The steam fog slowly cleared up revealing a bright and sunny morning.
In the middle of the street, Ambrose and Arsenal fought for the twisted blade.
"Ngh…" Ambrose narrowed his eyes.
"Aaah…" Arsenal felt very uncomfortable as his chameleon's tongue tried to pull the blade towards him.
However, he was simply unsuccessful in beating Ambrose in a battle of strength!
Ding, ding!
At that moment, bells rang across the entire island.
Following that, the black smoke emerged from the jungle and started to slowly corrupt the town.
Ambrose's eyes widened in shock as he saw the black smoke return and realized what was happening.
'The black smoke must be forcing players to move closer to the center of the island, and the ones who don't will die.
'It's forcing players to encounter each other by making the island even smaller!'
Ambrose realized that he had not much more time to waste.
He instantly let go of the twisted blade, allowing Arsenal to steal it.
Before it smashed straight into his face, Arsenal caught it, and his long tongue returned inside his mouth. He showed a victorious grin.
At that moment, Ambrose dashed forth, and threw a straight punch.
Arsenal blocked the punch with the twisted blade, but he felt his entire body jolt from the impact. It was ridiculous how strong his punch was!
Ambrose pushed the twisted blade aside and kicked Arsenal in the chest with a powerful force. He sent him flying towards the black smoke!
Arsenal landed on the ground, and saw the black smoke approaching him from behind. He had a hunch that he shouldn't touch it.
'The smoke is moving much slower than before.' Ambrose came to the conclusion, otherwise, they would both be unable to survive.
Arsenal groaned, lunged forward, and threw his dagger at Ambrose. His accuracy was scary good, showing his incredible skill with all sorts of weapons.
Ambrose extended his hand muscles and clumsily used it to block the dagger. The dagger bounced off his muscles and landed on the ground.
He picked it up and jumped at Arsenal, cutting the air with the dagger as he aimed for Arsenal's throat.
Arsenal quickly blocked the dagger and threw a low kick at Ambrose's shinbone, but he quickly blocked it with his incredible muscles.
Ambrose swung his left arm down and smashed the dagger into the twisted blade of Arsenal's sword.
He then swung his right arm, and threw a powerful punch at Arsenal's chest, sending him flying backwards.
Arsenal crashed back-first on the building wall and coughed blood.
'Am I losing again? That cannot be!' Arsenal's eyes showed red. 'He must have low HP. I just need one more hit to defeat him!
'I might've lost to Cerberus, but I cannot possibly lose to him!'
With a ferocious cry, Arsenal swung the twisted blade down, and the sound of metal clashing echoed through the air as the dagger blocked it narrowly.
Ambrose held the twisted blade in one place even though the dagger was clearly weaker and on the verge of breaking.
"You're sweating." Ambrose said with a smile, his gaze locked with Arsenal's angry eyes. "You're losing your grip."
"Shut up!" Arsenal raised his sword again. "I won't lose!"
…
"Come on!" Moriarty screamed with his veins bulging out of his neck, his voice fueled with desperation.
"You're so close!"
"Just one more step!"
"Do not let him hit you, please!"
"Come on, Ambrose!"
…
"Come on, brother!" Emma screamed while hopping nervously like an anxious rabbit.
Zach tapped his feet against the floor impatiently, feeling extremely fidgety and nervous.
"Please, just go down…" Anna whispered as she looked at Arsenal angrily, hoping that her gaze would make him understand how much she wanted him to lose.
Jack bit his nail while leaning against the sofa's backrest. He couldn't bear the tension of the match any longer.
…
Inside Martial Online, in the viewing section.
Bella sat in an empty room with the holographic screen in front of her. She was sitting cross-legged, anxiously leaning forward, her nose almost touching the screen.
"You can do it…"
…
"Raaah!" Arsenal brought the sword down with every inch of his strength behind the strike.
"The Half Muscle Defense!" Ambrose put his left arm in the way of the sword, gritting his teeth as he absorbed the impact.
The twisted blade wreaked havoc through his muscles, desperately trying to break through.
Half of Ambrose's body absorbed all the damage, and his health dropped slightly, nearing zero.
Then, steam rose from Ambrose's muscular back as he unleashed a primal roar, tapping into a hidden well of his strength.
As the steam left his body, more of his strength and stamina returned, filling his body like a tidal wave of power.
At that moment, Ambrose formed a fist with his right hand and reeled in his arm for a punch that would shatter anything in its path.
As he used the Muscle Defense to cover half of his body, he couldn't move half of his body. However, that was the left half.
He had been preparing for this moment and left his right half without any defense, so he could use it to attack.
It was an attack coming from purely his real body, not relying on any external enhancements or weapons.
'I have gotten so used to calling my skill names when I am attacking; now that I have no skills to use, it feels awkward.
'So, I might as well shout something random to fill the silence.'
"Argh!"
Arsenal's face paled as he noticed that his strength wasn't enough to break through the Muscle Defense.
"No…"
Ambrose's right fist started steaming as if it were on fire, but it was because of the excess steam he was letting out for this final punch, which increased his strength even further.
"The Immortal Style, Right Fist of the God!"
Ambrose screamed, and this time, everyone managed to hear it as it wasn't any skill that had been created.
The steaming fist punched through Arsenal's chest and exited through his back, leaving a gaping hole in his body.
Ambrose lifted his gaze and looked straight into Arsenal's shocked eyes, which were filled with both shock and disbelief.
"I-I can't lose…" He whispered with a baffled look. "Y-you can't defeat me…"
"Cough!"
He coughed blood as he struggled to speak, his strength fading rapidly.
Arsenal grabbed Ambrose by his shirt, trying to rip it off in a desperate attempt to kill him, but eventually, his legs gave out, and he slowly vanished into tiny particles.
The muscles on Ambrose's left half turned normal, and he let out steam as the transformation reversed itself.
"Whoo…"
Ambrose combed his hair back, revealing his otherworldly handsome face, and stared at the golden camera that had followed this fight since the beginning.
His face was displayed in all its glory in every household, and the name Ambrose rang in the minds of every person who witnessed the astonishing fight.
It was rare that a player managed to win against four people by himself, and even rarer when it was against powerful players like Zahhak.
At that moment, the golden camera vanished as it went to capture other events happening on other islands.
"Ahh…" Ambrose stretched his limbs, picked up the twisted blade from the ground, and then went to get every other dropped from members of Zahhak.
He now had more than enough items to survive the following night.
However, he had to do it all alone, as Moriarty was dead and would not come back unless he survived this round.
"I'll survive…" Ambrose muttered to himself and put the twisted blade inside his wide belt, then started running away from the black smoke.
He left the town and entered the jungle.
Since he didn't have Moriarty's Danger Sense, he would have to rely on his instincts and wits to make it out alive.
The steam fog slowly cleared up revealing a bright and sunny morning.
In the middle of the street, Ambrose and Arsenal fought for the twisted blade.
"Ngh…" Ambrose narrowed his eyes.
"Aaah…" Arsenal felt very uncomfortable as his chameleon's tongue tried to pull the blade towards him.
However, he was simply unsuccessful in beating Ambrose in a battle of strength!
Ding, ding!
At that moment, bells rang across the entire island.
Following that, the black smoke emerged from the jungle and started to slowly corrupt the town.
Ambrose's eyes widened in shock as he saw the black smoke return and realized what was happening.
'The black smoke must be forcing players to move closer to the center of the island, and the ones who don't will die.
'It's forcing players to encounter each other by making the island even smaller!'
Ambrose realized that he had not much more time to waste.
He instantly let go of the twisted blade, allowing Arsenal to steal it.
Before it smashed straight into his face, Arsenal caught it, and his long tongue returned inside his mouth. He showed a victorious grin.
At that moment, Ambrose dashed forth, and threw a straight punch.
Arsenal blocked the punch with the twisted blade, but he felt his entire body jolt from the impact. It was ridiculous how strong his punch was!
Ambrose pushed the twisted blade aside and kicked Arsenal in the chest with a powerful force. He sent him flying towards the black smoke!
Arsenal landed on the ground, and saw the black smoke approaching him from behind. He had a hunch that he shouldn't touch it.
'The smoke is moving much slower than before.' Ambrose came to the conclusion, otherwise, they would both be unable to survive.
Arsenal groaned, lunged forward, and threw his dagger at Ambrose. His accuracy was scary good, showing his incredible skill with all sorts of weapons.
Ambrose extended his hand muscles and clumsily used it to block the dagger. The dagger bounced off his muscles and landed on the ground.
He picked it up and jumped at Arsenal, cutting the air with the dagger as he aimed for Arsenal's throat.
Arsenal quickly blocked the dagger and threw a low kick at Ambrose's shinbone, but he quickly blocked it with his incredible muscles.
Ambrose swung his left arm down and smashed the dagger into the twisted blade of Arsenal's sword.
He then swung his right arm, and threw a powerful punch at Arsenal's chest, sending him flying backwards.
Arsenal crashed back-first on the building wall and coughed blood.
'Am I losing again? That cannot be!' Arsenal's eyes showed red. 'He must have low HP. I just need one more hit to defeat him!
'I might've lost to Cerberus, but I cannot possibly lose to him!'
With a ferocious cry, Arsenal swung the twisted blade down, and the sound of metal clashing echoed through the air as the dagger blocked it narrowly.
Ambrose held the twisted blade in one place even though the dagger was clearly weaker and on the verge of breaking.
"You're sweating." Ambrose said with a smile, his gaze locked with Arsenal's angry eyes. "You're losing your grip."
"Shut up!" Arsenal raised his sword again. "I won't lose!"
…
"Come on!" Moriarty screamed with his veins bulging out of his neck, his voice fueled with desperation.
"You're so close!"
"Just one more step!"
"Do not let him hit you, please!"
"Come on, Ambrose!"
…
"Come on, brother!" Emma screamed while hopping nervously like an anxious rabbit.
Zach tapped his feet against the floor impatiently, feeling extremely fidgety and nervous.
"Please, just go down…" Anna whispered as she looked at Arsenal angrily, hoping that her gaze would make him understand how much she wanted him to lose.
Jack bit his nail while leaning against the sofa's backrest. He couldn't bear the tension of the match any longer.
…
Inside Martial Online, in the viewing section.
Bella sat in an empty room with the holographic screen in front of her. She was sitting cross-legged, anxiously leaning forward, her nose almost touching the screen.
"You can do it…"
…
"Raaah!" Arsenal brought the sword down with every inch of his strength behind the strike.
"The Half Muscle Defense!" Ambrose put his left arm in the way of the sword, gritting his teeth as he absorbed the impact.
The twisted blade wreaked havoc through his muscles, desperately trying to break through.
Half of Ambrose's body absorbed all the damage, and his health dropped slightly, nearing zero.
Then, steam rose from Ambrose's muscular back as he unleashed a primal roar, tapping into a hidden well of his strength.
As the steam left his body, more of his strength and stamina returned, filling his body like a tidal wave of power.
At that moment, Ambrose formed a fist with his right hand and reeled in his arm for a punch that would shatter anything in its path.
As he used the Muscle Defense to cover half of his body, he couldn't move half of his body. However, that was the left half.
He had been preparing for this moment and left his right half without any defense, so he could use it to attack.
It was an attack coming from purely his real body, not relying on any external enhancements or weapons.
'I have gotten so used to calling my skill names when I am attacking; now that I have no skills to use, it feels awkward.
'So, I might as well shout something random to fill the silence.'
"Argh!"
Arsenal's face paled as he noticed that his strength wasn't enough to break through the Muscle Defense.
"No…"
Ambrose's right fist started steaming as if it were on fire, but it was because of the excess steam he was letting out for this final punch, which increased his strength even further.
"The Immortal Style, Right Fist of the God!"
Ambrose screamed, and this time, everyone managed to hear it as it wasn't any skill that had been created.
The steaming fist punched through Arsenal's chest and exited through his back, leaving a gaping hole in his body.
Ambrose lifted his gaze and looked straight into Arsenal's shocked eyes, which were filled with both shock and disbelief.
"I-I can't lose…" He whispered with a baffled look. "Y-you can't defeat me…"
"Cough!"
He coughed blood as he struggled to speak, his strength fading rapidly.
Arsenal grabbed Ambrose by his shirt, trying to rip it off in a desperate attempt to kill him, but eventually, his legs gave out, and he slowly vanished into tiny particles.
The muscles on Ambrose's left half turned normal, and he let out steam as the transformation reversed itself.
"Whoo…"
Ambrose combed his hair back, revealing his otherworldly handsome face, and stared at the golden camera that had followed this fight since the beginning.
His face was displayed in all its glory in every household, and the name Ambrose rang in the minds of every person who witnessed the astonishing fight.
It was rare that a player managed to win against four people by himself, and even rarer when it was against powerful players like Zahhak.
At that moment, the golden camera vanished as it went to capture other events happening on other islands.
"Ahh…" Ambrose stretched his limbs, picked up the twisted blade from the ground, and then went to get every other dropped from members of Zahhak.
He now had more than enough items to survive the following night.
However, he had to do it all alone, as Moriarty was dead and would not come back unless he survived this round.
"I'll survive…" Ambrose muttered to himself and put the twisted blade inside his wide belt, then started running away from the black smoke.
He left the town and entered the jungle.
Since he didn't have Moriarty's Danger Sense, he would have to rely on his instincts and wits to make it out alive.
