CRACK!
SMASH!
BANG! BOOM!
Those terrifying sounds didn't come from a human body breaking. No, they came from the trees. All those trees couldn't withstand the impact force of the Master's body viciously slamming into them and shattered into millions of pieces in one go!
Sturdy, broad trees shattered and broke apart like frail wooden sticks. Only after felling dozens of trees in this fashion did the Master's figure slam into the ground, creating a deep crater in the process!
"Euh, euhk...!"
The Master gingerly shook his head while pushing himself off the dirt. His hands were trembling pitifully from the shock.
'What knocked me back just now?'
He couldn't remember what happened to him. It was not the case of him failing to witness the attack properly, but... But his brain had simply blanked out. The memories stopped recording when Kang Jin-Ho pounced on the Master, then it resumed when he felt the impact from crashing into the trees.
He couldn't recall anything in between those two points in time. The impact of the attack was so enormous that it even wiped his memories out!
'What if I hadn't cast Shield on time?'
The Master would have died. His skull would've been blown apart from that strike!
"Ptooi!"
The Master spat out a broken tooth and saliva mixed with blood. He shivered from the horrifying pain coursing through his entire body.
So strong! Kang Jin-Ho was absurdly strong.
The Master had fought many, many battles in his life. Which meant he had fought countless experts before. However, none of them were able to break through the Master's defenses and hurt him this badly with only one strike.
'Isn't this rather unfair?'
If the Master were to be compared to a boxer, he'd be an out-boxer specialized in defense.
That didn't mean he lacked attack power, of course. It was just that he chose to focus his fighting style on absorbing and deflecting enemy attacks before landing appropriate counters. He believed that it didn't matter how strong a punch was if it failed to land on the target. �
So, the Master either dodged or deflected attacks. As for those attacks he couldn't do much about? He'd guard against it somehow to minimize the damage as much as possible. That was the Master's fighting style.
But his opponent had entered the ring with a sledgehammer. Which was a remarkable feat in itself, really.
It was impossible to guard against hammer blows with a human's two frail arms. Trying to do that would reward you with broken bones. However, not guarding against the blows would mean your body would get wrecked instead. Wasn't that shockingly unfair?
That was the story for the ring the Master had entered this time.
The gap between Kang Jin-Ho's attack power and the Master's was simply too extreme to be bridged. The Master had no choice but to dodge every attack to stand a chance of surviving this encounter, however remote that might be!
'Isn't this handicap a little too extreme?'
"...! Cough!"
Fresh blood welled up through the Master's throat, forcing him to vomit it out. However, he didn't pay any attention to it and focused on inspecting his longsword and staff instead. Thankfully, he hadn't let go of either despite briefly blacking out.
There couldn't have been a better, more definite proof than this to prove that the Master was still a martial artist. And that brought on a spirited grin on his face amidst the crippling pain.
"...Heal!"
Pure-white light gushed out of the staff and burrowed into the Master's figure.
"To think the enemy I met this late in my life turned out to be the worst I've ever encountered..."
The god of fate was cruel as usual, it seemed. The corners of the Master's lips curled upward as he walked back the way he flew in from.
***
Lee Hyeon-Su worriedly asked, "...Did he die from that?"
"No," said Wiggins with a brief shake of his head.
Lee Hyeon-Su's nervous gaze peered closely at the flattened part of the forest. A human body created a spectacle in the proverbial blink of an eye that a powerful bulldozer would've taken over a day to recreate!
It'd take a miracle to walk out of that carnage in one piece.
"The Master won't die from that," said Wiggins without any worry in his voice.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
That relaxed-sounding voice assured that Lee Hyeon-Su could relax, at least for now. However...!
'Will that Master dude still be alive at the end of this fight?'
That seemed like a tall order at this stage. Because Lee Hyeon-Su got to witness Kang Jin-Ho's intentions just now from that strike. It was as clear as day to him that Kang Jin-Ho had no thoughts of going easy against the Master!
Even if Kang Jin-Ho was older, the sight of him punting the Master away, who looked like an elderly gent, still automatically brought up the thought of "Elder Abuse" in Lee Hyeon-Su's mind.
"Sure, he can," Wiggins replied, although he had been feeling a little weirded out by this conversation for a while now.
'Hmm. The Master shouldn't be weak enough to be underestimated like this, so why...'
The Master was the martial artist representing the Round Table. He might have stepped back from active field duty these days, but that didn't change the fact that in his youth, the Master didn't need the Round Table's halo to carry him on battlefields.
No, it'd be more correct to say his very existence served to elevate the Round Table's status and renown!
That was how awesome the Master was as a martial artist. However, here was Lee Hyeon-Su, one-sidedly worrying about the Master's health since the beginning of this fight!
His boss was fighting an enemy, yet he was actually worried about the enemy? What an absurd notion that was.
Despite thinking that way...
'Hah. I'm also the same.'
Even though Wiggins tried hard not to, he couldn't help but sympathize with the Master in this battle. Even the thoughts of cheering on the Master began sprouting up in Wiggins' mind just then!
Was it because Wiggins still felt guilty about abandoning the Round Table? Or did he still feel some loyalty and affection toward the Master?
No, it wasn't that. This situation was similar to how some people would gravitate toward cheering on the underdog getting beaten up one-sidedly in sports. Plenty of supporters might prefer to see their favorite team completely crush the other side through a display of superior strength, but enough people out there also wanted to see David triumphing against Goliath.
Of course, this situation was a little different from that example. Still, Wiggins wished for the Master to hang in there and put up a good fight.
The fault this time squarely lay with how crazily powerful Kang Jin-Ho was!
'Huh. I can finally appreciate the truth now that there is a yardstick to compare him to.'
Kang Jin-Ho was undoubtedly strong. Way, way too strong, in fact. His existence in this country should be treated as "irregular."
The standard of South Korea's martial society had risen overall. There was no denying that. And it had reached a level where other countries could no longer afford to sneer at the Koreans.
Historically speaking, no other nation had managed to improve their standard of martial arts this rapidly and by this much. In that case, what could be the problem? Simply put, the speed of Kang Jin-Ho's improvement far outstripped that of the Martial Assembly.
Everyone in the Assembly was improving. Vator had become several times stronger after accepting demonic cultivation. Even Wiggins was slowly but surely opening his eyes to the possibility of reaching a brand-new unexplored realm.
However, did that mean they had gotten closer to Kang Jin-Ho than before? The short answer was a solid no.
The gap in strength between Vator and Kang Jin-Ho had widened so much since the first time they encountered each other. Even though the pace of Vator's improvement defied common sense!
Kang Jin-Ho's rate of improvement even made Vator's inhuman rate seem tardy and lazy. Such was his absurd rate that everyone else getting in the way looked like they were stuck on the spot, unable to move forward!
Even the Master of the Round Table became another sacrificial lamb to Kang Jin-Ho's insane rate of improvement.
What if the Master fought against the current Wiggins?
Wiggins knew he'd never win. Since they possessed similar types of martial arts, their fight wouldn't even have the element of variables thrown into the mix, like how it'd be when fighting against experts from different schools of martial arts.
Maybe Wiggins might win two times out of one hundred battles. That kind of difference was no different from a one-sided slaughter, though.
However, when that same Master was fighting Kang Jin-Ho?
'Maybe once out of a hundred? Maybe?'
The gap between Kang Jin-Ho and the Master was greater than the one between Wiggins and the Master. And by now, the Master should have realized that.
This was what Wiggins had been focusing on. Knowing this gap existed... How would the Master respond now?
What would an experienced and cunning martial artist do when fighting an absolute being he couldn't win purely with his skills alone?
The Master casually strode toward the open plain, then wordlessly glared at Kang Jin-Ho. The traces of dried blood near the Master's chin proved who held the upper hand in this battle.
"Well, now. I haven't felt an impact force like that in a long time," said the Master. His attitude announced that this level of injury meant nothing to him.
...And Kang Jin-Ho greatly appreciated such an attitude. In his opinion, this was how a martial artist should behave and carry himself.
Even if all their internal organs were set alight and their limbs torn off, a martial artist must never give up and act cowardly in front of their enemies!
"Looks like I owe you an apology," Kang Jin-Ho resolutely spoke. "It seems I've been subconsciously looking down on you since you were from the West. However, I acknowledge that was a mistake on my part."
The Master let out a lengthy groan.
'Even I'm beyond help, aren't I?'
When the Master realized Kang Jin-Ho's simple-enough praise came from a genuine place, he was dismayed to find the emotion filling him up was joy.
To be acknowledged by the strongest enemy he had ever met, the enemy who possessed something the Master no longer had...! The Master felt his heart quiver just a little from joy.
"Although I'm grateful for your praise..." The Master slowly raised his sword after expertly masking his joy. "I still haven't shown you what I'm truly capable of."
Kang Jin-Ho grinned deeply. "I see. Then, you can show me, starting from now."
...And then, the two men charged straight at each other!