Chapter 135
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 135
Chapter Title: Prelude to the Second Battle
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Ah, now I finally get it.
This is why those stagnant pond old-timers belt out their "noodle-pork noodle-pork" chant, why the Four Heavenly Kings drag in young disciples for initiation rites and crown them Lion Kings.
"Haaah!!"
Blazing red eyes burning with ferocious fighting spirit, crimson protective qi rising all over her body.
Especially the red qi gathered on her fists and legs—it formed perfect circularity and balance without my guidance, displaying an ideal fist strike.
Not by anyone's hand, not by anyone's blessing, but purely the genius of martial prowess I'd cultivated myself. Now I understood the distant feelings of those masters from ages past.
A fledgling on its first flight shares that moving moment with its parents. A lion returning with its first kill proves itself to its mother and father, and they rejoice together.
So what about martial artists?
How do those who inherit martial arts and pass down their achievements commemorate it?
Atalanta and I both knew without needing to say it.
"Show me."
With a sound ripping through the air, qi surged onto my hands as well.
In stark contrast to Atalanta's brilliant red like a shooting star, mine evoked the pitch-black darkness of a moonless night where not even stars shone.
If she summoned stars with her entire body, I would become the night that swallowed them whole.
Asura Heaven-Reversing Gong—Star Devourer.
The fist infused with the black night engulfed the red star.
-KABOOOM!
This was the clash of qi against qi.
To put the sound into words, it was like a grotesque burst from a colossal balloon pierced by a needle—striking the ears as the qi streams, unable to overcome each other, scattered wildly into the sky, upheaving everything around.
At the center, the pure qi burned away all impurities and shone blindingly white.
A wondrous, terrifying, spine-chilling moment of destructive and beautiful light.
Something that shouldn't exist before one's eyes—the origin of all creation responding to my will, blazing fiercely, imprinting an explosive genesis even gods had never witnessed.
They say countless martial artists, countless experts spend their lives wandering in search of a worthy rival.
Even those supreme powerhouses to whom mountains of delicacies, treasures of gold and silver, and authority over all beneath heaven come unbidden—they roam the martial world like lowly third-rate scrubs, staking their lives in battle.
To hone themselves, to surpass their limits and reach the next realm, to build fame, to find disciples, and so on.
They trot out all sorts of reasons, but the nameless old hermit of Kunlun shook his head as he filled my cup with wine.
'They probably just can't forget that fleeting moment you and I witnessed... that's why they wander.'
Like moths drawn to flame, bewitched by this ecstatic sight, they thirst and wander their whole lives.
"Hahaha!"
So I showed her.
To my very first disciple, whom I'd brought to bloom.
I showed it to the woman most beautiful and cruel even among myths.
This beautiful curse that would make her thirst and wander her entire life—the ecstatic moment that half-transcendent experts both fear and are captivated by.
"Aaaah...!!"
That white light reflected in her red eyes.
The greed of a martial artist, the afflictions of a murim dweller.
This sight that would leave her thirsting and restless even after conquering and enjoying all there is.
I watched as the explosion of pure, innocent destruction and creation blooming from our fingertips etched itself firmly into her mind.
'Time to wrap it up.'
Atalanta lived up to her legend from the mythic age—her qi had just awakened, yet its power was overwhelming.
But her qi manipulation was still immature and rough; one misstep, and she could suffer severe internal injuries.
As I swung my hand toward the sky, the two clashing qis surged upward in unison.
-KABOOOM!
Two streams of qi shot skyward like massive fireworks.
The black qi ascended ferociously like a soaring black dragon, entwined by the red qi chasing after it like a crimson dragon, rising together.
-BOOM!
And then, explosion.
A torrent of night swept over the blue sky, embroidered with red shooting stars streaking through it, putting on an untimely meteor shower.
-SPLAAASH!
"Ah..."
"How was it?"
Atalanta, who had been staring entranced at the fantastical sight we created, slowly turned to face me.
Her body drenched in sweat like she'd been pulled from water, the thin clothes beneath her discarded armor soaked through and filthy with dirt and grime.
But those eyes of hers still blazed intensely.
Longing, yearning, ecstasy, awe.
The beautiful eyes of a martial artist who had just broken through to a new realm.
"Is this... the world you see?"
"And the world Heracles sees too."
The world beyond that—the one the gods see, the one those who cross the wall see.
"Congratulations. You've opened the door and now stand before it."
She had earned the qualification.
The qualification to transcend humanity, to challenge the realm of the gods. The realm I'd walked and countless martial artists would walk.
In Greece, they call it Apus De Aura.
In murim, Transcendent Realm.
The first step of the superhuman realm where will shapes qi, letting you hear the unheard and see the unseen.
It had been about two months since I arrived in the forest of heroes.
The moment the tragic heroine of myth, the beautiful Atalanta doomed to be a sacrificial oracle victim, broke free from her fate.
* * *
As her master, when I acknowledged her with a warm smile, Atalanta apparently couldn't contain her passion any longer.
With kings watching from afar and her warriors staring right in front of her, she pounced on me like a lioness at her prey and stole my lips.
As if to quench this burning thirst through me, she came at me so fiercely that for a moment, I feared she might devour me whole.
"Mmmph! Puhah!"
"Puhah!"
Her arms around my neck, legs locked around my waist, she showered me with devouring kisses, swallowing saliva for a good while before finally pulling away, seemingly satisfied.
"Haa, haaa... So good..."
Then, rubbing her face against my neck like a sated cat, I could only smile wryly, at a loss for words.
"You're too bold."
"Hehe, so what! Let 'em all see."
Her bright, brazen attitude left me speechless.
As if to say she'd gotten one over on me, Atalanta grinned radiantly through her sweat-soaked face before finally stepping back from my arms.
"Ereni! Bring it!"
"Huh? Uh, yeah?"
"Hurry!"
She called over her hot-pink-haired mage lieutenant and shoved the regimental standard she brought straight into my hands.
"Alright! I surrender!"
The beautiful warrior laughed freely, without a hint of regret, and in my mind flashed the image of the Battle Demon who had shaken the entire murim.
"Uh... Sigh, no helping it."
Her lieutenant gaped at the sudden declaration of surrender from their leader but soon nodded in acceptance, head bowed.
"It's been a while, huh?"
"Ah, ahaha... H-Hi there?"
Erenia, the mage daughter of Aphrodite who'd been avoiding me since that music lesson. Her hard-to-pronounce name and striking hair color were unforgettable.
Of course, the mythical genes letting her pull off that insane color were a bonus.
Just a month ago, they'd been at each other's throats on sight—how'd they get so chummy?
"I'd love to hear what happened sometime."
I grinned amusedly, and Atalanta shrugged with a matching smile.
"Sure, let's talk slowly after this mess ends."
"Wait? Atalanta? You don't mean...?"
"Shh, Ereni. Just trust your big sis."
"...?"
I had no idea what passed between those two, but whatever it was, it felt suspicious.
Still, unraveling that intriguing mystery would have to wait.
-Stomp! Stomp! Stomp! Stomp!
Beyond the exhausted Atalanta forces, the steel legion rose again, shoving aside dirt mounds, advancing with intimidating footsteps.
"Let's see... I took your standard, so you forfeit automatically, right?"
"Yep! I kinda wanna play more, but oh well, can't be helped."
We could play more later—quietly, at night, when we meet.
She brushed past me with a mischievous smile, whispering that.
"G-Good work!"
"Whoa! That was awesome! Teach me sometime too, handsome bro!"
"Ughhh, monster. Real monster... Eek!"
Her army followed her out like an ebbing tide, tossing one-liners as they withdrew from the battlefield.
And in their place, the legion with spears and shields slowly closed in on me.
-Stomp!
As the legion's vanguard neared arm's reach, at the general's hand signal up front, the army halted in perfect unison, leveling spears at me.
"Good, your spirits aren't broken."
"......"
At the legion's forefront, Theseus faced me down at a mere twenty paces, his eyes blazing as he aimed his spear.
Just like with Atalanta, no more words were needed between foes standing on the battlefield.
"Chaaarge!!"
-Attack!!
-Raaah!!
To the general's earth-shaking roar that split the air, the soldiers, fired up by his might, charged at me in unison with spears raised.
The second battle.
The prelude to the great battle led by Theseus, hero rivaling Heracles, prince of Athens, hero of wisdom.