Chapter 107: Opening Act (5)

Translator: HH Editor: HH

Yeon-woo lightly clicked his tongue.

He never would’ve imagined that this was what the Martial King meant when he said he would provide opportunities to fight.

However.

‘But I have no reason to refuse.’

He could tell at a glance that the people the Martial King had brought were skilled.

They were only in their current condition because they were scared of the Martial King, but they were skilled enough for Yeon-woo to fight them on an even playing field.

It was clear one of them was a team leader within the Red Dragon Clan.

They were players that he never would’ve met on the 11th if not for the war.

He probably wouldn’t win if they all ganged up against him, but fighting one-on-one was definitely possible, and it was a good chance to try out his Heaven Wing Mana Control and Eight Extreme Fists.

“I’ll do it.”

The Martial King nodded his head as if he had expected it.

Phante mumbled quietly from behind.

“Yeah. I forgot for a moment that Hyung-nim is also one of ‘those’ personalities…..! Cough…!”

*Pak*

Phante rolled on the floor in pain after the Martial King flicked his forehead.

“My dearest son, you can move your piehole however you want, but you should always think about the consequences.”

The Martial King lightly warned his son while smirking at him, and he stared at Shanon’s back.

They were all shaken.

The first person who gathered their wits was Shanon. Shanon realized right away that the person who the Martial King had picked out was the Hoarder.

He didn’t know what kind of relationship they had, but he wasn’t going to kick this opportunity to survive away.

He slowly got up.

“If…I can’t defeat the Hoarder…what’s gonna happen?”

The Martial King shrugged his shoulders.

“I wouldn’t know.”

“What….?”

“How does one guarantee life or death in a fight? If you’re talented, you live, and if you’re not, you die.”

Shanon’s eyes shined.

He realized what the Martial King was saying.

“Then does that mean it’s okay if I kill the Hoarder?”

“Isn’t that obvious?”

The Martial King snorted.

Edora shouted in a panicked voice.

“Father!”

“I can hear you even if you don’t scream.”

“What in the world are you talking about? A fight to the death….?”

A fight to the death. A fight where someone had to die for the fight to end.

“What? Then do you want them to arm wrestle like this is some kind of friendly neighborhood competition? And what good would that do?”

“But!”

“Edora.”

Edora couldn’t speak out any longer.

The Martial King’s low warning voice and his sunken gaze shut her up.

“Do not forget. This is war. Once we show our backs, our heads will be blown off right away. Were you planning on taking a vacation? If you’re having those kinds of rotten thoughts, just go back.”

Edora clenched her fists and bit her lower lip.

Here, the Martial King’s words were correct.

She was indeed whining.

This place was a warzone.

It wasn’t weird if someone were to die, whether it be her, Phante, Yeon-woo, or even the invincible Martial King.

The Martial King confirmed that Edora wouldn’t complain any longer and shook his head.

“Always like that whenever it’s related to Cain. Phante, do you have anything to say?”

Phante just had a frowning face. He wasn’t going to try to stop this, and it’s not like the Martial King would listen to him anyway.

“I think Father is right this time.”

“Good boy. You don’t deserve to say anything about my personality. Do you know why?”

Phante pouted like he couldn’t care less.

The Martial King grinned and turned his head towards Yeon-woo.

“Because our people are all like this.”

Phante and Edora pressed their lips tightly together. It seemed like they had a lot of things they wanted to say.

“Anyways. Cain. What about you? You’re not getting cold feet now, are you?”

The Martial King asked expectantly, like he would be very disappointed if he backed out.

“Actually, it’s something I wanted to request of you.”

Yeon-woo nodded his head as if it was obvious.

“See? I thought you would say that. Haha!”

The Martial King knew from when he saw that Yeon-woo was trying to imitate him that they were similar.

He laughed like he was content and looked back at Shanon, as if asking if he was gonna fight.

Shanon hardened his expression, and nodded his head as the rest of them all got up.

They didn’t have a choice.

If they did, it was just one.

To defeat Yeon-woo.

If they lost, but their skills were on par, they might be able to live, but the Martial King would never allow that.

“What method do you want us to use?”

Shanon asked with clenched teeth. As his fear faded away, his will slowly increased. The veins in his eyes were bloodshot.

“The method is very simple. The result will be determined by fighting one on one. However, you can choose the order you want to fight.”

Shanon and the other players started looking at each other.

It was obvious the very last player would have the advantage because Yeon-woo would be tired.

And so the order was chosen without any big arguments.

They had a hierarchy amongst themselves. No matter the situation they were in, they all had positions from the Red Dragon clan. Shanon naturally went fifth, the last.

Yeon-woo stepped forward.

Everyone except for the first player stepped back to make an area for them to fight.

“Shit. I can’t believe I have to fight with that newbie.”

The player spit on the ground. Although Yeon-woo was infamous on the 11th floor, he was still a novice.

It was obvious that the player would get mad.

He quickly got his sword out like he wanted to get it over with. A murderous intent filled the air around them.

Yeon-woo held the Magic Bayonet and Carshina’s dagger in each hand.

The Eight Extremes Fists could be used in various ways. Even if he had only learned the first section, he could still use two swords.

No, rather, if he used a weaponry he was unfamiliar with, wouldn’t it be better to test his skills?

With these thoughts, he slowly activated Heaven Wing Mana Control. The circuits large and small started to move, and the Cores that were located his different parts of his body added to his strength.

Suddenly.

*whoosh*

A reddish light rippled out into his surroundings and gathered around him in a haze.

Wings made of fire. The player’s face hardened as Fire Wing was spread out.

A hot heat bubbled the atmosphere and a strong will to fight intimidated him.

It was then that he realized something wasn’t right. And he realized too late.

What the Martial King meant to have them be testing experiments.

*Kwang*

Yeon-woo lightly ran towards where the player was.

*swish*

“Hup!”

Something shined, and before he knew it, Yeon-woo was right in front of him.

“What kind of speed is this…!”

The player’s eyes widened in shock.

He instinctively stepped back to put some space in between them, but Yeon-woo spun around and kicked him.

*crash*

Yeon-woo followed the player and brought the Magic Bayonet down from his head to his feet.

The player thought his head would be in pieces and quickly moved. And he arched his sword.

A yellowish light followed the sword.

It was faint, but it was an Auror blade.

*whish*

Adding a spin to that, the air split in half explosively.

But the magic bayonet wasn’t weak either.

No one could catch up to Yeon-woo’s magic power after he ate the Akasha’s Snake, and with Haven Wing Mana Control, he became too strong, emitting 3 times his original power.

In addition, he had a strong fire fighting skill and motivation to fight.

The player had to experience intense pain as the Magic Bayonet cut off his arm on contact.

And the fire ability passed by him and the armor he was wearing went up in flames.

Burns could be seen on his stub of an arm.

‘What kind of strength…!”

Shock and heat. The player couldn’t catch up. It felt like the world was spinning.

Yeon-woo quickly started to attack.

*crash crash*

The Magic Bayonet threw the player’s sword away, and the Carshina’s dagger landed in his chest.

When the player barely managed to escape, Yeon-woo would follow him with no time for rest.

Yeon-woo recited the 32 steps in the order the Martial King had taught him.

Everytime he whipped his arm, an intense air followed.

A neat air became a strong wind, and the storm twisted up like a tornado.

With the fire added to that, it became a continuous explosion.

Eight Extreme Fists and Heaven Wing Mana Control.

When he had first learned the form, they didn’t go well together.

The movements didn’t match the magic power.

But even in that situation, Yeon-woo focused on just one thing.

‘Flaws.’

His Draconic Eyes burst open. The eyes, with a proficiency well over 30% now, exposed all the flaws in the world, and Yeon-woo left his body to his instincts.

And the Eight Extreme Fists and Heaven Wing Mana Control started to work in harmony.

Of course, after that, Combat Will was activated and allowed his body to follow his will.

Yeon-woo’s movements became smoother as he kept fighting.

It became cleaner and deeper. Like it was made for Yeon-woo.

Thanks to that, as time went on, the player barely fended off the attacks.

He kept getting pushed back because of the difference in strength, and had to be his punching bag.

His sword broke into a thousand different pieces, and Carshina’s dagger stabbed his chest.

His armor broke too easily. The armor that was made of materials only found at the 40th floor didn’t do much. And in an instant, the dagger impaled his heart.

The player vomited blood and collapsed.

Yeon-woo pulled the dagger out of the corpse and looked where the other players were.

Their faces were hard.

The person that had just died was the vice clan leader of a well known subsidiary of Red Dragon, ‘Red Wolf.’

If he climbed just a few more floors, he would be a ranker.

But he was defeated this one-sidedly?

The Hoarder. He was stronger than they thought. They wouldn’t be able to leave this place easily.

“Ok. Next.”

The second player, Ruthor, stepped forward with a hard face.

***

“…..Next.”

Blood sprayed across the floor. Shanon twisted his face as he saw the fourth corpse.

He didn’t know it would get to his turn. Of course, Yeon-woo wasn’t in the best condition either.

He had easily defeated Torrison, but he had still regained some injuries. Every time he fought a player, he became more and more tired.

And the players saw his weaknesses as he went on.

Pant. Pant.

Yeon-woo gasped for breath and the armor he was wearing was broken in some places. He was drenched in blood.

It wasn’t weird if he collapsed any moment now. But you could still see his deep eyes behind the mask.

Shanon stepped forward like nothing could be done.

He was planning on getting rid of Yeon-woo right away since he knew his weaknesses. He was planning on finishing the fight before Yeon-woo could read it.

Yeon-woo knew that this player was on a different level from the players before.

Even his armor was on a different level.

Red Dragon. A ‘real’ clan member appeared. And he was the team leader of a fighting squad

If he took into consideration the pickiness of the Red Dragon, this man was probably the person in charge of all the forces in Kuram.

[It would be best to be careful of that guy. Even if you fought with all your strength, he would be a difficult guy to beat.]

And the Martial King’s voice was in his ear, like he had felt Yeon-woo’s nervousness.

Yeon-woo turned his head in that direction. The Martial King lifted one side of his mouth. As if now was the real deal.

[A Semi Ranker. That guy’s a Semi Ranker.]

[1] a respectful way to address a male (usually older than you)