Martial Arts Worlds

Chapter 172 Ripper

"My endgame?" The disfigured man scoffed. "Strength."

"Strength?"

Kiernan scratched his chin, then looked over his shoulder to see whether Julian and Raquel had already left.

They had run off.

There were only them and a cold wind left in the cave hallway.

"Hehehe… Hahahahaha!"

Kiernan's mad laughter echoed off the walls, the sound bouncing back to him with a chilling intensity.

It sounded like he was teetering on the edge of madness.

'Why is he laughing?' The disfigured man wondered with a narrow gaze.

"Strength!" Kiernan stopped laughing suddenly and grinned. "That reminds me of something I once experienced!"

"I didn't think what I was saying was funny," the disfigured-looking man said. "Why don't you explain to me what was so funny about it?"

"Ah, fuck!" Kiernan held his waist and chuckled. "It is just so funny to me. Do you want to hear a story?"

"I prefer not to." The disfigured-looking man said. "You're clearly deranged."

Ignoring his words, Kiernan laughed once more and said.

"Devil Ritual—a battle royale of death that only has one winner. Thousands of people from all corners of the world battling to the death for a prize.

"Well, what was the prize? Fucking strength and money, of course!

"Most of them weren't even bad folk. There were many who were just in debt or had to provide for their families. Their lives sucked, so they put their lives on the line to get that ultimate prize.

"I was different.

"I was told that if I win, I will be the strongest. Hahaha! What a nice reason to join a fucking deathmatch, right?

"I killed so many.

"The blood of the hundreds stained my hands.

"I thought the competitors would be fellow martial artists who wanted to prove themselves as the strongest. Oh boy, I was in for a surprise.

"Most of them didn't even know how to throw a fucking kick!

"It was too late to find out. I was stuck there, and only one was able to leave that place alive.

"Thus, I killed, killed, killed, and killed.

"In the end, I won!"

Kiernan clenched his hands, took a deep breath, and looked at the ceiling with a bloodthirsty gaze.

"That place fucked me up, y'know. I was never the same after that. I am not surprised that the grim reaper himself looked at me with disgust. I would too.

"It has been so hard to control this bloodlust inside me."

Kiernan placed his fist against his mouth and bit into his index finger, letting the blood drip down his hand.

"I didn't want Julian to think badly of me. I know I am hideous. Thus, I told him to leave, so I can rip you apart like an animal."

The disfigured-looking man just listened with a bored gaze. His words entered one ear and exited from another.

Nothing he said mattered to him.

He was Martial King—even though this place reset his strength back to zero—he was still a seasoned veteran of battle!

"You sure talk big. I don't know whether you imagined all that shit or not, but do you know who I am? I am Martial King; put some respect on my name!"

"Martial King?" Kiernan lowered his bleeding hand. "Then why do you feel so weak?"

"Do you know what Arghman's Ceremony is?" The disfigured man asked.

"It is a ceremony to sacrifice one soul to gain immense power.

"Raquel was supposed to be a sweet, beautiful sacrifice. There is a reason why I do it with women. To do the sacrifice, I need to do a certain act, and honestly, doing it with a man sickens me.

"I have no other choice. I am at the doorstep of Martial Legend. I only need one more sacrifice, and since she has run off, and I don't have any more time, you will have to do."

"I see now!" Kiernan laughed. "You didn't get to Martial King with your own strength but with borrowed strength. No wonder you felt so weak, and you think you can beat me?"

"I've fought my way to Martial King just like everyone else!" He shouted. "I just did the sacrifice when the Bottleneck of the Weak stopped my advancement. Why is that such a bad thing to do?" Explore more at empire

"You took a shortcut!" Kiernan shouted. "You pitiful loser. You're no real Martial King, fucking fraud."

"Argh!"

The disfigured man took a step ahead and moved to his fighting stance—his hands were hanging loosely as if his wrists were broken, and his body wobbled with every movement.

It was a very strange fighting stance.

"This is my style—Hangman Style—and you shall fear it soon enough!"

Kiernan scoffed and started walking over to him.

"Second-rate martial artist. You're not anywhere close enough to satisfy my bloodlust."

"Hang Slap!"

The disfigured man whipped his hand over to Kiernan. The loose hand curved like the tip of a whip.

"Sweeping Catch."

Kiernan snatched the hand and crushed it in his hand. The hand's fingers shattered, and the wrist snapped in half.

"ARGHAAFHGRHGHRGFHFDGHFHGDRGGTH!!"

The disfigured-looking man screamed in agony as his eyes rolled back to his skull, blood pouring from his mangled hand.

Kiernan stabbed two of his hands into the disfigured man's chest and started ripping the man into two bloody halves!

"IRON STYLE, RIPPER!"

SPURT! KKRRRT! SHRRK!

It sounded as if clothes were being torn apart over and over again.

The two bloody, mangled halves fell on the ground. From head and to groin, he was ripped apart mercilessly.

[You killed High Stage Martial King!]

[1500 XP Acquired!]

Drip! Drip! Drip!

Kiernan's hands were shaking uncontrollably, covered in blood.

One of his tattoos—Iron tattoo—vanished from one of his fingers.

"Hehehe… Hahahaha! AHAHAHAHAHA!"

The laughter of madness bounced off the cave walls and reached the end of the cave, where one solid door stood.

But that door didn't hold back that laughter, and it simply seeped through.

"Huh?"

A group of men stopped smoking and turned their gazes to the door.

That sound was strange.

"What the hell was that?"

"Wasn't our boss supposed to bring that girl? What's taking him so long?"

The room was simple—it only had corner sofa with a table, where these men were sitting—and one big bed in the center with candles all around it.

KNOCK, KNOCK!

Someone knocked on the door.