The Martial Master - 52 A little price to pay.

“Hah! So you really are from those bastards! I thought our ancestors slaughtered you lot in the war, but it seems that a couple got through! Even if I die, I can laugh at you in the heavens! Believe me, once our sect sends out the High Elder to torture you to oblivion!! HAHAHA!! The look on your face will be glorious!”

The expressionless face of the Lord, with a widening madness, erupted into a disturbing grin as he stared at Su Min’s golden hair and golden eye.

“High Elder?”

Su Min, who was about to move, paused as he glanced at the maddened Lord. His now dormant golden eye seemed to shimmer with a faint something, where he himself also widened into a grin.

“Heh… That sounds interesting.”

A light laugh echoed out of his rumbling mouth as it spread through the listless and charred air. This laugh seemed to finally wake those couple people around him from their reverie…

The boy was the first to awaken, where he stood just behind Su Min like before. He felt confused, and then to his realisation, he discerned that he had dozed off just as the fight had started.

“W-what..?”

“Everyone’s gone?”

“Where’s the town, how did it…”

Of course, how could he just fall asleep in such a critical moment? And as these thoughts entered his head, his eyes laid upon the single man in front. His glistening hair and his simple posture, all of it revealed itself before him.

However, as he looked around him, he caught the sight of the Lord! This person was such a being he would never be able to even see, even speak of, yet here he stood facing that golden-haired man before him.

That golden person must be the mysterious person who saved him, who gave him a chance, and he’s still alive! Following this, judging by the situation, the boy gasped at the realisation that such a person was winning!

Such a powerful being, how?

He gazed at the man who was gazing at the Lord, and spoke with a little stammer of excited fervour but also dreary confusion.

“Senior..?”

Su Min, who was about to speak, halted when that boy spoke. However, it was only for a moment as he ignored the kid and focused back onto the wizened Lord and the shaky forcefield.

He didn’t have time to sort out that ‘thing’ inside of the kid, and even if he hates the race, he decided to keep his promise and keep the girl and the fat man alive. Of course, the boy hadn’t actually asked for this, but he was pretty sure that that would be the kid’s wish.

“Lord or whatever your name is, I’ll be waiting for your laughter in the heavens, as I’ll be the one visiting you!”

His eyes suddenly lit up as he, no longer hesitating, clenched his right fist and began to take slow but steady steps toward the insane Lord. They were bleak steps, and as the daylight shined down onto the steaming hell of a ground, the only sound that prevailed was the feeble crackling sound of crushed tar and sizzling ash.

“One day…”

His voice rumbled across the entire town as he continued to take each step at a time, getting closer and closer every second that passed. His fist crackled, and his body tensed.

“You’ll see.”

*RUMBLE*

Eyes shining with a dim gold, a sudden tense stream of ancient energy billowed into his chest. His fist thrummed and his chest hummed, and as the ground rumbled beneath him with miniature shockwaves, Su Min smiled and took the last step.

*WOOOSH*

“You see, I have a certain idea…”

His fist, sprawling toward his chest, tightened as he shifted his weight and swivelled into a punching position. Though the expected golden glow never came as his chest remained colourless and his fist simple.

Yet…

Every second that passed, every moment, a strange danger seemed to magnify at an ever-increasing rate. It was invisible and ethereal, though it was as clear as day to the Lord.

“You beasts always resort to such primal instincts, pfft!!”

His maddened gaze intensified even more as that danger etched into his heart. Nevertheless, Su Min didn’t seem to even listen as he continued to hold his fist right there…

*Woooosh*

It was as if a time bomb was ticking away in Su Min’s palm, where that bomb grew without restriction. From a tiny shell to a massive culmination of TNT, that simple fist exuded and erupted with this invisible aura unendingly.

From ten times to one hundred, it spread and covered the sky!

*Hiccup!*

The Lord’s face seemed to finally reach a breaking point as he hiccupped out of pure terror, where even his body had sprung to give up under the persistent and growing threat that was now shrouding the entire town!

It was an instinctual feeling, one that everyone has!

“How about I take a couple million with your death? Hm? It’s like killing two birds with one stone!”

Su Min’s words were slow and steady, just like his fist. Yet, in the couple seconds that it took for him to speak, that inexplicable threat that billowed out of his fist magnified once again to an unimaginable degree!

*HISSSS*

The very sky seemed to shake as, in a rather surprising fashion, the array beneath Su Min’s feet rose to shake with a faint killing intent aimed at him!

In fact, with twitching eyes, Su Min realised that the terrain surpassing the boundary of the town had begun to gleam with a vague white. It seemed that, without a doubt, this array didn’t just cover this single town!

If that were the case, then the power it could hold would be troubling, even for Su Min.

“That’s unfortunate…”

Su Min sighed as he realised this. Although he could carry on absorbing ancient energy, he doesn’t want to cause too much trouble for himself right now.

Well, he can just consider this a small price. He has plenty of time to disrupt the very balance of this realm, or maybe even more…

*SHAKEEE*

Deciding to stop, Su Min’s chest slowed to a stillness as the remaining strands within him darted around his body and into his fist. He guessed there to be around 5 thousand strands of gold, and the reason his fist didn’t glow a gold was that he was simply holding it in.

Why? Well, to conserve the energy within him! Its efficiency, as if he would let his fists glow, then he would be letting out some ancient energy in the form of waste. Of course, how could he let such a thing happen?

Nonetheless, this takes a lot more mental energy to keep the strands under control, but its worth it as the explosive power contained within his fists has increased by roughly ten per cent.

So, with 5 thousand strands, adding onto the ten percent increase in already potent power, what would the result be?

Heh, you see…

“Take my ancient fist!”

Propelling his fist and letting the dormant but blazing energy within it go wild, Su Min roared with a godly sound wave as the entire world suddenly paused.

It was strange, but in the eyes of the kid and the frozen Lord, that fist seemed to relax down to a speed that wasn’t fast nor slow. Yet, for the Lord, it felt impossible to dodge. Impossible to fight back, absolute.

It was as if a paramount power had just emerged!

*Wooooshh*

Prevailing with such a fist as it moved toward the barrier, a rather quiet whoosh of wind spread out. Yet, somehow, it sounded as clear as day to the Lord. It was as if the very fist was right by his head, bristling gentle waves of wind into his ear canal like a sweet symphony…

“GUH!”

Nevertheless, this gentle sound sounded nothing like that… It was because of his body. His body which, with the very most it could muster, threw and set off all of the alarm bells!