Martial Arts Worlds - Chapter 788
Chapter 788: Mourning
Kiernan shielded Antigone behind him and started backing away slowly from the four creatures before them.
“…What happened to the ship?”
Gaoh asked.
“I sank it. It’s at the bottom of the sea by now.”
Twisted said with a smile.
‘…The ship is destroyed? There is no way we can go through that mist with all those strange creatures there without a ship.’
Kiernan thought with a serious look.
The hope that he was carrying all this time started to dwindle, and he could feel the shadow of death approaching.
The face of Aoi and his unborn child flashed before his eyes, and the incoming fate of Purgatory brought chills down his face.
Eternal suffering…
‘No!’
Kiernan gritted his teeth.
He had never felt this much fear before in his life, and all he wanted was to go back home and snuggle with Aoi under their warm blankets.
…
Afterlife, Purgatory.
The hellish flames burned hotter than ever, and the worst people in all of existence were burning and screaming in agony.
“Hahahaha!”
Death laughed happily while standing at the balcony of his black castle, and he could sense someone being close to death.
“That bastard will be here soon, haha! The suffering will be delicious, and it is eternal, never-ending!”
“…Please, mercy, it hurts!”
“…I am sorry for everything I have done!”
“…Just kill me, please!”
The prisoners of Purgatory begged and screamed for their hellish pain to end, but there was no escape from their eternal torment.
…
“W-What do we do, Kiernan? Please, you must have some idea what to do. You always have!”
Antigone begged with cold tears falling down her pretty face.
“…Just run.”
Kiernan’s face looked void of hope, and he created two black blades with his darkness and slowly approached the four creatures.
Antigone started running, but in that moment, Kouketsu appeared in front of her in the blink of an eye.
Despite being extremely tall and muscular, he could move at speeds that were almost impossible to follow.
“Ah…”
Antigone stopped in her tracks and looked at his terrifying face, realizing that there was really no way to escape.
Kouketsu looked down at her and smiled.
He reached his massive hand to her, as if he were going to grab her like a doll and squeeze all life out of her.
“Argh!”
In that moment.
Kiernan started smoking and jumped towards Kouketsu with his eyes burning with the rage of a thousand souls.
He used Flow State and High Human form, making him taller and more muscular than before, but he still looked like a child in front of Kouketsu.
“MASTERED IRON STYLE!
“HIGH GOD SLAYER!”
The black blades slashed at Kouketsu’s body with a force that could rival attacks from Martial Legends.
It was as strong of an attack as he could utter, but he couldn’t even make a single scratch.
Kouketsu raised his enormous palm, and swung it at him. Kiernan blocked it with his black blades, but he was still sent flying.
The blow shattered his body, leaving him barely conscious, but the pain kept him awake.
“Heal me… System!”
Kiernan screamed, and he pulled out his inventory and retrieved all the healing potions that he had amassed.
He had been going to Master Dungeon frequently and pretty much emptied most of his money to purchase healing potions just in case.
In case they ended up in a bad position.
The powerful healing potions healed all his wounds, and he was back whole, and his energy returned to him.
“ARGH!”
Kiernan rushed back into the fight, and the four creatures looked over to him, clearly surprised that he could still move.
“True Iron Style!
“Hunter Sovereignty Roar!”
Kiernan let out an ear-shattering roar, and it temporarily deafened every person in the forest, as that roar was even louder than that of a black dragon.
“Ahhh!”
Antigone covered her ears that were bleeding.
“Hunter Supremacy!”
Kiernan punched Kouketsu in the face, and the shockwave swept through the air like a hurricane, and Antigone was swept away.
The hurricane of a shockwave brought her further away to safety!
“…Ah…”
Antigone looked stunned as she climbed back to her feet and noticed that she was pretty far from the fight.
With a slight tinge of hope in her heart, she turned around to run away, but her hope immediately died.
“Where are you going~”
Twisted looked at her with a grin.
SMACK! SMACK! BANG! BANG!
Kouketsu just watched as Kiernan kept punching and kicking at him to no avail, as he wasn’t getting injured.
His attacks were just so… weak!
Kiernan had never been stronger than at this moment. All of his attacks were stronger than anything he had ever thrown.
Yet, against Kouketsu, it didn’t matter whether he was Martial King or Martial Recruit.
His attacks wouldn’t be able to make a single scratch on him.
“Whistle~”
They stopped fighting after hearing the whistle and turned around to see Twisted holding Antigone in a chokehold.
She was trembling in fear and crying.
“Don’t…”
Kiernan pleaded, and his heart dropped to the bottom of his stomach, and then he just heard a crack.
Twisted snapped Antigone’s neck and let her fall to the ground—she lay on the ground with dead, lifeless eyes.
“Ah…”
Kiernan stepped back, soul clearly leaving his eyes, and he screamed loudly and with frustration.
“NOOOOOOOO!”
“Heh!”
Twisted smirked and tapped his hands off the dust.
“…Kouketsu, end the trash. Let’s move on to more important matters.”
Gaoh said coldly.
“…Yes!”
Kouketsu lifted his foot and stomped down on Kiernan, but his foot stopped mid-air, and he couldn’t bring it down any further.
“?!”
“AAAAAAARRRRRGH!”
Kiernan held the foot above his head, screamed loudly, and all his muscles strained with all the effort that they could muster.
It felt like he was trying to hold up a falling mountain from crushing down some village below.
He had never carried something so heavy all his life.
“Ahhhhhhhhhh!”
Kiernan’s legs cracked and broke, but he still kept standing, even when his arms started snapping like twigs.
“Kill him!”
Gaoh shouted.
Kouketsu was ready to end him once and for all, but in that moment, their eyes widened, and at the exact same time, they heard a voice in their mind.
‘Bring him to me!’
It was the voice of a woman.
Kouketsu lifted his foot up, and they looked at the broken-down Kiernan with frowns.
“…Why does She want to see this weak human?”
“…Maybe She wants to know more about the human lands? I don’t know, but we better bring him to Her.”
They dragged him to the black dragon and took flight.
With a broken body, Kiernan looked at the setting sun, moving clouds, and the blue sky that slowly disappeared.
He closed his eyes and mourned.
…
The winter came and went.
At the start of the next year, after it had been three months since the expedition to the Dead World, the government came to a unanimous decision that the expedition had failed.
The news of the failed expedition spread throughout the world like a wildfire, and everyone mourned the lives that were lost.
In that moment, the government also announced that the Dead World would be permanently closed off to any further expeditions.
After that announcement, seasons came and went. Months flew by. Years slowly rolled by.
To some, time passed swiftly, and to some, it moved at a snail’s pace, and just like that, ten years had gone by in a blink of an eye.
…
The End of the Sixth Volume – Missing Person.