I’m still embarrassed whenever I think about what happened back then.”
The third prince smiled awkwardly in embarrassment and scratched the back of his head.
“However, that experience allowed me to get stronger.”
The atmosphere around him suddenly changed. It was the sharp and proud pressure, characteristic of the Owen knights. His eyes were also glowing in a profound light.
“The same goes for me.”
Martha clenched her sword and nodded.
“I also learned my lesson after he wiped the floor with me.”
“Which means we are both standing here thanks to the swordsman Raon. How interesting.”
The third prince smiled gently and turned serious.
“The swordsman Raon has already reached far above me since I saw him last. I’m planning to win this match no matter what in order to take a small step towards him.”
“Same goes for me once again.”
Martha looked at the third prince coldly.
“I can’t lose here no matter what because I have something I need to achieve.”
They slowly unleashed their pressure while looking at each other. The energy waves clashing against each other were weaker than the masters, but their spirits had reached the sky at least.
“Are you both ready?”
“Yes.”
Martha and the third prince nodded, and the master of ceremonies exhaled deeply before leaving the arena.
“The final match of the Expert division is starting now!”
As soon as he lowered his hand, Martha kicked the ground and charged.
She seemed to be planning to quickly end the match, as she pierced into the third prince’s space in an instant to unleash her strike. Her heavy and fast swordsmanship assaulted him from left and right consecutively.
Cring!
The third prince narrowed his eyes and lowered his body’s center of gravity. He thrust his aura blade in that state to pierce through the opening of Martha’s strike.
Martha narrowed her eyes.
‘I expected no less from Owen's eyes.’
He managed to pierce the opening in an instant. It wasn’t an overstatement to say that he was a completely different person from the one who visited Zieghart in the past.
‘Even so!’
Martha thrust her sword from the left upon noticing that the third prince’s sword was coming from the right side.
However, the third prince took an unhurried step back, as if he expected Martha’s move, before swinging his sword down to defend himself perfectly.
Even though Martha had the advantage in terms of strength, the precision and sharpness of his technique were in the third prince’s favor. The match was bound to drag into a long fight at that rate.
“Haa…”
Martha sighed and withdrew. Since her aura wasn’t in the best condition, she had no choice but to use ‘that move’.
“Are you already done?”
“No, I’m only getting started.”
Black breath was coming from her red lips. Her black eyes glowed red and the light brown aura covering her body violently burst from her.
Wham!
Along with an earth-splitting sound, Martha’s shape disappeared from the stage. She was piercing into the third prince’s space more than twice as fast as the previous clash.
Clang!
The third prince quickly built a wall with his aura blade, but Martha violently destroyed it and kept charging at him.
“Argh!”
The third prince bit his lip and twisted his blade to deflect Martha’s slash.
‘Is it Berserk?’
Considering the way that Martha’s eyes had darkened and how much her physical abilities and her aura’s quantity had increased, it must’ve been Berserk, the skill that the Saian Canyon’s warriors were supposed to use against monsters.
Baam!
He felt like his shoulder was being dislocated just from defending. He forced himself to endure the pain and used footwork.
‘I can’t fight her head-on.’
He wasn’t Raon Zieghart. Every bone of his body would be broken if he tried confronting that power and speed from the front.
‘The only relief is that she won’t last long in that state.’
The Berserk skill of the Saian Canyon’s warriors only multiplied their abilities by 1.5 to 2 times. Since Martha’s abilities had been multiplied by almost 2.5 times, she couldn’t even last a single minute in that state. Since her movements became simpler than before, he was confident he could last for that long.
“Kuaaah!”
Martha shouted like a monster as she slammed her sword down. It was difficult to believe that the strike was coming from an Expert as it crushed the floor. It was a frightening amount of power, but her technique was extremely simple, just like the third prince had expected.
‘I just need to last a bit longer… Huh?’
He turned around in order to dodge Martha’s second strike, and her face was right in front of him already.
“Huh?”
The third prince swallowed nervously, upon seeing Martha’s eyes.
‘Why does she have clear eyes?’
