Chapter 531: Coming to a Conclusion (1)

Chapter 531: Coming to a Conclusion (1)

Disharmony. That was perhaps the most fitting word to describe this feeling.

Lee Hyeon-Su was beset with a ruthless sense of disharmony right now. Even though he could see, hear and feel through his skin, his brain simply refused to process this spectacle.

Even as Lee Hyeon-Su was flying away after getting swept up in the massive shockwave, he couldn't accept what was happening to him. The reality didn't seem real at all. All he could do was ungainly flail about like a drowning man.

The sky and ground were dizzily spinning around in his view. The sky became land, then land became the sky again. Lee Hyeon-Su couldn't help but chuckle hollowly at this extremely surreal situation.

At this point, Lee Hyeon-Su couldn't even tell if he was still awake or asleep. However, his philosophical stroll into the surreal came to an abrupt end when a brutal landing on the unforgiving ground woke him right up. Unfortunately, that presented a different kind of problem to Lee Hyeon-Su.

Creaaaaaak!

Lee Hyeon-Su's airborne body finally landed, but that wasn't the end of his troubles. The fall didn't weaken his body's momentum, and Lee Hyeon-Su continued to slide across the rough terrain.

“Urghk?!”

A pained gasp leaked out of Lee Hyeon-Su's mouth. He reflexively reached out and thrust his hands into the ground. He was rewarded by the pain akin to his wrists snapping off.

Still, he managed to stop his body by doing that. While wheezing and panting, Lee Hyeon-Su raised his head but couldn't see anything. The tidal waves of swirling dust clouds made it impossible to determine where he had landed.

'What's the point? I must be in Hell, anyway!'

That was probably the accurate description for this location now! A fierce battle between two humans created a natural disaster? Lee Hyeon-Su had been walking on the road of martial arts for over two decades, but this scene was still way beyond the scope of his understanding. So, he decided to just give up.

Don't bother trying to understand, just accept the reality as it is! Besides, the question of how those two men could cause destruction on this scale wasn't really important in this situation, anyway.

'Who won?'

Indeed, reality was more important than anything else. And the reality of the situation would rapidly change depending on who won. Was it Kang Jin-Ho or Vator?

The result of this battle would cause powerful ripples to spread to the rest of East Asia. All Lee Hyeon-Su could do right now was pray for Kang Jin-Ho's unequivocal victory.

Lee Hyeon-Su scanned the surroundings while opening his eyes super wide. The dust storm tore into his open eyeballs, but Lee Hyeon-Su dared not close his eyes. Tears trickled down, but he forced himself to keep his eyes peeled.

He simply had to see it. He needed to find out who won!

The dust storm blowing around with enough force to shred a normal person's body gradually died down. And all the dust torturing Lee Hyeon-Su's eyes finally began calming down, too.

'Who won?! Who is it!'

Lee Hyeon-Su's vision wasn't clear enough, but he still spotted a person's silhouette in the distance.

“...Oh, no!” Lee Hyeon-Su immediately began shuddering. He could instinctively tell whose silhouette that was. It was... Vator!

That distinctive body shape definitely didn't belong to Kang Jin-Ho. That giant standing all alone... was undoubtedly Vator! However, the size of the silhouette wasn't enough to determine who it could be. Lee Hyeon-Su didn't know how far the dust storm had carried him away, after all.

However, the abnormally wide shoulders compared to the head, plus the narrow waist creating a perfect upside-down triangle, could've only belonged to Vator.

Lee Hyeon-Su unconsciously chewed on his lip. Vator didn't fall? Didn't that mean he endured that massive collision and the subsequent explosion?

'Where is Mister Jin-Ho, then?'

Lee Hyeon-Su urgently scanned the surroundings. Vator survived that encounter, but what happened to Kang Jin-Ho? No matter how much he searched, though... Lee Hyeon-Su couldn't see anything that might be Kang Jin-Ho's silhouette beside Vator's figure.

“N-no!” Lee Hyeon-Su's thoughts unconsciously jumped out of his mouth.

This couldn't be. This... should not be allowed to happen! Kang Jin-Ho's defeat to Vator would herald the destruction of South Korea's martial society! And the impact of that destruction wouldn't just end with the hidden world, either. The rulers of the underworld becoming subordinates of China meant the surface world would also be subjected to the neighboring nation's influences.

Lee Hyeon-Su got curious about the emotions ruling over Vator right about now. However, even if he had been positioned in front, Lee Hyeon-Su wouldn't have read Vator's feelings. That was because Vator... He was making a far-too-complicated expression.

Vator quietly muttered. “You are... the second expert... to knock me down into this wretched state.”

Kang Jin-Ho narrowed his eyes. “I'm guessing the first was the Crimson King?”

Vator slowly nodded. “Yes... He's strong. Truly powerful...! So strong that even if I challenged him again, victory would still be... a hopeless dream.”

Grief was clearly evident in Vator's voice. He lost, after all.

Obviously, this wasn't his first defeat in life. However, he believed no one under the heavens could rival him after he perfected his martial arts. However, the Crimson King shattered that notion. And then, Kang Jin-Ho shattered it again.

Vator raised his head and looked at Kang Jin-Ho. He now had to accept these two defeats. The second defeat felt different from the first, but that didn't mean Vator wouldn't acknowledge the man before his eyes.

Kang Jin-Ho was a different type of the strong compared to the Crimson King.

In simpler terms, the Crimson King's strength was refreshing. He was so strong and heroic that even Vator had to laugh gladly after tasting his defeat. However, Kang Jin-Ho's vibe was completely different.

Rather than defeat, Vator felt more like he had been hunted down by a wily hunter. When he realized nothing could stop Kang Jin-Ho, Vator suddenly felt like a fish laid out on a massive cutting board. Fear immediately washed over him. He tried, but his body continued to shudder all on its own.

“I want to ask you something, Kang Jin-Ho...”

Kang Jin-Ho wordlessly nodded.

Vator grimaced. “Why... Why did I lose?”

“...”

“I believed I... I have perfected my martial arts. By... By attaining the perfect body, I believed no one could defeat me. Sure, I might lose once. Humans make mistakes all the time, after all. Even so... How did I lose to you?”

Vator's voice gradually became a despair-filled cry toward the end of his question. Every word he spoke dripped with resentment and frustration, as if everything he believed in had fallen pathetically apart. Unfortunately for Vator, however...

The man subjected to this resentment, Kang Jin-Ho, didn't seem particularly bothered by it. “You said your name is Vator.”

“...”

“Your words are as foolish as you look.”

Vator's face reddened from anger and humiliation. That was because he felt the ridicule. The cutting sneer in Kang Jin-Ho's voice was so merciless that it almost drew blood from Vator's heart.

“Perfected?” Kang Jin-Ho snorted derisively. “There is no such thing as 'perfection' in martial arts. No, scratch that. There is no such concept as perfection in this world. Even those things that seem perfect on the surface still have room to improve. The so-called perfected martial arts are actually dead martial arts. Because it means those martial arts cannot evolve or improve to become better.”

“...!” Vator dazedly stared at Kang Jin-Ho, seemingly left speechless by what he heard. 'Dead... martial arts?'

Was that why? That was the reason for Vator's defeat tonight...?

Kang Jin-Ho tutted. “That's enough talk.”

Vator's faltering head shot back up.

“You are an idiot for one simple reason. You asked me about something that even a three-year-old child would have known.”

“I... I'm an idiot?” Vator chuckled hollowly.

“The reason for every type of defeat is simple,” said Kang Jin-Ho, while reaching down and yanking free his two swords stabbed into the ground. Then, he slowly walked over to Vator. “It's because you're weaker than me.”

Vator sucked in a deep breath. Kang Jin-Ho was right. The defeated didn't need justifications and excuses. It was as simple as the strong would win while the weak would lose. That was the unchanging, inalienable truth of the world, after all.

“And defeat comes at a cost. You should know this, Vator.”

Vator chose to close his eyes rather than stare at Kang Jin-Ho approaching him with a devil-like smirk.