Forgive Your Enemies (5)
“Hmph.”
As the drone's voice echoed through the arena, Mamoro scowled in irritation, hoisted the end of his chain high, and slammed it down.
Clang!
Sparks flew as the chains collided, and the weapons rode the wave-like momentum, floating up into the air.
“Come on!”
He snatched a greatsword from the hovering arsenal and swung it wide at Jeonghyeon.
A menacing strike, but one carefully measured not to kill—just to gauge distance.
Even in that split-second as he closed in, Jeonghyeon perfectly read the intent behind the attack.
This bastard dares to test me right to my face?
With that, he threw himself straight at the descending greatsword.
“?!”
Screeech!
The gauntlet met the blade with a piercing clash. It might have been risky to block with one hand, but since the sword's weight hadn't fully committed—having already reached the hilt—it was manageable.
“You little shit.”
Just one step. That slight advance brought Mamoro's face and Jeonghyeon's almost touching.
“The title Sword Master isn't handed out to just anyone, y'know?”
Jeonghyeon's fist drove straight into Mamoro's jaw.
Crack!!! Boom!!
A dull crunch of shattering bone rang out as Mamoro flew several meters, crashing into the floor and skidding all the way back to the iron cage where he'd first appeared.
“Gah...!”
“Tough hide.”
Huxley's master, was it? Jeonghyeon wondered just how much more the man could endure as he slowly approached the fallen Mamoro.
“Hm?”
But Mamoro's form was gone from that spot.
“Oh. Not bad.”
Mamoro had already circled behind Jeonghyeon, two small chain sickles aimed at his throat and side.
“But y'see, in a fight...”
Mana flowed from Jeonghyeon's right eye.
Fwoosh!
In the blink of an eye, Jeonghyeon's figure vanished like a shot. Moments later, he reappeared half-kneeling, fist rocketing toward Mamoro's jaw.
“How...?!”
“There's this thing called experience.”
***
For a while, only the cold clash of weapon on weapon echoed through the arena.
Jeonghyeon had definitely taken him down. Or so he'd thought.
“What the hell just...!”
But now Jeonghyeon was on the defensive.
“Sword.”
If Jeonghyeon blocked Mamoro's katana strikes—each splitting into dozens of trajectories in an instant—perfectly reading and parrying the flow,
“Spear.”
Mamoro yanked the chain wrapped around his hand, and a spear tore through the air from above, stabbing at Jeonghyeon's blind spot.
Even that Jeonghyeon twisted away from, and the moment the spear embedded in the ground,
“Hup!”
Mamoro pulled the chain connected to it, launching himself toward the spear.
He vaulted high off the spear shaft, scattering three small shuriken from his bosom like a fan.
“Hidden weapons.”
Clatter!
Mamoro endlessly switched weapon types via the chains on their ends, fighting with erratic variability.
The shuriken had chains too, of course—not just for throwing.
Jeonghyeon deflected two of the three aerial shuriken, but one grazed his thigh before embedding in the floor.
“Tch!”
“Somehow, those weapons don't seem like his main ones, do they?”
To Mamoro, Jeonghyeon's bare-fisted style looked like a man squeezed into ill-fitting clothes.
Weapon Proficiency Low.
Full Physical Capabilities Unavailable.
It wasn't wrong—like the status window hovering over Jeonghyeon's head.
“If you know that, go easy on me, asshole!”
Jeonghyeon spat uncharacteristically and threw a punch.
The life-or-death struggle allowed no more talk, filling the arena with fierce clashes and heat.
Boom! Thud! Clang!
The metallic scrape of yanking chains sent chills through the air. Mamoro threw weapons only to reel them back, grabbing others from the floor with free control.
Weapons zipped across the arena, embedding in floor and walls.
Mamoro stood atop a web of chains, like a spider crafting its hunting ground.
“Hoo.”
The drone's annoying chatter, drowned out as white noise amid the focus, now blared excitedly about viewer count #1.
Brat's viewership spiked, huh.
This should be enough.
Jeonghyeon stared at Mamoro atop his chain web, locked in a lull, waiting for the first move.
“Come at me first.”
Yeah. That's exactly what I planned.
But this time would be different.
Jeonghyeon steadied his breath. He assumed a stance like an Eastern martial artist and exhaled deeply.
Eyes closed, he focused on the rattling chains, sharpening his senses.
The Demon King's mana surged through his mana veins to his skin's edge, amplifying his senses manifold in an instant. Then he opened his eyes.
“?!”
Mamoro sensed something, hunching into a true spider-like crouch.
Jeonghyeon clenched his fist.
Mana leaked faintly between the gauntlet gaps on a breeze. He channeled more into his thighs for maximum explosive output, letting it flow to calves and toes.
Then, like loading a cannon, he gripped the gauntlet tight beside his ribs.
Mamoro was so entranced by the coldly refined mana flow that he momentarily forgot the battle.
Mana... refined and controlled to that degree...?
Awe at first, then dread washed over him seconds later. He yanked weapons from the walls.
“Crazy. You were... holding back?”
Now he understood. Jeonghyeon had been going easy—for a perfect hunt, or just to drag it out for audience hype.
Must attack first...! If he finishes gathering...!
Death.
Mamoro felt the crisis. He hurriedly wove chains, stacking weapons into a new one.
Clank. Clatter!
Weapons and chains tangled, drawing a line between arena walls. Chains and weapons extended from behind him to the line's center.
Weapons linking walls, a long line from center to rear wall. Soon, they formed a massive crossbow.
Like a cartoon ultimate move narration from the drone, Mamoro mounted the crossbow's center, hands wrapped in chains, in firing position.
“Great Crossbow.”
Greeeak!
Chains ground together, sparking red-hot as he drew the string with grimace-inducing force.
“......”
Yet Jeonghyeon remained serene amid it all.
As if time halted around him, solitary and aloof.
The moment Mamoro released the string—
Saw it over his shoulder on screen, but...
Jeonghyeon had prolonged the fight for the Jo family to watch via broadcast. Even more wins might lead to a meeting, but he needed maximum attention.
For this exact moment.
Noise faded like underwater, and in slowed-time quiet, he honed his mana.
One thought filled him:
Afraksas's rare few fistfighters were all Jo clan. All awakeners of the Storm Dragon.
Only after hearing Jo family and Storm Dragon Mirtus did it click.
And they'd all betrayed humanity, siding with the Demon King to slaughter human hunters. He could never forget those self-proclaimed minions—but hadn't realized they were one clan.
Jeonghyeon smirked faintly.
What he'd show: the Jo fistfighters' styles he'd fought countless times in his past life.
Amusing to wield the traitors' martial arts himself, but nothing better.
Storm Dragon Fist, was it? Cheap name.
The string snapped. A massive arrow hurtled at Jeonghyeon.
Jeonghyeon extended his fist calmly, like strolling through mist.
Not full power, not aiming for the throat.
Just thrusting into empty air.
But the mana—honed to its limit's edge—didn't stay quiet.
Jeonghyeon spat the corny technique name to provoke the Jo clan. Mana erupted from his fist tip.
Flash!
Mana like a thin line shot from his fist.
One Strike—true to name—pierced the arrow's center in a flash, grazed Mamoro's throat, and hit the arena wall's end.
Tink.
As One Strike reached the wall, a tiny stone chip crumbled free.
Then the aftermath burst like a dam crack unleashing floods, shredding the chain-weapon mass into fireworks exploding everywhere.
Mamoro's head above the neck powdered into the air as if it never existed.
BOOMCRASH!!
Like thunder, the sight preceded the ear-shattering roar engulfing the arena. One Strike punched through the wall and outer building. The floor and walls began crumbling unstably.
As even the drone panicked, circling wildly,
“Nailed it.”
Thud! Proving Jeonghyeon's scheme worked, five black-suited men and women appeared before him.
All wore gauntlets, their unforgettable faces clear.
“Long time no see.”
The Jo family had arrived.
“Or should I say, nice to meet you?”
Jeonghyeon smirked, one corner of his mouth lifting as he drew the Blood Dissector from his inventory.