Chapter 23
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 23
Chapter Title: Martial God (1)
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“Wow...”
The place we entered due to the sudden sparring request was his training ground.
'What's with all this space?'
It seemed even wider than the Superpower Training Center.
As I looked around in wonder, Grandpa chuckled heartily and said,
“This place is where all our current technology is concentrated. It should hold up just fine.”
“Ah... I wasn't really questioning that or anything...”
“By the way... does my son-in-law have any special martial arts training?”
“Pardon? No... nothing major...”
More importantly, why did he keep calling me his son-in-law?
“What a shame... No, I can't say it's entirely disappointing. You're practically a blank slate with nothing drawn on it yet.”
“A blank slate?”
“My body's been itching, and I've been bored... so I thought I'd teach my son-in-law how to properly use his strength.”
What the hell is he talking about?
I couldn't understand why he'd been calling me his son-in-law from earlier.
We hadn't even made any marriage promises or anything?
“I've been wondering since earlier, but why do you keep calling me your son-in-law...?”
“You'll have to figure that out yourself. I'm sure you'll like it.”
“Pardon...?”
“I have just one condition.”
At that moment.
An inexplicable energy began to leak from the Martial God, who had been relaxed just seconds ago.
A ferocious aura that made me feel like I could be devoured at any second.
“Satisfy me.”
There was no time to wait.
The moment he stepped forward with a solid stance, the Martial God's figure seemed to vanish, only to close in right before me and throw a punch.
'Fast!'
It wasn't to the point where I couldn't react.
I could clearly see his movements, enough to respond adequately.
But it was completely different from anyone I'd faced before.
If the people I'd seen up until now were slow enough to make me sigh, this was a level where letting my guard down could be fatal.
'What...?'
There was clearly just one punch coming, yet it felt like multiple were flying at me simultaneously.
I dodged each of his thrusting punches one by one, waiting for an opening to counterattack.
'Now!'
The instant he paused his punches to switch to another attack, I raised my knee and unleashed a kick.
Thud!
The Martial God took my powerful kick head-on, compressed air and shockwave included... but...
'Huh?'
I'd put a decent amount of power into it, yet he blocked it with one arm.
No, was it really blocking?
'The impact... doesn't seem to have gone through at all?'
How the hell did he do that?
I definitely saw the compressed air and shockwave burst out.
Was the Martial God's physical body just that tough, enough to withstand my kick outright?
'No... that doesn't seem right...'
That absolutely couldn't be it.
“Oh... my son-in-law's got some power. In all my years, I've never seen an attack this strong.”
“...!!”
“That was just warm-up until now. Guess I can put a bit more into it.”
A chill ran through my entire body in that instant.
He grabbed my leg with the arm that had blocked it and tried to snap it clean off.
“Ngh...?!”
But my leg didn't bend at all, holding its stance proudly.
Toward the visibly surprised Martial God, I unleashed another kick right there on the spot.
Even with minimal movement, it carried transcendent power and struck him squarely.
“Ngh...!”
Whoosh! Whoosh! Boom! Boom!
I began unleashing even stronger attacks through my freed leg.
These were more powerful than before, and the speed was on another level entirely.
Just the shockwave rippling through the air was enough to shatter the far wall in the back.
I was certain most villains and heroes I'd encountered couldn't dodge it properly.
However...
'It's clearly slow?!'
Slow.
The Martial God's movements couldn't be called fast even as a compliment.
Of course, other heroes might find his speed impossible to match, but to my eyes, it looked painfully slow.
Yet I couldn't land a hit.
Even when I aimed precisely at him, my attacks slipped off like striking an illusion—nothing connected.
Pok! Pok! Pok!
In the meantime, every time I swung my leg, he jabbed at various points with his fingers before pulling back sharply.
I looked down at my leg, pierced in spots here and there, breaking out in cold sweat.
'What the... I can't counter at all...'
Who the hell is this guy?
He didn't seem human.
His movements were beyond what any human could do.
Like some kind of cephalopod...
“Hmm. So pressure points work?”
“Pardon?”
“I was trying to seal your leg for a while, but you don't feel it, do you... No sensation at all?”
At his words, I looked down at my leg again.
'My pants...'
They're torn...
Though I felt something touch my skin, there was nothing else—no pain or anything.
“Doesn't seem like it.”
“Haha... What the hell is your body made of? I knew you were stronger than me, but I never imagined your physique would be this perfect.”
“......”
“I don't usually fight like this... but if I don't use joint locks, I can't keep up with you.”
'Joint locks?'
That explained why things felt off from earlier...
“This is getting fun, my son-in-law... Quite entertaining.”
“Same here. Honestly... I've never met anyone this strong before.”
I meant it.
Most villains flew off and passed out from a single hit from me.
The one from last time endured maybe two or three punches, but that was it.
This was the first time someone seemed completely unaffected by my power.
“Good... Very good. I wasn't planning to go this far... but with you, I can go all out.”
“You mean you weren't serious until now...?”
“Why bring that up now? You know full well you haven't been serious either.”
At his words, I narrowed my eyes and stared at the Martial God.
I knew that.
But wasn't that just because I'd been holding back out of concern for the surroundings?
It was hard to say he was holding back out of concern for me.
Someone of the Martial God's caliber would've roughly gauged how strong I am.
“... If I go all out, this building might collapse.”
“No worries. It's underground—what's there to collapse? Even if it does, we rebuild. Finding talent like you is more important. To me right now, you're more valuable than that.”
“But... you could get hurt, Grandpa.”
“Come on, you know who I am. I might get pushed back a bit, but I won't go down easy.”
“... In that case.”
Let's go a bit more serious.
With the mindset of seeing the limits of my power, now that things had come to this.
'He's strong...'
The Martial God glanced at his arm, sweating coldly.
He'd let his guard down, thinking it would be fine, but the block had almost completely failed.
He let out a rough chuckle at the sharp pain from his seemingly broken left arm.
'It's been a while since I felt this...'
He hadn't felt this even against S-Rank villains.
Most superpowered individuals had special abilities, not physical prowess.
Climbing high with pure physical powers wasn't easy to begin with.
Most hit a wall and couldn't go further.
That was why, even among physical-types, he—who reached the top of Korea—earned the name Martial God.
And yet, he... the one hailed as Korea's strongest his whole life...
Was feeling fear toward this young kid in front of him.
'Impressive...'
No one could stand against him at his prime.
Any villain went down with one punch.
Even at his peak... could he have traded blows with the monster before him?
'No...'
He might manage a few, but he'd likely be sent flying.
Overwhelming.
This power, and he hadn't even fully grown yet.
Where the hell did this monster come from?
'At this level... even that guy from America...'
He thought this kid might be able to beat that guy—the one he'd never defeated, still in his prime.
Yes, if this child became his disciple.
“Come on. I'll face you seriously now.”
The Martial God felt his blood boiling after so long.
Since retiring, he'd been declining day by day.
It was like firewood had been tossed into the fading embers of his heart.
Korea's strongest man, S-Rank Hero Martial God.
Time to return to those days.
The Martial God met Do-yoon's full-power punch with his own.
Kaboom!
Bracing his entire body against the shockwave that threatened to demolish the whole training ground, he grinned.
Perhaps a new legend would be born in Korea once more.
“The real fight starts now, kid!”
The clash of the two monsters had begun.