Chapter 309 309 – Ken & Tiara vs. Anwar
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the Martial Arts Summit! Today is the time for the 2v2 bracket for the 40-49 age group. Will any of our previous stars make an appearance today?"
The sun seemed to lift its head just high enough to look at the platform in the early morning hour, yet the cultivators were all fresh and full of energy as they listened to Steve's voice reverberating across the valley.
The said stars all stood in different regions of the area. Four stood at the base of the mountain occupied by the Serene Lotus Sect with masked or veiled faces while the other two stood near the Four Seasons Sect.
"Ok, they can't beat our teamwork and friendship, there is nothing to worry about. Henry and I will head toward you as soon as we see you jump," Alaric said with confidence despite the excited shake in his arms. Every age group turned more dangerous than the previous, and this one could pose a serious threat to their lives.
"Don't, just explore your own area wherever you're teleported to. You can come to us if you see me jump for the second time," Ken instructed. He didn't want Alaric to be present while he manipulated Vivienne through her collar.
The zealot might consider Vivienne's actions as backstabbing, which wouldn't be a problem, but he also might see Ken's actions as backstabbing Vivienne, and Ken preferred not to gamble on the way a madman's mind worked.
"Are you sure we don't need their help?" Tiara asked in surprise. She did not want to face two sect seeds of much higher stages without even a numerical advantage.
"I'm sure, it won't be even a close fight," her team leader calmed her down as he fixed the golden demonic mask that covered his face. He soon felt a strong bloodlust surging through his veins, demanding death.
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While Ken and his group were discussing the next round, the other two stars of the competition also 'discussed' their own plans.
"I don't know why I was paired with you, I can kill all four of them combined if I meet them. Don't hold me back, I heard you couldn't kill even a single person last round," Anwar, tanned and adorned in long flowing dark brown hair, said in disdain to his partner for the 2v2 bracket.
"Don't be too proud of your insanity, Anwar, I'm saddened to see you in your current state," Vivienne said, her porcelain face revealing pity in her expression.
"Don't pretend to care! I will surpass you eventually, and I will see if you can look down on me that day," Anwar's tone rose as soon as he recognized that pity.
"Whatever. Remember, we only have four targets, you can't kill the others," she said.
"When did you turn so soft? You have killed entire clans when it was the required mission, what changed now?" The young man looked at her suspiciously. He never heard that Vivienne had any problem with killing. "Ken Sue might not jump to the sky confidently after we revealed ourselves last round, we need to sprint through the platform and kill everything we see."
"I've been enlightened on the value of life, now let's just wait for the competition to begin," The girl shrugged and stifled a yawn.
'Why am I stuck with this fucking idiot? They should treat his broken brain first,' she cussed him in her mind.
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"Let's countdown for teleportation! Ten... Nine... Two... One... Fight!"
When the crowd shouted 'fight' along with the commentator, the participants were all teleported to the fighting platform, and Ken found himself at the same place he fought when he first stepped into the arena.
"Good, we got the best quarter for me," Tiara felt better about fighting in the icy plains where her Ice Qi techniques were at their best.
"Alright, you can take out those guys, I will jump to let everyone know of our position," Ken said and leaped, letting Tiara charm the two pairs nearby and create a hole in their chests with her favorite ice birds.
He remained in the sky for a moment as he slowly descended, making sure everyone saw his shiny golden mask reflecting the sun. This time, only one sect took the challenge – the Four Seasons Sect.
While everyone wanted to hunt Ken Sue down, they all knew who else would be charging there, and Anwar was blindly killing everyone. Many sects have set their eyes on Anwar and Vivienne by now, but they wouldn't send their disciples after him in this age group but in the next one.
"What am I seeing?! It's Ken Sue, and he is provoking Anwar Patel and Vivienne Ashford, are we going to watch a clash between the giants of the competition so far?"
Many of the projections focused on Ken as he was in the air, slowly returning to the ground. Other projections switched to Vivienne and Anwar, showing the duo sprinting through the water platform after pinpointing Ken's location.
"They are going to meet in forty minutes! They both ignore the other participants as if they are of no importance, and it seems like nobody has a problem with it!" Steve remarked, making the audience jeer at the scared disciples who backed away from the area.
Ken and Tiara could see the enemy disciples escape in the distance due to the clear sight provided by the endless ice but they did nothing to chase after them. They only waited in place, and since they could not hear Steve's comments, they could not know when their targets would arrive.
They waited patiently, and indeed, two figures jogged toward them before long. The four recognized each other and entered a face-off, standing two dozen meters apart.
"You must be Ken Sue and Kara, you've caused many problems to my sect, but you made a stupid decision by letting me know where you are," Anwar said with a wide smirk. He was in no rush to battle, he wanted to enjoy the death of a genius.n(-O-/v/-e)-l)-b./1((n
"Are you going to surrender?" Vivienne asked the two of them, her calm demeanor contrasting with the beastly behavior of her partner. Her back was straight, her hair fluttering behind her in the cold wind, and her expression showed relaxation.
"Don't offer them to surrender! They are the only ones we must kill without negotiation!" Anwar hissed at her, his eyebrows frowned in annoyance.
"I'm sorry, but I have no idea who you are," Ken lied, causing a light carve of amusement on Tiara's cherry red lips. The two easily discerned Anwar's anxiety for attention, and the response they expected to elicit indeed happened.
"Huh? You don't know me? I'm ANWAR, THE SECT SEED!" The tanned man shouted and charged at them.
"Stupid, don't let them provoke you, he obviously knows you!" Vivienne sighed and watched the fight unfold without trying to help. She couldn't attack Ken anyway.
The ice was melted into water as Anwar tried to take control of his environment and a wave was formed, raging toward Ken and Tiara.
"It's a fight! Anwar the sect seed against the Deadly Couple!" Steve announced outside, and the battle was highlighted in the projections, covered by multiple angles.
"Let's fight, Tiara. Support me by weakening his water techniques." Ken instructed and the lady complied. She was ready to act from the very beginning, and her actions were not delayed by a single moment.
Her Ice Qi attacked the wave, freezing it and making it fall apart. She did not destroy it entirely, but she significantly weakened it. While Tiara was confident in fighting peak fifth-stage cultivators on equal grounds and even having the upper hand, sect seeds were much more powerful than the other elites, even allowing them to fight someone at a higher major stage.
'One Step,' Ken burst through the leftovers of the cave directly by coating himself with Sword Qi and Sword intent, catching his opponent by surprise.
'Flash Unwind.' Ken's sword flashed at a high speed as he unsheathed it, threatening to decimate everything in its path. The direction curved before the end, making it difficult to intercept and block.
With astonishment and momentarily fear written all over his face, Anwar propelled himself away with a blast of air and tried to use the few drops of water in his proximity to defend himself. The sword was too swift, and despite trying to retreat as soon as he recognized Ken passing through his wave, he still took on a deep cut in his abdomen.
"Argh! FUCK! How can you be so strong at the early phase of your stage?!" Anwar swore and gritted his teeth to resist the pain. As a cultivator, he was subjected to a lot of pain during the natural course of cultivating, and he had no problem blocking the wound and ignoring the injury for now.
"You shouldn't look down on your enemies. You're still young and inexperienced," Ken' face seemed emotionless under the mask, enraging him further.
"YOU'RE ELEVEN YEARS OLD, DON'T TRY TO TALK TO ME ABOUT MATURITY!" His sect already got all the information there was to get from the Sue Clan, and having a child look down on him irked him to no end.
They were surrounded by disciples of the Four Seasons Sect who did not dare approach them and remained watching from the back, ready to aid their representatives in case Ken somehow tried to escape or managed to win.
'Air compression,' Anwar muttered and bubbles of air began to compress around Ken. Touching them would be enough to leave a hole in his body.
"Let's see you dash through these, hahaha!" The man laughed loudly and pulled out his hammer, his favorite weapon.