Chapter 155

Chapter 155

Zeon asked,

“Why should I?”

“Lord Xiao Lun has summoned you.”

“And if he calls, I have to go? I’m not a dog.”

“Do you dare defy Lord Xiao Lun’s command?”

Pan Cheng-tian’s expression turned fierce.

Zeon spoke with a look that said he could not understand him.

“I have no relationship with him whatsoever. So why should I obey his orders?”

“Lord Xiao Lun is the ruler of South District.”

“You seem to have forgotten, but this place where I live is not South District. It’s the slums.”

“So you’ll defy him?”

“Tell me why I should go to South District. In a way I can accept......”

“You seem to be misunderstanding something.”

“What?”

“I’m not asking you right now. I’m ordering you.”

“You seem to be the one misunderstanding. I am someone who has no reason to obey your orders.”

At Zeon’s cold reply, Xiao Lun’s expression cooled sharply.

“So you refuse to go?”

“Yes!”

“You’ll regret it.”

“We’ll see who regrets it.”

“Do not forget...... what you just said.”

BOOM—!

No sooner had he finished speaking than an explosive roar erupted.

Pan Cheng-tian had thrown a punch.

Zeon’s body was sent flying backward. He had been struck by a surprise blow.

Pan Cheng-tian launched himself after Zeon.

His hand was already glowing red.

It was Bamboo Leaf Hand, Pan Cheng-tian’s main Skill.

It was his own Skill, combined with ancient Chinese martial arts.

He converted mana into aura and then gave that converted aura a hardness like steel.

Its power was strong enough to cut off even the breath of a large monster.

BOOM—!

Pan Cheng-tian unleashed Bamboo Leaf Hand once more.

Struck by the edge of his hand, Zeon was sent flying far away again.

Looking at Zeon rolling across the ground in an unsightly manner, Pan Cheng-tian said,

“I disliked you from the beginning. I know bastards like you. Stubborn fools who think they’re the greatest in the world. You look mild on the outside, but inside, you’re a viper raising dozens of slippery snakes. You probably killed Tajik too.”

He was convinced Zeon had killed Tajik.

He had not been on particularly good terms with Tajik. Even so, he had not underestimated Tajik’s ability.

Tajik was a man with ability to match his arrogance.

Yet such a man had suddenly gone mad, rampaged, and become food for a Sandworm in the desert. It could not have happened unless someone had played a trick.

Pan Cheng-tian thought Zeon was the culprit.

BOOM—!

He unleashed Bamboo Leaf Hand at Zeon again.

Struck by his fist, Zeon once more rolled across the ground in an ugly fashion.

Pan Cheng-tian walked toward the place where Zeon had fallen.

“I’ll break all four of your limbs and drag you away like a dog. Then Lord Xiao Lun will change his thoughts about you.”

Xiao Lun had ordered him to recruit Zeon no matter what.

That meant he valued Zeon’s awakened ability highly.

But Pan Cheng-tian thought differently.

Although Zeon’s ability was certainly impressive, Pan Cheng-tian did not think it was enough to bring him into South District.

He had followed because it was Xiao Lun’s order, but if Zeon resisted like this, the story changed.

He could simply explain that he had crippled Zeon because Zeon resisted.

“Go on. Resist all you want, kid!”

Pan Cheng-tian unleashed Bamboo Leaf Hand again.

This time, the place he was aiming for was Zeon’s knee.

He intended to destroy the knee joint and cripple him.

BOOM—!

An explosive roar erupted.

“Kuh!”

The one who had swung his fist was Pan Cheng-tian, and the one who groaned was also him.

Pan Cheng-tian was clutching his fist and staggering backward with heavy steps.

The one that had struck his fist was Zeon’s fist.

Just before being struck by Bamboo Leaf Hand, Zeon had swung the fist wearing the Gauntlet of Extreme Heat to meet it.

Pan Cheng-tian’s fist was swollen.

Even though he had unleashed the Skill called Bamboo Leaf Hand, he had still received a heavy impact.

On the other hand, Zeon was rising to his feet perfectly fine.

Zeon brushed the dust from his pants with his hand and muttered,

“Is ambushing someone in the middle of a conversation South District’s way?”

“An ambush is also one method of battle. The one who gets hit is the cripple.”

Pan Cheng-tian answered while shaking out his swollen fist.

His fist soon returned to normal.

Pan Cheng-tian was a Grade B martial-type Awakened.

On top of that, he had mastered martial arts passed down from his ancestors.

The activation level of his body was different from that of ordinary Awakened.

Although he was a Grade B martial-type Awakened, in practice, he could unleash destructive power close to Grade A.

His body’s recovery ability was also extraordinary.

To someone who did not know, his recovery was so fast that they might mistake him for a Troll. Of course, the price was that it consumed an enormous amount of mana.

“You are......”

BOOM—!

Just as Pan Cheng-tian was about to say something, an immense impact struck him.

This time, Zeon had ambushed him and delivered a blow.

Pan Cheng-tian was sent flying far away like a bowling pin.

Zeon chased after him.

Closing the distance in an instant, Zeon swung his fist.

“Kuh! How dare you.”

As expected of a martial arts master, Pan Cheng-tian twisted his body even in that situation and blocked Zeon’s attack.

THUD—!

With a fierce impact sound, both of their bodies staggered at the same time. But that lasted only a moment. They soon charged fiercely at each other again.

THUD, THUD, THUD!

The two moved at speeds invisible to the eye as they attacked and defended against each other.

A look of bewilderment appeared on Pan Cheng-tian’s face.

‘What is this? He isn’t even martial type, so why are his movements so fast? Did he learn martial arts like me?’

That was how far Zeon’s movements exceeded his imagination.

Zeon did not even use sand, which was known as his awakened ability. He was fighting Pan Cheng-tian on equal footing with pure physical ability alone.

SWISH—!

Zeon approached with his body lowered and drove his fist upward.

Pan Cheng-tian blocked Zeon’s fist with Bamboo Leaf Hand and executed a powerful kick.

BOOM—!

With an explosive sound, Zeon’s body staggered. But only for a moment. Before Pan Cheng-tian knew it, Zeon’s hand had wrapped around the foot that had struck him.

“You?”

Pan Cheng-tian’s eyes trembled.

He saw Zeon’s eyes as Zeon held his foot.

There was not the slightest hesitation in them.

Zeon twisted Pan Cheng-tian’s leg as it was.

CRUNCH—!

With a chilling tearing sound, Pan Cheng-tian’s knee joint was shattered.

“Kuhk!”

Pan Cheng-tian screamed and was flung backward.

No matter how monstrous Pan Cheng-tian’s recovery ability was, he could not escape the category of human.

Recovery of a large area such as a knee joint was inevitably slow.

The problem was that Zeon had no intention of waiting for him to recover.

Zeon’s fist slammed into Pan Cheng-tian’s chest.

BOOM—!

“Kuhk!”

Pan Cheng-tian vomited blood and flew backward.

At that instant, Zeon leaped into the air.

Flying high into the sky, Zeon dropped terrifyingly toward the place where Pan Cheng-tian was falling.

BOOOOM—!

With an explosive roar, Pan Cheng-tian’s head snapped backward.

Zeon’s knee had struck his face.

A tremendous impact pierced through him, strong enough that an ordinary person would have died or lost consciousness.

But Pan Cheng-tian was not an ordinary Awakened.

In the brief instant when his chest and face were struck, he had drawn up mana and protected himself.

It was a Skill called Aura Shield.

Thanks to it, Pan Cheng-tian was able to avoid a fatal wound.

His face was twisted unpleasantly with bewilderment and rage.

The fact that he, a martial-type Awakened, had been one-sidedly pushed back by Zeon, who was not of the same martial type, had wounded his pride.

“I will not forgive you. Bastard!”

RUMBLE—!

He drew up all of his mana. Then red aura covered his entire body.

In that state, Pan Cheng-tian charged.

One of his legs was injured, but it did not matter.

Simply kicking off the ground with his uninjured leg gave him tremendous propulsion.

His figure charging while wrapped entirely in red aura looked like a meteor flying in.

Zeon reached a hand into the air.

At that instant, the sand piled on the roofs and ground was pulled toward Zeon as if drawn by a magnet.

WHIRRRR!

Grains of sand swirled around Zeon.

In an instant, Zeon’s form was hidden by the sand.

‘So he really does control sand. But sand cannot stop me.’

Pan Cheng-tian poured all his strength into this strike.

It was a Skill called Meteor Hammer.

There was no way mere sand could stop his Meteor Hammer.

“Die!”

Pan Cheng-tian crashed toward Zeon with all his might.

He literally threw his entire body into attacking Zeon. But his attack never reached Zeon.

Before Pan Cheng-tian could strike him, the sand swirling around Zeon’s body shot out.

It was Zeon’s own Skill, which compressed sand at high pressure and fired it.

Sand Blaster.

THUD—!

Sand Blaster struck Pan Cheng-tian.

Its power was fairly strong, but it was not enough to deal a heavy blow to Pan Cheng-tian. That was thanks to the Aura Shield protecting his body.

Trusting in Aura Shield, Pan Cheng-tian tried to keep advancing. But there was something he had failed to consider.

The Sand Blaster Zeon fired was not merely one stream.

WHOOSH, WHOOSH, WHOOSH!

Dozens of Sand Blaster streams flew in almost simultaneously, with barely any time difference between them.

THUD, THUD, THUD!

Pan Cheng-tian was struck by Sand Blaster one after another.

Each time one hit, the speed of his charge slowed.

One shot, two shots, ten shots, and finally twenty shots struck Pan Cheng-tian.

BOOM—!

“Kraaak!”

Pan Cheng-tian could no longer endure and collapsed.

The red aura that had been covering his body had vanished long ago.

Zeon waved his hand one last time.

At that instant, an enormous impact of a different dimension from anything before struck Pan Cheng-tian.

Zeon had fired Sand Missile.

BAAANG—!

With an explosive roar, Pan Cheng-tian flew backward and crashed to the ground. His entire body was a wreck.

His arms and legs were twisted grotesquely, and his chest was stained with blood.

He had survived only because he possessed the sturdy body of a martial-type Awakened. If not, the final attack would have killed him.

“Cough! Kuh!”

Pan Cheng-tian coughed up blood.

His neck and chest, already stained with blood, turned even redder.

Pan Cheng-tian struggled desperately to stand.

But no matter how hard he tried, his body would not take strength.

In the end, Pan Cheng-tian gave up on standing and lay spread out on the ground.

“Damn...... it! To think you’d cowardly use sand.”

“Controlling sand is my ability, though. The one who gets hit is the cripple.”

Zeon returned the words Pan Cheng-tian had said to him exactly.

Pan Cheng-tian could make no excuse.

Zeon said to him,

“Tell Xiao Lun clearly. If he has business with me, he should come personally.”

“You’re arrogant just because you defeated me alone. You don’t even reach Lord Xiao Lun’s toes.”

“Then tell him to come himself if he’s confident. Or invite me politely. No matter how lacking in manners he is, sending someone to kidnap me is a bit much.”

“Kuh!”

“In any case, I’ve made my intentions clear. If you come at me like this again, it means war.”

“War? Do you think such a thing is possible? No matter how strong you are, you cannot defeat all of South District.”

“What if I cooperate with City Hall? What if I join hands with North District? Or West District...... Would you still think you can handle it?”

“......”

Pan Cheng-tian closed his mouth.

Because it was obvious what result would come if Zeon’s ability to control sand combined with the power of another district.

After clashing with Zeon, he understood.

Just how absurdly unfair his ability was.

He had to prevent such a thing from happening at all costs.

“I’m...... sorry.”

“What did you say?”

“Today’s matter was not Lord Xiao Lun’s will. It was my arbitrary decision, so please do not think of it as South District’s will.”

Pan Cheng-tian suppressed his pride and apologized.

His shoulders were trembling with humiliation.