In the beginning, Yeon-woo also tried to stack up as many skills as possible. However, he set up his own domain and used what he learned as a foundation. He was moving along his own ‘path.’
It was enough for the Head Elder to feel astonished. Yeon-woo’s accomplishments were well-formed. Even if Waltz was ahead of Yeon-woo right now, it was obvious what would happen if they were at the same level.
And because he compared her to Yeon-woo, the Head Elder was able to answer his own questions about Waltz.
Koong!
The Head Elder blocked Waltz’s fist. The sound of something exploding rang out.
With a calm gaze, he glowered at Waltz, who was trying to attack him again.
“You. You’re from the One-horned tribe. Right?”
“…….”
“Whose child are you?”
Swek!
But Waltz didn’t answer. Magic gathered around her again for another attack.
Kwang, kwang, kwang—
The ground shook, and the sound pierced through the atmosphere.
“If you don’t answer—”
The Head Elder blocked and avoided Waltz’s fist, ending up right behind her.
“There’s nothing I can do except beat you up until you answer properly.”
Krrrrrn—
Blood Mine fell from the sky. <Heaven-breaking Blood Mine>. The skill that had an arrogant name of breaking the heavens fell on top of Waltz, and just when she attempted to shield herself…..
“Arghhhhh!”
A loud shout rang from the sky, and a large shadow came quickly to her.
The Head Elder and Waltz turned their gazes and quickly moved away. The thing that came flying over was a dragon. The Summer Queen. The Martial King had blown the Summer Queen away, who was as large as a mountain!
“That crazy bastard!”
The Head Elder, who had been fighting in a serious manner until now, crumpled his face and cursed.
Kwang!
But his curse was buried by the sound of the explosion. Like a catapult that was used to throw stones, the Summer Queen shot up to the sky and let out a horrible cry when she came back to the ground.
Krrrr.
The Summer Queen was only able to stop after she knocked down a few canyons.
“Hehe.”
The Martial King wiped his brow with a proud face. He looked like a farmer who had finished harvesting his plants.
The Head Elder, Waltz, the Nine Dragon Sons, and the 81 Eyes. All of them froze and gaped at the Summer Queen.
Rumbleeee!
The canyons around her couldn’t take it and crumbled on top of her.
The large Dragon Body was buried under rubble.
“Hahaha!”
“Whew, that’s our king! His strength is really something! How’s that?”
“See, I still got it. Should I make Phante and Edora their 74th little sibling while I’m at it?”
“Haha! That’s a good idea!”
“Yeah! What a man!”
The warriors who had a similar temperament to the Martial King all slapped their knees with laughter.
The Martial King could feel his children shaking their heads at him, but he continued to joke, not caring what they thought.
While he did, the pile of stones shifted. A Dragon Fear that was enough to shake the atmosphere came pouring out.
[I’ll kill you.]
A voice filled with fury rang out. With a boom, the Summer Queen showed herself again.
She glared at the Martial King with fiery eyes, wings spread apart. She began to squeeze out the power from her soul. Her level decreased rapidly, but that didn’t matter anymore.
[I’ll kill you, Nayu!]
Her head was filled with thoughts of swallowing the Martial King.
Along with her powerful will, the Endless World of Night began to shake. It became nauseating, and a few players almost barfed.
However, the Martial King just snickered with a broad smile.
“Yeah. That’s what I said, Ismenios. From earlier.”
He clenched his fists and veins popped out. And above that, 8 different energies of different colors flowed up.
lt;Eight Trigrams>. It was the result of training one’s Eight Extreme Fists to the extreme. If the peak of the Head Elder’s research was Blood Mine, the Martial King’s was Eight Trigrams.
Each of the energies around him was extremely condensed.
If he used Mugong with the Eight Trigrams, the energy would sweep away his surroundings.
“The person who’ll punch Allforone’s annoying face. Let’s see which of us that is.”
Kwang! Swekkk—
The Martial King flew forward and attacked. It was one of the Eight Writings of Divination that Yeon-woo knew, but it definitely wasn’t a level that he had seen before.
There was a crack where the Summer Queen flew off from. With the sound of intense rumbling, a large hole appeared in the center of the mountain.
The mountain came crumbling down with tons of rocks, and the Summer Queen spewed her Breath from atop.
Swooshhh!
Hot hell-like fire instantly heated up the Outer Space.
The Martial King didn’t avoid it. He held his hands up and twisted them to the side. A long fault line appeared.
The space above it twisted, and the Breath disappeared futilely. No, even the space behind it was completely twisted.
Clouds split, and the sky opened. Then, the sun broke into pieces. Countless sparks poured from above, and darkness instantly descended upon them.
When the sun found its position itself and the world became brighter, the Martial King and the Summer Queen were fighting in the sky.
The Summer Queen used magic again and again. Magic circles appeared all around her. It was all great magic above 8 circles.
Blizzard, Inferno Hell, Meteor Strike, Power Ward of Kill. Each of them would be disastrous to the stage if they fell, and the Martial King just broke them apart with his bare hands.
But even then, he didn’t stop.
The Eight Trigrams swirling around the Martial King each did their job. Heaven, earth, wind, fire, water, lightning…..all kinds of properties broke the magic, and…..
Kwang!
They coalesced at one point.
Magic and Eight Trigrams collided, then exploded.
Krrrrrrng—
The fire covered the entire Outer Space. The Endless World of Night turned into a world filled with only light and heat.
The fight of the two who were at the top of the Nine Kings wasn’t just a simple fight between players anymore. It was a disaster.
But the Martial King and the Summer Queen continued fighting like they weren’t finished.
The Martial King brought his fists in towards his own body. Another large storm was created with him at the center.
Two different Writings of Divinations tried to combine as one. It was something he had only theorized about but never attempted. He might’ve hurt himself, but the Martial King was happy.
He could do what he would never have dared to do in the village.
Once the beast that he had kept suppressed after becoming one of the Nine Kings was opened, he couldn’t stop himself anymore.
Just when he was about to crush the Summer Queen’s head—
“Die, Summer Queennnnn!”
An outsider suddenly came into their fight. Ione ran between the two of them while he had been secretly watching.
“Who’s this bastard?”
The Martial King frowned. His exhilaration vanished like it was never there. He hated being bothered when he was focused on something, and he only felt better after flipping the intruder around.
However, Ione was also in a rush.
‘That life! I… I will!’
Ione felt like he would never feel at ease if he didn’t pay the Red Dragon back for making him into this pitiful state.
He was humiliated by Tom, who was much younger than him, at the Kelat Auction House, and just when he thought the tablet was his, he was suddenly met with an unexpected incident.
As the head of a great family, having only received respect and admiration all his life, it was a humiliation that he couldn’t let go of.
Also, everyone from the Elohim who had come here with him was dead.
If he returned to the Elohim like this, he would just be a backroom Senate member and die pathetically like the rest of the Senate.
As the head of the Family of Life, one of the pillars of the Elohim, he couldn’t let his family fall apart like that. It was something that could never happen. He wouldn’t be able to look at his ancestors in the eye when he died.
But there was something that Ione was confident about that allowed him to do this.
Nebro. A child he had given everything for. They weren’t related, but he had still given him his territory. He was basically a shadow of Ione.
If he wanted to let that child walk the path he had left to him, no, to let him fly free, he had to sacrifice himself here.
He could pay back his debt to the Senate with this and restore their family’s honor. He couldn’t be an obstacle in his child’s path.
Kwakwakwang!
Blue light surrounded Ione and thousands of arrows fell above the Summer Queen’s head.
lt;Light of Disasters>. The Protogenoi species were originally gods but fell to the earth after having their status taken away. However, they still had some holiness left, and they could use it by splitting their existence apart.
Ione could momentarily use the holy power that he had, and like a candle that was brightest just before it went out, he was able to use the power of gods at this moment.
If the head of a family split himself apart, how powerful would that be?
The thousands of arrows that came from splitting Ione apart pierced the Summer Queen’s body.
[You dare! You dareeee!]
And with this chance, the other rankers began to use their skills.
The apostles used their powers, the Lords used their curses, and others their signature skills.
All kinds of effects exploded, and the Summer Queen was the target of it all.
Kwakwakwang!
[Ahhhhh!]
Just when she was about to spew her Breath, the Martial King released two Writings of Divination that he had saved at the same time.
The strong energy that split the sun and pierced the moon cut the Summer Queen’s leather wings, and there was a deep cut from her shoulder to her stomach.
Crunch!
A tremendous amount of blood poured down on the floor like rain. Scales scattered down.
[Kaaaaa!]
The Breath scattered and hit innocent rankers.
And.
Kwang!
The Martial King landed on the Summer Queen’s back. The Summer Queen folded into a ‘V’ and fell down.
Crunch!
The Summer Queen experienced the pain of her spine and back being crushed.
The Martial King didn’t stop there, twisting the Summer Queen’s cut wings and arm muscles. Crunch. Her scales cracked and her skin split like a turtle’s back.
Her dragon scales, leather, muscles, veins, and bones. It was a body that could even resist adamantium.
However, she easily collapsed against the Martial King’s power.
Even under that immense pain, the Summer Queen twisted her body mid-air.
The Breath that came from her gaping mouth covered the Martial King.
It was a power equivalent to hellfire. The Martial King’s skin boiled, but he just laughed like he was having the time of his life and tore off her wings.
“Hahaha!”
Boom!
He buried the Summer Queen in the ground. Her side was scratched as a deep crater was dug into the earth.
The Summer Queen and the Martial King were completely submerged under the rubble.
Krrrr—
The Summer Queen’s body was covered with small and large injuries all over, and her wings were plucked off. Blood dripped from her and flooded the ground.
The Summer Queen just grimaced and spewed her Breath again, like she intended to see the end of the Martial King no matter what.
The Martial King also stumbled over his steps, having received some damage, but he raised his fists above him again.
Energy exploded around him.
The blades of light of all kinds of properties split the Breath.
Kwakwakwang!
The storm that didn’t seem like it would end lashed around the Outer Space once again.
* * *
“Mon…..ster.”
Atran watched the Martial King and Summer Queen’s fight from far away with a blank face.
Then, he muttered to himself.
“Attacking a monster like that? Crazy bastard.”
He was cursing himself. When the auction had been ruined because of the Summer Queen, he spent all his life savings coming here.
At first, he was confident. The Ice King, Twice, Black Skull. They were all the top S-Class mercenaries, and guilds like Iron Lion and Moon Shadow stood behind him. He even met unexpected people like ‘Jang’ and ‘Turn.’
He didn’t say it out loud, but he thought he could cut off at least one arm of the Red Dragon.
He thought he would be able to confidently say that he would not go down easily.
But with the situation like this, he realized how foolish he was.
An arm? F*** no. It was hard to even take out a finger. He couldn’t even dream of approaching the Summer Queen.
Just now, some of the rankers who were swept away by Breath included Black Skull. He had stepped up saying he would pull out one of the Summer Queen’s toenails, but he didn’t even leave a corpse behind when he died.
These players were called rankers, but in front of the Summer Queen, they were nothing.
“That monster became an even greater monster. Haha. Amazing. Even though I worked so hard.”
The Ice King chuckled next to Atran. He was an old geezer who had kept talking to himself throughout the entire journey.
Unlike the other mercenaries who ran away because of the Martial King and the Summer Queen, the Ice King, Twice, and ‘Turn’ were doing their duty next to him.
They flicked away the flying pieces and moved Atran safely to somewhere he wouldn’t be touched by the attack.
They wanted to take the gate and leave this Outer Space, but the path was blocked by the Martial King and the Summer Queen.
Atran glanced at the Ice King. He remembered how the Ice King’s life went downhill after being defeated by the Martial King.
On the other hand, the Martial King became well-known after defeating him, making a fancy debut.
‘Doesn’t he feel anything?’
Most people would’ve felt discomfort, but the Ice King was enjoying the fight as if he found a new toy. The same went for Twice and ‘Turn.’
They were grinning crazily like how the Ice King was, but they seemed to be surprised and deep in thought while watching the fight.
The emotion in all their eyes were the same.
Passion.
Respect.
Admiration.
‘They’re all crazy. These bastards are all…..!’
Atran felt like his entire body was itching because of them. They were all psychos he couldn’t understand.
That was why he decided that he needed to get a grip on himself.
It was easy to die in places filled with psychos like this.
They might be smiling about how dying while enjoying a fight was the joy of life, but to Atran, his life was more important than anything.
To make a comeback, he first needed to survive.
He looked around to find the person who was the most normal here, after him. ‘Jang.’ He was silent, but he knew how to observe the situation coldly.
He was here just a moment ago. Now, he was suddenly gone.
‘Where is he?’
* * *
Pat—
Jang Wei quickly began to run around the empty battlefield.
His destination was where the Martial King and the Summer Queen were. It was also where the damned One-horned tribe was fighting, not knowing their place.
It was easy to see just with a glance.
Even while most rankers were swept away by the Breath, the Martial King was powerful enough to tear off the Summer Queen’s wings.
‘Amazing.’
Jang Wei laughed coldly. His eyes were flashing with joy. They were the eyes of a hunter who was after his prey.
He knew that the Martial King was strong when he was being chased by him. However, he didn’t know exactly how strong.
Now that he knew, his heart beat faster. And now, he didn’t have to worry about being bothered. His prey was clashing with his other prey.
Though both their backs were exposed, neither thought that someone was after them. No. They couldn’t have.
That was the advantage of beasts. They knew how strong they were, so they were lost in arrogance, believing that they were the best and that nothing could touch them. Not knowing how dangerous that was.
But such prey was there.
If he could plant his arrow into that large prey and cut their necks with his knife, how great would his joy be?
‘It’s like…..’
He remembered a memory that he had left behind on Earth.
‘Like the chief.’
Feeling the thrill down to the end of his fingertips, he paused.
Tak!
lt;Stealth Stalking>. Borrowing the skill of Hou Yi that allowed him to secretly follow an enemy, he arrived in a shaded place.
It wasn’t exposed to the outside, and it had a perfect view. Jang Wei lifted his Four Directions and slowly pulled it back.
Far away, his target was soaring up high in the sky again. He was so far that it just seemed like a dot, but his two eyes were clearly on the Martial King.
If he let go of the string, his Arrow of Light would land in the Martial King’s back. Looking forward to that feeling, he licked his lips.
But—
‘…..What is that?’
Just when he was about to let go, he paused unintentionally. Thump. Thump. Thump. His heart beat faster. His breathing rate increased.
His heart had beaten faster when he was after the Martial King, but that was from expectation and exhilaration.
This was different.
His back felt cold. He shivered. He felt like someone put their hand in his body. He felt anxious.
It was an emotion he never felt after stepping foot in the Tower. It was an emotion felt by instinct.
On Earth, Jang Wei had the talent of quickly knowing when he was in danger.
Jang Wei was able to realize the ‘feeling’ of his life in danger.
That was how he was able to survive in the hell of Africa.
Using that talent, he was able to become the Bow God.
That emotion had returned. There was something around him.
He whipped his head to the side. At the edge of his vision, he could see a man standing on a hill.
There was a man with a black outfit and mask. Cain. It was his original target, the Hoarder.
Although it was clearly his first time seeing him, his heart didn’t calm down.
No, rather, it happily beat faster. Thump. Thump. Thump.
Jang Wei crumpled his face and glared at him.
‘Who are you?’