Hearing the young man's mockery, the man frowned and spoke in a low, cold voice;
"You'd better control your cheap mouth and not make me act against you, so no one says I'm bullying the weak."
King wanted to respond, but before he could open his mouth,
he heard the Count shout, "King, do not say another word!"
King turned to look at the Count's face... only to be met with his dark and menacing expression... King frowned at the sight, then glanced back at the calm-faced man and thought to himself,
Maybe I shouldn't insult him, but he decided not to remain completely silent. He looked into the man's eyes and said,
"Alright, I apologize... but may I ask why you are interfering in a deathmatch between two men?"
Hearing King's words, the Count's body relaxed slightly.
But as for the man, he was a bit puzzled about how to respond, yet he spoke nonetheless
, "It's as you see... I am not obligated to answer you... step back and remain silent."
During their conversation, Prince Kratos was in a strange state of confusion and fear, unable to move for a few seconds
. Was I just about to die?! My sword couldn't withstand it... that was dangerous. If not for Elder Qin, I would not have survived that strike.
Then Prince Kratos looked at King with a cold expression, thinking to himself,
Unacceptable... this cannot be tolerated. How could a mere rogue cultivator defeat me?! Impossible.
While King wanted to speak and respond to the man before him, he stopped when he felt Kratos' gaze upon him.
As soon as he saw it, his own gaze turned cold and serious. "I did not intend to continue, but it seems your pup is unable to let this go."
Elder Qin frowned at King's words but nonetheless glanced toward Prince Kratos... When the prince felt Elder Qin's gaze
, he adopted a respectful stance, clasping his hands and lowering his head toward him without speaking.
Seeing the prince's posture before him, Elder Qin understood his desire without hearing his words.
He could only shake his head in resignation and mutter audibly, "Young people these days really do not value their lives." Then he stepped back and floated into the air. "Do as you wish."
King wanted to mock Elder Qin and tell him,
'You deserve it, you insolent fool... tsk, tsk, stay out of the men's battlefield'
but he held back, convincing himself, Forget it. This king doesn't want to die meaninglessly at the start of his journey.
He then looked at Prince Kratos, who was glaring at him with resentment. King smirked mockingly, drew his sword from its sheath, and pointed it at Prince Kratos.
"Come... let's see what you can do without your master's protection."
Prince Kratos scowled at that, and looking at the young man pointing the sword at him, he no longer wanted to talk. This time,
he decided he wouldn't underestimate even an ant, let alone this scoundrel before him. However, this thought didn't make him afraid; his caution was not out of fear but maturity gained from facing death and relying on others to save his hide.
In response to the young man's readiness, Prince Kratos took a combat stance and clenched his hands into tiger claws
. He then stimulated his dantian, and in a moment, his aura formed the image of black and white tiger arms and claws.
"The First Form of the Ruling Tiger Technique," Kratos declared aloud.
King did not remain idle at the sight of Prince Kratos' preparation.
He activated his dantian, then executed his physical techniques, announcing loudly, "Hardened Fist Technique... Solid Defense Technique... and—"
Before finishing his words, King charged swiftly at Kratos, slashing down with his sword. At the moment when his sword was about to clash with Kratos' raised claw,
which was prepared to intercept the cut, King vanished before him.
Prince Kratos was caught off guard and had no time to move his eyes when he heard King's voice behind him.
"And Ghost Steps..." Then he stabbed his sword into Prince Kratos' side.
Having been suddenly stabbed from behind, Kratos grimaced in pain.
From the spectators' perspective, it appeared that Prince Kratos was caught off guard by the sudden stab from behind, unable to evade it
. Duke Darius instinctively wanted to intervene but stopped due to the suppression of Count Hades' aura. Darius glared at him, gritting his teeth, but quickly returned his focus to the fight, knowing he couldn't step in fast enough.
back to fight
When King used Ghost Steps to shift behind Kratos and stab him,
he didn't expect the prince to be so quick-witted, moving his side swiftly away and grabbing King's sword with his aura claws without even looking back.
King had realized from the start of the battle that Prince Kratos hadn't faced life-or-death fights before, and his instincts were not yet sharpened. For King, who had carved his path to become the undisputed strongest man on Earth,
fighting Kratos felt like fighting a beginner with monstrous strength and speed who had been born with a silver spoon in his mouth.
Even though King knew he wouldn't be able to stab Kratos effectively,
he anticipated that the prince would either dodge sideways with a roll or harden his body with his Golden Core Qi, which would make the stab shallow at best.
However, Kratos not only twisted his side just enough to avoid the stab but even caught King's sword, which genuinely surprised him, distracting him for a moment.
At that instant, after catching the sword, Kratos delivered a quick backward punch aimed at King's face.
Although the move was sudden, King managed to avoid it by ducking his head and body. After all, he hadn't forgotten the punch he had taken earlier.
Right after King lowered himself to dodge Kratos' punch, the prince tried to pull King's sword forward, intending to disarm him.
However, Kratos quickly changed his mind in that moment and tilted his head sideways to avoid King's incoming punch.
Sensing Kratos' intention to yank his sword away, King didn't resist too much. Instead, he threw a swift and powerful punch with his free hand toward Kratos' face. As Kratos dodged the punch, King wasted no time and delivered a strong side kick to the back of the prince's knee, forcing Kratos down on one knee suddenly.
and Before the prince had a chance to react, he heard a loud sonic blast near his left ear, causing him to lose focus momentarily.
After kicking Kratos and forcing him to kneel, King snapped his fingers using Qi near Kratos' ear, creating a loud, disorienting sonic explosion. Without wasting a moment,
King released his grip on the sword, opened his palm, and struck Kratos' right ear with the strongest palm strike he could muster in such a short time. The force was too much for Prince Kratos to resist, pushing his body to the side.
But King didn't stop there. He immediately followed up with a fast and powerful side kick to Kratos' left side,
sending the prince tumbling violently for dozens of meters until he crashed into a large fountain, falling right into its center.