"The battle has begun." From the top of a hill far from the battlefield, Ri Boku watched as night fell. He saw Hou Ken's massive figure, knowing this battle would be over before it even started.
But his calm gaze soon faltered as the clash began.
"Who really is Jun?"
…
Jun's encounter with Hou Ken in these recent days was nothing more than a coincidence.
While maneuvering to take full control of the assassin tribes at their assembly and extend his influence throughout Zhao, Jun knew that for all his efforts to pay off, he needed to defeat the God of Martial Arts in a deadly duel.
And so, here they were.
No further words were exchanged.
Neither side had a clear reason to fight.
Jun didn't necessarily need the assassins to fulfill his goals, though they would resolve many annoying issues. Conversely, Hou Ken intended to kill Jun, a spark with the potential to ignite further wars.
Both motives seemed insignificant under the circumstances, and thus they disregarded them.
Hou Ken lunged toward Jun, his eyes gleaming, and Jun responded by drawing his sword.
In their first exchange, Jun was faster, slicing a ghastly wound from Hou Ken's right shoulder to his waist. Hou Ken countered with his glaive.
Boom!
A massive cloud of dust rose. Shortly after, Jun was thrown back; a few ribs cracked from the blunt tip of Hou Ken's glaive.
Jun was certain he had broken a rib, though there was no internal damage—only a pain reminding him that something was wrong with his body.
Soon, his defensive mechanisms eased the pain, though his mobility would decrease by at least twenty percent.
'Madman.' Jun grinned as he rushed forward again.
In contrast, the gaping chest wound bleeding from Hou Ken wasn't enough to hinder him from positioning himself for another attack.
Jun steeled himself, tightening his fists as he pondered how to counter Hou Ken's next assault.
'The swordsmanship of an assassin.'
Jun rarely used his clan's martial arts; in fact, there was hardly ever a need for something so sinister.
But he knew that using this martial art would ensure his victory in this battle.
With that conclusion, Jun honed his inner energy with deadly intent, and Hou Ken, who approached swiftly, swung his fist.
The clash was soundless.
Jun's counterstrike severed one of Hou Ken's arms at the midpoint.
Clang! Clang!
That brief exchange felt like an eternity.
Hou Ken's eyes widened as he watched his fist fly through the air.
It was a predictable reaction, given that his fists—never blocked more than twice by anyone below a commander level—were now scattered in a way he had never seen.
For a long moment, Hou Ken stared at Jun.
A young man with black hair, cloaked in a golden aura of combat. His ashen eyes quivered with brutality, but deep within his soul was something that made him more human than any other.
The purpose of his sword...
Jun had found a purpose, wielding his sword with intention each time he fought.
He had no enemies, only trees he needed to prune to reach a path he longed for.
Hou Ken knew Jun wasn't fighting for anyone specific, nor out of ambition, and of that, he was certain.
'How powerful!' Hou Ken realized that the person who had been relentlessly inciting his fighting spirit in recent moments was this man.
Hou Ken's grin widened as he embraced the combative spirit that had dispersed into the air. Then he rotated his arm, once more launching his glaive at Jun.
The prolonged moment contracted again into a series of events, and once more, his glaive struck Jun, this time cutting vertically across his forehead.
Clang!
The trajectory of his attack veered with a small noise.
Hou Ken felt his heart ignite—a reaction that always occurred when his primal instincts began to overwhelm his reason.
A formidable opponent. No, he was an opponent against whom he couldn't win. Someone who could push him to his limits and still emerge victorious.
Hou Ken had felt this only once before, in battle.
'Aoki!'
The general Aoki, who had fought him as an equal. No, that man had been much stronger. Hou Ken had felt this same sensation facing him.
He felt he was going to die.
With that thought, Hou Ken felt an intense surge of emotion like never before.
The god of martial arts, a warrior who had never been defeated, was about to die at the hands of someone unknown. The idea of fighting before death stripped away all reason from his mind and unleashed his fighting spirit.
This inner aura erupted in the eyes of all the assassins present, witnessing an unmatched aura of slaughter that made their spirits shudder.
The air generated by their exchanges of blows and the impact of Jun's sword against Hou Ken's glaive caused the entire battlefield to come to a halt.
No one could fight as they watched this caliber of duel, where the world's strongest men were locked in a death match.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
"Aaaaaahhhhh!" Hou Ken let out a thunderous roar. His essence, accumulated not through training but through experience, began to disintegrate.
Jun's eyes glowed an intense black.
The veins around his eyes intensified, giving him a fearsome appearance.
'It's coming.' Jun knew from their duel that he was in the final round.
Hou Ken, with a single arm wielding his glaive, shifted his stance, and his aura shifted.
As if to confirm this assumption, Hou Ken began to spread his feet. He raised his glaive into the air, revealing his bulging muscles.
Before an aura that seemed capable of igniting the world, Jun straightened up, feeling his fierce energy start to crumble.
Hou Ken's glaive shot forward.
A rock that seemed like the sun, blocking his vision.
'The scythe of death.'
It was Hou Ken's signature technique, the one with which he had claimed countless lives.
Avoiding it was logical, but Jun didn't.
Jun was in a frenzy; retreating in this battle would be like death to him.
Then Jun extended his hand.
Jun's hand, poised to penetrate Hou Ken's heart, shifted toward his wrist. Holding his sword in his mouth, he used his right hand to sever his opponent's wrist.
Crack!
For a moment it seemed that Hou Ken's hand would incinerate everything in its path, but Jun's strike caused a steady stream of blood to spurt.
Shortly after, Jun aimed a punch at Hou Ken's abdomen—a killer blow designed to shatter his target's chest bones.
Bang!
A loud impact echoed.
The technique was clean, but Hou Ken didn't flinch. He raised his right leg and kicked Jun, sending him flying once more.
Crack!
Jun let out a brief cry of admiration, then got to his feet after rolling a few times and ran toward Hou Ken again.
An aura like the sun flared down one side of Jun's body, but he suffered no internal damage.
This was because the difference between their abilities was too great. Hou Ken's technique was only a foundation and hadn't yet been completed.
Once again, Hou Ken's attacks were futile, and Jun's kick hit him directly, ending it in a single move.
'Raw power, incredible...' Jun thought as he saw Hou Ken kneeling, blood loss rendering him weak.
He was not in better shape—he was in a deplorable state. His face wound had painted his vision red, his ribs were broken, and his right arm was gravely injured.
His skin, though tough, wasn't immune. In this one battle, he had suffered more than ever.
But now it was over. He knew he had won this fight.