CHAPTER 626: BLACK QI

Gathered in front of the televisions, people prayed and begged for Kiernan’s victory.

The children of the families watched at the television with their innocent eyes opened up in wonder and amazement.

The fight on the television seemed like the coolest thing ever to them, as it looked like a hero fighting an ugly, beastly villain.

"Come on, Kiernan!"

"Win!"

In that moment, at the rooftop, Arazimir spread his arms wide, and he lifted his chin to look straight at the dark clouds.

He looked like an angel, ready to embrace the will of god, and then, his hair started floating upwards as if the gravity got flipped.

Animal Kingdom’s citizens instinctively bowed down, as if they were meeting the very God of theirs.

It was as if Arazimir was the next reincarnation of the Beastfather!

A crown of bloody thorns squeezed around Arazimir’s head. A red coat draped over him. His face turned fair and handsome, with a smile that sent shivers down the spines of his subjects.

The crimson wings sprouted from his back. His teeth turned into sharp fangs. The corners of his eyes stretched into slits, and crimson eyeliner surrounded them.

"Bow down before me, you lowlives."

Arazimir said with a commanding tone, and everyone except those with higher martial rank than him started bowing.

Martial Ability: Transformation Type, Mythological Form, Blood God Lion.

Animalkin could get any type of martial ability, but if they receive the transformation type, their ability would evolve into a higher form.

That’s why it had been said that Animalkin with Transformation type ability were the strongest beings in the whole world!

’...Why the hell am I bowing?’

Zeus asked angrily, but whenever he tried straightening up, his body refused to move.

It was humiliating, and every human representative thought the same thing, as they would never want to bow to Animalkin.

"...You are still refusing to use your Martial Ability?"

Arazimir asked as he stared down at Kiernan, and he stayed silent.

If he could, of course he would start using his Martial Ability, but since he didn’t know how, all he could do was fake it.

"As you wish..."

Arazimir said, and then he stabbed his fingers through the air.

The long fingers stabbed through space. It didn’t matter the distance between him and Kiernan; those would land no matter what.

"Mastered Iron Style, Void Step!"

With a single step, Kiernan closed the distance between the two. It was almost like he stretched the space between them to get to him faster.

"Bullet!"

With a wobbling arm, Kiernan punched straight. It landed at Arazimir, but he then disappeared and appeared next to Kiernan.

Arazimir stood on one leg—his right leg was lifted and was already in a kicking motion—it whipped across Kiernan’s face ina swift, powerful movement.

The kick sent him flying.

Kiernan smashed his feet on one of the tower peaks. He immediately jumped back. He unleashed his spearhand storm.

"Mastered Iron Style, Iron Lance Storm!"

The spearhands stabbed through air like lances. They crashed down at Arazimir. They were coming down like raindrops during a heavy downpour.

Arazimir danced around the rainstorm of spearhands. He was swift and graceful, dodging each one with ease.

It was a mesmerizing sight to behold, and even though several of the spearhands were close enough to graze his skin, not a single one touched him.

Kiernan reeled back his arms, landed back on the ground, and jumped at Arazimir—he flipped into a dropkick.

"Mastered Iron Style, Strong Drive!"

Arazimir sidestepped the dropkick. Kiernan landed on his feet and did a ’Celestial Scythe’ kick, which also just barely grazed past Arazimir’s shoulder.

Kiernan didn’t think that his range was wrong. It was like Arazimir was just controlling the space around them to make all his attacks miss.

"You’re missing!"

Arazimir said with a smirk and launched his fist at Kiernan. The space between them grew shorter. The knuckles of that fist was already about to touch his nose.

Kiernan immediately dropped down to dodge the fist, but at the same time, he snagged Arazimir’s leg and twisted it with all his strength, rolling into an ankle lock.

It happened so suddenly.

"Hmph! Martial arts of humans!"

Arazimir said with disgust and hammered his fist down at him, but Kiernan dodged and changed into an arm lock instead.

"Mastered Iron Style, Trap of the Lion!"

The technique’s actual name was Trap of the Tiger, but since it felt fitting, he changed it into Trap of the Lion.

"Argh!"

Arazimir ripped his arm free with monstrous strength, and launched Kiernan across the air like a rag doll.

However, he landed back on his feet and lunged forward.

"Mastered Iron Style, Iron Smash Breaker!"

The fist landed at Arazimir’s chest. It landed in a single point in his chest, but the impact got transferred to other pressure points.

It increased the destructiveness of ordinary Iron Smash fivefold!

"Cough..."

Arazimir coughed up blood, but that blood just got sucked into his crimson wings, making them bigger and stronger.

Without further ado, he launched another punch, but it was predictable, so Kiernan swiftly dodged.

"Mastered Iron Style, Void Slap!"

The space shrunk between the two, and the five fingers slapped across Arazimir’s cheek with a sound that resembled a drum.

"Roundhouse!"

Kiernan jumped, rolled, and roundhouse kicked Arazimir at the chest. It sent the Blood God Lion flying.

The wings caught him, and he soared high into the air, his body reeling from the pain of all those techniques.

"Your martial arts is a match for my Martial Ability? It cannot be!"

Arazimir’s eyes shook.

Was he going to lose? He had never felt this much fear before because if he lost, it was all over, and he was never going to become Martial God.

Since he was young, and showed his first signs of brilliance as talent, all of his father’s servants, and teachers have called him greater talent since the birth of the Beastfather.

They believed that he was going to become Martial God.

All of Animal Kingdom was watching this match. The unwavering belief in Arazimir had been shattered beyond repair.

It was now clear that there was someone with greater talent and potential than him.

"..."

Kiernan let out a deep breath, and in that moment, his heartbeat quickened, and from nothingness, something appeared.

A deep black, soft-textured outfit draped over his body.

"Ahhh!"

Arazimir suddenly screamed in fear when he looked at him. That black uniform was making him more scared than his father ever had.

"...This is my Martial Ability? Interesting."

Kiernan formed a fist, and a smile appeared on his face.

[You’ve Unlocked Your Martial Ability!]

[Martial Ability: Black Qi]

[Type: Conjuration]

[Description: Made of God Cloth, Black Qi is indestructible and is able to enhance the user’s physical abilities to superhuman levels. When worn, the user’s strength, speed, and endurance are increased exponentially.

[It is capable of creating a fear-inducing effect that will only affect people that the system considers hostile.

[The longer the user wears the Qi, the more the negative emotions will also start affecting him and eventually may lead to a loss of control]