Chapter 149: Heavenly Destiny Fist
"Release Bow at once! Montra!! How can you be so shameless?!" Sila"s roar was filled with rage. He never antic.i.p.ated Montra to be this detestable.
"You can bark all you want. The fact is you released two pets to gang up on me, so it"s natural that I need to protect myself. Who knows when you will order these two to ambush me," Montra said expressionlessly. His eyes stared at Lookhin as it emitted tremendous power from its body. It failed to carry out Sila"s order to protect Bow, so it hated Montra to the bone.
"Bow can"t fight. Release her and fight me fair and square."
"Maybe it can or maybe it can"t, how can I tell? Take that little bird for example; I didn"t expect it to be this strong." Montra"s eyes shifted to the burn on his left leg, which could be seen through the burnt part of his high-level pants.
"What do you want, then?"
"I already told you. Give me the Cloudy Pearl, or it dies." Montra lifted Bow up for Sila to have a better look, though he was a little curious that his grip on the slime seemed less effective than he had intended. Divine Raiment was still protecting her body, and Bow needed to focus so she couldn"t make a sound.
Bow"s life was too important. Without a shred of hesitation, Sila fired the Pearl at Montra using Hidden Weapon Firing.
"Take it."
Montra had to release Bow from his grip in order to catch the Pearl. Sila deliberately fired it somewhere that forced Montra to do so.
Bow quickly hopped to Sila while Montra silently stared at the Pearl in his hand.
"Why is it the genuine one?" Montra couldn"t help but wonder.
In fact, Montra had a plan in case Sila didn"t give him the Pearl, which was a very reasonable choice. Pets could always resp.a.w.n; Sila didn"t even need to be concerned about the drop in levels if the slime really couldn"t fight. On the other hand, the Gem of Catastrophe was irreplaceable.
If Sila chose to abandon his pet, he planned to rely on this point to prove that Sila was a two-faced person and cornered Sila with psychological warfare.
In battles, a combatant"s state of mind is very important. If Bow died, Montra could manipulate Sila to feel angry or grieve as he pleased, using his speech. The victory would undoubtedly belong to him.
Sila held Bow in his arms. "I should have already done this before, but I don"t like farewells. In the end, it endangered you. I"m really sorry, Bow."
"It"s okay. It"s Bow"s fault for being careless. I"m sorry that I became a hindrance."
Truly, he didn"t like saying goodbye. However, he opened his system window and immediately canceled Bow"s pet status. Soon, Bow"s body was engulfed in warm light.
"See you again, Big Brother." As she finished the sentence, Bow"s body disappeared. While they were separating, Montra didn"t take action as he was still deep in thought. He opened his system window and stored the Cloudy Pearl inside.
"Lookhin, go and help Mister Tiger and his friends below. I"ll take care of this man myself," Sila ordered.
Still staring intensely at Montra, Lookhin hesitated for a few seconds before it chose to obey Sila"s order. As a result, the situation below got better.
"Let"s end this, Montra." They weren"t empty words. Sila approached Montra with firm footsteps.
"That"s my line," Montra replied. He lightly swung his staff to ready it while getting into a fighting stance, preparing himself for the battle that was about to start.
Sila"s heart was filled with flames of rage, flames that were ready to burn his enemy in front of him to a crisp. His foot tapped the roof and narrowed the distance in one go. Both his fists were thrown aggressively at high speed. All sixteen strikes were aimed at Montra"s vital spots.
Swinging the mage staff as fast as lightning, Montra blocked the barrage of punches; sometimes he blocked them with the head of the mage staff and sometimes he blocked with the tip. He didn"t use magic spells as it was a melee battle, but even if he didn"t use any, Montra was still the martial art expert. He calmly waited for the moment when Sila"s momentum came to an end and yanked Sila"s leg using his mage staff, before rotating his body.
Focused on attacking with his punches, Sila"s legs were undefended and now his back was open. Montra thrust his palm forward in a simple yet aggressive manner.
Sila accelerated his body"s rotation speed by tapping his foot in mid-air. With that action, Montra"s fist connected with his chest instead of his back.
At the same time, Sila threw his fist at Montra"s wrist. The clash of power exploded and the impact sent him a few steps backward.
An uncomfortable feeling clogged up his insides, so Sila swiftly circulated qi to break it down. As for Montra, his wrist was twisted and broken. He swung the mage staff once and light green particles flew to his wound, healing it in an instant.
With that short exchange, Montra confirmed that he had to re-evaluate Sila yet again. Even though he thought he was already being cautious and had overestimated him, Sila still surpa.s.sed his overestimation.
Montra no longer dared to be careless. He knew he needed to defeat Sila without allowing himself to die even once. This wasn"t stubbornness; he was aware that he would have a harder time killing Sila if he died once.
Superficially, both of them seemed to have equal strength. However, Montra realized that he was, in fact, weaker. It was the result of half of his power being locked away. To compensate for that, he was now exerting twice of his usual strength temporarily thanks to Martial Radiance Art. However, that meant he would lose his equal standing if the art was canceled.
Martial Radiance Art wasn"t that fantastic; it was a double-edged sword. By exerting twice the power, it put a heavy burden on the user"s body. Because of this, Montra only used the art when it was really needed and he wouldn"t maintain this state for too long.
Thus, if he were to die and revive using Dragon"s Heart, his ability would be half of what he currently possessed. Killing Sila would become a difficult task.
On the other hand, Sila perceived that Montra wasn"t in a rush to kill him. Despite the fact that Montra was actually restless about maintaining Martial Radiance Art, he didn"t let it show on his face. Even his demeanor was calm; as if he was casually waiting and allowing Sila to attack first without acting rashly.
Montra unleashed more magic power, pushing the power of Martial Radiance Art to another degree. The situation pressured Sila to think that he needed to act quickly, otherwise, he would be in a disadvantageous position soon.
Sila started to use Twelve Celestial-Traveling-Steps. Both of his legs were jumblingly crossing each other, and Sila"s body multiplied into twelve. In the meantime, Montra was motionless. He waited until Sila entered his attack range before he thrusted and thrashed his mage staff twelve times. Each attack was aimed at Sila"s chest.
Relying on the Weaken and Stop techniques of Six Moon-Grabbing-Claws, Sila blocked the mage staff using his left wrist and grabbed on it. He pulled Montra"s body to him and struck his right palm at his side using Tiger"s Palm.
Rotating the mage staff in his hand, Montra deliberately accelerated Sila"s attack and attacked Sila"s wrist with his knee, rendering the attack useless. Then, he kicked Sila in the underbelly.
Sila took a direct hit and his internal organ received damage. However, he resisted the pain and used qi to pull Montra"s foot on his body. Sila clawed him and left a mortal wound on Montra"s ankle.
Using his other foot to kick the ground, Montra lifted his body up. He pushed Sila"s chest away with his foot, worsening the injury Sila received previously. His qi circulation was disrupted, so Montra could take his foot off Sila"s body. Blood was flowing from his ankle.
Montra received an external wound, but it was on his leg, which was quite important for a martial artist. Meanwhile, Sila received an internal injury. Blood was dripping from the corner of his mouth and his breathing was heavy. It seemed his lung was damaged.
Totally ignoring the injured ankle, Montra flicked his leg to splash the blood to Sila"s eyes. Nevertheless, Sila slowly swiped his hand and managed to block every drop of blood.
Montra pressed the end of his mage staff on the ground, having it act as a cane to subst.i.tute for his injured leg. Although he didn"t feel pain, the wound interfered when performing delicate movements.
So far, Montra had probed Sila"s ability and finally got all the data he wanted to know. Sila used three different arts: one offensively, one defensively, and one for movement. Each art was a high-cla.s.s martial art but they weren"t in sync. Montra noticed the weakness created when using various arts together. It was different from him, who used other martial arts only to evaluate his opponents, before defeating them with Heavenly Destiny Fist if necessary.
Heavenly Destiny Fist was truly a "martial" art. The very essence of the art was fusing all the prominent points of every weapon art he had learned. The more he learned, the more complex it got. The more he used, the more flexible it became. The more he fought, the harder it was for his opponent to read his movements.
For the first time, Montra initiated the attack. The wound on his ankle was slowly closing but he didn"t want to waste time. He stabbed the end of his mage staff into the roof and firmly placed his left foot on it to minimize the movement. The color of his eyes gleamed with silver radiance; he was exerting Martial Radiance Art to its very limit.
The fingers on Montra"s right hand united to form into a blade while the fingers on his left bent into a hook; one straightforward and one tricky to use. Sila had to rely on Six Moon-Grabbing-Claws to defend against Montra"s series of attack. Some attacks were slow while some were fast. He needed to use his palms, arms, and elbows to block Montra"s threatening barrage. The longer he defended, the harder it got for him to continue. Not only did Montra"s attacks get faster but they were also getting harder to read.
Montra"s right hand acted as a blade and slashed both Sila"s hands while his right leg swept the roof and aimed at Sila"s body.
The original Six Moon-Grabbing-Claws didn"t say anything about using legs to defend, but Sila also learned Nine Sun-Melting-Fists. He stuck out his knee to clash directly against the incoming leg.
Both of them lost their balance and Montra was the first to act. He twisted his right hand, swinging it like a metal whip, and smacked Sila"s cheek.
Having his face slapped, Sila could taste blood in his mouth. He lifted his leg up and backed out of Montra"s range. He was aware that he was in a disadvantageous position right now and Montra would widen this gap, resulting in his loss.
However, Montra caught Sila"s leg with his own foot, causing Sila to trip. He clenched his fist and swung it like a hammer into Sila"s flank. After, he laid his palm flat and, combining his fingers as if they were a blade, thrusted his hand toward Sila"s heart.
In a moment of crisis, Sila relied on his quick wit and headb.u.t.ted Montra. Montra"s hand paused for a brief moment, which Sila took advantage of by quickly seizing Montra"s wrist and harshly twisting it.
Without resisting, Montra let his body go with the centrifugal force. His body was rotated in mid-air when he used his foot as a spear to thrust at his enemy.
Using the Parry technique, Sila deflected Montra"s kick with his hand by tapping the leg off course. He then threw Dragon"s Fist at Montra, who was still in mid-air.
Tightening his grip on the mage staff, which had sank into the roof, Montra pulled his body away from the incoming attack. Nevertheless, Sila followed him even though the tempo was off, and successfully landed the hit.
The fist struck Montra"s chest and a dragon roar resounded, though the sound was far quieter. Even without the sound, Sila could tell that the damage was only half of what he usually dealt. Regardless, he couldn"t allow Montra to take a break or have a chance to use a magic spell, so he took a step forward.
Strangely, he felt like he saw Montra smiling out of the corner of his eye. Even though he was feeling conflicted, he couldn"t tell what he might miss. All he could do was to continue pushing forward while he had a chance. The power of Genesis Punch acc.u.mulated in his right fist and was about to be thrown at Montra.
Holding the mage staff in his hand, rather than using it to block Sila"s attack, Montra chose to swing it behind his back, using his own body as a cover. The closer Sila got to Montra, the more he felt that danger was approaching him.
Taking a u-turn behind Montra"s back, the mage staff was thrust at Sila like a spear at high speed. In the blink of an eye, Sila noticed that he was tricked. It wasn"t just the motion of the weapon that was similar to a spear, in fact, Montra"s weapon actually transformed into a genuine spear. Sila chose to shift his aim and smashed his fist against the tip of the spear.
*Clang!* The sound of the spear tip striking the metal arm echoed. The bandages were torn to shreds, revealing the metallic arm underneath. It was Montra"s first time getting a clear look at Sila"s right arm, though he wasn"t shocked in the slightest. In this kind of moment, just losing the tiniest bit of focus could easily lead to death. The Heavenly Dragon Spear was retracted and thrust again at Sila"s chest.
Sila was moving forward due to momentum, so he had a hard time changing direction in such a critical moment. Montra"s second strike was even faster than the first, so Sila couldn"t manage to evade it. His only choice was to strengthen his defense. His skin became as hard as steel while his qi gathered around his heart.
Twisting his wrist, the tip of the spear suddenly curved as if it was a living thing. It avoided Sila"s wall of qi and aggressively stabbed into Sila"s body.
*Clang!* This time, the tip of the spear hit another kind of mineral. As it turned out, with Strengthened Bones, all of Sila"s bones had the durability of Orichalc.u.m. The spear couldn"t penetrate his bone.
Sila intended to grab Montra"s spear, but his opponent was quicker. Montra moved the spear downward, slashing Sila from his chest to his abdomen. Blood gushed out, dyeing his clothing. Montra didn"t stop there and flicked the tip of the spear to send a roof tile at Sila"s face.
Sila was hurting all over when the roof tile smacked into his face. Montra retracted and thrust for the third time. This time, though, he flipped the tip of the spear horizontally. The spear precisely penetrated through the gap between Sila"s ribs and stabbed his heart.
Defeated.
Montra"s power should be even lower than Sila"s. However, even with half of Montra"s power locked away, Sila still was no match for him.
Heavenly Destiny Fist was indeed scary, but Montra"s spearmanship was even scarier. Ever since he used his spear, Sila was left with no chance to even touch it. Though, to be more accurate, the scariest thing was Montra himself; with his decision-making, flexibility, timing, and insight, Sila"s chances of victory were completely robbed.
Montra"s spearmanship was in the realm of a true expert. He could suddenly turn the tables and turn what was almost a loss into a victory as if it was the will of the heavens.
Sila"s vital spot was pierced through and his body collapsed on the roof. His blood slid down the roof and dripped to the ground, forming a small pool.
Turning his back to Sila, Montra looked at the situation below; Kawin was still in a stalemate with the mysterious woman. He planned to help by casting a spell, but he needed to heal himself first.
However, he suddenly felt strong pressure from behind and quickly turned his back to face the source of it.
Slowly but surely, Sila got back on his feet. His health and power were both refilled, and there were no visible wounds left on his body. Only his b.l.o.o.d.y clothing indicated that the previous battle wasn"t just a mere illusion.
"How come you didn"t die?" Staring at Sila, Montra asked with skepticism.
"Don"t think that you"re the only one who can revive, Montra. Our fight is just getting started. And it"ll be a long one."
As far as Montra could see, Sila was in an uninjured state. It was like the previous battle was a lie. Even worse, the current Sila was calmer and fighting against him would prove to be harder.
Nevertheless, Sila was fully aware that his second life was a temporary one.
On the roof of the next building stood a grim reaper holding a scythe in one hand and an hourgla.s.s in the other, staring at Sila like it was his audience. Sila realized instinctively that he was the only one who could see this peculiar being.
Shifting his gaze to the grim reaper, Sila felt like he saw a skull under the hood smiling at him. Its finger tapped lightly on the hourgla.s.s while its hollowed eyes gazed at Sila, as if it was trying to say something.
"You only have fifteen minutes."