Ch.105Divergence Point. (1)

The King of Martial Arts twisted his face as he looked around. It was because of the stench coming from the dragon’s corpse.

“Like a dragon with nothing but shit in its belly. Causing trouble even in death. We can’t fight here.”

“We can go back up.”

Olivia drew a magic circle as if she had been waiting for this.

There was a strange gleam in Olivia’s eyes as she spoke.

‘Perfect.’

She needed a justification to subdue the King of Martial Arts without arousing suspicion from other Returnees. If she attacked without reason, she might arouse Kiel’s suspicion. If that happened, Olivia would have no future.

-Tswat!

After teleporting to the surface, the King of Martial Arts lightly stretched his body and said,

“Let’s go down below. If we fight on top of the mountain, the mountain itself will collapse.”

Standing on a wide open plain, the King of Martial Arts said,

“This is a sparring match. I’d prefer a duel to the death… but then you’d fight pathetically like last time.”

“Or are you afraid of dying again?”

The King of Martial Arts’s eyes flashed.

“Not at all. Death doesn’t frighten me. It was the same when I fell to your magic. I was merely disappointed that my martial prowess couldn’t reach you.”

“It sounds like you think it can reach me this time.”

“I’ve spent a full 10 years thinking. How to hunt a magician who uses spatial movement without pause.”

At the mention of 10 years, a question mark bloomed in Olivia’s eyes.

But she couldn’t ask about it.

If she did, she would reveal that she remembered her past life.

“There was a divination. It was a fortune told long ago by that shaman who quit this morning. I don’t usually believe in fate, but his abilities were so extraordinary that I had my fortune told, just for the sake of it.”

Olivia’s brow furrowed slightly.

That man again.

“…And?”

“He told me to beware of a magician. A magician with white hair and blue eyes. I received that divination 10 years ago.”

Of course, the King of Martial Arts hadn’t believed it. He had the reading done half for amusement, and above all, he was someone who treated magicians as worthless in the past.

Born rebellious, he traveled the continent looking for white-haired, blue-eyed magicians to prove the divination wrong.

Naturally, he couldn’t find any, but that didn’t mean there was no harvest.

The Golden Tower Master, Grandmaster Melina.

– Get lost. This is Imperial territory from here on.

He had heard rumors about her. The continent’s strongest Grandmaster.

Until he met Melina in person, he thought magicians just used the term “strongest” carelessly.

But that wasn’t the case.

She was strong. The King of Martial Arts’s fist could pierce the sky, but it wasn’t faster than spatial movement. His body was tough, but the ground he stood on wasn’t solid enough to withstand Melina’s magic.

That’s when he realized not all magicians were weak.

He thought the divination might be true after all.

“All streams return to the source. I realized then that those who challenge the pinnacle in any field, even magicians, are all strong.”

Though he called them magicians, he was acknowledging the strength of mages.

‘…And that was even before meeting me.’

A strange feeling.

Olivia had been experiencing this emotion frequently lately. And this time was no different.

Originally, the King of Martial Arts and Melina had never met.

At least, that’s what Olivia knew.

A branch she had never experienced before. The feeling of hearing an unknown past from someone else’s mouth was truly ambiguous.

“Of course, until I became aware of my past life, I thought the subject of the divination was that blonde old hag.”

“…You just said it yourself. Blonde.”

“Wouldn’t her hair turn white eventually as she aged?”

“And her eyes?”

“I thought magicians use wicked magic, so their eye color could change too.”

A moment of silence passed.

Olivia asked,

“…So, what are you trying to say?”

The King of Martial Arts extended his right hand forward, taking his stance.

“When facing a warrior, one must mix feints and false moves appropriately between real attacks. Whether to throw a punch, block, or dodge. From beginning to end, you must engage in endless psychological warfare with your opponent and win the battle of moves to achieve victory. But…!”

BOOM!

The King of Martial Arts’s fist, extended in an instant, collided with Olivia’s shield. Then aura was added. Gradually, cracks appeared in the shield until it collapsed as if bursting.

“When facing a magician, technique is unnecessary.”

The King of Martial Arts revealed his teeth in a grin.

In his past life, he couldn’t even break Olivia’s shield, let alone touch the hem of her clothes.

Although it was a surprise attack, he had made contact.

“Just be faster and stronger. There’s no point in using technique against magicians who will just run away in fear anyway.”

As he said this, the King of Martial Arts turned his head toward Esthie who had followed them down. When their eyes met, Esthie spoke first.

“Fight well. If it looks like you’re going to die, I’ll block as much as I can.”

Kiel answered by drawing his greatsword. It meant he would intervene if the match turned into a duel to death.

“Hehehe.”

Tak.

The King of Martial Arts took a step. That step instantly closed the distance between them, and his crossed arms tore through space as they drove in.

Swoosh!

The King of Martial Arts’s fist attack grazed the empty air. Olivia’s magic was slightly faster. But the King of Martial Arts wasn’t disappointed at all.

There would be many opportunities. He could withstand Olivia’s attacks head-on, but Olivia would be finished if she took just one hit.

Again, the distance between them closed instantly.

This time too, he didn’t make contact.

And so two times, three times, four times…

Exactly on the fifth missed fist attack, the King of Martial Arts showed his teeth in a smile.

“As expected, it’s short.”

High-level magic like Teleport takes time to prepare. Therefore, the only movement spell Olivia could use was Blink.

And Blink had a visibly short travel distance.

Of course, that didn’t mean he could predict where Olivia would move to. Her transcendent mana control made it impossible to predict the location of her Blink.

Her eye movement control was also perfect. Sometimes she moved to where her gaze fell, sometimes she didn’t.

Good. This is it. This is exactly what he wanted.

The King of Martial Arts let out a laugh.

This was far superior to that rotten dragon.

What ancestral magic, what pinnacle of the species. Being weaker than Olivia.

He had never met a proper dragon, but he didn’t think his opinion would change if he did.

The King of Martial Arts.

He overlaid the Olivia from his past life.

The first overwhelming defeat he had ever experienced.

The regret of being defeated without being able to do anything was greater than the pain of death.

From the day he became aware of his past life, he reviewed that battle every day without fail.

How Olivia moved, what magic she used to block his movements.

He was simple, but different when it came to battle. No one could match the King of Martial Arts’s passion for combat.

‘I can see it.’

That’s why he could tell where Olivia would move. He couldn’t see it, but he could.

After all, she was human too. She couldn’t control unconscious habits.

‘I’ll end this in one go.’

A terrible chill had already penetrated his muscles for some time. A dreadful cold that couldn’t even be expelled from his body.

He was certain within ten seconds. Whether she had memories of her past life or not, Olivia’s fighting style hadn’t changed. Flashy lightning and spatial movement. Between them, she hid a fatal dagger of cold.

By the time one realizes it, it’s already too late.

To be fair, it’s already too late now.

But it’s not over yet. So far, everything was within expected parameters.

The King of Martial Arts once again launched a fist attack toward Olivia. Olivia wore a puzzled expression at the still monotonous attack.

No matter how short the Blink’s travel distance was, she could easily avoid attacks like that.

“Hmmph!”

That’s when it happened.

The energy that had been radiating toward where Olivia had just been suddenly disappeared as if it were a lie.

Shiver!

As if he had been waiting for Olivia to use Blink, the King of Martial Arts rotated his body half a turn.

That wasn’t the end.

Fierce battle qi rippled around the King of Martial Arts, then concentrated into a single point on his fist.

“?!”

Olivia’s eyes wavered.

She realized she had fallen into his trap. The Blink had already been cast, and its destination perfectly aligned with where the King of Martial Arts’s fist was aimed.

She couldn’t avoid it.

“…This is my answer!”

KWAAAA!

The King of Martial Arts’s fist attack tore through the air with a terrible sound.

Olivia quickly gathered mana. A shield? Too late. It would be fortunate if it didn’t break, let alone deflect the attack.

This was the King of Martial Arts’s best.

A smile bloomed on Olivia’s pale face.

In truth, she wasn’t satisfied with just getting the key from the King of Martial Arts.

She intended to use this battle in her psychological warfare with Aria as well.

Not long after using lightning in Icail, if the King of Martial Arts’s full-power fist attack appeared in Mikabel, Aria would surely interpret this as hunting.

Hunting for another massacre.

But if she confirmed that Esthie and the King of Martial Arts, whom she thought were dead, were alive.

Could Aria accept them as her allies?

The answer is.

No.

BOOM, KWAAANG!

An enormous explosion echoed. It was a sound that would instantly spread throughout the entire eastern region, beyond Mikabel.

Olivia’s body was pushed far back. It felt like her ribs had cracked.

The gale subsided. The sky behind Olivia had a huge hole torn through it.

A single blow with the King of Martial Arts’s battle qi. Olivia was certain Aria would be watching that strike.

Olivia wiped the blood from her lips and smiled.

‘Did you see that well? Your head’s going to hurt.’

She didn’t say it out loud. Aria wasn’t present.

On the opposite side, the King of Martial Arts was frozen solid in the exact posture from which he had launched his fist attack. Though defeated, there was no regret on his face.

Olivia said,

“…Your answer reached me.”

The corner of the King of Martial Arts’s mouth seemed to twitch slightly. His body staggered and fell backward.

He wasn’t dead. He was still breathing, albeit faintly.

At the same time, the notification window she had been waiting for appeared.

[You have subdued the Returnee, ‘Ashe Balthar’, without killing him.]

[You have acquired Clue #5.]

[You have acquired a special reward.]

…Special reward?