Ch.54Chapter 54 – The Final Martial Contest (3)

The first to notice Kang Si-woo’s transformation were the martial artists watching the match. They were powerful figures holding high positions in the Five Great Families and Nine Major Sects.

“The Infinite Sword Emperor… isn’t this dangerous?”

“If he doesn’t want his head to fly off, he won’t harm the audience.”

Among them, Namgung Do-hun of the Namgung Family and Dang Mun-hyeok of the Tang Clan of Sichuan watched the arena with unease.

In this gathering of promising young talents representing the future of each sect and family, displaying such ominous energy was practically a provocation against them.

“It looks similar to demonic energy… but somehow different.”

Namgung Do-hun frowned, his face contorting. The energy Kang Si-woo was emitting resembled that used by the Blood Sect or Demon Sect.

The reason Bi-wol deliberately avoided using the Heavenly Demon Divine Art was because evil arts from heretical sects were absolutely rejected as evil, regardless of whether one belonged to the righteous or unorthodox path.

“Shouldn’t we stop the match now?”

“You mean the Dragon and Phoenix Tournament sponsored by the North Sea Ice Palace? And without a clear winner yet?”

Their opinions clashed as they watched.

The Dragon and Phoenix Tournament was a major martial arts competition held once every few years. It was an occasion to confirm the growth of each sect and family, and to glimpse the future of the martial world.

“Do we have proof that it’s demonic energy?”

“No, that’s the problem. If we barge in and stop the match, we’ll be blamed for ruining a festival that took years to prepare.”

After Bi-wol, Kim Hyul, and Verdandi had demonstrated that even third-rate martial arts could reach high levels, ruining this match would be like carving an infamous mark in martial arts history.

“The elder of the North Sea Ice Palace must have some sense. He wouldn’t do something so stupid that he’d be held responsible.”

Besides, this tournament was also an opportunity to determine which of Bing-yeon or Bing-seol-hwa was more suitable as the heir to the Ice Palace.

Their characteristic snow-white hair and blue eyes made their shared bloodline obvious to anyone.

It was somewhat known that the elder of the Ice Palace had marked Bing-seol-hwa as the successor, and if that was true…

“…Bing-yeon’s choice to follow the unorthodox path must be related to the elder. That’s why he readily supported this Dragon and Phoenix Tournament.”

Things that hadn’t made sense before now became clear.

The reason why Bing-yeon, with his Extreme Yin Body, grew up in the Five Poisons Sect instead of the Ice Palace.

Why the Dragon and Phoenix Tournament, which should have been hosted by the righteous Alliance, received sponsorship from the Ice Palace.

And why someone would emit such terrible killing intent in this tournament, trying to kill their opponent.

“Our best option is to prevent any loss of life.”

“Damn, if this were a regular match instead of the Dragon and Phoenix Tournament, I would’ve smashed that thundering bastard’s head into the ground by now…”

The Poison Dragon, Dang Mun-hyeok, chewed his lower lip.

If martial artists in the audience had displayed such killing intent toward each other, it would have been grounds for immediate execution.

“Besides, that young lady is Bing-yeon’s disciple no matter what. She should be able to overcome this crisis splendidly.”

“That’s true. If I had faced such an opponent in my youth, I would’ve been determined to win at all costs!”

Dang Mun-hyeok watched Kang Si-woo with competitive spirit burning in his eyes.

Bing-seol-hwa’s Seongyeong School had defeated all his children’s sects.

It was truly remarkable that they had achieved this with ordinary disciples rather than members of the Five Great Families or Nine Major Sects.

“Damn, if I were thirty years younger…”

It was rare to see him so eager to fight. His veins bulged as he struggled to contain his restlessness.

“…This could be a great opportunity for Bing-yeon to make his name widely known.”

Namgung Do-hun thought this might be a good opportunity. If she defeated such a powerful opponent and won the Dragon and Phoenix Tournament, Bing-yeon, who had been hiding his existence until now, would gain recognition.

In the martial world, weakness was considered a sin.

Bing-yeon might be unusual and soft-hearted, but this unchangeable truth had never been broken.

“…To have mercy in the martial world, one must also possess the strength to back it up.”

Recalling Bing-yeon’s discourse on the definition of martial arts and chivalry, Namgung Do-hun focused his attention on their match.

***

What emerged from the reassembled smartphone was a monster with unrecognizable form. It looked like a disgusting lump of flesh with multiple beast-like arms and legs.

“You’ve never seen something like this before either, have you?”

Kang Si-woo grinned as he looked at the monster.

“What on earth have you done…?”

Azazel Blackheart shuddered at the sight of the monster. As she had suspected, Kang Si-woo hadn’t gathered allies since coming here.

What she was seeing were body parts of monsters that could be considered the Demon King’s subordinates.

“Is this… did you combine monsters into one? Like a chimera?”

The monster, composed of various types of creatures, resembled the legendary chimera.

“That’s right. Even if I couldn’t gather allies except your sister, I still have all the monsters I’ve hunted until now.”

Kang Si-woo snapped his fingers, signaling the chimera to cut off Azazel’s tentacles. The chimera revealed teeth like blades.

With a slashing sound, Azazel’s tentacles were severed. She backed away to find her opponent’s weakness.

– Azazel, even I can tell that’s dangerous. Forfeit the match quickly.

“No way. You want me to admit defeat and leave that trash alone?”

– That’s not what I mean. From the beginning, that’s someone else fighting the match! In a tournament meant to test each other’s strength and skill, he’s making someone else fight for him!

Morgidian thought the opponent could be disqualified. Even he considered this a clear violation of the rules.

“Then I should surrender…”

Azazel looked up at the referee with a brief murmur, but there was no intervention, despite someone summoning another to fight in the sacred Dragon and Phoenix Tournament.

“Unfortunately, this isn’t against the rules.”

As if seeing through Azazel’s intentions, Kang Si-woo spread his arms wide and shouted.

“This tournament is also sponsored by the holy Bing-seol-hwa, and my abilities are classified as weapons…!”

The reason weapons and poisons were allowed in this Dragon and Phoenix Tournament was obvious—to permit Kang Si-woo’s command ability.

With a thunderous sound, the chimera swung an arm with balloon-like bulging muscles. Azazel blocked it with the Six Harmonies Fist but couldn’t help letting out a short groan.

“Urgh…!”

The difference in strength was overwhelming. If she hadn’t used the Six Harmonies Fist as Bing-yeon had taught her, she would have been reduced to a bloody pulp.

“What’s wrong? Where did all that confidence from earlier go…!”

Kang Si-woo manually fixed his broken neck, then hid behind the chimera while shouting at Azazel.

– Azazel, it seems that guy doesn’t die. That thing is already something that can’t even be called a living being.

‘I know…!’

Seeing Kang Si-woo, who had fallen for Shub-Niggurath’s temptation and become something that couldn’t even be called alive, Azazel widened her eyes.

To win this match, she needed to defeat the chimera rather than Kang Si-woo.

But how could she defeat it?

‘Punching it or stabbing it with tentacles has no effect.’

The hideous monster was a mixture of various beast forms. It had multiple eyes and mouths, with arms and legs attached to its back—a form that could drive one mad just by looking at it.

Did such a thing even have a weakness? Could it even be defeated with mere fists?

Doubt grew in Azazel’s heart. Unless she borrowed the power of Morgidian, another Outer God, she couldn’t see how to resolve this alone.

The audience was also shocked by the hideous monster. Some began shouting and cursing in protest.

“I’ve been informed by the organizers that this beast was tamed in the West…!”

Cheon Cheon-mu was sweating profusely as he tried to calm the other spectators. With a serious expression, he was whispering with the Alliance Leader, trying to figure out what was happening.

“But it clearly doesn’t look normal…! Perhaps we should temporarily suspend the Dragon and Phoenix Tournament!”

The bizarre appearance seemed to have been crafted by the Outer God Shub-Niggurath. No matter how one looked at it, this wasn’t something a living creature would normally look like.

Some martial artists began entering the arena to stop the tournament. They judged that the monster needed to be stopped first, regardless of the aftermath.

“Inferior game character…!”

With a whooshing sound, Kang Si-woo raised his hand to activate his command ability again. Like plants growing from the ground, tentacles sprouted around the arena, enclosing the space.

It resembled a cage made of walls of flesh.

“Now no one can interfere. Azazel.”

“…How disgusting.”

Unless someone defeated their opponent first, they couldn’t leave or stop the match.

Realizing this, Azazel rushed toward Kang Si-woo and delivered an upward punch. The Dragon Waist, named after a dragon ascending to the heavens.

Despite taking the hit, the chimera merely let out a small cry, showing no sign of damage.

‘This doesn’t work either…’

Azazel momentarily considered drawing on the power of the Outer God herself. Even if the audience lost their sanity, she would have a chance if she manifested Morgidian here.

At that moment,

– Azazel, your master outside is trying to tell you something.

As if reading Azazel’s thoughts, Morgidian hinted that there was something to be said.

‘…My brother?’

Hearing this advice, Azazel looked toward where Bing-yeon was and, after reading his lips, could only widen her eyes.

‘Target the eyes.’

The advice Bing-yeon was trying to give her was to aim for the chimera’s eyes.